This Saturday is Burns Night. It's time to learn more about the famous poet Robert Burns, his work, Scots language and Burns Suppers!

Burns Night is an annual event, observed on 25 January. It celebrates the life and contributions of Robbie Burns, Scotland’s National Bard.

Some celebrate Burns Night with a Burns Supper. Burns Suppers see guests enjoy a meal of haggis, neeps (swede), and tatties (potatoes). Some may also choose to partake in a dram of whisky! Suppers usually feature recitals of Burns’ works, as well as traditional music.

Burns Night is celebrated throughout Scotland and by communities around the world, as shown in this interactive map¹ from the University of Glasgow. This year, event planners in Dumfries are even putting on an underwater Burns Supper²!

Learning more about Burns with eResources

Strathclyde staff and students can use their university credentials to access online resources. Use SUPrimo Library Search to find information such as:

• Scanned copies³ of Burns’ works.
• Facts and figures from Statista exploring which are the leading brands of whisky in the UK⁴ and which country is the largest exporter of whisky in Europe⁵ (it might not be who you think it is!).
• A biography of Robert Burns⁶ online through the Gale Literature database.

Burns wrote some of his works in Scots, which you can explore through the Scots Language Centre.

Our Box of Broadcasts playlist of TV programmes and a Burns Night reading list are available for you to use for study or pleasure. If you find out something new, be sure to let us know in the comments.

Reading list

Log in with your university email address and password to explore our Burns Night eresources reading list.

References list for this blog post

1. Malgrati P. Interactive Map of Burns Suppers. [internet]. 2020 [cited 2025 Jan 22] Available from: https://www.burnsc21.glasgow.ac.uk/supper-map/
2. Liptrott S. World's first underwater Burns Supper will be a hit: Big Burns Supper festival. Dumfries and Galloway Standard. Friday edition. [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2025 Jan 22]10:10. Available from: https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/worlds-first-underwater-burns-supper-will-be-hit/docview/3153279718/se-2?accountid=14116
3. Burns R. Alloway kirk; or Tam O'Shanter: A tale. By Robert Burns, the ayrshire poet' [internet]. s.n: Glasgow? 1797 [cited 2025 Jan 22] Available from: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CB0126492029/ECCO?u=ustrath&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=9ae035da&pg=1
4. Kantar. Leading brands of 'Malt Whisky in Great Britain (GB) 2020 - 2022, by number of consumers (in 1,000s). Statista. Statista Inc. [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2025 Jan 22] Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/304236/leading-brands-of-wine-including-sparkling-gb-in-the-uk/
5. Scotch Whisky Association. Leading markets for the export of Scottish whisky in Europe in 2023, ranked by volume* (in million 70 centiliter bottles). Statista. Statista Inc [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2025 Jan 22] Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/422764/scotch-whisky-export-markets-europe-by-volume/
6. Trudeau L J. editor. ‘Robert Burns' in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. vol. 190, [Internet] Detroit, MI: Gale. 2011[cited 2025 Jan 22] Available from: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/ULIQGU008995876/GLS?u=ustrath&sid=bookmark-GLS&xid=71228244

As we welcome old and new customers back to the Library we’d like to take a moment to tell you how excellent we are!

The Library has held Customer Service Excellence accreditation since November 2019. This shows our commitment to putting customers at the heart of service delivery.

The accreditation covers all aspects of Library services including:

• Introducing you to the Library when you use our services for the first time.
• Supporting you in finding resources for your research.
• Helping you get connected to wifi.
• Buying the books on your reading list.
• Developing new study spaces.
• Helping you find and access high quality electronic resources.

Every year, our CSE assessor visits Glasgow to meet with Library staff. He also talks to students and colleagues from other parts of the University. During this year's assessment he was particularly impressed with:

• our staff
• their understanding of customer needs, and
• how their professionalism and attitude positively impacts on Library customers.

In his report the assessor said: “(Students) spoke of being valued, being welcomed into the space, being given significant time and attention by every member of staff, and even helping them to address their fears of accessing large public spaces.”.

So, whether you're new here or have been with us for a while, we can reassure you that we will:

• listen to you, and
• do what we can to meet your needs.

We would like you to let us know if there is anything you think we could do better. Our feedback form is for services provided by Library & IT Services. Your submissions will help us plan service improvements in the future. You can read about changes we have made based on customer feedback on our you said, we did webpage.