Mount Oliphant (1)

William Burns, the poet's father, rented the farm of Mount Oliphant in 1766 and it w,,as here that Robert Burns and his brother, Gilbert, spent much of their childhood. His father, a poor farmer, invested in education for his sons by pooling his meagre finances with other neighbouring farmers and together they hired a schoolteacher for the children of the local farming community. Under this teacher, John Murdoch, Burns would be inspired to start writing poetry. It was the nature of the heavy physical work on the farm at Mount Oliphant however which created the conditions which led to Burns developing the rheumatic fever which would ultimately end his life at such an early age.