Burns Night

Mmmmm, now full after a very tasty Haggis, neeps and tatties. Been reading some of Burns poetry during the day. Amazing how little things can be inspirational. There can't be many poets able to write about a louse, but Burns went on to write To a Louse after seeing one on a ladies  bonnet whilst in church.
 the second verse reads :

Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested , shunn'd by saunt an' sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her-
Sae  fine a lady?
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
on some poor body.

I find his poetry quite visual especially when he's talking about the landscape . It is thought that his agricultural background helped towards this.
One example is Yon Wild Mossy Mountain,
 which starts -

Yon wild mossy mountains sae lofty and wide
That nurse in their bosom the youth o' the Clyde,
Where the grouse lead their coveys thro' the heather to feed,
And the shepherd tends his flock as he pipes on his reed.

I watched an interesting programme about the influence that another Scottish poet, Robert Fergusson had on Burns so much so that Burns called him 'my older brother in the muse ' after the tragic death of Fergusson at the age of just 24, Burns commissioned an inscribed headstone to be made as he had been buried in a paupers unmarked grave. It took him several years to pay for it. The grave can still be seen next to Canongate Kirk and a statue of him can be seen walking away from the gates. I've seen this statue a few times but could nt relate to it so I'll pay it more attention next time I pass.
Another Robert was also influenced by Fergusson , Robert Louis Stevenson was about to renovate the grave and add a new inscription but unfortunately he died before it could be carried out.
The Saltire Society added the epitaph to the grave on the society's 50th Anniversary in 1995.