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Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter
Two visionary writers from Edinburgh, Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby, have created a new depiction of the nation's most loved poet, based on the epic character of the famous narrative poem Tam o'Shanter. Tiernen Trevallion, one of the UK's most promising new comic artists, provides the artwork.
The story asks what if the events of the narrative poem Tam o' Shanter, Burns' most famous work, were actually based on something that happened to Burns himself.
Like his fictional creation, Robbie mistakenly takes the wrong road and ends up stumbling upon a full-blown witches' sabbath being held in the ruins of the haunted old Alloway Kirk. Like Tam, the hot-blooded young poet is entranced by the sight of the dancing witches, but is saved by the sudden and dramatic intervention of the pair of witch-hunters, the old veteran McKay and his young apprentice Meg.
And so begins Burns' education in the ways of witch-hunting, as McKay and Meg struggle to keep him out of the clutches of the demonic Cutty Sark and out of trouble with witches, demons and local farm girls.
The story asks what if the events of the narrative poem Tam o' Shanter, Burns' most famous work, were actually based on something that happened to Burns himself.
Like his fictional creation, Robbie mistakenly takes the wrong road and ends up stumbling upon a full-blown witches' sabbath being held in the ruins of the haunted old Alloway Kirk. Like Tam, the hot-blooded young poet is entranced by the sight of the dancing witches, but is saved by the sudden and dramatic intervention of the pair of witch-hunters, the old veteran McKay and his young apprentice Meg.
And so begins Burns' education in the ways of witch-hunting, as McKay and Meg struggle to keep him out of the clutches of the demonic Cutty Sark and out of trouble with witches, demons and local farm girls.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Gordon Rennie
393 books34 followersFreelance writer for over 20 years – When he’s not being ungainfully employed as a BAFTA-nominated video games scriptwriter, he keeps himself busy writing comics, novels, screenplays and Doctor Who audio plays. Comics work includes Predator, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Missionary Man, Necronauts, Caballistics Inc and Absalom, and Dept. of Monsterology for Renegade.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 9, 2017
This was was something of an oddity, in that it is a mash-up in the vein of books like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which takes an historical person and put them into some kind of supernatural setting. It works - just about - because Robert Burns would have been surrounded by the supernatural in 18th Century Scotland, and it is just conceivable that he might have encountered something unworldly that led to some of his most famous poems. That his muse might turn out to be a red-haired female witch hunter is darkly amusing, and altogether this was a fun story, if a little slight.
February 2, 2018
Great illustrations, bad story. That resume it all.
November 22, 2022
3.9
Story 3/5
Art 5/5
Story 3/5
Art 5/5
January 19, 2016
I just want to say that this is a cracking graphic novel about the famous Scottish Baird, Robbie Burns. The artwork is done by Tiernen Trevallion who has an amazingly original eye and use of colour. He has also worked on many other publications including the Games workshop, 2000AD, Warhammer... If you are into intelligent, bawdy, raucous humour with amazing artwork to back it up then you will love this. They also include many of Robbie Burns' poetry at the end with a short history of the man himself which I found very interesting.
April 27, 2018
I really wanted to like this more than I did, especially due to the amazing art of Tiernen Trevallion. However, the premise being kind of oft-played trope (a historical figure re-imagined, in this case Scotland'a national poet as a womanizing witch-hunter) and Mignola-based, I at least expected this to be an easy read. The reasons for which it is not are the combination of a bad decision and bad editing:
First off, the text is really small and in a comic with prevalently dark tones, this becomes tiresome real quick. That is the bad editing part.
Secondly and this is the bad decision part, the creators decided to transliterate heavy Scottish accent into the word balloons ("aboot" instead of "about", "fir" instead of "for" and so on). Though not all characters speak like this, one of the two protagonists does, which makes at least half of the comic written in this annoying manner; and it is annoying, for two reasons:
(a), we know this takes place in Scotland, so we don't need to have our brains twisted with a written interpretation of accent.
(b) the written and the spoken word are two very different hings. I have been to Scotland and though the accent is obviously there, it is nowhere near as baffling as the written version in the comic, because the ear soon learns to interpret and decode the sounds that seem unfamiliar. Not so with reading 96 pages of rather small-lettered comic.
This comic should have been more fun...
First off, the text is really small and in a comic with prevalently dark tones, this becomes tiresome real quick. That is the bad editing part.
Secondly and this is the bad decision part, the creators decided to transliterate heavy Scottish accent into the word balloons ("aboot" instead of "about", "fir" instead of "for" and so on). Though not all characters speak like this, one of the two protagonists does, which makes at least half of the comic written in this annoying manner; and it is annoying, for two reasons:
(a), we know this takes place in Scotland, so we don't need to have our brains twisted with a written interpretation of accent.
(b) the written and the spoken word are two very different hings. I have been to Scotland and though the accent is obviously there, it is nowhere near as baffling as the written version in the comic, because the ear soon learns to interpret and decode the sounds that seem unfamiliar. Not so with reading 96 pages of rather small-lettered comic.
