Burns belongs to Glasgow!

Robert Burns had a long and lasting relationship with the City of Glasgow.

Although Burns never lived in the City, the old streets around Glasgow Cross and the Trongate echo with his memory. He had many friends in Glasgow including Dr. John Moore, Burns’ friend and mentor, who received a number of letters from the poet. Some of Burns friends from Ayrshire later lived in Glasgow and he kept contact either by letter or by a personal visit whenever he came to the city.

Burns also had connections with Glasgow in matters of the heart. It was here that he met Anna Park who bore him a daughter, Elizabeth Park Burns, in 1791. Probably the most lasting romantic connection Burns had with the City was his relationship with Agnes McLehose. Their strong friendship resulted in a series of letters and poems in which she was named Clarinda and Burns was Sylvander. Some of Burns' finest songs were written with Clarinda in mind, and she inspired his immortal love song of parting, Ae Fond Kiss.

George Square, in the city centre, is the site of Glasgow’s finest sculpture of the Bard. It was supported by a shilling subscription from more than 40,000 Glaswegians. The sculptor, George Edwin Ewing, was a Glasgow man and he worked his likeness from the famous portraits of Robert Burns by Nasmyth. The statue was unveiled in 1877 by a relative of one of Burns’ lassies, Highland Mary.

On the west corner of Argyle Street and Glassford Street The Black Bull Inn was founded by the Highland Gaelic Society in 1759, and of all of Glasgow’s sites, it has the most intimate connections with Robert Burns. The hotel was an important stagecoach post and stood where Marks & Spencers now stands. Of the five recorded visits that Robert Burns made to Glasgow, we know from his letters that he stayed at the Black Bull Inn at least twice. Glassford Street was also resident to the historic Shawfield Mansion, built by Daniel Campbell in 1711. In 1746, four decades before Burns visits to Glasgow, the Shawfield Mansion had played host to Bonnie Prince Charlie en route to the ill-fated Culloden. Burns wrote a number of poems about Charlie, his family and the Jacobite cause, including ‘The Bonny Lass o’ Albany’ and The Highland Widows lament. Perhaps his visits to the Black Bull Inn, run by a Highland society, helped to inspire his work?

Even Glasgow Cathedral has a connection with Robert Burns. In 1996, for the bi-centenary commemorations, Glasgow Cathedral was presented with a set of Elders chairs. Engraved with a Mouse, a sheaf of corn, a sheep and a rose, these chairs are now on open display in the chapterhouse.

So, take a tour around the City and visit some of the special sites connected with Robert Burns.