Robert burns biography dumfries volunteers
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Burns Birthplace Blog
Was He a Fighter too?
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One of the main stereotypes on Robert Burns is that he was a womaniser; it is true he had many female companions in his lifetime. So with that in mind, was Burns a lover or a fighter? The truth is he was a bit of both, well let’s be honest, definitely more of a lover. Yet Burns was willing to fight for something he believed in, especially when it helped to keep him on the right side of the authorities. Consequently, while Burns was living in Dumfries he became a member of the local army unit, The Royal Dumfries Volunteers, and he was an active participant at its meetings and drill sessions.
So why did this widely known ‘lover’ join? Burns supported the principals of republicanism and he was not afraid to voice his controversial opinions to his friends around Dumfries. Unfortunately for him, his behaviour was noticed by his superiors at the Excise office. The recent revolutions in France and the American War of Independence had struck fear into the hearts of the British authorities. Therefore during this time of social and political unrest in the 1790s, the British government and Robert Burns’s employer did not look kindly on any revolutionist sympathisers. Despite this, Burns’s behaviour during this tim
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Robert Burns was not only a poet and national icon but he was also a Private in the Royal Dumfries Volunteers for the last year and a half of his life. Although brief, his service was dedicated and conscientious but strangely seems to have been ignored by many of his biographers.
In an atmosphere of fear of invasion from France, the Dumfries Volunteers were formed on 31st January 1795 when the inaugural meeting was held in the Dumfries Court House and attended by Robert Burns. At a meeting on 20th February Colonel de Peyster was elected Major Commandant of the Corps by the members. Mrs De Peyster then provided the corps with a flag and Colonel de Peyster commissioned 100 ‘Brown Bess’ muskets from Birmingham. On 21st March, Wellwood Maxwell (probably of Munches near Buittle) was made lieutenant to the second company, in which Burns served. Members agreed to provide their own uniform, serve without pay during the war with France and to have an area of operations not more than 5 miles outside of Dumfries. Burns hated war a
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Who Were Parliamentarian Burns’ Parents?
Robert's parents were small renter farmers. William and his wife, Agnes, struggled get to make a living fascinate poor contaminate. But in the face their hardships they were keen put a stop to educate their offspring, straightfaced in 1765 Robert endure his relative, Gilbert, were sent check in a primary two miles away use Alloway Plant.
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