Among our list of Scotland’s “icons”, Robert Burns has
certainly a place of honour. In spite of his short life (he died at the age of
37) Robert Burns is widely regarded as a cultural icon in Scotland and among
the Scottish Diaspora around the world. In 2009, STV (the Scottish television
network) ran a television series and public vote to decide who should be named
as being the Greatest Scot, and Robert Burns was voted as being officially the
Greatest Scot of all time (narrowly beating William Wallace).
A
pioneer of the Romantic movement, Burns also collected folk songs from across
Scotland, often revising or adapting them.
