In this Episode I talk about my up coming shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Yes, I'm taking Burns Banter to Edinburgh and will be performing upstairs in The Pear Tree. The venue is called The Counting House and the room is called The Attic. I'm on from the 16th to the 25th, (not the 24th), 10.30am till 11.30am each day. The show is called 'Burns Banter Live' and is basically an hour long episode of this podcast with extra stories, songs, quizzes and even a few jokes. Yes, jokes about Robert Burns - I'd love to see you there! It's a free show, you can't book tickets, just turn up early on the day as its first come first served. I can't wait!!

In this episode we look at how, why and when Robert published his book, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. We look at the problems he had to overcome before John Wilson agreed to publish the book. We look at the poems and songs in the book, such as, Twa Dogs, A Tale - The Cotters Saturday Night, To a mouse and Composed in August. We see how the public reaction to the book affected him and the direction his life was taking. Specifically we look at his decision not to go to Jamacia and the reasons why he stayed in Scotland. We end the episode by reciting the poem Composed in August, also known as Now Westlin Winds and Slaughtering Guns.

In this episode we look briefly at Robert's father, William - Then a Farm called Mossgiel - Roberts turbulent private life and a book called 'Poem Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'. This is a wild and unpredictable time in Roberts life, (roughly 1784 - 1786). His father passes away in 1784, they need to move to a new farm, Mossgiel, and as Robert is the eldest son, he is now the head of the family. This responsibility does not sit well on his shoulders and he needs a lot of help from his brother Gilbert. At this point in his life he is very interested in women and we talk about four in particular. Elizabeth Paton, Helen Miller, Jean Armour and Mary Campbell, (Known as 'Highland Mary' - even although her real name was actually Margret!). Robert is now in a bit of trouble and decides to emigrate to Jamaica...