The Legacy Of Robert Burns By People around the world sing his song “Auld Lang Syne” at Hogmanay/New Year. Of non-religious figures he comes second only to Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus in the number of statues dedicated to him worldwide. We have one outside our office! His poetry has orbited Earth 217 times, making it literally out of this world! So who was Robert Burns and why do we celebrate him on his birthday each year? The “Heaven-taught ploughman” Robert Burns wasn’t the most likely candidate to become the National Bard of Scotland. He was born into a poor farming family in Alloway in 1759, the oldest of seven children. His parents saw how intelligent he was and gave him the best education they could.