Burns heralded

Robert Burns wanted his own Coat of Arms so much, he planned out each detail. Now, 225 years after his death, his wish has come true

Poet, writer, clairvoyant? Perhaps Robert Burns could foresee his future legacy and know that one day, his fame and significance in the hearts of Scotland would far outreach the achievements of his lifetime, or maybe, he was just a wishful thinker.

Either way, when he wrote to Alexander Cunningham on 3 March 1794, detailing how he would like his Coat of Arms to appear, he was very specific: “I am a bit of a herald, and shall give you, secundum artem, my arms: On a field azure a holly-bushseeded, proper; in base a shepherd’s pipe and crook saltier-wise, also proper, in chief.

“On a wreath of the colours a woodlark perching on a sprig of bay-tree, proper, for crest. Two mottoes-round the top of the crest, ‘Wood-notes wild’; at the bottom of the shield, in the usual place, ‘Better a wee bush-than nae bield.’

“By the shepherd’s pipe and crook, I do not mean the nonsense of painters of Arcadia, but a stock and horn and a Club, such as you see at the head of Allan Ramsay in Allan’s quarto edition of the Gentle Shepherd.”

Sadly, in his lifetime, Burns never received his achievement, but now an official Coat of Arms has been granted, exactly as Burns envisaged it, with a few other elements added that show how his status has grown posthumously.

The Coat of Arms is the result of a petition by the Robert Burns World Federation (RBWF), an international literary

society, and it is the only official Burns Coat of Arms in the world granted to the Bard himself, ensuring he is now legally seen as an honourable gentleman in the Kingdom of Scotland.

The petition was first made in May 2021, shortly after the Lord Lyon, Dr Joseph J Morrow, hosted a lecture over Zoom for the Greenock Burns Club – the oldest Burns’ club in the world – which was attended by the RBWF’s then president Marc Sherland and senior vice president Henry Cairney, as well as the junior vice president at the time – Alan Beck.

Beck, now senior vice president, under Henry Cairney as the current president of RBWF, recalls: “It would be fair to say that Dr Morrow, himself a fervent Burnsian, dropped quite a few hints about the sad fact that not only had Burns died before he could petition the Lyon Court for a Grant of Arms, but also that no one had petitioned posthumously on his behalf.”

A crowd-funding campaign was launched across Burns

clubs and, remarkably, by September the Lord Lyon was ready to Grant the Arms to the RBWF, which now owns them. As you can see from the image, the Arms have been granted as per Burns request, with a few additional things, which are only usually assigned to very significant people, such as a peer of the realm or a Knight of the Thistle, but which the Lord Lyon can grant at his discretion.

Firstly, there are the two supporters, which are usually reserved for nobility. On the left as you look at it is a border collie – Burns had a dog like this called Luath – while on the right the supporter is an old grey mare, a reference to the horse in Tam O’ Shanter.

On top of the compartment (the design in heraldry placed under a shield) is an old brig (Brig o’ Doon) and beneath it “banks and braes”. On the banks there are “red, red roses” and more than one “mountain daisy”. To the right, nestled in a flower, is a wee “mousie”.

And then there are the flags, another detail only normally granted to the highest figures in Scotland. On the left, there is the St Andrews Saltire, which is the national flag of Scotland, and on the right, the flag of Robert Burns himself.

Henry Cairney, current president of the RBWF, said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been the RBWF president who accepted this magnificent Coat of Arms on behalf of Robert Burns. Burns’ works and influence extend, ‘the world o’er’ and it is the express remit of this organisation to cherish and promote those works, the poet’s life and his honour. The Lord Lyon has indeed honoured Burns’ immortal memory with this wonderful work of art and legal document, and Burnsians from Dundee to Dunedin will be joyful about this, as am I.”

The RBWF meets annually and has done every year since 1885. In 2022, the event will be held in Calgary, Canada. S

ABOVE: The Robert Burns Coat of Arms LEFT: (Left to right) Marc R Sherland, past president of the RBWF; Neil McNair, junior vice president; Col Peter McCarthy, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire; Henry Cairney, president; Dr Joseph J Morrow, Lord Lyon King of Arms; Alan Beck, senior vice president To find out more or to order a copy of the Arms, go to rbwf.org.uk