Rabbie Burns the Radical

Robert Burns was born on 25 January 1759 in a cottage built by his father William Burness, a gardener turned farmer, in the village of Alloway near Ayr.
Robert's first school was at Alloway Mill. Later his father combined with a few neighbours to hire a tutor, a Mr Murdoch. Given that compulsory school education was not introduced until 1876 and schooling wasn't free until 1891, it could be said that he had a much better education than most lads of his time. Certainly Robert appreciated this and he soon developed a keen interest in reading.
In 1776 the family moved to a farm at Mount Oliphant, south east of Alloway. There they faced years of "unending toil and poverty." The situation got particularly bad after the landlord died and they found themselves "under the tyranny of a scoundrel factor."
Eventually in 1777 they broke free of his clutches and moved onto a larger farm, some 130 acres, at Lochlea near Tarbolton. It appeared more promising although the farm itself was "bleak and bare."
Robert was able to enjoy himself at the Batchelor's Club which he and his brother Gilbert helped found in Tarbolton in 1780. There the members met to forget their "cares in mirth and diversion." The chief diversion appears to have been debate, something Burns in particular enjoyed.
Robert did move to Irvine for a while in 1781, intending to learn a new trade as a "flax-dresser." However the premises where he moved were damaged by fire.
He returned to Lochlea to find his father on his death bed (His father was subsequently buried in Alloway Kirkyard). Robert, Gilbert and their widowed mother moved on to a farm at Mossgiel near Mauchline. The rent was £90 p.a., less than Lochlea. However the first year Burns bought "bad seed" and the second year there was a "late harvest." So he lost "half his crops" (Geddes and Grosset 2000).
His first collection of poems, "Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect", had appeared in 1786. Known as the "Kilmarnock Edition", it included "To a Mouse" and "The Cotter's Saturday Night." It was an immediate success and Burns spent some time in Edinburgh enjoying the acclaim.
On his return from the capital he married Jean Armour and took on the tenancy of Ellisland Farm. 6 miles north of Dumfries. Here he hoped to make a good living using the latest agricultural methods and to thus meet the needs/demands of a growing family.
During his stay at Ellisland he wrote over a hundred songs and poems, including "Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon" and "Auld Lang Syne." He also trained as an exciseman as a back up should the farm fail.
When he did secure an exciseman's post however he decided to dispose of the farm altogether and to move his family to Dumfries. His first home there, uintil 1793, was in Wee Vennell. They then relocated to a house in Mill Vennell, now known as Burns Street, at the south end of the High Street.
His literary output remained prodigious. "Tam O' Shanter", one of his biggest achievements, had appeared in 1790. It was followed by songs such as "My Nannie's Awa'" and "Ae Fond Kiss." And this was despite rumours that Burns was increasingly spending his time in "howffs and haunts of seasoned drinkers." Certainly he did imbibe in places like the "Globe Tavern" and the delightfully named "Hole in the Wall."
Burns was also in trouble for his political views. He backed the French Revolution and tried to send four carronades, together with a letter "testifying his admiration and respect" to the French Legislative Assembly. This lead to an official enquiry by the Board of Excise and for a time it looked as if he might be dismissed from the service (Geddes and Grosset 2000).
In any case Burns was already in declining health. He even tried sea bathing in the hope of a cure. He eventually died from endocarditis, the effects of rheumatism on the heart.
Burns was buried in the cemetery at St. Michael's Church, Dumfries. In 1815 his remains were moved to a nearby mausoleum. In Dumfries there is also a statue at the head of the High Street. Erected in 1882, it depicts Burns resting against a tree trunk with a dog at his feet.
Some additional points about Burns....
*Burns was buried in Dumfries in 1796. In 1803 Dorothy and William Wordsworth, visiting the town, had trouble finding the grave. An appeal was launched and in 1815 his body was moved to a new mausoleum. In 1823 a cenotaph was also opened in Alloway on the banks of the Doon.
*The poetry of Burns is taught in Russians schools alongside their own national poets. Indeed the Soviet Union was the first country in the world to honour Burns with a commemorative stamp (in 1956). And even today Burns Societies flourish from Volgograd to Vladivastok and Burns Nights held in the Kremlin have been broadcast on TV.
*Colin Fox, leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, has argued that Scotland should appoint its own poet laureate as a tribute to Burns and to produce verses "true to his egalitarian beliefs." Fox, formerly an MSP, sang "A Man's A Man For A' That" during the swearing in ceremony for the Scottish Parliament in May 2004.
*The song, "A Man's A Man For A' That" is said to put the political ideas of Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" into verse. Burns, like Paine, supported the French and American Revolutions. Burn's didn't actually join the "Society of the Friends of the People" -the radical grassroots movement of the time- but he was clearly at one with them in their desire for radical reform.
*Ross (2005) argues that it is the radical Burns that we should remember. He was "for the common people and against the corrupting power of the gentry, nobility and royalty." He also "championed a Scottish indentity and language."
http://scottishrepublicans.myfreeforum.org