Q-Aye – Burns Edition Part 2

By Gayle Anderson -

Mair facts about the Bard himself and his influence around the world…

6. Burns body was exhumed in 1815 to be placed in a new mausoleum in Dumfries. Whilst his body was above ground, a plaster cast of his skull was taken for study. The skull was measured and discovered to be bigger than the average man’s.

7. A translation of ‘My Heart’s in the Highlands’ was adopted as the marching song of the Chinese resistance fighters in the Second World War.

8. After Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, Robert Burns has more statues dedicated to him around the world than any other non-religious figure. A statue of Burns in Camperdown, Australia, is thought to be the oldest existing statue of the poet anywhere in the world.

9. In 1996, a musical chronicling his life called Red Red Rose won third place at a competition for new musicals in Denmark. Burns was played by John Barrowman.

10. Beethoven had a go at writing a melody for the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne! His score is on display in the Burns Room at Glasgow’s Mitchell Street Library.