Father of the Bard

As its contribution to the Year of the Homecoming 2009, Stonehaven Heritage Society has created a new website that highlights the life and times of William Burnes.

The new website is spilt into nine categories allowing a broad glimpse into the life and times of Burns’ father in the early part of the 18th Century. Categories cover: work, food, dress, politics, song, dance and the telling of tales. A special feature is the online Forum allowing those with an interest in Burns and his forebears to post comments and chat. Content contributors will be clients of the Forrest View Centre in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire Council’s Father of the Bard working groups under their Project Manager Dave Ramsay and local primary schools. ICT visiting specialist teacher for Stonehaven area Ms Jean Forsyth commented: “It is an ideal context for local children to access local Scottish history and the life and works of Robert Burns’ forebears as well as the bard himself. It shows how much Burns was influenced in his poetry by the land and the farming culture, and by his father, grandfather and great grandfather, who were all Stonehaven farmers.