HIS romantic interests have long been part of the mystique surrounding the life of the National Bard, Robert Burns.

With his reputation for marital infidelity and record of at least three of his illegitimate children, the bard’s lovers have fascinated his fans and detractors alike.

But perhaps the poet’s most famous affair was with a woman Burns called Highland Mary, whom he met while living in Ayrshire.

Now, an ancient woodland path enjoyed by the couple will be renovated as part of a project to improve routes for the community.

The walkway, in the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Ayr Gorge Woodlands Reserve, is said to combine the bard’s love of the pastoral setting and his infatuation with Mary Campbell, a nursemaid and later dairymaid originally from Dunoon.

A volunteer-led community project received £1,500 from the Scottish charity Paths for All, and will use it to make Burns’s romantic spot more accessible.

New waymarkers and the restoration of wooden steps will allow visitors to better explore the pastoral setting that inspired much of Burns’s work.

Burns first saw Mary at Tarbolton church, just two miles from what is now the nature reserve.

They began an affair and Mary became pregnant, but died before she could give birth at the age of just 23.

After being reunited with the mother of his twins, Jean Armour, Burns went on to write about Highland Mary and the tragedy of her death. In ‘To Mary in Heaven’ (1789), Burns wrote of “the hallow’d grove/where, by the winding Ayr, we met/To live one day of parting love!”

Volunteers believe that the grove in Burns’s poetry lies within the reserve.

Marc Sherland, vice president of the Robert Burns World Federation, said Burns’s affair with Mary came at a difficult time in his life, while separated from Armour.

He told The Herald: “In some ways, Mary was a bit of an afterthought, or a rebound.

“But he does seem to have got very attached to her once they were in a relationship, and actually was pinning a lot of his hopes on her.

“He seemed to fall in love very easily, and it seemed to be very deeply felt when he was in love, “Highland Mary definitely continued to be a muse for him long after her death.

“Most of his affairs had some kind of a relationship with the countryside as well. He didn’t really like towns.”

Colin Clark, the chairman of South Ayrshire Paths Initiative, said: “We’re all eager to restore a significant part of Ayrshire’s history, so we were delighted to be awarded the grant from Paths for All to help us do this.

“The route is incredibly scenic and can be enjoyed in all seasons.

“It’s our hope that restoring features like the deteriorated wooden steps and installing new way-markers will make the path accessible to more walkers.

“We’ll be carrying out the work alongside volunteers from the Scottish Wildlife Trust and will have completed the project by February next year, when there will be an official opening of the improved route.”

Paths for All has awarded £90,000 worth of grants to groups across Scotland to transform local path networks.

The charity’s chief officer, Ian Findlay, said: “Carrying out and organising the upkeep of such large areas can be logistically and physically challenging, so South Ayrshire Paths really does deserve a round of applause. The work that the group is doing has far more than local value.”