Robert Burns was Born 25th January 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the first of seven children born to Agnes Broun and William Burness.

In 1784 he moved to Irvine (just up the coast),  he didn't stay long, as the shop he was working in burnt to the ground. Later he and his brother rented a farm (Mossgeil) in the outskirts of Mauchline, it ended in failure. First Vernacular Poems In 1784 Burns read the works of the Edinburgh poet Robert Fergusson. Under his influence and that of Scottish folk  tradition and older Scottish poetry, he became aware of the literary possibilities of the Scottish regional dialects. During the next two years he  produced most of his best-known poems, including "The Cotter's Saturday Night", "Hallowe'en", "To a Daisy", and "To a Mouse". In addition, he wrote "The Jolly Beggars", a cantata chiefly in standard English, which is considered one of his  masterpieces. Several of his early poems, notably "Holy Willie's Prayer", satirized local ecclesiastical squabbles and attacked Calvinist theology, bringing him into conflict with the church. Social Notoriety Burns further  angered church authorities by having several indiscreet love affairs. In 1785 he fell in love with Jean Armour, the daughter of a Mauchline building contractor. Jean soon became pregnant, and although Burns offered to make her his wife, her  father forbade their marriage. Thereupon (1786) he prepared to immigrate to the West Indies. Before departing he arranged to issue by subscription a collection of his poetry. Published on July 31 in Kilmarnock in an edition of 600 copies, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was an immediate success. In September Burns abandoned the West Indies plan; the same month Jean became the mother of twins. He moved in the fall of 1786 to Edinburgh, where he was lionized by fashionable society. Charmed by Burns, the literati mistakenly believed him to be an untutored bard, a "Heavens-taught Plowman." He resented their condescension, and his bristling independence, blunt manner of speech, and occasional social awkwardness alienated admirers. He contributed some 200 songs to Scots Musical Museum (6 vol., 1783-1803), a project initiated by the engraver and music publisher James Johnson. Beginning in 1792 Burns wrote about 100 songs and some humorous verse for Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs, compiled by George Thomson. Among his songs in this collection are such  favorites as "Auld Lang Syne", "Comin' Thro' the Rye", "Scots Wha Hae", "A Red,  Red Rose", "The Banks o' Doon", and "John Anderson, My Jo".

Robert Burns died in Dumfries, July 21,  1796.