KernScot.com
Kern County Scottish Society
Robert Burns' Supper
When:Saturday, January 23rd,2010
Where: TBA
Cost: TBA
Robert Burns was the son of a self-educated Scottish tenant farmer. He was born on January 25, 1759. The eldest of seven children, he was raised in single-room thatched cottage that is now a museum containing his original manuscripts. Though he grew up in poverty and had little formal schooling, Robert Burns was extremely well-read and is considered Scotland’s greatest poet and songwriter. Famous for his original compositions, he was also an energetic collector and refiner of existing Scots works.
Robert Burns, affectionately know as Rabbie Burns, is considered the first poet of common humanity. He began writing age of 15 to find a way out of working as a galley slave on his father’s farm. His first poems were “Handsome Nell” and “O, Once I Lov’d a Bonnie Lass." At age twenty, Burns was inspired by Edinburgh poet Robert Fergusson to write poetry in Scottish regional dialects. Examples of his poetry include “The Red, Red Rose” and “Tam O’Shanter.”
In 1786 his first volume of poems and songs was published and it became an immediate success. Instead of immigrating to the West Indies, Burns moved to Edinburgh to start his new position in society. The journey took him two days on a borrowed pony.
Burns is considered the essence of Scotland for many reasons, one of which of his acceptance by the both high-born and the low-born Scots. He dreamed of a society where neither rank nor wealth mattered; and his poetry reflects this.
Robert Burns dedicated himself to writing words for traditional Scottish songs because he knew that a song without words dies. He was an enthusiastic contributor to The Scots Musical Museum, having written and donated over 200 songs.
Burns died penniless on July 21, 1796, as his wife was in labor with their last son. Their son, Maxwell, was born on July 25, the same day that 10,000 people attended his funeral. They came to pay their respects to a man who has since become Scotland’s national Bard and famous throughout the world. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan may have put in best in 2004 when he said “The spirit of Robert Burns is the spirit of Scotland, a country of passion, one always open to new ideas and a place where people of all backgrounds and cultures can flourish together.”
Happy birthday, Rabbie.Ticket Information
TBA