# Robert Burns at 250: Poetry, Politics and Performance: Day Two, Session 1.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, the American Folklife Center, in collaboration with the Scottish government as part of its Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebration, presented a free public symposium on Burns' life and work, as well as his impact on America and American culture. A panel discussion titled "Burns and His World" kicked off the second day of the symposium. Speakers included Nat Edwards, from the National Library of Scotland, who gave an overview of Burns' life and career; Ted Cowan, University of Glasgow professor of Scottish history, compared and contrasted "18th Century Scotland and 18th Century America"; and a presentation on "Robert Burns and the Scots Language" was given by documentarian Billy Kay, author of the influential history of the Scots language, "Scots: The Mither Tongue."

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2009
- By: American Folklife Center
- Genres: History, Music
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688193/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021688193?play=1)