Robert Burns

Poet

Long considered the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns is the author of "Auld Lang Syne," "To A Mouse" and "Tam o' Shanter." Raised in a poor family of farmers, Burns was nonetheless educated in literature and began writing verse when he was a teenager. His father died in 1784 and Burns tried to make a go of it as a farmer, but found more success with poetry. To raise money to emigrate to Jamaica, he published a collection called Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect in Kilmarnock in 1786. The collection sold well and boosted his reputation among the literati, so Burns decided to stay in Scotland. He toured the country, published another edition in Edinburgh (1787) and joined James Johnson in publishing The Scots Musical Museum, a collection of Scottish folk songs. Burns is credited with collecting, revising and adapting hundreds of traditional songs, and his original poems brought international attention to Scottish language and culture. Although Burns became a well-known poet and a favorite native son, he still had to work for a living. He settled in Dumfries, where he worked as an excise agent while continuing to write. Despite his early death at the age of 37 (he had an unhealthy heart, it seems), Burns produced a large body of work, including the popular Scot anthem "Scots Wha Hae" and the poem "A Red, Red Rose." His life of carousing and his stick-it-to-the-man attitude further endeared him to his countrymen, and "Rabbie" Burns is still considered Scotland's best-loved poet.

Extra credit: Burns fans around the world remember him with annual "Burns Dinners," haggis-rich fetes held on or near his birthday.