SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE WEEK

Burns for Every day of the Year by Pauline Mackay. Black and White Publishing, £20.

Burns for Every Day of the Year, by renowned Burns authority Pauline Mackay, is the perfect fit for those keen to celebrate Rabbie’s life for longer than just one January night and openly invites you to tak a cup of Burns’ work all year round.

Robert Burns died in Dumfries on July 21 1796, aged just 37, yet his inimitable legacy as a poet and lyricist can still be wholeheartedly felt throughout Scotland, and beyond, in the modern day. Burns wrote somewhere over 700 poems in his life and every year on January 25, his birthday, Burns Suppers are hosted from China and Australia to the USA in honour of the life of Scotland’s National Bard.

Burns for Every Day of the Year offers 366 carefully selected snapshots into the poet’s work and personal life which vary throughout the seasons. Including extracts from poems, songs and prose, January and February explore themes both of celebration and love set against the backdrop of Scotland’s harsh winters.

Springtime heralds the blossoming beauty of Burns’ writing through the likes of Afton Water while also exploring his thoughts on Jacobitism in the month of April. By summer, the Bard’s agricultural endeavours come to the fore with favourites including O My Luve’s Like a Red, Red Rose taking centre stage before finally, autumn marks the arrival of some of his eerier work as well as some distinctly Scottish tones around St Andrew’s Night and Hogmanay.

Burns’ vivid personality shines through this book. Famed for his intellect and imagination, we discover through the seasons that he led a short but colourful life. He was also a sincerely religious man but, as Pauline perhaps describes best in her book, Burns was ultimately a lover.

There are also several of Burns’ works featured in this book which resonate curiously with societal challenges of the present day:

“Gie me ae spark o’ Nature’s fire, that’s a’ the learning I desire,” (Epistle to John Lapraik, An Old Scotch Bard) is just one line that highlights Burns’ love and appreciation for the outside world. We need to integrate nature into our lives more than ever, and Burns’ desire to do this himself hundreds of years ago is certainly worth a modern acknowledgement.

In all, this book offers a panoramic view of the life and work of Burns that’s suitable for newbies and veterans of the Bard’s work alike.