Burns Mausoleum, Dumfries, c 1850

An early monochrome photographic print of Robert Burns' Mausoleum in St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries.   Robert Burns was originally buried in a simple grave, marked only by a plain stone slab. In 1803 when Dorothy and William Wordsworth visited Dumfries they had difficulty in even finding the grave. Burns' admirers came to believe that this was an insufficient memorial to the poet.   In 1813 his friend, John Syme formed a committee and launched an appeal to build a mausoleum in his memory. One of the subscribers was the Prince Regent, later George IV. After a public advertisement, over 50 designs were received and the plans of T F Hunt, a London architect were approved.   This is the earliest known photographic image of the mausoleum. In it are Robert Burns junior and Colonel William Nicol Burns, sons of the poet and Thomas Aird his friend and fellow writer.