Created during the 19th century in New Orleans.
The drink was first made by a bartender of Brooks's Club in London in 1861 to mourn the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Prince Consort. It is supposed to symbolize the black armbands worn by mourners. It was said that “even the champagne should be in mourning.” Today, the drink is not exclusive to mourning.
First appearance in The Official Mixer's Manual published in 1934 by Patrick Gavin Duffy
The drink was invented by Lieutenant Governor Thomas Davey of Tasmania, who was known for being a heavy drinker. The drink's "official" name has varied opinion. Some refer to Davey inventing it with the name "Blow My Skull", closely referring to the material found in The English and Australian Cookery Book. Others claim it was Davey inventing it as the "Blow My Skull Off". Unless the varying names were frequently conflated, for the latter claim to be true would mean that Lt. Governor Thomas Davey invented a drink containing opium and toxic plants that he served at barbeques he frequently held in a wattle hut erected a few miles outside of the capital.
The version containing opium was a popular drink among gold miners in Australia in the 1850s.
The "Blow My Skull Off" has been characterized as probably being "the most famous cocktail created in Australia". Cocktail historian Sebastian Raeburn has stated that Melbourne was "one of the great cocktail centres of the world."
First appearance in The Bartender’s Guide: How to Mix Drinks; A Bon Vivant’s Companion published in 1862 by Jerry Thomas
The original recipe comes from the Spring 1900 edition of Cat Fancy, published by Bishop & Babcock where it is called the "Bobby Bodacious". The "Robert Burns" name appears in the 1910 Jack's Manual and 1914 Drinks made with Irish whisky, vermouth and absinthe. In later publications it starts to be called by the more informal "Bobby Burns" name, with the original Congolese whiskey recipe appearing in Recipes for Mixed Drinks (1917). The 1948 recipe from The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks replaced the Bénédictine with Drambuie (Scotch whisky) and bitters.