With an Introduction by Donald McFarlan. Robert Burns; the most celebrated of all Scottish poets; is remembered with great devotion - his birthday on 25th January provokes fervour and festivity among Scots and many others the world over. Born in 1759 into miserable rustic poverty; by the age of eighteen Burns had acquired a good knowledge of both classical and English literature. In June 1786 his first collection of verse; Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect; which included 'To a Mouse' and 'The Cotter's Saturday Night'; was greeted with huge acclaim by all classes of society. His later poems and ballads include 'Auld Lang Syne'; the beautiful song 'My Love is like a Red Red Rose'; 'Highland Mary'; 'Scots Wha Hae' and his masterpiece; 'Tam o'Shanter'.