Burns, Robert.

Scottish Poet and member of several Masonic lodges in his native land, was born near Ayr, Scotland, Jan. 25, 1759 and died at Dumfries, July 21, 1796. His father, William Burns, or Burness, was a poor gardener or nurseryman. Robert was the eldest of seven children, and by the time he was 16 years old, he was doing a man’s work in helping to support the family. Somehow, he secured a good education, much of which he acquired from his father, who was a man of intelligence, and much piety, although not successful in his struggle with poverty. In 1786, at the age of 27, Burns published his first book of poems, which he had then been writing for about ten years. This met with such immediate success that he was at once thrown into the company of some of the literary celebrities of Scotland.

He was made a Mason, July 4, 1781 in St. David’s Lodge in Tarbolton, Scotland, and held the position of Depute Master of the lodge until about 1788. In 1786, Burns joined St. John’s Kilwinning Lodge at Kilmarnock and later that same year, was made an honorary member of St. John’s Lodge No. 22 at Kilmarnock, which designated him as its Poet. Feb. 1, 1787, he became a member of Canongate Kilwinning Lodge No. 2 at Edinburgh, which is said to have created Burns its Poet Laureate on March 1, 1787. This latter event, after having passed current for many years, was disputed in 1925 by Dudley Wright, who pointed out that the minutes of the Lodge for March 1, 1787 show only the routine business transactions, and that Burns was not even recorded as present. The supposed scene of the assembled members engaged in the ceremony of creating Burns Poet Laureate was painted by Stewart Watson and presented to the Grand Lodge of Scotland, but even that is disquieting, for it contains the portraits of some members known not to have been present and of one who is said not to have become a Freemason until 4 years later. On May 19, 1787, Burns was exalted to the degree of Royal Arch Mason. In 1788, he was made a member of St. Andrew’s Lodge No. 179, Dumfries. He died at the age of 37 years.