62 Facts About Robert Burns

1. Robert Burns is celebrated as Scotland's national bard, and the 'cult of Burns' is an integral part of Scottish cultural identity.

2. Robert Burns was an incredible Scottish poet whose work continues to be relevant to this die.

3. In 2009, Robert Burns became the first person to appear on a commemorative Coca-Cola bottle.

4. Robert Burns remains popular in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union.

5. Robert Burns was at first buried in the far corner of St Michael's Churchyard in Dumfries; a simple "slab of freestone" was erected as his gravestone by Jean Armour, which some felt insulting to his memory.

6. Robert Burns was appointed to duties in Customs and Excise in 1789 and eventually gave up the farm in 1791.

7. Robert Burns trained as a gauger or exciseman in case farming continued to be unsuccessful.

8. Robert Burns embarked on a relationship with the separated Agnes "Nancy" McLehose, with whom he exchanged passionate letters under pseudonyms (Burns called himself "Sylvander" and Nancy "Clarinda").

9. Robert Burns was in financial difficulties due to his want of success in farming, and to make enough money to support a family he took up an offer of work in Jamaica from Dr Patrick Douglas of Garrallan, Old Cumnock, whose sugar plantations outside Port Antonio were managed by his brother Charles, under whom Burns was to be a "book keeper".

10. Robert Burns was born in a house built by his father, where he lived until Easter 1766, when he was seven years old.

11. Robert Burns wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

12. Robert Burns is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland.

13. Robert Burns is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide.

14. Robert Burns made appearances with the Artimus Pyle Band, a tribute band to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

15. Robert Burns played with the band in 2006 at its induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

16. Robert Burns was the original drummer in the iconic Southern rock band, which formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964.

17. Georgia State Patrol told CNN that Robert Burns died after his car hit a mailbox and tree in Cartersville.

18. In the egalitarian clubs and howffs Robert Burns met more sympathetic individuals, among them James Johnson, an engraver in the initial stages of a project to print all the tunes of Scotland.

19. Robert Burns used this time for a variety of experiments, trying on several roles.

20. Robert Burns went to Edinburgh to arrange for a new edition of his poems and was immediately taken up by the literati and proclaimed a remarkable Scot.

21. Robert Burns participated in the debate through poetry, circulating his material orally and in manuscript.

22. Robert Burns had a pet sheep called Poor Mailie and a favourite dog named Luath.

23. In 2009, Robert Burns became the first person featured on a commemorative bottle of Coca-Cola.

24. Robert Burns was the first ever person to feature on a commemorative bottle of Coca Cola.

25. Robert Burns fathered at least 12 children by four different women in his 37-year life.

26. Robert Burns was posthumously made an Honorary Chartered Surveyor, the only person so honoured.

27. Robert Burns wrote numerous songs for The Scots Musical Museum, a collection of Scottish songs with which he had been associated since 1787.

28. Robert Burns had intended the work to be published as part of Thomson's selection.

29. Robert Burns worked for the final seven years of his life on projects to preserve traditional Scottish songs for the future.

30. Robert Burns clubs then grew exponentially, emerging all over the world throughout the 19th century.

31. Robert Burns typically opens this out and makes it more universal.

32. Robert Burns decided to marry Mary Campbell and migrate to Jamaica.

33. Robert Burns wrote numerous songs for The Scots Musical Museum, a collection of Scottish songs with which he had been associated since 1787.

34. Robert Burns considered leaving the country for Jamaica, but he abandoned the plan and spent the winter in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was praised and honored for the success of his book.

35. At this time Robert Burns was 27, and he had written some of the most effective and biting satires in the language.

36. Robert Burns had a significant influence on Alexander McLachlan[39] and some influence on Robert Service.

37. Robert Burns was, and still is, a poet the common man can appreciate.

38. Robert Burns was born in Scotland, and grew up on a farm with many brothers and sisters.

39. Robert Burns is honoured with more statues around the world than almost any other figure: after Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, he has more statues dedicated to him than any other non-religious person.

40. Robert Burns is one of the most iconic Scots of all time.

41. Robert Burns not only placed the hero's destination as his own birthplace of Alloway, but filled it with much more local color by illustrating the occupational hazards of professional drunkard, Tam o' Shanter.

42. Toward the end of his life, Robert Burns became increasingly interested in preserving Scottish literary heritage, which he perceived as dying under the growing English influence at the time.

43. Robert Burns was a man of great intellect and considered a pioneer of the Romantic movement.

44. Robert Burns spent the latter part of his life in assiduously collecting and writing songs to provide words for traditional Scottish airs.

45. Robert Burns was enthusiastic and soon became virtual editor of Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum.

46. Robert Burns selected his Kilmarnock poems with care: he was anxious to impress a genteel Edinburgh audience.

47. Robert Burns was not actually the first Scottish poet to write a version of 'Auld Lang Syne'.

48. Robert Burns was the main contributor to editor James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, a leading collection of Scots songs from the period.

49. Robert Burns was not actually the first Scottish poet to write a version of \u2018Auld Lang Syne\u2019.

50. Robert Burns has had many admirers, from other poets and writers through to world leaders.

51. Robert Burns wrote and spoke very well in English, the language of his schooling and of the Presbyterian religion in which he was raised.

52. Robert Burns was the main contributor to editor James Johnson\u2019s Scots Musical Museum, a leading collection of Scots songs from the period.

53. Robert Burns fathered some 13 children to at least 5 different women.

54. Robert Burns was pictured on the Clydesdale Bank £5 note from 1971 to 2009.

55. In November 2012, Robert Burns was awarded the title Honorary Chartered Surveyor by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the only posthumous membership so far granted by the institution.

56. Robert Burns had a significant influence on Alexander McLachlan and some influence on Robert Service.

57. Robert Burns is generally classified as a proto-Romantic poet, and he influenced William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley greatly.

58. Robert Burns was skilled in writing not only in the Scots language but in the Scottish English dialect of the English language.

59. Robert Burns was posthumously given the freedom of the town of Dumfries.

60. Robert Burns worked to collect and preserve Scottish folk songs, sometimes revising, expanding, and adapting them.

61. Robert Burns shared this interest and became an enthusiastic contributor to The Scots Musical Museum.

62. As well as making original compositions, Robert Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them.