"Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie, O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!" 'To a Mouse', also known as 'To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785', is a famous Scots-language poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns written in 1785. So says the legend, Burns was ploughing in the fields when he accidentally destroyed a mouse's nest, razing any possibilities the mouse had of surviving the winter. Burn's own brother even claimed that the poet composed the poem while still holding his plough. Robert Burns (1759–1769), also known as Robin, was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide as the best known of the poets to have written in the Scots language. He also wrote in English, as well as in a lighter & more accessible Scots. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and he remains a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world.