Burns_Cottage

Burns Cottage

Burns Cottage

Cottage in Ayr, Scotland


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

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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.[lower-alpha 1] 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] but his encounter with the cottage's alcoholic custodian returned him to thoughts of misery.[4]

Pictures

See also

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


References

  1. "Cottage for sale". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 25 November 1838. p. 4.
  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
  4. Colvin, Sidney. John Keats.
  1. Cottage for Sale — The cottage in which the Ayrshire Bard, Robert Burns, was born, which has been for years a well frequented inn, now advertised for sale by the incorporation of shoemakers of Ayr, to whom the premises present belong.[1]

55.432812°N 4.633464°W / 55.432812; -4.633464


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