JOURNAL
O my Luve’s like a red, red rose
With Burns Night on the 25th January celebrating the birthday of Robert Burns, who better to quote on life and love than the National Bard himself.
Robert Burns pursued love as energetically as he did poetry, and his passion for women defined his life and work in equal measure. Indeed, love inspired Burns to write:
'For my own part I never had the least thought or inclination of turning Poet till I got heartily in Love, and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.'
Burns’s passion for Scotland and its cultural traditions came to the fore during the last decade of his life, when he worked on The Scots Musical Museum and A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs. Putting words to traditional folk songs as well as composing his own tunes, Burns contributed hundreds of songs and lyrical poems to these volumes, including ‘Auld Lang Syne’, ‘A Red, Red Rose’ and ‘A Man’s a Man for A’ That’.
Burns’s legacy lives on around the world and it is now traditional to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ when seeing in the New Year in many countries. And to celebrate the birthday of our greatest poet on 25th January, we hope you will join us in celebrating Burns Night with poetry, haggis and whisky.
But no Burns Supper is complete without a toast to, and a reply from, the Lassies. This usually involves a bit of light-hearted ribbing from one gender to the other. There is no doubt that Burns was attracted to the lassies. It could be argued that, for him, it was a fatal attraction, as his heart and desires were often pulled in more than one direction. It certainly couldn't be said of him that his affairs of the heart were kept in order!
However, his legacy, is a remarkable canon of love poetry that spans the gamut of emotions. Burns travelled far and wide in the realm of the heart during his brief 37 years.
When you next visit Cringletie, perhaps for a romantic break, you can stock up on haggis from the award winning Fortyth of Peebles, our local butchers on Peebles High Street. For Whisky there are excellent distillery tours close by including The Borders Distillery in Hawick and Glenkinchie in Pentcaitland. Don’t miss Cringleties incredible Romantic Escapes.