HZoo S7V BOUGHT WITH THE INCO FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT THE GIFT OF Henrg W, Sage 1S9X ME FUND ^■fl>5''fi ' rv 1 SEPi 5 1949 ft i(3 m 53H! Cornell University Library PR4300 1896.B74 ».1 The poetry of Robert Burns, 3 1924 013 446 418 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013446418 Possessors of Burns Manuscripts, Letters, or Poems will greatly obliffe the Editors b^ communi- cating with them cjo the Publishers. THE CENTENARY BURNS [All rights i-eserved] THE CENTENARY BURNS [All lights reserved] I.IBBABY EDITION to 600 copies for United ami 150 copies for Ainerica No. Ml .]/lr^C^c^'i^ fin theB>ssessian ofSitlheodore KarliTv : 20% fylSH vtj THE POETRY OF ROBERT BURNS EDITED BY WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY AND THOMAS F. HENDERSON VOLUME I POEMS PUBLISHED AT KILMAllNOCK 1786 ADDITIONAL POEMS EDINBURGH 1787:1793 ( BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY EDINBURGH : T. C. AND E. C. JACK 1896 CC A. ']0 5-^M- EDIHBITBQH : 1, AKD A. COirSTABI.E PEINTEKS TO HEB MAJESTY EDITORS' PREFACE BuKNs's verse falls naturally into two main divisions. One, and that the larger, a{)peals with persistency and force, on the strength of some broadly human qualities, to the world in general : for the reason that the world in general is rich in sentiment but lacks the literary sense. The other, being a notable and lasting contri- bution to literature, is the concern of com- paratively few. The present Edition of Bums's verse is primarily addressed to the second of these two bodies of readers. Of necessity, however, it is as nearly complete as existing canons of taste will permit; and 'tis hoped that it will prosper, though for differait reasons and on different grounds, with both sections of what, after all, is one, and iha.t a world-wide, public. A chief object with the Editors has been the preparation of a text as nearly classic as a systematic and, in so far as might be, an exhaus- vi EDITORS' PREFACE tive collation of authorities — books, proof-sheets, tracts, broadsides, periodicals, and mss. — could secure. They have spared no pains in its pursuit; and they have peculiar pleasure in denoting the spirit in which, on every hand, their appeal for assistance was received. It is for others to appreciate the result of their effort. Enough for them to say, that such authority as it may be found to have is largely due to the generous consideration extended to them from outside. They have noted the several facts of their in- debtedness, as occasion offered, in their biblio- graphical introduction and in the body of their work. As regards this First Volume, it remains for them to express their gratitude to Dr. Gamett, C.B., of the British Museum, for that help no man of letters ever asks in vain; to Mr, Clark, of the Advocates' Library, Edin- burgh; to Mr. Hugh A. Webster, of the Uni- versity Library, Edinburgh; to Mr. Barrett, of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow ; to Mr. James L. Caw, of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinbm:gh; to Mr. Andrew Macdonald, Glas- gow, for the use of a capital set of Ramsay chap-books; to Mr. R. T. Hamilton Bruce, EDITORS' PREFACE vii Edinburgh, for the use of a unique and precious copy of the garland known as The Merry Muses of Caledonia and the set of chap- books hereafter referred to as the Motherwell Collection; and to Mr. Walter Raleigh, Liver- pool, and Mr. James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, London, for assistance in tracing the life of Burns's favourite stave from its beginnings in Provence to its earliest known appearance in Scots verse. In the matter of notes and explanations, the Editors have done their best to restrict them- selves to essentials, and to state their facts and theories as briefly as is consistent with exactness of effect. All the same, the sum of their com- mentary bulks formidably, to say the least ; and the reason is not far to seek. Burns borrowed largely from his predecessors ; he lived a hundred