page_title: Ellisland Farm
section_title: The farm and the land
hierarchical_section_title: Ellisland Farm / History / The farm and the land
caption_attribution_description: English: Robert Burns' farm at Ellisland and the River Nith circa 1800, Dumfries, Scotland
context_page_description: Ellisland Farm lies about 6.5 mi/10.4 km northwest of Dumfries near the village of Auldgirth, located in the Parish of Dunscore, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The complex is a museum in the farm Robert Burns built, lived in and farmed from 1788 until 1791.
context_section_description: The house Burns built stood on a gravelly bank above the river and had one storey, with garrets for the servants. In the west end there was a 'company' room, and in the east a sitting-room, with a window in the gable giving fine views of the surroundings. A kitchen and a bedroom formed the middle of the dwelling. Alexander Crombie was the stonemason and Thomas Boyd was the architect, the completion being much delayed and the account not settled until two months before Burns left Ellisland.
  The plan of the present house is practically that of the original and although it is said that Burns's cottage was pulled down in 1812, it is likely that the main portion of the walls stand as they did in 1788. Some of the windows were said in 1840 to carrying the faint traces of the poetic 'glass-scribblings' of which Burns was so fond. A copious spring emptied into a basin, situated down the slope towards the river and this supplied the family.
  The 69 hectares / 170 acres of land at Ellisland, rented at £50 per annum for the first three years and seventy for the remainder of the lease, were neglected, stony, infertile, poorly dressed and badly drained. It had an orchard and Burns had 9 or 10 cows, including 3 fine Ayrshire cows; 4 horses and some pet sheep. The Ayrshire dairying system was introduced and cheese including ewe-milk cheese was made and crops such as oats were grown.
  The first years' crop was to be his and the first payment of rent was not until Martimass. Burns kept two men and two women servants.
  Burns is said to have been the first to introduce Ayrshire cattle to Dumfrieshire and other farmers soon followed his lead once the significantly higher milk yield became apparent.
caption: Ellisland Farm and the River Nith, circa 1800
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "2098", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}