Letters, locks and socks: the top relics of Burns’s life

2. Pair of Burns’s socks

This pair of blue woollen knitted socks, with the initials ‘RB’ embroidered at the top, are believed to have been worn by Burns. The size 8 socks date to around 1770–96.

Caroline says: ‘I think the initialled socks are incredible – just imagine your socks being kept and displayed in a museum almost 230 years after your death! There’s something very humbling about them; they have clearly been worn and therefore mended a lot by someone, probably Jean, with a lot of care. It’s a simple object but when I see pictures of Burns mingling with society in Edinburgh, I imagine him wearing these socks.’

3. ‘Auld Lang Syne’

This fragment of the manuscript of one of Burns’s most famous songs, known and sung the world over, dates from around 1793.

4. Letter to George Sutherland

Dated 31 December 1789, the letter to theatre-owner George Sutherland encloses a 34-line poem for Sutherland to use as a prologue at his New Year performance from the Dumfries Theatre Company in January 1790.

Caroline says: ‘The letter to Sutherland is also significant because of the bird doodles on the back, which I think show Burns’s playful side.’

5. Lock of Highland Mary’s hair

The lock of Mary Campbell’s hair was preserved in a Bible, tied to a piece of dark grey card. The Highland Mary story appeals to the romantic memory of the poet. During a time when he had been banned by Jean's father from seeing her, Burns forged a relationship with Mary Campbell and made plans to emigrate to Jamaica with her. However, the successful publication of the Kilmarnock Edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect changed his plans, and he stayed in Scotland and married Jean.

The Robert Burns online collection was made possible thanks to the support of a member of the Trust’s Patrons’ Club ,and by donations from the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA.

The Trust cares for several other important sites in the life of Robert Burns, including the Bachelors’ Club and Souter Johnnie’s Cottage, where we are undertaking ongoing conservation projects to preserve these historic buildings. It will cost £330,000 to complete these works and we need £130,000 not currently covered by funding. Donations from generous supporters will directly assist the vital preservation of Burns’s legacy at these iconic locations.

The 18th-century Gregg fiddle is also part of the Burns Collection. It was recently enjoyed by 7,000 music fans at Hoolie in the Hydro in Glasgow, and will be played in front of thousands more in New York City this April as part of Tartan Week’s Hoolie in New York event.

For more information about these works, or to make a donation, please visit our Protecting Burns’s Legacy campaign page.