My Love is Like a Red Red Rose

My love is like a red red rose That's newly sprung in June: My love is like the melodie That's sweetly play'd in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in love am I: And I will love thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun: And I will love thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love, And fare thee weel awhile! And I will come again, my love, Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Although all the songs became instantly popular and are still appreciated throughout Scotland, the reaction of different critics and writers was not positive at all. Robert Louis Stevenson called this Burns's period the years spent in "whittling cherry stones".

By 1790 Burns's health was beginning to suffer, partly because of his heart disease and partly because of his job. He had to travel a lot on behalf of the Excise. In 1794-1795 he was a very sick man. His life was a hard struggle. He spent a fortnight on the Solway Firth in July 1796, where, on the advice of a doctor, he tried to cure his rheumatic fever with the help of sea-bathing. Then he returned to Dumfries, but fell ill, and on the 21st of July, 1796 Robert Burns died. He was buried there with military honours on 25th of July.

He was among those who openly protested againsi the social order. It is important to remember not only] his own social background but also that Scotland was* a poor country. The readers feel Burns's great love for] people and his deep faith in human decency.

It was the age of Scottish Enlightenment, though Scots had not developed the strong tradition for prose as they had for verse. Nevertheless, their work was widely accepted outside Scotland. One of the greatest \ literary achievements of the Scottish Enlightenment was the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" which was pub­lished in 1768-1771. William Smellie wrote the great bulk of it. The Scots are proud of their prominent au­thors. Thus in the Writers' Museum in Edinburgh on display there are manuscripts and materials relating to Robert Burns. A collection of Burns's personal belong­ings, letters and songs is displayed in the museum too. For example, his sword-stick used by the poet while working as an Excise Officer; his writing desk from his " house in Dumfries.

The Writers' Museum

The Writers' Museum is situated in Edinburgh in the historic Lady Stair's House, built in 1622 for Sir Wil­liam Grey of Pittendrum, an Edinburgh Merchant. The house had many subsequent owners, including Eliza­beth, Countess of Stair, after whom the house was named. In 1907 the build­ing was pre­sented by the 5th Earl of Rosebery to the City of Edin­burgh for use as a museum.

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