| Image |
Product |
|
Price |
|
| |
|
The Devil is well documented throughout the works of Burns. 'Auld Nick' made his most noted appearance as the provider of music for the dance of the witches and warlocks in 'Tam o' Shanter'.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
The young witch from 'Tam o'Shanter' who danced the dance of witches in her scanty 'cutty sark' (short shift).
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Willie Fisher was an elder of the church at Mauchline and a fornicating, thieving hypocrite. The Reverend 'Daddy Auld' despised Fisher's hidden lifestyle but tolerated him as he was adept at seeking out 'backsliders'.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Perhaps Death's biggest starring part is in the poem "Death and Doctor Hornbook": a chance meeting and conversation one night between Death and Burns who Ôwas na fu' but just had plenty!
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
In the greatest irony of the Robert Burns Chess Set, Burns appears on the dark side as the Exciseman! In his last eight years, he was a diligent tax collector, travelling on horseback many hundreds of miles each week in pursuit of his duties.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
In 1314, Edward II brought the biggest army of invasion ever seen into Scotland, to crush the rebellious Scots once and for all. The need to bring the Scots to heel was an obsession of the Plantagenets, and one that remained unfulfilled.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Throughout Burns' work, ghosts, ghoulies, spunkies, elves and other manifestations of utter evil abound. Such fantasies were impressed upon the young Burns by Betsy Davidson, a wandering 'hawker' and an old relative of his mother.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Excessive drinking brings on the worst of all worlds and summons from the deep, the very worst of ghosts and ghoulies. Despite the threats of such terrifying hallucinations, demon drink continues to play its part in the culture of Scotland.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Witches were feared and sought out in the days of Burns and their place in Ayrshire folklore is reflected in many of Burns' works. In a time of ignorance and prejudices, many innocent women (and men) were burned or drowned in the name of the Church.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Warlocks (or Wizards), were also feared. They were harder to detect and were deemed to be more powerful than witches. For that reason, as good as any, they were seldom burned lest a powerful curse be laid upon their 'judges'.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
In an age before painkillers or painless extraction, the toothache was one of the curses of mankind. Then, the only administration likely to bring a result was the consumption of whisky. Regrettably, once the effects of the whisky had worn off, the toothache, invariably, remained.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
In 'Tam o' Shanter', the things 'horrible and awfu'' which poor Tam saw upon the Haly table were illuminated in that darkest of nights by lights held in the hands of the dead, standing in line in their open coffins.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
The old ruined church of Kirk Alloway was reputed to be haunted by the worst of witches, warlocks and all manner of ghouls.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
In the aftermath of Culloden, where he so soundly defeated the army of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the victorious Cumberland (the Butcher), son of King George II, oversaw the rape, pillage and utter destruction of a generation of Highland Scots.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
The prospect of being wed to a wife 'such as Willie had' was enough to turn a man to drink. Instead, it drove Burns to rhyme and the poor lady (and poor Willie Wastle) were thus immortalised.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
|
Mrs Agnes (Poosie Nansie) Gibson and her daughter Jess kept and managed the pub/lodging house known as 'Poosie Nansie's' in Mauchline through which flowed the tide of lower life. By the time Burns wrote this work, the goings-on there were deemed to be 'decorously lewd'. Thus he was inspired to create the frantic world of the 'Jolly Beggars'.
More details...
|
|
Individual pieces available for purchase
|
|
Complete Set
Basket