Coming soon! - Robert Burns Birthplace Museum Collections Online

The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum holds the world’s largest collection of artefacts relating to Scotland’s best known bard.  Our collections include over 5,500 manuscripts, books, personal artefacts, & artworks relating to Robert Burns and his legacy.

Soon you will be able to view and learn about these collections and Robert Burns online for the first time.  To Your Mouse will provide a rich, multimedia experience that will allow you browse the objects that reveal so much about the man behind the myth.

You will also be able to search our online collections database and learn about specific items we hold.

Be sure to check back soon, as To Your Mouse is currently under development and due to launch in 2012.

In the meantime, please explore a selection of our intriguing artefacts below:

Identity

This ivory and silk umbrella is said to have belonged to Robert Burns.

Inspiration

This pair of spectacles belonged to Isabella Steven, also known as Tibbie, who lived in Littlehill by Lochlea, Ayrshire.  Her father farmed near Robert Burns, and she is said to be the heroine of the poem ‘ O Tibbie I hae seen the day’.

Life

Robert Burns had a life-long interest in music, especially traditional Scottish song.  This cittern was said to have belonged to the poet.  A cittern is similar in shape and sound to a mandolin.

Fame

Burns’s fame increased dramatically in the decades after his death.   This photo, taken 100 years after his death in 1796, depicts Burns Cottage festooned in garlands of flowers to mark the occasion.  Two Victorian ladies, direct descendants of the poet, pose in formal dress.

To Your Mouse is supported by Museums Galleries Scotland through the Recognition Fund for Collections of National Significance.