Rabbie Burns ignored friend’s advice not to write in ‘limiting’ Scots

The Guardian

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Independent: Scott Trust Limited

Robert Burns letters reveal poet was advised not to write in Scots dialect

Burns warned use of dialect would alienate London readers in letter that forms part of major project by University of GlasgowScotland’s beloved son and national bard Robert Burns has done more than any other poet to export the 18th-century Scottish dialect around the world, through the new year classic Auld Lang Syne and his other famous works.His lyrics, such as “we twa hae run about the braes/and pou’d the gowans fine”, may be incomprehensible…