On Tuesday 6th December both Primary 6 classes went on a trip to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.  Robert Burns was born in Alloway so we had to travel on the bus for 1 and a half hours.  When we got to the museum we got split into 2 groups.

The first group started with the museum part first and saw some really cool stuff and learned a lot about Robbie Burns’ life and poems.  Then we went to see the Tam O’ Shanter show of moving iron sculptures and after that we had lunch.

Here we are in the museum with Robert Burns’ actual writing desk and chair!

After lunch we went to on a guided tour.  First stop was the Robert Burns Memorial and Gardens.

Then went to the Brig O’ Doon – the famous bridge from Tam O’ Shanter.  We even got to see Tam being chased by the witches and warlocks over the bridge!  Well, we had to use our imaginations a little whilst some volunteers acted out the chase scene for us.

Then we walked around the Auld Kirk, where Tam first heard the music and saw the witches dancing.  We had a peek in the window but didn’t see any witches!

Next we walked down Poet’s Path.  There we saw some sculptures inspired by Burns’ life and poems – our favourite was the giant mouse from To A Mouse.

Then we met with Chris and Ally who told us all about the clothes that people would have worn in Burns’ time.  Men wore waistcoats, tail jackets and tied stocks around their necks.  Women wore long dresses, pinnies and much caps.  After learning about the clothes people wore, we all had to get dressed up in them before going in to Burns’ Cottage.

The cottage had 3 main parts; a byre, the kitchen and the spence.  The byre was where Robert would do his chores like cleaning up after the cows and the girls would churn butter and milk.  The kitchen was actually 3 rooms in one – it was a bedroom, a living room and a kitchen.  Volunteers pretended to be William (Robert’s dad) sleeping on his chair, Agnes (Robert’s mum) making dinner and rocking the baby and Auntie Betty who told us a Ghaist Story!  The spence is where John Murdoch would have taught Robert and his brothers.  We learned that girls weren’t allowed to get an education back in Burns’ time so the girls had to stand against the wall whilst the boys sat at the desk.

Then we went to the gift shop before a long bus journey home and we arrived back at school late!  It was a really fun trip and we enjoyed it. We learned so much about Robert Burns.

Blogged by Ross and Eve