Robert Burns letters reveal poet was advised not to write in Scots

Burns told use of Scots language would alienate London readers in letter that forms part of University of Glasgow project

Scotland’s beloved son and national bard Robert Burns has done more than any other poet to export the 18th-century Scots language around the world, through the new year classic Auld Lang Syne and his other famous works.

His lyrics, such as “we twa hae run about the braes/and pou’d the gowans fine”, may be incomprehensible to many, but the fame and influence of a man annually celebrated on 25 January has endured over more than two centuries.