Burns

Known to many as Rabbie, Robert Burns is regarded as Scotland's national poet, and several of his lines have passed into everyday speech. One of the best known expresses the wish to see ourselves the way others see us, and another concerns how carefully planned schemes can fail. Burns was born in 1759 in Ayrshire and died in 1796. He wrote in both Scots and English.

He is credited with writing the words to Auld Lang Syne. His work also helped inspire a movement to collect and preserve Scottish songs and verse that had been passed down by word of mouth for centuries, which helped sustain Scots language and culture. As a pioneer of the Romantic movement, he became a cultural icon, and a 2009 poll named him the greatest Scot.

This collection gathers many of his most cherished and beautiful poems.