Burns himself contributed over 150 songs, including Auld Lang Syne, a reworking of an earlier folk song of unknown origin.īurns and his wife Jean moved to Mauchline, where in 1790 he produced 'Tam o' Shanter', which was first published merely as an accompaniment to an illustration of Alloway Kirk, in a volume of 'Antiquities of Scotland'. This work, titled 'The Scots Musical Museum', was published in 5 volumes over sixteen years.

He was unable to find a patron to support his writing, but publisher James Johnson gave him work editing a collection of Scottish folk songs.

Buoyed by his burgeoning reputation as an unschooled ‘ploughman poet', Burns moved to Edinburgh and became part of the thriving cultural scene there. The success of 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect' convinced Burns to abandon plans to emigrate to Jamaica. This collection of verse contained many of Burn's best works, including To a Mouse, and The Holy Fair. The first published work of poetry by Robert Burns was 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect' which saw the light of day on 31 July 1786. She inspired him to try his hand at poetry, a song entitled O, once I lov'd a bonnie lass, set to the tune of a traditional reel. Robert was educated briefly at John Murdoch's school in Alloway and later in Ayr.įamily financial worries forced Burns to work as a farm labourer, and it was while thus occupied that he met his first love, Nelly Kirkpatrick. His father William was a gardener to the Provost of Ayr. Robert Burns was born at Alloway, near Ayr, on January 25, 1759.

Poems and Songs by Robert Burns