1. Robert Burns

2. About Robert Burns Also known as Rabbie Burns and the Bard of Ayrshire
He is famous for writing many poems and songs and is known as the national poet of Scotland
He was born in a town called Alloway in Ayrshire, Scotland on the 25th January 1759 and died on the 21st July 1796, aged 37
He was the oldest child and had 6 siblings
They all worked on their father’s farm when they were growing up and the family were quite poor

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qMxIBqpry G0
Fill in the blanks worksheet

4. Poetry and Songs
Rabbie wrote his first poem when he was 15 years old about a girl he was working on the farm with
He married a woman called Jean Armour in 1785 and had 9 children with her and 4 other children with different women. His youngest child, Maxwell Burns, was born on the day of his funeral.
Burns wrote poems in an old dialect of Scottish called ‘Scots’ but some poems are also in English

5. Greenock Burns Club
The Burns club in my hometown, Greenock, is known as “The Mother Club” because it was the first Burns club and was established in 1801
Some of the original members included some of the friends of Robert Burns who wanted to celebrate the bard’s birthday 5 years after his death

6. What happens at a Burns supper?
A Burns supper is a traditional Scottish feast and celebration held on the 25th January to remember the birth of Robert Burns, the Scottish national poet.
A Burns supper takes place in the evening and begins with the organisers and special guests being piped in then there is a welcome speech made by the host of the event.
After this the haggis is piped in with the person who cooked the haggis holding it on a big tray. It is placed on the main table and everyone stands while ‘Address to a Haggis’ – a poem by Burns - is read out
When the address is finished, a knife is plunged into the haggis and a toast is made with some whisky which signals the start of the meal

7. After the haggis is eating there is a small speech said to thank the people who cooked the meal and someone then talks about Burns’ life
Then there is some dancing, singing and reciting of Burns’ poetry. The poems most commonly read out are ‘Tam O’Shanter’ and ‘To a Mouse’
Finally, the organisers of the supper thank everyone who has attended and everyone stands to sing Auld Lang Syne, a song written by Burns that we also sing at midnight on Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) – 31st December

9. Celebrating Burns Night in Schools
In 2013 the schools in the region of Inverclyde held a Burns supper and around 120 pupils took part in the celebration
Everyone was welcomed before the haggis was piped in then the address to a haggis was made by a student from my old high school
After this, another student talked about the life of Robert Burns
Then there was a lot of dancing and poetry reading
To finish the night everyone joined hands to sing Auld Lang Syne

10. Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
There is now a museum in the cottage where Burns was born and you can visit to look around the home he lived in and also the area where the family farm was
In the museum there are more than 5,500 artefacts of Robert Burns including the original books he wrote

11. My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That’s sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry:

12. Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee well, my only Luve
And fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.