At Whitsun, 1777, he removed his large family from the unfavourable conditions of Mount Oliphant to the 130-acre (0. In 2009 the Royal Mint issued a commemorative two pound coin featuring a quote from "Auld Lang Syne".

The poem, actually about a rendezvous, is thought by Caulfield to be about saving people from falling out of childhood. As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them.He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism.

He also took up a training position as an exciseman or gauger, which involved long rides and detailed bookkeeping. Not necessarily my favourite, but when I was about 18 I read Hugh Douglas’s 1976 biography, and that was my first real introduction to the man behind the verses we had learned in school.

This is a Burns collection like no other, introduced, arranged and contextualised by the award-winning novelist and essayist Andrew O’Hagan. On the shelves of Scottish libraries there are probably more books written about, or inspired by, Robert Burns than any other person in Scottish history. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Burness, Edwina (1986) "The Influence of Burns and Fergusson on the War Poetry of Robert Service," Studies in Scottish Literature:Vol. Born in 1759 into miserable rustic poverty, by the age of 18 Burns had acquired a good knowledge of both classical and English literature.