Robert Burns & Burns Night in Scotland: A Celebration of Heritage, Poetry, and The Gallant Weaver

There are few names as woven into Scotland’s cultural fabric as Robert Burns.

Each year, on the 25th of January, Scotland pauses to honour its national poet. Not with quiet ceremony, but with warmth, storytelling, and tradition. Burns Night is a celebration of language and legacy, of music and memory, of craft and character. A night where poetry is not confined to the page, but spoken aloud, shared across tables, and carried forward through generations.

From the glow of candlelight at a Burns Supper to the sound of song in the air, Burns Night remains one of Scotland’s most enduring traditions - and one that continues to inspire makers, artists, and storytellers today.

Who was Robert Burns?

Born in Alloway, Ayrshire (1759–1796), Robert Burns became one of Scotland’s most beloved literary figures, admired not only for his skill with words, but for his ability to capture the heart of Scottish life.

Burns wrote with a rare blend of wit, tenderness, and truth. His work celebrates love and landscape, humour and hardship, and the unmistakable spirit of a nation that has always valued both pride and humility. Many of his poems and songs remain part of Scotland’s living culture, recited and sung as naturally now as they were centuries ago.

Burns is not simply remembered - he is kept alive through tradition.

What is Burns Night in Scotland?

Burns Night is held annually on or around 25th January, marking the birthday of Robert Burns. It is traditionally celebrated with a Burns Supper, where friends and family gather to enjoy food, poetry, music, and a sense of shared Scottish identity.

A classic Burns Supper often includes:

• The Selkirk Grace

• The ceremonial Address to a Haggis

• A meal of haggis, neeps and tatties

• Readings of Burns’ poetry

• Toasts, speeches, and song

But beyond the formalities, Burns Night is about something deeper: belonging. A celebration of heritage that feels both timeless and immediate - as relevant now as it was then.

Poetry, place, and the enduring beauty of craft

Burns wrote about people as they were and as they are. Farmers, workers, lovers, characters you can still recognise today. His words carry the texture of Scotland: honest, spirited, and grounded.

That same sense of continuity exists within Scotland’s craft traditions, especially in textiles, where time and skill are measured not in moments, but in generations.

Weaving has long been part of Scotland’s story: a craft shaped by patience, rhythm, and precision. It is both practical and poetic, a quiet mastery that transforms raw fibre into something lasting.

And in that way, it sits beautifully alongside Burns.

The Gallant Weaver, by Robert Burns

Among Burns’ many works, The Gallant Weaver stands out as a playful tribute to a skilled tradesman - a weaver with charm, confidence, and an irresistible pull.

Here is the poem:

The Gallant Weaver
by Robert Burns

Where Cart rins rowin’ to the sea,
By mony a flower and spreading tree,
There lives a lad, the lad for me,
He is a gallant weaver.

O I had wooers aught or nine,
They gied me rings and ribbons fine,
And I was fear’d my heart wad tine,
And I gied it to the weaver.

My daddie sign’d my tocher-band,
To gie the lad that has the land;
But to my heart I’ll add my hand,
And give it to the weaver.

While birds rejoice in leafy bowers,
While bees hum round in breathing flowers,
While corn grows green in summer showers,
I’ll love my gallant weaver.

What is The Gallant Weaver about?

At its heart, The Gallant Weaver is a love story, but it’s also a celebration of something unmistakably Burns: choosing character over status.

The narrator is pursued by suitors offering gifts and security, yet she gives her heart to the weaver — not for what he owns, but for who he is.

It speaks to:

• Love over wealth

• Craftsmanship and confidence

• The romance of the everyday

• The quiet power of a skilled trade

There’s charm in its rhythm, warmth in its voice, and a timelessness that feels perfectly at home in the world of Scottish making.

A weaving film for Burns Night

To mark Burns Night, we wanted to create something that feels true to Scotland - not just a celebration of poetry, but of the heritage it represents.

Below, you’ll find a short weaving film set to The Gallant Weaver: a tribute to the craft, the rhythm, and the artistry that has shaped Scotland for centuries.

A moment of tradition, captured in motion.

Watch the film below