Quotes of the Day

The year-old Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is full of rodents. Tiny mice enliven a set of weathervane scenes from Burns' narrative poem "Tam o' Shanter," rats run through a video illustrating 18th century life, and furry mammals feature in a kinetic exhibit and a 2-m-high mouse sculpture — all echoing Burns' famed 1785 poem "To a Mouse."

A poet and lyricist whose work, in both Scots and English, embraced landscape, universal brotherhood and political reform, Burns has struck a far-reaching chord, influencing William Wordsworth, John Keats, even Bob Dylan. The title of John Steinbeck's 1937 Of Mice and Men was plucked from "To a Mouse"; romantics quote regularly from "A Red, Red Rose"; and New Year's Eve mainstay "Auld Lang Syne" is by Burns. Across the world, Scottish communities annually celebrate the poet's life on Burns Night, held around Jan. 25.

Although Alloway, the village where Scotland's national poet was born in 1759, has been a tourist destination for more than 200 years (a Burns monument and collection were established soon after his death in 1796), today's museum is a dynamic combination of historic and modern buildings that taps into the elements that fired the poet's imagination.

Explore the cottage in which Burns was born, then go to the graveyard where his fictional farmer, Tam o' Shanter, got spooked by witches and warlocks. Across the street is a modern building where original manuscripts and books rub shoulders with interactive fun. There's a jukebox ("Auld Lang Syne" is filed under Floor Fillers) and a video installation, "Burning Issues," featuring animations of Burns commenting on hot topics (taxation, revolution and emigration). Another installation, "Man o' Parts," features minidoors that open to reveal myriad contents: a letter Burns wrote complaining of ill health six months before his death; a 1970 ad for Robbie Burns Famed Old Scotch Whisky; a lock of Burns' hair.

It's Burns and his work brought to tangible life. Thankfully, they haven't done the same for those mice.

Visit burnsmuseum.org.uk for details.

• Daneet Steffens
• An interactive celebration of Scotland's great bard