Burns Night

Well, it's the 25th of January and that means Robert Burns and haggis to many people. Whilst Rabbie may now be most famous for his association with the 'great cheiftain o' the puddin-race!' and New Year's eve renditions of Auld Lang Syne he also included many references to the natural world in his work. Having started out as a farmer before he gained recognition as a poet, he clearly spent a lot of time outside and drew inspiration from observations of the world around him.

As it's most definitely still winter here on the Isle of Man, the first stanza of Winter: A Dirge has a certain resonance at the moment:

The wintry west extends his blast,

And hail and rain does blaw:

Or, the stormy north sends driving forth

The blinding sleet and snaw:

While tumbling brown, the burn comes down,

And roars frae bank to brae;

And bird and beast in covert rest,

And pass the heartless day.

Certainly a fairly bleak picture, but Burns clearly had quite a strong connection to nature, and used it to reflect on man's place in the world as seen in the second stanza from To a Mouse:

Turning up a mouse in her nest with the Plough Nov 1785

I'm truly sorry man's dominion

Has broken nature's social union,

An' justifies that ill opinion,

Which makes thee startle

At me, thy poor earth-born companion,

An' fellow-mortal!

A sentiment which is surely now more true than ever, those first two lines really capture the state of nature today... and written 230 years ago!

So, enjoy your haggis, neeps, and tatties tonight, and perhaps a wee dram too, and reflect that whoever and wherever you are you can draw inspiration from the natural world around you. Slàinte!