Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Burns was no stranger to financial woes; at one point, he agreed to sail to Jamaica to work as a bookkeeper on a plantation. For various reasons, however, he never made the trip, to which we say, sorry buddy, we hear Sandals is awesome. (Source.)
Robert Burns was a lusty fellow; he had a number of love affairs, and apparently fathered a large number of children (some say ten, some say fourteen).
At one point in his life, Burns worked as an exciseman, i.e. somebody in charge of making sure people paid their taxes (especially on alcohol). (Source.)
In 2009, Robert Burns was voted The Greatest Scot of all time by STV (a Scottish television network) viewers. He narrowly beat William Wallace (you know the guy Mel Gibson played in Braveheart?) (Source.)
The title of John Steinbeck's famous novel—Of Mice and Men (1937)—is from a Burns poem called "To a Mouse."
The great American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan once stated that "A Red, Red Rose" was the lyric or verse that has had the biggest effect on his life. (Source.)