The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Bringing the Bard to life 10 of the best places to walk in Robert Burns’ footsteps
MANY people struggle to live one satisfying life. Robert Burns lived several. If he’d written a CV, his list of occupations would have included backbreaking farm labourer plus heartbreaking romancer. He scribbled the occasion poem, too, as you may have heard. With Burns Night on Tuesday, we’ve decided to follow in the footsteps of Scotland’s favourite Bard, celebrating the man, the myth and his meandering, majestic ways.
ROBERT BURNS BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM
Murdoch’s Lone, Alloway, Ayr
THIS multi-media experience allows visitors to truly comprehend what it meant to be a creative genius growing up poor in 18th century Scotland.
The main exhibition includes interactive games and quizzes. You can even play tunes on a Burns jukebox.
There are also books and manuscripts to study plus a pair of pistols owned by the poet.
For the less historically inclined, (i.e. the kiddies in your group) there’s a Burns-themed play area in the garden which includes a Tam o’ Shanter zip wire and Witches’ Cauldron roundabout. (Regrettably we don’t think adults are allowed on the rides… boo!) Information regarding opening times is available on the VisitScotland website.
ROBERT BURNS COTTAGE Alloway, Ayr
AS noted above, Burns came from humble stock. And it doesn’t get much humbler than the Alloway abode where he was born and raised until the age of seven. The cottage, built by Rab’s dad, is delightfully snug. And by delightfully snug we mean pokey.
It contains only three rooms, and not particularly roomy rooms, at that. You can also marvel at the tiny box bed that Burns Jnr was forced to squeeze into with three of his siblings.
The cottage was where the writer received his earliest schooling, no doubt at the bare kitchen table. This rudimentary education eventually led him on a path to fame and fortune. (Okay, maybe not fortune. Though he certainly became a well-kent chap aroond toon.)
POET’S PATH Alloway
WHILE many of his fellow poets preferred to waste away in their garrets, looking pale-faced and interesting, Rob was a ruddy-cheeked rogue who thoroughly enjoyed romping in Scotland’s fresh air. (Which would usually have had a hint of rain, sleet and snow mixed in with all the freshness, of course.) The Poet’s Path, which is a track linking the Birthplace Museum and Burns Cottage, allows the Burns disciple to imbibe great lung-fulls of Ayrshire air… or do we mean Airshire ayr? It’s all so confusing.
The path is no mere walkway, but is a beautifully constructed amble speckled with seasonal plantings and Burnsrelated artworks. Look out for Kenny Hunter’s ‘wee mouse’ statue constructed from cast iron. Further along is a larger-than-life granite haggis, made by Jake Harvey.
THE GLOBE INN
56 High Street, Dumfries
SOME people visit a pub for the briefest of tipples then toddle off home. Burns was no fan of the quicky quencher. When Scotland’s most passionate poet swaggered into his local boozer he caroused and aroused in equal measure. This was certainly true when he marched into The Globe Inn, which rather surprisingly still stands, given the pummelling Rob and his buddies gave it back in the day.
The Globe was the Dumfries watering hole where Bobby got blootered with the boys. When (slightly) more sober he would open up his newspaper (The Herald, no doubt) and read aloud to his illiterate companions, telling them tales of the revolutionary fervour which had overcome faraway France.
He also wooed the pub’s serving wench, Anna Park, indulging in a passionate affair with her in the conveniently situated bedchamber, and later scribbled a poem in her honour.
Visitors to the pub nowadays tend to get equally passionate about the grub and glug available in what is now a very swish establishment.
BRIG O’ DOON
River Doon, Ayrshire
THERE are plenty of frightening old houses and castles to visit in Scotland, infested with ghosts and ghoulies. But what about a scary bridge?
And, no, we don’t mean Glasgow’s Squinty Bridge, which is admittedly occasionally haunted by Burberry-clad rascals of the Ned variety, who can be rather terrifying when stumbled upon late at night, brandishing foul-smelling kebabs and bottles of booze.