This comic should have been more fun...
January 30, 2020
Burns night was a few days ago, but who cares! We can celebrate his life every day of the year. I thought the graphic novel was OK, the witches and demons were great, the art also captured very well the ever gloomy and rainy weather here in Scotland in all of its glory, but the story itself was slightly underwhelming. I probably would’ve liked it more if I wasn’t thinking the whole time it looks like a complete ripoff of ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’, or ‘Pride and Prejudice & Zombies’, etc. Okay, maybe ‘a complete ripoff’ sounds a bit harsh, so let’s just say similar concepts. You get the idea.
‘Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter’ was clearly conceived with a lot of love and admiration for Burns’ life and work - it’s written entirely in Scottish dialect, and there’s even a brief biography & a selection of his best poems at the end of the book, so I find it really charming in a way.
‘Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter’ was clearly conceived with a lot of love and admiration for Burns’ life and work - it’s written entirely in Scottish dialect, and there’s even a brief biography & a selection of his best poems at the end of the book, so I find it really charming in a way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2023
I just finished Robbie Burns - that was an interesting read! I really enjoyed it and about half way through twigged to the fact that bits of Burns’ poetry were woven into the text. Went looking for back matter and found the history, etc. Great stuff!
A fascinating and imaginative “what if” - what if Burns’ Tam O’Shanter was based on the poet’s own experiences with the supernatural, all within the context of the notorious witch hunts that had plagued Europe over the previous two centuries and were still fresh in the collective memory?
But mostly it is just a fun romp, poetry made palatable for the disinclined. Trevallion’s brilliant graphic style, action-packed and so confidently rendered, carries the story through beautifully to its satisfying conclusion.
A fascinating and imaginative “what if” - what if Burns’ Tam O’Shanter was based on the poet’s own experiences with the supernatural, all within the context of the notorious witch hunts that had plagued Europe over the previous two centuries and were still fresh in the collective memory?
But mostly it is just a fun romp, poetry made palatable for the disinclined. Trevallion’s brilliant graphic style, action-packed and so confidently rendered, carries the story through beautifully to its satisfying conclusion.
September 15, 2025
(3,9 of 5 for a pretty good Robert Burns fanfiction)
First positive thing, as a Mignola fan, this could be clearly part of the Outerverse. I can imagine how, with the art and the style of worldbuilding and by the characters, it would fit nicely.
Sadly, story-wise, it could be much better. On the one hand, the sub-100 pages looked a bit short to me. But for what this story wanted to pitch, it showed that íé-ish pages were more than enough to do that. No, that's not a compliment, and yes, I would like it to come out differently. But it can be fun, especially for those at least acquainted with Robert Burns. If not, I strongly suggest reading the (very nice) afterword before.
First positive thing, as a Mignola fan, this could be clearly part of the Outerverse. I can imagine how, with the art and the style of worldbuilding and by the characters, it would fit nicely.
Sadly, story-wise, it could be much better. On the one hand, the sub-100 pages looked a bit short to me. But for what this story wanted to pitch, it showed that íé-ish pages were more than enough to do that. No, that's not a compliment, and yes, I would like it to come out differently. But it can be fun, especially for those at least acquainted with Robert Burns. If not, I strongly suggest reading the (very nice) afterword before.
May 1, 2023
Robbie Burns in this came off as far too naive and almost childish in his lack of awareness of just about everything. I note that low Scottish isn't the author's strong suit or much in the way of research about Burns. Due to ill health as a child it's unlikely that Burns could have been half as spry as the character in this book is. He falls around in water and comes out dry and not in the least impacted by the water he sploshes around in and the token rain fall near the end.
January 7, 2026
Fun swashbuckling adventure, connecting a prolific and romantic 18th centurty Scottish poet to a monster hunter legacy.
March 20, 2017
Great stuff ,smart funny script and atmospheric lively artwork. Rabbie and Meg should crossover into the Mignolaverse with their tales of the supernatural and i hope this isn't their one and only encounter.
March 12, 2015
Alexander Finbow
Merged review:
When writers love their source material and pour their creative souls into their story, which is then exquisitely realized by an artist with the imagination and talent of Tiernen Trevallion, you get a book as enjoyable as Robbie Burns Witch Hunter. Did I mention that I love this book?
Merged review:
When writers love their source material and pour their creative souls into their story, which is then exquisitely realized by an artist with the imagination and talent of Tiernen Trevallion, you get a book as enjoyable as Robbie Burns Witch Hunter. Did I mention that I love this book?
October 15, 2016
Pretty good, nice illustrations, just enough gore for horror, but not over the top. Interesting concept and execution. Just wasn't riveted by it. Still, a quick read, so nothing lost.
October 22, 2016
Hunting Witches, Writing Poems... what more could you want in a tale?!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews