Burns , Robert , 1759-1796 , poet

Identity area

Type of entity

Authorized form of name

Burns , Robert , 1759-1796 , poet

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

      Other form(s) of name

        Identifiers for corporate bodies

        Description area

        Dates of existence

        History

        Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Ayrshire on 25 January 1759. From 1765 to 1768 Burns was educated at an 'adventure' school by his father, neighbours and a teacher, John Murdoch. In 1775 he attended a mathematics school in Kirkswald. Burns spent his youth working on his father's tenant farm and by the age of 15 he was the principle worker on the farm. At this early age Burns began to write poetry about aspects of Scottish life. On the death of his father in 1784, Robert and his brother became partners in the farm. Robert abandoned farming in 1785 to concentrate on writing poetry.

        He published his first collection of poems, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect - Kilmarnock Edition, in 1786. Burns moved to Edinburgh where he won critical acclaim for his poetry amongst the Edinburgh literati. In 1787 he was sponsored by the Caledonian Hunt to publish a new edition of his poems. He left Edinburgh in 1788 for Ellisfarm near Dumfries to begin farming once again. However he continued to write poetry. In 1789 Burns began working for the Excise in Dumfries and in 1791 he left the farm to live and work in the town. Burns died in Dumfries from heart disease on 21 July 1796.

        Places

        Legal status

        Functions, occupations and activities

        Mandates/sources of authority

        Internal structures/genealogy

        General context

        Relationships area

        Access points area

        Subject access points

        Place access points

        Occupations

        Control area

        Authority record identifier

        Institution identifier

        Rules and/or conventions used

        Status

        Level of detail

        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

        Language(s)

          Script(s)

            Sources

            Maintenance notes