LOVERS AT THE DALGARNOCK CATTLE FAIR IN SCOTLAND,Scotland Art Masterpiece,1859 Antique Steel Engraving

Historical Collectible Art Print

DESCRIPTION: COMES WITH THE POEM

PAINTED BY ERSKINE NICOL - ENGRAVED BY ROBERT C. BELL

Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796) was a poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is the best-known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a 'light' Scots dialect which would have been accessible to a wider audience than simply Scottish people. At various times in his career, he wrote in English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt. Burns is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death, he became an important source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among Scots who have relocated to other parts of the world (the Scottish diaspora), his celebration became almost a national charismatic cult during periods of the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) "Auld Lang Syne" is often sung at Hogmanay (New Year), and "Scots Wha Hae" served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today, include "A Red, Red Rose," "A Man's A Man For A' That," "To A Louse" and "To A Mouse." Burns' Night, effectively a second national day, is celebrated on 25 January with Burns' Suppers around the world, and is still more widely observed than the official national day, Saint Andrew's Day, or the new North American celebration Tartan Day.

The painter Erskine Nicol was born in Leith, Scotland, and overcoming early strong resistance from his parents to an artist's life, he took all opportunities to pursue art, first taking an apprenticeship under a decorative house painter, then aged 12 becoming a student at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh, under William Allan and Thomas Duncan. A spell back in Leith as a drawing instructor at a local school was followed by four years in Ireland (from 1846) as a teacher and portrait painter. It was there that he found his metier, painting humorous character studies and genre scenes of the Irish working classes. These won him a high degree of popularity, though today the idea of the Irish as mirthful country bumpkins perhaps sits less easily with the majority taste. Back in Scotland, in 1851 he exhibited a half dozen such works at the Royal Scottish Academy, followed by a stream of others. He became RSA in 1859, went to live in London in 1862 (though making yearly trips to Ireland), and was elected ARA in 1868. He retired from the Academy in 1885, and went back to Scotland, and later on to Feltham in Middlesex. Two sons - John Watson Nicol and Erskine E Nicol - also became painters.