The Romantic
Robert Burns is Scotland’s national poet — a farmer, lyricist and storyteller whose words gave voice to a nation. Born in 1759 in Alloway, Burns travelled through the Highlands, taking in its landscapes, people and traditions, all of which found their way into his writing. He captured the humour, hardship, love and spirit of ordinary folk, writing in both Scots and English at a time when Scotland was redefining itself. From Auld Lang Syne to Tam o’ Shanter, his work has travelled the world, making him not just a poet of Scotland, but a poet of humanity.
The MacGregor Story
Now here’s a man who spoke the truth — and didn’t dress it up. Burns believed, deeply, that people mattered. Not titles, not wealth, not the old systems that favoured the few while the many carried the burden. He saw a Scotland where ordinary folk were too often overlooked, where power sat with those who hadn’t earned it, and he wasn’t shy about calling it out. His words pushed back against inequality, against the idea that status made a person better than another — because to Burns, it didn’t. A man’s a man for a’ that.
And when he came north into the Highlands, he didn’t just pass through — he listened. He took in the music, the stories, the resilience of people living on the edge of change, and he carried that with him. There’s no direct MacGregor blood in his line, but the connection runs deeper than a name. Because the MacGregor story — one of defiance, resilience, and standing firm against authority — is the very same spirit Burns wrote about.
That’s why his work still hits home. Because it’s not just poetry — it’s principle. It’s fairness, identity, and a belief in something better. And that’s what we celebrate here. Not just the songs and the verses, but the spirit behind them — bold, honest, and proudly for the people.