page_title: Robert Burns
section_title: Ayrshire
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Burns / Life and background / Ayrshire
caption_attribution_description: English: The cottage where Rabbie Burns, Scottish poet and lyricist, was born. Located in Alloway, Scotland, it is now part of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. This is a photo of listed building number 21476.
context_page_description: Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, the National Bard, Bard of Ayrshire and the Ploughman Poet and various other names and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
  He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.
caption: The Burns Cottage in Alloway, Ayrshire
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