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Description: | John Davidson (1728 - 1806) or 'Souter Johnnie' as Burns described him in the poem 'Tam o'Shanter', lived and worked in a little thatched cottage by the roadside in Kirkoswald. Johnnie was a shoemaker (souter) and used part of the ground floor of the cottage as his workshop while the rest of the building provided accommodation for a large family.
The National Trust for Scotland now cares for a small but curious collection of touchstones for Burns and the characters his poems brought to life. Souter Johnnie's Cottage offers a fascinating glimpse back in time to the home and workshop of Tam o'Shanter's 'vera brither' Souter Johnnie.
The workbench and tools needed every day by John Davidson to make and repair shoes are a reminder of the real life of the souter aside from a rather less sober mention in Burns' 'Tam o'Shanter'. Burns was said to have been a frequent visitor to the home of John Davidson whose wife, Anne Gillespie, had at one time been in the service of Gilbert Broun, the poet's grandfather. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 | Publisher: | National Burns Collection | Source: | Burns Scotland | Identifier: | Souter Johnnie`s workbench and tools | Go to resource |
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