Micro-history
The midwife at the birth of Robert Burns was Agnes McClure, wife of the blacksmith John Tennant, and their next-door neighbour.
She had a major role in cultivating the five acres at Alloway's New Gardens, keeping poultry, growing vegetables and making cheeses using milk from her four or so cattle the family kept.
Agnes's half-sister was Jean Brown who in 1775 married James Allan and lived at Old Rome Foord near Gatehead, in North Ayrshire. It was at Old Rome that Robert Burns briefly lodged in the summer of 1786 whilst avoiding a writ from James Armour in regard of his relationship with Jean Armour.
Samuel Peacock, Burn's partner in the flax-dressing business at Irvine is said to have been a half-brother of Agnes.
A bed and breakfast called the Whitestone Cottage, on the Culzean estate, Ayrshire, claims to be Agnes Broun's birthplace.
Read more about this topic: Agnes Broun