Burns Cottage

Burns Cottage

Burns Cottage, the first home of Robert Burns is located in Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was built by his father, William Burness in 1757. Burns, Scotland's national poet, was born there on 25 January 1759. It is a simple two-roomed clay and thatch cottage and has been fully restored to become part of Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.

The museum has a bust of Burns by Patric Park.[1]

History

The cottage has had a number of uses, including a spell as a pub, run by a Mr Goudie from Riccarton who saw the opportunity to exploit Burns's developing reputation. At first therefore the cottage was not greatly valued. The Suffragettes recognised its importance, having once endeavoured to set the cottage alight[2]

In 1818, the English poet John Keats took a trip to Scotland to visit the home, years after Burns' death in 1796. Before Keats arrived, he wrote to a friend that "one of the pleasantest means of annulling self is approaching such a shrine as the cottage of Burns we need not think of his misery that is all gone bad luck to it I shall look upon it all with unmixed pleasure."[3]

Pictures

See also

Burns Cottage (Atlanta), a reproduction of Burns' birthplace, built in 1911

References

  1. "Bust of Robert Burns by Patric Park, 1845". Burns Scotland. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  2. Cuthbertson, David Cuningham (1945). Autumn in Kyle and the Charm of Cunninghame. London : Jenkins. P. 60
  3. Costa, Robert, "Keats’s House, Restored", article, The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2009, retrieved August 12, 2009

External links

Coordinates: 55°25′58″N 4°38′00″W / 55.432812°N 4.633464°W / 55.432812; -4.633464

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, December 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.