Robert Burns poetry to be Twittered

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The works of Robert Burns are being Twittered as part of the celebration of the Scottish poet's 250th birthday.

Users can pick up short excerpts from Burns' works, along with factoids about the Ayrshire poet, The Scotsman reported. The National Trust for Scotland is behind the project.

"We like to find new ways of spreading the works of our national icons," said the trust's chairwoman, Shonaig Macpherson. "Twitter is an inexpensive and fun way to do that."

Burns was born on a farm in Alloway, outside Ayr, Jan. 25, 1759. The trust is also involved in a renovation of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.

Appropriately, one of Burns' most famous poems was "To A Mouse," an ode to a rodent disturbed by his plow that begins "Wee slickit cowerin' timorous beastie."

Some Burns enthusiasts see a downside to the Twitter project.

"It would be a shame if people got fed up and the great works of Burns end up as unwanted spam," said Andrew Cooper, secretary of the Mauchline Burns Club in Ayr.