But even that isn’t quite so horrifying as the Brig o’ Doon, which may look to the untrained eye like a pretty 15th-century cobblestone bridge, spanning the River Doon, though it is in fact one of the key locations in Tam o’ Shanter, Burns’s early version of a Stephen King novel. The bard’s legendary poem is a tale of witches, warlocks and a terrified tippler called Tam. Nowadays the bridge is a favourite spot for photographers and wedding parties, and even appears on a £5 note. Though be warned! Taking a photo of the bridge, then trying to use the printed image as legal tender may result in a visit to the pokey.
ALLOWAY AULD KIRK Alloway
WE continue the horror theme with a visit to Alloway Auld Kirk, another gloomy backdrop used by Burns in his tall tale of terror, Tam o’ Shanter. (You just know that if Rob was alive today he would be typing on his laptop next to a Hollywood pool, working feverishly on his latest draft of a script for the ‘Scream’ movie franchise.)
The 16th-century church was already a ruin in Burns’s time and he chose the kirk’s weathered gable-end as the spot where Tam first spies the capering witches and warlocks who subsequently chase him.
On a more biographical note, the Kirk is also where Burns’s father, William, and his younger sister, Isabella, are buried.
The inscription on William’s gravestone was penned by his son.
THE BURNS HOUSE MUSEUM
Castle Street, Mauchline, East Ayrshire THE Burns House Museum offers a combination of interactive and
traditional exhibits and is a truly authentic Burns experience. (Or as authentic a Burns experience as you can get that doesn’t involve liquid lunches, lusty wenches and chatting to a wee hairy mouse.)
Situated along the cobbled back streets of Mauchline, this is where Robert Burns lived and worked between 1784 and 1788 - years that were amongst the most important and formative of his life. It was also in Mauchline that he met and married his great love (well, one of them) Jean Armour. On display are original manuscripts, including poems and letters.
TAM O’ SHANTER INN 230 High Street, Ayr
ANOTHER pub said to have been frequented by Rob, who certainly liked to make sure that local hostelries didn’t suffer economic hardship when he was around.
It’s also claimed that Douglas Graham, a friend of the poet and inspiration for the character Tam o’ Shanter, called this boozer his local.
The inn is rumoured to be haunted, and Edinburgh University’s Parapsychology Department once asked to stay the night in order to get a glimpse of the spectre.
The thoughtful owners of the Tam O’ Shanter declined this request, no doubt realising that even ghosts need a decent night’s kip, and don’t like to be interrupted in their slumbers by noisy academics who go bump in the night.
BURNS STATUE
Burns Statue Square, Ayr
THERE are nearly as many statues of
Burns in Scotland as there are flesh and blood human beings. Perhaps there should be a decree stating that no more should be sculpted – a sort of statute of statue limitations. On second thoughts that wouldn’t be such a great idea, for Rob was a well-built chap, who looks rather splendid when constructed out of marble or stone.
No wonder pigeons enjoy perching on him. Rather surprisingly, the first outdoor statue celebrating his likeness wasn’t raised in his homeland, but cropped up in Camperdown, Australia, back in 1830.
One statue that Burns would be exceedingly proud of is the version in Ayr town centre, which is plonked, dead centre, in Burns Statue Square.
POOSIE NANSIE’S HOSTELRY 21 Loudon Street
Mauchline
ONE of the more curious named watering holes in Ayrshire, Poosie Nansie’s in Mauchline is a tavern and possibly former brothel. Nowadays it’s a spruce and welcoming drinking establishment, though back in the late 18th century it wasn’t nearly so spiffy, and was said to be much frequented by beggars and ‘gangrel bodies’. That didn’t stop Burns from popping in for a regular jar, and the pub impressed him enough that he set the scene for his selection of bawdy songs, The Jolly Beggars, in this very boozer.
In case you happen to be scratching your head, wondering what exactly a Poosie Nansie happens to be… No, it isn’t an example of archaic Scots lingo. It’s the nickname of Agnes Gibson, the wife of a previous pub owner, George Gibson.