Alloway Kirk, Scotland - Burns Grave

Alloway Kirk, Scotland, postcard, unmailed, splitback. (no year given)





addressed to Mrs. J. P. Estham, Gordon Head PO, Victoria, BC

X Burn's father 6th Sept
Dear Mother: We have been to the Burn's Country & we think it more beautiful than ever. Love to all. M. Alexander

All over the world today Scots of all kinds are celebrating the poet Robbie Burns's 250th birthday.

Robert Burns: 25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796

Above is a photo of Alloway Kirk in South Ayrshire, Scotland, the supposed setting for one of Burns' famous poems, 'Tam O' Shanter', and the resting place of Burns' father, William.

Although William Burns' Alloway headstone mentions Agnes Brown (or Broun), Burn's mother, she was not buried here. Her grave at Bolton in East Lothian, Scotland is being restored by the Grants Braes Burns Club.

Burns himself was buried in St. Michael's churchyard at Dumfries, Scotland on the 25th July, 1796. Some years after his death, a mausoleum was built and, in 1815, his remains were interred there.

Photos of the front and back of William Burn's (or Burnes or Burness) gravestone at Alloway Kirk with transcriptions, Martin J. Galloway, Klickthis: http://www.klickthis.com/article_alloway_auld_kirk.html

Alloway Old Kirk - photos of some of the other interesting headstones (a blacksmith's, maybe a farmer and a miller's) and of two mortsafes, Undiscovered Scotland: http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/alloway/oldkirk/index.html

Graveyard Restoration Project, Grants Braes,The Burns Club: http://www.grantsbraes.org.uk/graveyard-restoration.html

Photo of the Grave of Robert Burns' Mother (Agnes Brown), kevin 76, Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/kevinr/3043727112

1882 photo of Burn's mausoleum, National Burns Collection (search for more images of the mausoleum): http://www.burnsscotland.com/database/record.php?usi=000-000-135-680-C&scache=62acugz7za&searchdb=scran

Funeral of Robert Burns, The Burns Encyclopedia: http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/FuneralofRobertBurnsThe.371.shtml

Image of Burns' funeral procession by W. E. Lockhart, National Library of Scotland : http://www.nls.uk/burns/mainsite/final/final.htm