Postcard of a colour tinted photograph of the National Burns Monument at Alloway

"Burns' Monument Ayr". A coloured lithographic postcard of the monument to Robert Burns in the National Burns Monument Gardens at Alloway near Ayr. Set in attractive gardens on the north bank of the River Doon, the National Burns Monument was inaugurated in 1823. It was designed by Thomas Hamilton of Edinburgh in the Grecian style.  Robert Burns was born at Alloway on the 25th January 1759, the eldest of seven children of Agnes and William Burnes. His father was a market gardener, who, having acquired a small holding of land, had built their cottage, with its whitewashed clay walls and thatched roof, with his own hands. The poet's father sold the cottage in 1781. It was in use as a public house until May 1881. By this time it had become a place of pilgrimage for Burns enthusiasts from around the world. It was purchased for £4,000 by the Trustees of the Burns Monument and opened to the public. Burns' birthplace and the Burns Monument Gardens were a  landmark for those visiting "Burns' Country" at the time this postcard was published.