Postcard of a colour tinted photograph of Burns Cottage, Alloway

"Burns Cottage, Ayr". A coloured lithographic postcard of the cottage in which Robert Burns was born.   Robert Burns was born at Alloway near Ayr on the 25th January 1759, the eldest of seven children of Agnes and William Burnes. His father was a market gardener, who, having acquired a small holding of land, had built this cottage with its whitewashed clay walls and thatched roof with his own hands.   The poet's father sold the cottage in 1781 and it was used as a public house until May 1881. By this time it had become a place of pilgrimage for Burns enthusiasts from around the world. It was purchased for £4,000 by the Trustees of the National Burns Monument and opened to the public.   Burns' birthplace and the National Burns Monument Gardens at Alloway were a  landmark for those visiting "Burns' Country" at the time this postcard was published by Raphael Tuck and Sons. This company published many early postcards, the printing technique used for this one is described as  "Rapholette Glosso".