Magic Lantern Slide with Photograph of Poosie Nansie's Inn, Mauchline

"Poosie Nansie's Hostelry, Mauchline", a sepia photographic image of the inn, with its thatched roof.   In Robert Burns' time this inn, situated in the Cowgate of Mauchline, was owned by Mrs. Agnes Gibson, known as "Poosie Nansie".  Burns was a regular at the inn, despite it being frequented by beggars and "gangrel bodies".  It is the setting of Burns' work, "The Jolly Beggars - a Cantata".   Burns was drinking with his friend John Richmond in Poosie Nansie's on the night he saw the "merry core" of beggars that inspired his work. The cantata, sometimes known by its alternative title of "Love and Liberty" is an extended piece, written with the intention of it being performed on stage.   Because of its associations with Burns and his "Jolly Beggars", Poosie Nansie's inn became a landmark for those visiting Burns' haunts in the latter part of the 19th Century; hence the inclusion of this magic lantern slide in a presentation on "Burns' Country."