1759-1796. Scottish poet, notable for his use
of the Scots dialect at a time when it was
not considered suitably `elevated' for
literature. Burns's first volume, Poems,
Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect , appeared in
1786. In addition to his poetry Burns wrote
or adapted many songs, including `Auld Lang
Syne'. Burn's fame rests equally on his poems
(such as `Holy Willie's Prayer', `Tam
o'Shanter', `The Jolly Beggars', and `To a
Mouse') and his songs - sometimes wholly
original, sometimes adaptations - of which he
contributed some 300 to Johnson's Scots
Musical Museum 1787- -1803 and Thomson's
Scottish Airs with Poetry 1793-1811. Born at
Alloway near Ayr, he became joint tenant with
his brother of his late father's farm at
Mossgiel in 1784, but it was unsuccessful.
Following the success of his first volume of
poems in 1786 he farmed at Ellisland, near
Dumfries. He became district excise officer,
on the failure of his farm in 1791.