ONE of the many pleasing features that survived the Soviet Union was the Russian love of Rabbie Burns. Our national bard goes back a long way in that vast, highly literate country. In pre-revolutionary times, he was loved for writing romantic verse seen though the eyes of a man of the soil.

He spoke for the people, and that egalitarian theme was amplified during the days of the Soviet Union, even when poets of similar integrity were being locked up. After the break-up of the USSR, the love of Burns continued unabated. The common man, after all, transcends regimes, and Burns was a dedicated democrat.

But there was much more to him than politics. Poetry speaks from the soul and, in Russia, Burns found an avid listener. Burns was also a poet of everyday life and the nitty-gritty (from mice and lice to harvests and love). And he could tell a good story, say, of grey mares called Meg losing their tails.

The tale of that tail is well known to a group of students from St Petersburg, who are visiting Scotland and expressing great knowledge of the bard and, most impressively, of the Scots language. They include the overall winner of the St Petersburg Robert Burns World Federation Essay. Aged nine to 17, they are a credit to their country. It’s always heartening to know that auld acquaintance with our bard has not been forgot in Russia.