Born in 1759 in the village of Alloway, Ayrshire, the oldest son of a poor tenant farmer, Robert Burns is known as 'The Ploughman Poet', 'The Bard of Ayrshire' or, as Scotland's national poet, simply 'The Bard'. He wrote his best work in lowland Scots dialect, produced the words for hundreds of popular songs and was part of the Romantic movement.