Tucked away in a historic close in Edinburgh is a museum dedicated to three of Scotland's most prolific writers, including Robert Burns.
The Writers' Museum is found in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It is focused on the lives and work of Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
The museum contains portraits, rare books and personal objects—including Burns’ own writing desk. There is also a plaster cast of Burns' skull, of which only three have ever been made.
Other memorabilia on display at the museum include a manuscript of Burns’ draft of Scots Wha Hae (‘Bruce’s Address to his troops at Bannockburn’) and a chair used by Burns to correct proofs at William Smellie’s printing office.
If you are interested in finding out more about the iconic poet in celebration of Burns Night this week, then the museum's "outstanding collection of personal objects, published works and manuscripts" will no doubt inspire. Those who visit will learn about Burns' journey from ‘ploughman’ to poet and darling of Edinburgh society.
Meanwhile, among the highlights of the museum's Walter Scott collection are the printing press on which his Waverley novel was produced, and the rocking horse he rode as a child.
The Writers' Museum is also home to Stevenson's riding boots and the ring given to him by a Samoan chief, which is engraved with the name ‘Tusitala’—meaning ‘teller of tales’. According to the museum, it also has Stevenson’s wardrobe "made by the infamous Deacon Brodie whose double life may have inspired the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde".
The museum is free to enter, though "donations are welcome". More information can be found on The Writers' Museum website.
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