Celebration of the birth and legacy of Robert (Rabbie) Burns

That this House notes and celebrates the 265th anniversary of the birth of Robert (Rabbie) Burns, Scotland’s national bard, in Alloway on the 25 January 1759, regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic literacy movement, and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora, a poet and lyricist who penned the words of Auld Lang Syne, which is sung across the globe on New Year’s Eve, and wrote other poems and songs including Tam O’Shanter, Ae Fond Kiss, To a Mouse, Scots Wa Hae, A Red, Red Rose and A Man’s a Man for A’ That, and whose work has been translated into more than 40 languages and his memory honoured by more than over 50 official statues including in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Russia and Estonia, has had his image portrayed on postage stamps, banknotes and coins in a number of countries and whose life, works and immortal memory are celebrated at Burn’s Suppers across the world by millions of people on 25 January every year.