Poetic parallel

If Clark McGinn is looking for international parallels to Scotland's national bard (Features, 25 January), he need look no further than Slovenia's national poet, France Prešeren.

His "unstable sentimental life" (according to Wikipedia) included fathering three children by a girl called Ana, whom he never got round to marrying; living "in confrontation with both the civil and religious establishment, as well as with the provincial bourgeoisie"; and falling victim to "severe drinking problems", dying at a relatively young age.

His statue adorns the main square in Ljubljana and is a gathering point for the local youth (unlike Burns's cottage in Alloway).

HARRY D WATSON

Braehead Grove

Edinburgh