Reading other articles apart from the Hootsmon, May is trying to stree the british nature of Burns. One can argue for or against his stance on the union; I'd argue that, given several poems and songs written against it, plus several references in letters, he was opposed - possibly a Jacobite sympathiser (not that the Jacobites were in any way nationalist). If anything he was a Scots internationalist, given his sympathies with revolutionary France and America - which were not on the Government's Christmas card list. To Claim him as a 'british' poet is stretching things a bit much. I'm not a Burns devotee, by the way - I prefer Hogg or Ferguson as poets contemporary to Burns. Given my location, I try to keep that quiet at this time of year!
