Robert Burns January 1759 to July 1796

On 25th January, the birth of Robert Burns in 1759 will be celebrated throughout the world and not just by Scots.  But what has this to do with digital marketing? 

Well, as you might expect ‘there’s an app for that’.  Apple offers a free iphone app to help you plan and enjoy Burns night.  Its features range from an autocue of the epic poem Tam o' Shanter to a built-in compass which will point you to Alloway, Robert Burns' birthplace.  This allows you to face the right direction when raising your toast to his Immortal Memory from anywhere in the world!

System Concepts will once again use the opportunity for a ‘Burns Supper’ an internal team building event.  Somehow, free flowing whisky sounds a bit risky for a client facing party!

But part of Burns international appeal is that his poems reveal an enduring insight into human behaviour. 

He was not anti-religious although his ‘love of the ladies’ and whisky did lead him into trouble with the ‘kirk’ (church) on occasion.  But he did have a major problem with hypocrites and Holy Willies Prayer  is a powerful condemnation of one Willie Fisher whose sanctimonious stance is ruthlessly exposed.  In those days, the poem was nailed to the church door for all to see, but I am certain it would have gone viral nowadays. 

In his day, Burns was recognised as a powerful thinker and advocate of equality and liberty – across the channel the French Revolution was shaking up Europe.  One of his most powerful poems, A mans a man for a’that, ends with the belief that one day sense and worth will prevail and:

That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

We are not quite there yet but Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for the world wide web has always been about free communication between people around the world.  I do not think it fanciful to consider Burns an early pioneer in the use of the mass communication technology of his day (printed books of poems) to change attitudes and improve society.

He has had a major impact on the world and was even feted in his own lifetime.  More than 10,000 people paid their respects at his funeral (he died at the tragically early age of 37).  The existence of the Burns App seems to me to be somehow appropriate for this original thinker and poet.