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Burns' Cottage Ellisland Farm Dumfries Home

Burns Cottage, Alloway, near Ayr, c 1920

An etching by Alex R Gibson of the cottage where Robert Burns was born

Robert Burns was born at Alloway near Ayr on the 25th January 1759, the eldest of seven children of Agnes and William Burnes. His father was a market gardener, who having acquired a small holding of land, had built this cottage with its whitewashed clay walls and thatched roof with his own hands.

The poet's father sold the cottage in 1781 and it was used as a public house until May 1881. By this time it had become a place of pilgrimage for Burns enthusiasts from around the world. It was purchased for £4,000 by the Trustees of the Burns Monument and opened to the public.

This etching of the cottage was made in the first part of the 20th century when Burns' birthplace had become an established landmark. It shows how the low thatched cottage became incorporated in later developments along the main street of the village.

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