We are delighted to have been awarded £60,000 by Museums Galleries Scotland to design the storytelling experience that visitors will encounter when Ellisland is restored.
The grant comes from the latest round of the Museum Development Fund, supported by the Scottish Government. Ellisland is one of 12 museums across Scotland to receive funding, and the only recipient in Dumfries and Galloway.
The award will allow us to turn years of research into a plan for how the site will be interpreted after its restoration, so that visitors can see Ellisland through the poet’s eyes and glimpse the domestic life he shared there with Jean Armour and their young family. The songs and poems Burns wrote at the farm will be built directly into that interpretation, so that the farmhouse and steading present his work as well as his life.
Burns built Ellisland in 1788 as his first marital home with Jean. It is the only house he designed himself and the best preserved of all his homes. He wrote more than a quarter of his life’s work there, including Auld Lang Syne and Tam o Shanter.
Adam Dickson, Project Curator of the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust, said:
“This project will help us realise an ambitious vision for Ellisland. It draws together all the work we have done so far, the research and the development of the collection behind the scenes and brings us to the point where we can design a compelling, authentic and world-class experience for the local community and for visitors. It will bring the domestic life of Robert and Jean to life in the rooms where they lived, and the songs and poems Burns wrote here will be woven directly into that experience.”
Joan McAlpine, Project Director of the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust, said:
“Ellisland is the only home Burns designed and built himself, and the house he made for Jean and their children. This award lets us start thinking properly about what people will see and feel when they walk through the door. We are grateful to Museums Galleries Scotland and the Scottish Government for their support as we work to save the Home of Auld Lang Syne.”
The award is the latest step in our campaign to Save the Home of Auld Lang Syne, which will restore the Category A listed farmhouse and steading and secure its long-term future. Planning permission for the restoration was granted by Dumfries and Galloway Council earlier this year and the project is now in detailed design.