The 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns was born on this day in 1759, and Burns Night, as the holiday is called, is observed the world over. The proper way to celebrate is reading Burns’ poems while drinking Scotch. Then, once you move deeper into the evening and you’ve lost the ability to read because the words look all blurry and jumbled up on the page, you just drink Scotch. So, did Burns drink? Of course he did. What part of 18th-century Scottish poet didn’t you understand? Many of his poems were concerned with drinking. Here’s a taste. “Oh thou, my Muse! Good old Scotch drink! Whether through wimpling worms thou jink, Or, richly brown, ream over the brink, In glorious fame, Inspire me, till I lisp and wink, To sing thy name!” True fact: Auld Lang Syne, that song you mumble the words to every New Years’ Eve because you always forget how it goes? Burns wrote the lyrics.
