Robert Burns Fact Cards

25th of January 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was one of seven children. The cottage where he was born is now a museum.

In 2009, Robbie Burns was the ﬁrst person ever to feature on a commemorative bottle of Coca Cola.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Some of Burns' poems are written in Scots, while others are written in English. They have also been translated into over forty other languages.

Burns published his ﬁrst collection of poems to raise money to move to Jamaica. They were so successful that he changed his plans and moved to Edinburgh instead, where he lived the life of a celebrity.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Burns wrote and collected

hundreds of poems and songs in his short life - including Auld Lang Syne, which is traditionally sung on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve).

Burns died on 21st July 1796, aged 37. It is not clear what caused his death. He is buried in the Burns Mausoleum in St Michael’s Churchyard, Dumfries.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Burns had at least 13 children with at least four different women, including two sets of twins with his wife Jean. He had three daughters called Elizabeth.

Burns' youngest son Maxwell was born on the day of his funeral, the 25th of July 1796.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Burns' father was a farmer

and Burns joined him working on the farm at the age of 12. The demanding physical work had lasting effects on his health.

Although his parents were not well off, Burns received quite a good education, mostly from his father who was self-educated. His parents encouraged his love of reading.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock There are over 60 memorial statues

to Robert Burns all over the world, including England, Northern Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia and of course Scotland!

Burns wrote his ﬁrst song aged just ﬁfteen, inspired by a girl he worked with on the harvest, whom he called "Handsome Nell".

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Burns Night is celebrated on

the 25th of January. At a Burns Night Supper, people celebrate his life and work by eating haggis, reading his poems and singing his songs.

Burns' work was popular because his poems are funny and he wrote about everyday life.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Burns tried to run his own farm but he was not suited to it and in 1791 he became an exciseman (a tax collector).

Burns did not write the words to Auld Lang Syne, in fact he was writing down the traditional song to preserve it. It is now one of three most frequently sung songs in English.

www.teachingideas.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock The ﬁrst Burns Night was held on the anniversary of his death in 1801, when his friends gathered to mark the ﬁfth anniversary of his death.

Burns was known by several names, including; Rabbie Burns, Bard of Scotland, Bard of Ayrshire, National Poet of Scotland and the Ploughman Poet.

Burns wrote many famous poems. Some of the best known are Tom O'Shanter, Man's a Man for A' That and To a Mouse.

In 1802, Burns night was held on the 29th of January, due to a mistake in his biography.