Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), was a Scottish poet and lyricist. A pioneer of the Romantic movement, he is the best known poet to have written in the Scots language, although much of his work is in English or a light dialect, and he is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.
Earning a living as a tenant farmer and, later, an excise collector, Burns was a practicing poet throughout his life. His poetry described and celebrated aspects of farm life, culture, traditions, class issues, and religious practice. As one of the last poets to write in the Scots language, Burns can be seen as the culmination of the Scottish literary tradition dating back to the 1400s.
