Robert Burns - The Borders Tour
Every year on 25 January the world marks the birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland’s great bard who combined poetic genius with a down to earth humanity. His star seems to shine brighter than ever, centuries after his death, and celebrating his life and works has become not on a Scottish tradition, but a global event.
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet who was born in Alloway and passed away in Dumfries. While he spent most of his working life in Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire, his fame led him to travel extensively. In the summer of 1787, he famously embarked on tours of both The Borders and The Highlands, with the latter receiving more attention. However, as a Borders-based blog, I wanted to trace the steps of his Borders tour, celebrate his birthday, and gain a deeper understanding of its impact on the region.
Credit: SSDA/Duncan Ireland
In 1787, Robert Burns set out on an adventure of a lifetime. At the age of 28, Burns had just published the second edition of his poetry in Edinburgh. He decided to embark on a tour of the country, experiencing its stunning landscapes, meeting the locals, and promoting his new book. Accompanying him on this journey was Robert Ainslie, a young lawyer who was familiar with the area due to his family's home near Duns. The two quickly became close friends as they began their journey from Edinburgh on May 5th, 1787. Riding horseback, they made their way through Haddington towards the Lammermuir Hills. The journey across the moorland tops was challenging, travelling via Gifford, Longformacus, and Langton Edge before arriving at Ainslie's family home, Berrywell, just outside Duns. Burns recorded the crossing of the Lammermuir Hills as "miserable and dreary, but at times picturesque." Although harsh, it is a fair description to anyone who has spent time in these hills!
Sunday was a day of rest, and the friends visited Duns Parish Church before beginning the tour again on Monday, 7 May. The destination was Coldstream and it’s bridge across the Tweed, where Burns set foot on English soil for the first time. The account I have unearthed states that Burns was in a state of high emotion when crossing into Northumberland, and he loudly blessed Scotland on his knees.
The evening was spent in Coldstream, before the travellers headed east towards Kelso. Passing through the market town, they followed the Teviot upstream before diverging from the main route to visit a friend of Ainslie’s at Caverton Mill, a farm near Kalemouth. Burns noted in his diaries that this was “fine land” with “magnificence of farmers and farm-house”. The farm is still there, and grows a mixed arable crop including blueberries, broccoli and grains. Returning to the main valley, the horses and riders completed their days travels at Jedburgh, where they were to lodge for three days. They were reputed to have stayed in the Canongate and a stone plaque, unveiled in 1913, commemorates this. While in town Burns was awarded the freedom of the Royal Burgh, another example of how his fame and reputation had spread.
He spent a pleasant few days meeting the great and good of the district, even finding times to visit an old friend out at Wauchope, an area now blanketed in forestry. He left Jeddart to return to Kelso, where he had passed through a few days earlier. This time he stopped, and dined with local farmers. Another friend of his (and sister of one of his wealthy patrons) was Lady Harriet Don. Her residence was Newton Don, near Stichill. The grounds of Newton Don are home to arguably the best waterfall in The Borders, but no record exists of Burns taking a dip!
Continuing their tour of the Borders, Burns and Ainslie braved the rain and visited several historical sites, including the ruined abbeys of Dryburgh and Melrose. Although the inclement weather prevented them from exploring the upper reaches of Ettrick and Yarrow, they followed the River Tweed to Elibank, Innerleithen and Traquair. Burns mentioned Innerleithen in his diary as a "famous spaw," likely referring to the mineral springs that would later be named St. Ronan's Wells after Walter Scott's novel. Although Scott was only a teenager when Burns visited, he apparently did meet him in Edinburgh. Another great local literary figure, James Hogg, would begin his job as a Shepherd at Williamslee, Innerleithen the summer after Burns visit. Innerleithen takes pride in Burns' visit and stay in the town, where he lodged at a now-lost building on the corner of High Street and Chapel Street. In commemoration of his visit, a plaque was installed on the site of his supposed lodgings. Alas, the Burns Club is no more but his visit is a tradition still celebrated today by the Masonic Lodge and Primary School through their annual Burnsian events.
The next day, they retraced their steps down the Tweed River to Galashiels, where they visited the Rhymers Stone (a famous location associated with the story of Thomas the Rhymer) and continued on to Selkirk, where they rested and refreshed themselves before travelling west towards Berwick. This began a series of days spent in Berwickshire, including a visit to Eyemouth where Burns and Ainslie were both initiated as Royal Arch Freemasons of Lodge St. Ebbe No. 70 on Saturday, May 19th. This lodge is one of the oldest and most historic in Scotland, and it holds this association with great pride; visitors can still see a unique illuminated glass window depicting Burns. The image below was taken in November of last year during a visit to this remarkable 18th-century building.
Illuminated window at Lodge St. Ebbe, Eyemouth
Ainslie departed for Edinburgh, leaving Burns to travel to Dunbar, Dunglass and eventually back to Duns with a number of differing companions. From Duns, Burns headed back to Coldstream where he met with Gilbert Kerr, a Kelso farmer who had agreed to travel into the English Border Counties with the poet. After an overnight in Wooler, there were visit’s to Alnwick Castle and Morpeth. On the evening of 29 May he lodged at Newcastle Upon Tyne before heading across the neck of England to Longtown, via Hexham. Curiously, Burns makes no mention of the Roman Wall in his dairies, my guess is he was getting a bit fed up and wanted home by now! He diverted to Carlisle and stayed there on 1 June, before heading home to Dumfries, via Annan.
One place where Burns didn’t make in his tour of The Borders was Hawick. I could not however write this blog without a special mention for the town, and in particular it’s Burns Club. The first President of the club was James Thomson, a farmer from Bowden who was himself a great songwriter. Thomson left us with two enduring Hawick Common Riding songs and ‘The Star of Rabbie Burns’, a rip roaring love letter to Burns which will enliven any Burns Supper!
I hope you have enjoyed this whistlestop tour of Burns’ own tour. As Scots, we continue to hold Burns in high esteem, and the fact that he toured the Borders and cherished his experience is a source of pride. He even, in later years, expressed a desire to retrace his steps, stating, “I once already made a pilgrimage of the whole course of The Tweed, and fondly would I take the same delightful journey down the windings of that charming stream”. But he never did…
I am indebted to the following sources of information: Robert Burns Birthplace museum (Alloway), The Border Magazine (dated 1905, and shared via Electric Scotland), Glasgow University for their excellent online maps of the tours), Lammermuir Life.co.uk and my friend and inspiration Ted McKie for his piece on Burns visit in ‘Cleikum Kist 2’ (2017).
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