Manuscripts
Among some of the most prized exhibits of the collections
of Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway are some surviving
manuscripts written in Burns' own hand and by his family, friends
and contemporaries. It is fitting that the museums in the area have
managed to keep these most important of all the relics related to
the poet in the area where he was born, worked, socialised and
died; not least because very many of them were inspired by and
reflect the character of the regions people, their society and the
landscape both urban and rural that he knew so well. Many
manuscripts also survive which relate to Burns but which were
written not by the poet himself but by his family, associates and
admirers, this gallery also contains a selection of these
letters.
Many of the letters presented here are from the
19th Century written as local luminaries set up Burns clubs and
attempt to hold annual celebrations to mark the Bard's birthday,
now nationally celebrated on January 25th; Burns Night.
