Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest. January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796; died at 37. Alive at the same time as Napoleon, Ludwig van Beethoven, Immanuel Kant, Carl Linnaeus, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Wiki link