Robert Burns letters reveal poet was advised not to write in Scots dialect

Burns warned use of dialect would alienate London readers in letter that forms part of major project by University of Glasgow

Scotland's beloved son and national bard Robert Burns has done more than any other poet to export the 18th-century Scottish dialect around the world, through the new year classic Auld Lang Syne and his other famous works.

His lyrics, such as we twa hae run about the braes/and pou'd the gowans fine", may be incomprehensible to many, but the fame and influence of a man annually celebrated on 25 January has endured over more than two centuries.