The exhibition highlights the impact and influence of Robert Burns in Mid-Antrim.
The influence of his legacy is felt particularly in Ulster, where his work and life in Ayrshire, Lowland Scotland, bore strong comparisons to life in Ulster during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To date, the connection between Belfast and Burns has been a central focus of this story. However, it is clear this affinity with the poet was also evident in the Mid Antrim area, including Antrim, Ballymena, Ballyclare, Doagh, Larne, Ballycarry. Shaped by the migration of Lowland Scots into Ulster during the Plantation period, local rural communities espoused deep cultural, religious and linguistic links with Scotland voiced by a distinctive rural poets known collectively as the rhyming weavers.
Hand to the Plough: is a touring exhibition by the Mid-Antrim Heritage Partnership (Mid and East Antrim with Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Councils) to mark the European Year of Culture Heritage 2018 in association with The Linen Hall Library, Belfast and the Ulster University. For further details please contact: Jayne Clarke, Museum & Heritage Manager, Mid and East Antrim Museum & Heritage Service e: jayne.clarke@midandeastantrim.gov.uk