Robert Burns
"Auld Lang Syne"
Robert Burns was an 18th-century Scottish poet whose works celebrating rural life, love, and Scottish identity made him a national icon.
His poem "Auld Lang Syne" is sung worldwide on New Year's Eve.
Burns Night, celebrated January 25th, honors his birthday with haggis, whisky, and recitations.
He wrote in both Scots dialect and English: Should auld acquaintance be forgot.
Patterned clan fabric
- bagpipesDroning wind instrument
- EdinburghScotland's seat of government
- HighlandsNamed elevated regions
- whiskyDistilled grain alcohol
thistle · kilt · Auld Lang Syne · Caledonia · clan · Gaelic · St. Andrew · Ayrshire
Unfounded beliefs about luck
- witchesPractitioners of dark magic
- devilsEvil supernatural beings
- ghostsSpirits of the deceased
- Tam o' ShanterTraditional Scottish woolen cap
supernatural · Cutty Sark · folk beliefs · Halloween · spirits · omens · tales · legend
One who furrows fields
- farmerOne who cultivates land
- furrowNarrow trench in earth
- soilGround matter for planting
- harvestGathering mature crops
field · barley · cottage · rural · peasant · tenant · daisy · fieldwork
tartan
Patterned clan fabric
- bagpipesDroning wind instrument
- EdinburghScotland's seat of government
- HighlandsNamed elevated regions
whisky · thistle · kilt · Auld Lang Syne · Caledonia · clan · Gaelic · St. Andrew · Ayrshire · Tam o' Shanter
superstitions
Unfounded beliefs about luck
Tam o' Shanter · supernatural · Cutty Sark · folk beliefs · Halloween · spirits · omens · tales · legend
ploughman
One who furrows fields
harvest · field · barley · cottage · rural · peasant · tenant · daisy · fieldwork · laborer
bard
Poet of epics
rhyme · ode · lyric · meter · couplet · quatrain · imagery · satire · epistle · epigram
love
Intense fond attachment
- passionIntense emotional drive
- courtshipSeeking another's romantic favor
- sweetheartAffectionate name for beloved
desire · tenderness · devotion · ardor · affection · lover · sentiment · heart · bonnie · lass
- "Famous "Bu-" NamesBuddha, Charles Bukowski, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pearl Buck
- Scottish literatureTrainspotting, Waverley, Treasure Island, Walter Scott, Peter Pan
- ScotlandGlasgow, Edinburgh, Highlands, whisky, bagpipes
- poetspoet, Homer, Dante, Milton, Emily Dickinson
- 1700s WritersAlexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Samuel Richardson, Daniel Defoe
- 18th Century FiguresNapoleon, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, George Washington
Robert BurnsAlexander Pope
Georgian era versifier
Lord Byron · court poets · Thomas Bowdler · William Wordsworth · William Shakespeare