Annabel Goldie, Scottish Conservative leader, is the second politician to choose a favourite Burns poem. There were three cherries she wanted to bite, she said, citing a pithy epitaph about a henpecked squire and "the lovely warm composition" of The Cotter's Saturday Night, which she considers more reflective and profound than Tam o' Shanter. Her first choice shows Burns's empathy with nature.

A Rosebud By My Early Walk

A rosebud by my early walk,
Adown a corn-enclosed bawk,
Sae gently bent its thorny stalk
All on a dewy morning.

Ere twice the shades o' dawn are fled,
In a' its crimson glory spread,
And drooping rich the dewy head,
It scents the early morning.

Within the bush her covert nest
A little linnet fondly prest,
The dew sat chilly on her breast
Sae early in the morning.
She soon shall see her tender brood
The pride, the pleasure o' the wood,
Amang the fresh green leaves bedew'd,
Awauk the early morning.

So thou, dear bird, young Jeany fair,
On trembling string or vocal air,
Shalt sweetly pay the tender care
That tents thy early morning.

So thou, sweet Rosebud, young and gay,
Shalt beauteous blaze upon the day,
And bless the Parent's evening ray
That watch'd thy early morning.