Bard’s depression revealed by writing
ROBERT Burns was a manic depressive, according to a new handwriting analysis.
The Bard’s condition came to light after the National Trust for Scotland asked Joan Charles, an intuitive analyst, to examine his letters and writings.
Her report concluded that the mood swings revealed in his verses were typical of someone suffering from what is now known as bipolar disorder.
But NTS executives ordered that the word bipolar be removed from her report before making it public as part of the Homecoming Year. David Hopes, the NTS curator of the new Robert Burns Memorial Museum project in Alloway, said: “NTS were concerned that we were painting this picture of a lunatic Burns, which we weren’t trying to do at all.”
