Robert Burns 2008

One of the biggest political and philosophical issues of the 18th century was the slave trade, which had once help shape and grow the British Empire. But by the middle of the 18th century, proponents of the Scottish Enlightenment, such as David Hume, were condemning the slave trade.

But Robert Burns was strangely silent on the issue and there's barely a mention of slavery in his poetry or letters - and had Burns not had success with the Kilmarnock Edition, he had planned to emigrate to Jamaica to become a "negro driver".

Academic Dr Gerald Carruthers, in an new article for The Drouth magazine, argues that Burns' silence on the subject belies the suggestion Burns was concerned for all men. Carruthers claims that Burns had planned to grow rich from the Jamaican slave trade, resentful that his father-in-law had disapproved of the poet's marriage to Jean Armour.

The 51 comments on the Sunday Herald website suggest that this is not a popular theory, and it is not one that the American poet Maya Angelou would recognise.

In 1996 Maya Angelou wrote and appeared in a BBC Scotland documentary film by Elly Taylor called Angelou on Burns.

Burns' apparent silence on the issue of slavery prompted author Andrew Lindsay to write Illustrious Exile, a speculative novel on what could have happened if Burns had gone to Jamaica. Read an extract from Illustrious Exile, in which Burns travels to Kingston to gain experience in purchasing slaves.

A detailed description of a formal Burns supper can be found on Wikipedia: Burns' Night. But the Burns night supper is about celebration and enjoyment, not formalities, so the best Burns suppers are personal. Helpful tips can also be found at www.robertburns.org. A Burns supper traditionally starts with the Selkirk Grace and then the Address to a Haggis.

Often attributed to Robert Burns, variations of Selkirk Grace were already known in the 17th century as the Galloway Grace or the Covenanters' Grace. But Burns adapted and popularised it and is now an essential feature in the Burns Supper.

The traditional Burns supper wouldn't be complete without a number of toasts - the 'loyal toast' to the Monarch or Scotland; the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns, the Toast to the Lassies and its Reply (often a Toast to the Laddies). And, of course, The Address To The Haggis is central to the Burns supper.

This has been a quiet year for new books on Robert Burns. The major new book is Andrew O'Hagan's personal selection of poems, A Night out With Robert Burns. This beautifully presented collection is a mix of well-known poems and O'Hagan's own favourites. Andrew O'Hagan recently explained his selection in an article for The Guardian called The People's Poet.