31. The ROBERT BURNS COTTAGE

(admission free), Alloway Place, SE., maintained by the Atlanta Burns Club, is a reproduction of the famous poet's birthplace in Alloway, Scotland. The low rectangular gray stone structure is surrounded by nine acres of wooded land, which in spring is covered by the white blossoms of dogwood trees. The interior plan of the Alloway cottage has been closely followed except for the addition of a small modern kitchen at the rear. The long cattle room, which adjoins the cottage at a slight angle, serves as an assembly hall for the club, which meets once a month for a dinner and program. The kitchen-bedroom more closely resembles the corresponding room in the original Burns house; here the stone-flagged floor, stone fireplace, and curtained, recessed bed carry an authentic suggestion of an austere Scottish farmhouse. Numerous books, pictures, and documents are other tangible reminders of the poet.

The Atlanta Burns Club, organized in 1896, erected this memorial building in 1911. In 1914 the local organization became a member of the Burns Federation, which functions in almost every country in the world. Although the principal purpose of the meetings is commemoration of Burns and his works, other writers are frequently the subject of conversation, and sometimes topics of current interest take the place of literary discussions.

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