Robbie Burns, slave driver

A dossier compiled for Edinburgh Council to “rectify the glorification of slavery” notes that Robert Burns “accepted a job working on a Jamaican plantation as a ‘Negro driver’”.

In 1786, through a friend in Scotland, Burns was offered a position as bookkeeper on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. It was a popular destination - around 17,000 Scots emigrated to the Caribbean between 1750 and 1800. The Chief Justice of Jamaica complained that “of late swarms come by every ship from Scotland”.

But Burns decided against it and didn’t go.

https://glasgowmuseumsslavery.co.uk/2021/01/25/robert-burns-and-jamaica/

For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet, for a' that,
That man to man the warld o'er
Shall brothers be for a' that.
 
Back
Top