Robert Burns' Cottage

Yesterday hubby and I visited the cottage where Robert Burns (1759-1796), Scotland's national poet, was born.  It is now part of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum run by the National Trust for Scotland in Alloway in Ayrshire.  It is a wonderful place to visit if you are in the area.  

My favourite part of the visit was seeing the actual cottage where Burns was born.  With its thatched roof, it has been restored to how it might have looked in the 18th century.  I loved the atmosphere of the place.

There's even a chair with a quote from Burns' poem The Cotter's Saturday Night "The Mother wi her needle and her shears, gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new".  I don't think it needs translating and is a wonderful testament to stitchers.

I found this little baby gown quite touching - there's one for all Burns' siblings.

There are some hornbooks on the kitchen table - it is from these that children learned their alphabet and other essentials.  Once these printed alphabets were protected by a layer of animal horn so thin that was see-through!

The cottage also has a lovely little kitchen garden which is well looked after.

The actual museum is a little fit further away from the cottage and has a cafe and gift shop.  There are some wonderful exhibits of Burns' work here.

An interesting and worthwhile day out!

Love, Liz