| Year
| Event
| Commentary
|
|---|
| 1759
| January 25th. Robert Burns is born at Alloway, near Ayr; his
father, William Burnes, is from Kincardineshire; his mother,
formerly Agnes Brown, was from Carrick, Ayrshire; William has been
described as "intelligent and industrious", Agnes sang old
Scottish folksongs to her children.
| Although William Burnes, a farmer, struggled financially all
of his life, he would nowadays be considered a member of the
"middle class", as would the other members of our "magnificent
seven"; most creative geniuses spring from the middle classes (see
Ochse, ch. 3).
|
| 1765
| Robert attends school in Alloway; his excellent teacher,
John Murdoch, gave him a good grounding in English language and
literature; Murdoch is hired by William and four other families,
indicating their commitment to their children's education;
"Painstaking attention to syntax and precise meaning suited Robert
so well that Murdoch considered Gilbert (Rob's brother) to possess
a more lively imagination."
| There are a few points worth mentioning about Robert's early
education:
- Although he and his family must physically work hard to make a
living, the family values education and intellectual pursuits (see
Ochse, ch. 3 & Simonton, ch. 4);
- Robert's finest teacher gives him a grounding in precisely the
domain — language — of Robert's subsequent creative
genius (see Simonton, ch. 4, Ochse, ch. 5).
- Despite his skill as a teacher, Murdoch appears to have made a
common mistake about creative genius: He appears to have forgotten
that the creative genius must be the master of the relevant
knowledge and skill for his or her domain — although hard-won
knowledge and skill are not sufficient condition for creative
genius (there are lots of knowledgeable but uncreative people), they
are necessary conditions for creative genius (there are no
creative geniuses who are not masters of the relevant knowledge
and skill) — the initial phase of creative genius is usually
not unusual "imagination", but unusual talent and dedication
towards mastery within a domain (see Simonton, ch. 3, and Ochse,
ch. 8).
|
| 1766
| William Burnes, looking to improve his family's condition,
rents a 70-acre hilltop farm, Mt Oliphant, on a loan.
|
|
| 1769
| Murdoch leaves for a position in Ayr; Betty Davidson, Robert's
aunt, moves in with the family; she had, Robert remembered, "the
largest collection in the county of tales and songs concerning
devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies,
kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions,
cantraips, giants, inchanted towers, dragons, and other trumpery."
| Along with his mother, country folk like Betty Davidson were a
fountain of information that Robert would later spin into his
poems and songs — taken together with his astute observations
of human nature, these formed the "knowledge base" from which he
worked, much as James Hutton's observations of soils and rock
formations formed the knowledge base for his theory of the earth.
|
| 1770
| Robert's father teaches him arithmetic, geography, natural
history, Christian doctrine (the elder Burnes is a
fundamentalist), and English literature.
|
|
| 1772
| William Burnes sends Robert and Gilbert on alternate weeks to
the village school in Dalrymple, four miles away from the farm.
|
|
| 1773
| Robert boards with Murdoch in Ayr for a few weeks, studying
English grammar and some French and Latin; soon after he "first
commits the sin of RHYME", writing his first poem: "My Handsome
Nell", based on a 14-year-old's adolescent infatuation.
|
|
| 1773–5
| Due to their poor financial situation, William is forced to
work Robert hard on the farm, which probably weakens Robert's
heart, compromising his health and shortening his life.
|
|
| 1775
| Went to study "Mensuration, Surveying, Dialing, &etc." in
Kirkoswald, on the "smuggling coast" — made good progress in
his formal studies, including Shakespeare, as well as in his study of
mankind (in the pubs, etc.).
| Adam Smith, also, was a keen observer of human nature,
especially in regards to economics.
|
| 1777
| William leaves Mt Oliphant for Lochlea Farm, in Tarbolten
Parish; Robert, now seventeen, helps found the Tarbolten
Bachelor's Club, founded on the twin principles of "professed
love for the female sex" and "generous and kind-spirited conduct."
|
|
| 1781
| Becomes a freemason in St. David's Lodge, Tarbolten; Robert
Fergusson's poems are discovered; although Robert and Gilbert are
helping their father with farm, Robert begins serious writing.
|
|
| 1784
| William Burnes dies and is buried in the churchyard at
Alloway's "old haunted kirk"; Robert and Gilbert rent Mossgiel
Farm, near Mauchline; Robert meets Jean Armour, his future wife.
|
|
| 1785
| Jean is pregnant, and Robert "declares" them man and wife;
Robert composes some of his finest poems, including "To a Mouse",
"The Cotter's Saturday Night", and "Holy Willie's Prayer".
|
|
| 1786
| A momentous year for Robert (now 27):
- Personal Life. Jean's
father "mutilates" her marriage to Robert, Robert "publicly rids"
himself of Jean by standing in Kirk on three Sundays for public
ridicule, and Jean gives birth to twins; estranged from Jean,
Robert and "Highland Mary" plot their troth; Mary dies in October
in Greenock.
- Professional Life.
Robert publishes the Kilmarnock Edition of his Poems, Chiefly
in the Scottish Dialect;
a friend of Robert shows his poems to Dr. Thomas Blacklock, the
blind Edinburgh poet, who is "astonished" at the quality of the
poems; Robert is invited to dine at Professor Dugald Stewart's
country home near Mauchline, where Robert hears of the stir his
Poems have caused in the capital.
|
Robert Fergusson,
by Alexander Runciman
|
| 1787
| Another remarkable year for Robert: He visits Edinburgh, where
the Edinburgh Edition of his Poems is published, and Robert
himself is lionized by the Edinburgh literati; Henry
MacKenzie (whose opinion is law among the literati) writes
his review of Robert's Poems for The Lounger, in the
review MacKenzie states "this Heaven-taught ploughman" who,
despite "the lowness of his birth" was a genius of the no ordinary
rank; Robert takes lengthy tours of the Borders and the Highlands;
confined to Edinburgh because of a knee injury, Robert engages in
a letter romance with Agnes "Nancy" McLehose (Clarinda).
|
Robert Burns,
by Alexander Nasmyth
|
| 1788
| Robert leases Ellisland Farm, 6 miles north of Dumfries
|
|
| 1789
| Robert marries Jean Armour; finally is appointed an exciseman;
composes Tam o' Shanter for Captain Francis Grose.
|
|
| 1791
| Gives up Ellisland to work excise full time; has two children,
one by his wife Jean, and one by the barmaid, Anna Park.
|
|
| 1792
| Promoted in his job as exciseman; working hard on Scottish
songs and tunes; Robert begins to live a "normal" life, devoted to
his friends (including women, such as Maria Riddell, but strictly
"Platonic" relationships), family and work.
|
Maria Riddell,
by Sir Thomas Lawrence
|
| 1793
| New edition of the Poems; moves into a fine new red
sandstone house in Millbrae Vennel (now Burns Street); another
promotion to Acting Supervisor of the Dumfries Excise (Rob went
about his exciseman duties, which required capturing and arresting
smugglers, with great vigor and bravery — on one occasion he
boarded and captured a smuggling ship all by himself).
|
|
| 1795
| Burns joins the Dumfries Volunteer Corps formed in view of a
possible war with France.
|
|
| 1796
| Burns continues his writing and his official duties, caring
for his wife and a family of four boys and one girl; his health
had been failing for some time, and after a short illness he dies
on July 21st; he is buried in St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries.
| Burns was active and creative almost until the day he died,
composing about 300 lyrics in the last 10 years of his life.
|
|
|
|
|
The following texts are excellent introductions to Burns' life and
work, as well as the broader historical context:
You will also find the following websites useful introductions to
the life and work of Robert Burns:
