Burns Night: Celebrating Scotland’s Poet (With Scotland’s EHS Specialists)

January 25th each year sees Scots (and indeed people from all over the world) celebrate the birth of Robert Burns either by reading his poetry or taking part in a Burns supper.The national poet of Scotland, Burns is also seen as an icon, both politically and socially, and a pioneer of the regarded Romantic movement. He is revered across the globe, with literary greats such as John Steinbeck and recent Nobel prize for literature winner Bob Dylan citing him as an influence on their works.Pro-Sapien is based in Scotland, and we are very proud of our Scottish heritage, as was Burns. To learn more about Burns, and see our reworked EHS version of one of his poems, please read on...

Burns was born in Alloway on 25 January 1759. Educated by his father, he was a labourer on the family farm. Whilst working, he honed his skill and love for poetry. He married Jean Armour, with whom he had twins, but after an argument moved to Jamaica with another woman, Mary Campbell. The sudden death of Mary, as well as the success of his first published poems meant he returned to Scotland.

Burns, now a literary sensation, moved to Edinburgh, where he made many influential and rich friends, a stark contrast from his poor life on the farm. Burns hit a purple patch in his work, including the well know standards Ae Fond Kiss (your author today having been married in the building where the subject of this poem was married too!) and Auld Lang Syne, still sung every New Years Eve across the world.

Having spent the majority of his Edinburgh wealth in a short period of time, Burns moved to Dumfries with his wife Jean (despite a string of affairs and illegitimate children). His new job as an excise officer, along with the toil of his earlier life and poor lifestyle choices meant Burns passed away at just 37 years of age.