ROBERT BURNS 1759-1796 In California, today is still January 25, and it's still the 25th in Scotland, which is noted singularly as the birthday of Robert Burns, who was born January 25,1759 in Alloway, Ayr, and died July 21, 1796, 37 years later in Dumfries. As close to his birthday as possible, there are literally thousands of Burns Suppers held around the world, with one Burns Club in Australia boasting the largest membership, and thereby attendance at a Burns Night. Additionally, there is a statue of Robert Burns in the forecourt in the State Library of South Australia, which was presented to the City of Adelaide by the South Australian Caledonian Society in 1894, 98 years after the death of Burns. The sculptor was William Maxwell who came from Glasgow. According to the article the statue is reputed to be artistically one of the best memorial statues of the 56 or so established in cities around the world. I no longer attend Robert Burns Suppers locally as the focus is on performances by a bagpipe band rather than who Robert Burns was, his works, and what he did for Scottish culture and the Scots tongue. I satisfy my need to know more about the bard by reading from cover to cover the pages of the Burns Chronicle, a publication of the Robert Burns World Federation. A couple of articles in the Winter edition caught my eye, one detailing the family, relations and close friends of Robert Burns, and the other outlining the bard's family tree which begins with Walter (Burnes) 1670, great-great-grandfather of Robert Burns. One side of the tree ends at Robert Burns 1796 as his male offspring spawned no males to carry on his line, while Robert's father's brother's male children continued producing males until 1898. In 1910 the Ruxton name is inserted, obviously born to someone on the distaff side. What is missing in this whole tree? Pure and simply a wifie. Not one single female name is on the tree. How can you be born without a wee wifie as part of the equation of one plus one? ☺☺☺ Lawrence R. Burness gifted to the (Burns) Federation his entire collection of material related to his genealogical study of Robert Burns, his ancestors, descendants and associates...he devoted his life to researching the genealogy of the Poet and studying his life and works....the tree showing the connection of the researcher back to Walter Burness who died in 1670. This omission of females on the tree is a little bit ironic in light of Burns's own proclivity for the fair sex. Depending on who is writing his biography, Burns had 13 or 12 children to five or four women, among whom are nine children to his wife Jean Armour. Of the children he seeded three were named Elizabeth. The first Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Paton. Burns was quite taken by the baby and referred to her as Dear-Bought Bess. He would then pen the poem 'A Poet's Welcome to his Love-begotten Daughter'. Bess was brought up by his mother until her own mother Elizabeth Paton later married. Burns "dun good" by Dear-Bought Bess by making a payment to the mother. Later, he made arrangements with his brother Gilbert to bring Bess up as his own as he was planning to leave for the West Indies. .His plans were aborted, however, with the publication of the Kilmarnock Edition. After Robert Burns's death, an agreement was reached that when she became 21 she was to receive £200 from money raised to support the Burns' family. . The last descendant of Robert Burns and Jean Armour to their eldest son Robert ( 1786-1857) was Jean Armour Burns Brown, who died in 1937. All living descendants of Robert Burns and Jean Armour descend from their granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth Maitland Tombs Burns (1821-1909), daughter of their fourth son James Glencairn Burns (1794-1865). Given the last paragraph, women did play an important role in carrying on the genes of Robert Burns (and Jean Armour), and so the omission of women from the genealogy-researcher Leonard Burness's family tree is bewildering. Sir Walter Scott considered the following lines the most beautiful love song ever written...to a lassie, written for Agnes McLehose -- Clarinda: Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae fareweel, and then for ever! Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee, Who shall say that Fortune grieves him, While the star of hope she leaves him? Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me; Dark despair around benights me. Happy birthday, Robbie! Maisie