A Hogmanay event at the farm in Dumfries and Galloway where Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne has slashed its prices because of the cost of living crisis.
Robert Burns Ellisland Farm, the poet’s Romantic first home with wife Jean Armour in the Dumfriesshire countryside, will allow guests to bring in the bells for just £10 in the barn built by the bard himself in 1788.
There will be live music including local band Boglemufty, dancing, and a warm Winter buffet including Scottish Stovies – all included in the ticket price.
Children are £5 and a family ticket is £20.
Burns first penned Auld Lang Syne shortly after he arrived at Ellisland in 1788. He wrote the lyric in a letter to his benefactor Mrs Frances Dunlop, after she told him of the comfort she received from her friends after she was widowed.
Burns said he based the lyric on a phrase from an old Scots ballad he had long admired. It did not appear in print until after his death.
Now the song is sung around the world – from Times Square to Tokyo.
The event is supported by the Annandale and Nithsdale Community Benefit Company and Museums Galleries Scotland.
The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust was formed in 2020 to safeguard Ellisland, the most authentic of all Burns’s homes and the only one built specifically for him.
Joan McAlpine, Project Manager at the Trust said:
“We are very excited to bring in the bells at historic Ellisland. We felt that an affordable event where friends and family could come together was very much in the spirit of Robert Burns and Auld Lang Syne.”
“We hope to build this into an annual event to attract people from around the world wanting the unique experience of New Year at the place Auld Lang Syne was written.
“But this year is for the community and we slashed the price to allow more people to come.”
This Hogmanay Party is one of a series of Winter highlights at Ellisland. On 22 January there is a daytime Burns supper – or brunch – for all ages. On 25 February they will celebrate Jean Armour on her birthday with music from Robyn Stapleton.
Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketsource or from the Midsteeple Box Office in Dumfries. The venue is not licensed and there is a small corkage charge for those wishing to bring their own alcohol.
The Ticketsource Link is here https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/dumfries/robert-burns-ellisland-farm/hogmanay-at-the-home-of-auld-lang-syne/e-qzzeva
