Widely regarded as one the greatest poets of all time, it is no surprise the nation is still celebrating the life and works of Robert Burns 225 after his death. The Scottish Bard, born in Alloway on 25 January 1759, was the eldest of farmer William Burnes and Agnes Broun’s seven children. Growing up, Burns was tutored in reading and writing by his father before receiving a Latin and French education from John Murdoch between 1765 and 1768. Though he was not formally encouraged into poetry until he met Captain Richard Brown in the early 1780s, Burns first attempt is believed to have been inspired by Nelly Kilpatrick at the age of 15. An assistant on the farm during the harvest of 1774, Nelly is thought to have been his first love and the the subject of “O, Once I Lov’d a Bonnie Lass”.
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