Immortal memories are made of this

A battle is raging over Robert Burns's legacy and reputation that has led to threats of litigation and the kind of insults more familiar among the late-night drinkers about whom the bard so often wrote.

What started as intellectual debate has descended into name-calling and abuse, with allegations and threats appearing on the World Burns Club message board.

On one side are the fêted academics of two august universities. On the other is Patrick Scott Hogg, an amateur Burns enthusiast, who funds his studies through his landscape gardening business in Cumbernauld, outside Glasgow.

At the heart of the dispute is an edition of Burns's works - The Canongate Burns - edited by Mr Scott Hogg and Dr Andrew Noble. It includes a collection of ten “Lost Poems” that Mr Scott Hogg claims to have found more than a decade ago.

Not a bad read, but it could have been better. More here: Burns battle.