Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

James Tannock would have been 2 years old when the first edition of Burns'  Poems was printed in his own town, Kilmarnock.  Tannock has based his portrait on Alexander Nasmyth's famous painting of the poet. That painting shows only Burns's head and shoulders but Tannock has added in his body and has placed a copy of the first edition of his poems in his hands. Tannock also produced a more exact copy of the Nasmyth portrait and this also belongs in the collection at the Dick Institute.   Part of the James McKie Collection.