Robert Burns' Sex Life

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

How did an 18th century working class farm labourer climb the social ladder to become the most beloved poet Scotland has produced?

By the time he died aged just 37, he had taken the country by storm with his romantic verse and was welcomed into the bosom of Edinburgh high society gentlemen clubs.

Another side of Robert Burns' work was his bawdy work, which celebrates sexuality and barbed satire, much of which wasn't properly published until the 1960s due to censorship laws.

Ahead of Burns Night on 25th January - his birthday, no less - we'll be finding out all about Rabbie and his bawdy verse with Pauline Mackay, author of Burns For Every Day Of The Year, and lecturer of Robert Burns Studies at University of Glasgow.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. It was produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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