In His Own Hand

Kirsty Souter steps into The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, where Burns's handwritten letters keep his legacy alive for new generations

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EVERYONE is familiar with the trials of holidaying with friends or family. Unexpected situations when travelling can shake the closest bonds. Just ask Scotland’s Bard.

In September 1787, at Townfield House in Angus, Robert Burns was greatly put out by friend William Nicol and another member of the party who joined him on his tour of the Highlands.

“Mr Nicol and Mr Carnegie have taken some freak in their head, and wakened me just now with the rattling of the chaise,” Burns wrote, complaining that the others wanted to change their planned route and leave before breakfast. “I must go, which makes me very sorry.”