Getty Images'There's no other poem like it': Why this Robert Burns classic is a masterpiece
Nicholas Barber
23 January 2026
Tam O'Shanter is a rip-roaring tale of witches and alcohol, but it has hidden depths. On Burns Night this Sunday – and 235 years after the poem was published in 1791 – Scots everywhere may well be treated to a masterwork with a unique, universal appeal.
