Robert Burns Ellisland Museum & Farm
About This Museum
It's a little-known fact that Robert Burns, Scotland's national bard, wrote some of his most enduring works—including 'Auld Lang Syne'—not in a romantic garret but while up to his ankles in farmyard muck. Ellisland was his final, desperate gamble on making a living from the land, a dream that soured quickly but left an indelible creative mark. Today, the whitewashed farmhouse and outbuildings don't feel like a sterile museum but a place simply paused in time. You can almost hear the clatter of pails and the poet's frustrated sighs drifting from the byre where he composed.
Collection Highlights
The real treasures are the humble, personal objects: his spectacles, a delicate wine glass, and the original farm desk where he scratched out verses between account ledgers. Don't miss the poignant manuscript of 'A Man's A Man For A' That,' its lines feeling like a direct challenge issued from this very soil.
Visitor Information
Come prepared for a proper farm visit—wear sturdy shoes. The best time is when the resident sheep are grazing the same fields Burns once tended, making the connection to his world feel wonderfully immediate.
Architecture & Building
A classic late 18th-century Scottish vernacular farmstead; think unpretentious white-harled stone walls and a slate roof, built for pure function over form.
Contact & Location
Address: Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Alba / Scotland, DG1 2BH, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1387 740426
Website: Visit Website
