Robert Burns died in 1796, leaving his widow and children with no financial security. His friends and admirers, through charitable appeals and James Currie's four-volume edition of his life and works, raised a capital sum which allowed Jean Armour Burns to remain in the family home and raise their children until adulthood, when several powerful individuals granted the poet's sons patronage in the service of HM Government and the Honourable East India Company. Later, other relatives and descendants also received charity when facing old age or financial hardship, the last recipient dying as recently as 1944. The equivalent of £8 million (at 2020 values) was raised through public appeal and private patronage for the poet's family, significantly in excess of the monies later subscribed for monuments to the bard. This wellspring of generosity has a level of irony given the very limited patronage Burns received in his final years, and his own attitude to gratuitous charity, his vaunted independence and his expressed dislike of ‘placemen’.

中文翻译：

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“天才的即兴是众所周知的”：诗人早逝后伯恩斯家族的同情、慈善和赞助

罗伯特伯恩斯于 1796 年去世，留下他的遗孀和孩子没有经济保障。他的朋友和仰慕者通过慈善呼吁和詹姆斯·柯里 (James Currie) 的四卷本生平和作品筹集了一笔资金，让让·阿莫·伯恩斯 (Jean Armor Burns) 能够留在家里抚养他们的孩子直到成年，当时几个有权势的人授予这位诗人的为英国政府和尊贵的东印度公司服务的儿子们的赞助。后来，其他亲属和后代在面临老年或经济困难时也接受了慈善，最后一位受助人在 1944 年去世。通过公众呼吁和私人赞助为诗人的家人筹集了相当于 800 万英镑（按 2020 年价值计算）的款项，大大超过了后来为吟游诗人纪念碑认购的钱。