By Professor John Robertson OBA

I’m well out of my comfort zone on this but in the Guardian today:

‘He contains the whole of literature’: is Dickens better than Shakespeare? After rereading the entire works of the great Victorian novelist during the pandemic, Peter Conrad became convinced – whisper it – that Dickens is an even greater writer than that other British literary giant, the Bard.¹

Isn’t there another ‘British literary giant, called the Bard?‘ I think he lived down the road from me, you know – Robert Burns? The word ‘bard‘ is of Celtic origin too, not English, so it seems reasonable to include him in in the debate.

Back to me and my lack of stuff in this field, what we need is some objective measure – statues, who has the most?

With well over 60 statues dedicated to the Scots poet, Robert Burns is third in line after Christopher Columbus and Queen Victoria in the number of statues dedicated to a non-religious figure worldwide.

There are at least twenty statues of Burns throughout Scotland, with three alone in Dumfries where he died aged 37 in 1796

South of the border, Burns can be found seated in London’s Victoria Embankment Gardens, while a bust of him is also seen in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey. Crossing the Channel to Paris reveals another statue to Robert Burns in the Sorbonne, providing a solid-stone link to Scotland’s ‘Auld Alliance’. ²

So around 40 Burns statues beyond Scotland and around the world. How many of Shakespeare?

‘A number’ seems to mean 4 in the USA, 1 in Paris and 1 in Glasgow.³

Sources:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/02/is-dickens-better-than-shakespeare
2. https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/the-history-of-robert-burns-statues-around-the-world-1484960
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorials_to_William_Shakespeare