Fascinating Facts about Robert Burns.

Myth - Burns sent carronades to France to help the revolution.

Truth - Yes Burns was sympathetic to the cause of Liberty and, yes, he was a leading figure in the capture of the brig Rosamond. On Feb 29th 1792, he and other excise officers found themselves wading chest-deep into the waters of the Solway. The Rosamond had been involved in smuggling but was now grounded on the sands waiting for the tide to lift her off. Part of the vessel's equipment included four carronades and the story persists that Burns bought these and sent them to the Legislative Assembly of France. The guns never got there, allegedly held up by the customs officers at Dover.
The veracity of the story of the Rosamond is unquestioned but anomalies about the purchase and despatch of the carronades are plentiful.
1. The story was instigated by John Lewars but no written statement has been found.
2. There is no evidence in Dover Customs & Excise records of these guns being confiscated.

Mythleading.

Myth - Burns was not a religious man.

Truth - Nowhere in the works of Burns will you find a single word against religion. He was against the hypocrisy of certain individuals, notably Holy Willie but Burns knew his Bible and even up to the last attended Church ardently.

Mythleading.

Myth - Burns fathered countless children.

Truth - He had 12 children of whom 9 were to Jean Armour. Of the other three, the first, Dear Bought Bess, was to Elizabeth Paton, and was brought up by Burns mother. She returned to her own mother after Burns died.
The second was a son to Jenny Clow. Burns was willing to take him into his home but Jenny would not part with him.
The third was to Anna Park. Jean Armour brought up the child, Elizabeth, as one of her own family.

Mythleading.

Myth - Burns was made Poet Laureate when he attended Lodge Canongate Kilwinning.

Truth - This error has probably been compounded by the painting "The Inauguration of Robert Burns as Poet Laureate of Canongate Kilwinning 1st March 1787" by Stewart Watson where Burns is shown receiving the honour. Burns only attended the Lodge once in Feb 1787 and the next mention of him in the minutes was in 1816 when he was referred to as lately Poet Laureate of this Lodge. No doubt the members considered him as such, but it is certain that he was never present to receive the honour personally.
However this story has not to be confused with him being toasted Caledonia's Bard at a meeting of St Andrews Lodge where he was present.

Mythleading.

Myth. Burns was not a good farmer.

Truth - In Jan 1783 he was awarded a premium of £3 from the government for growing 3 acres of flax. He was in Irvine to learn the trade of Flax Dressing. Crop rotation was not fully understood and the farms that Burns was involved with had very poor soil.

Mythleading.

Magic - Some of Burns songs have been set to music by the great composers.

The most notable is "O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast"
The tune was composed by Felix Mendelsohn, but add to that Robert Schumann, Haydn, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Bruch and Benjamin Britten plus many more and you begin to see the contribution that Burns has made to music.

Amazing but true.

Magic - Burns kept his feet on the ground in spite of all the adulation and being lionised in Edinburgh.

He wrote to Mrs Dunlop in Jan 1787 "When proud misfortune's ebbing tide recedes, you will bear me witness, that when my bubble of fame was at the highest, I stood, unintoxicated, with the inebriating cup in my hand, looking forward with rueful resolve to the hastening time when the blow of Calumny should dash it to the ground, with all the eagerness of vengeful triumph.

Amazing but true.

Magic - The Lass of Ballochmyle shunned Burns.

Wilhemina Alexander, the Bonnie Lass and the daughter of the owner of Ballochmyle Estate was walking along the banks of the river Ayr, when Burns saw her and wrote the song. He did not know her personally but knew who she was. He sent the song to her, with a letter explaining how it had come to be written, but she did not even have the goodness to acknowledge receipt of it. Burns was hurt, because he knew he had written a masterpiece.
Later on, after his death and when he was being hailed as Scotland's National Bard, she not only erected a memorial grotto on the spot where the poet had espied her but had the song framed and hung on the wall of her dining room. She then exhibited the song with pride on any occasions she could. She died at 87, an old maid, and serve her right.

Amazing but true.

Magic - Robert Burns Statue.

There are two statues in George Square, Glasgow which represent Scottish Poets. One is to Thomas Campbell who was so famous that he was buried in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.
The other poet, Robert Burns, never got as far as London, in life, yet he is remembered throughout the world today.

Amazing but true.

Magic - Tam o'Shanter might never have written if Burns had not met Captain Grose.

Grose was in Scotland collecting material for his forthcoming book. The Antiquities of Scotland. Burns took to this fat, jovial man and asked him to include a sketch of Alloway Kirk, where Burns father was buried, in the publication. Grose, who was interested in the supernatural, agreed but on condition that Burns pen a story on witches. The result was Tam o'Shanter which was reputedly written in one afternoon on the banks of the river Nith.

Amazing but true.

Magic - In the 1700's beer was drunk with every meal. It was purer than water, but by the middle of the century tea began to rival alcohol and there was a significant fall in the death rate caused by alcohol related diseases.

Amazing but true

"But, to conclude my lang epistle,
As my Auld pen's worn to the grissle,
Twa lines frae you wad gar me fissle,
Who am most fervent,
While I can either sing or whistle,
Your friend and servant."