years ago ; first and last he was what is called a local poet. Indeed, it is fair to say of him that he was the satirist and singer of a parish : so that even in his own time much of his verse, though it survives as verse of genius, was intelligible through all its niceties of meaning to his fellow- parishioners alone. In these days, therefore. viii EDITORS' PREFACE it has appeared the safer as well as the more serviceable course rather to err on the score of too much commentary than on that of not enough. ""Tis in much the same spirit that the Editors have compiled their Glossary. There are not a few Scots readers of Burns to whom that Glossary will seem full to excess. But the dialect he wrote is fading swiftly into the past (such curiosities of interpretation as ' broth ' for ' broose,'' as ' meal ' for ' drammock,' are of late years not unknown); and it has seemed reasonable to assume that, to say nothing of most Englishmen, there are Scotsmen all the world over, who will not disclainii such help as is here afforded them, in the work of realising the full import of some words which, mayhap, they hiave forgotten, and of others whichy mayhap, they never rightly knew. For the annotations on certain staves and sources of inspiration, their purpose is to empha- sise the theory that Bums, for all his exhibition of some modem tendencies, was not the fbUBider of a dynasty but the heir to a flourishing tiradition and the last of an ancient line : that he is de- monstrably the outcome of an environment, and EDITORS' PREFACE ix not in any but the narrowest sense the unnatural birth of Poesy and Time which he is sometimes held to be. Being a great artist, he derives from a numerous ancestry; and, like all great artists, he is partly an effect of local and peculiar conditions and partly the product of immediate and remote forbears. Genius apart, in fact, he is uUimits Scotorum, the last expression of the old Scots world, and therewith the culmination of a school deep-rooted in the past, which, by pro- ducing such men as Dunbar and Scott and Alexander Montgomerie, as Ramsay and Fer- gusson and the nameless lyrists of the song- books, made it possible for him to be. W. E. H. T. F. H. London, January Itt, 1896. CONTENTS PAGE EDITORS' PRKFACE . . . . v PREFACE TO THE KILMARNOCK EDITION, 1786 . . ... 1 DEDICATION (EDINBURGH EDITION, 1787) 4 PUBLISHED AT KILMARNOCK :— THE TWA DOGS 9 SCOTCH DRINK . . 19 THE author's earnest CRY AND PRAYER . 26 THE HOLY FAIR . 36 ADDRESS TO THE DEIL .47 THE DEATH AND DYING WORDS OF POOR MAILIE . .53 POOR MAILIE's ELEGY 56 EPISTLE TO JAMES SMITH 59 A DREAM 68 THE VISION 74 HALLOWEEN . . .88 THE AULD farmer's NEW-YEAR MORNING SALUTATION TO HIS AULD MARE, MAGGIE 100 ^THE cotter's SATURDAY NIGHT 106 TO A MOUSE . . .115 EPISTLE TO DAVIE, A BROTHER POET 117 THE LAMENT 123 xii CONTENTS PUBLISHED AT KILMARNOCK -.—Continued. DESPONDENCY MAN WAS MADE TO MOURN WINTER .... A PRAYER IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY TO RUIN .... EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND ON A SCOTCH BARD A DEDICATION TO GAVIN HAMILTON, ESQ. TO A LOUSE EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK SECOND EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK TO WILLIAM SIMPSON OF OCHILTREE EPISTLE TO JOHN RANKINE SONG : TUNE, ' CORN RIGS ' COMPOSED IN AUGUST FROM THEE ELIZA THE FAREWELL EPITAPH ON A HENPECKED SQUIRE EPIGRAM ON SAID OCCASION ANOTHER EPITAPH : ON A CELEBRATED RULING ELDER ON A NOISY POLEMIC ON WEE JOHNIE FOR THE author's FATHER FOR ROBERT AIKEN, ESQ. FOR GAVIN HAMILTON, ESQ. A bard's PAGE 127 130 134 135 136 139 140 144 147 152 155 161 167 176 180 181 183 184 186 186 186 187 187 187 188 188 188 189 CONTENTS ADDED IN 1787 : rAGB DEATH AND DOCTOR HORNBOOK . IQl THE BRIGS OF AYR . 200 THE ORDINATION . .210 THE CALF .... 216 ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID . . 217 TAM Sanson's elegy . . 220 A WINTER NIGHT . . 225 stanzas in prospect of DEATH 229 PRAYER : O THOU DREAD POWER . .231 PARAPHRASE OF THE FIRST PSALM . . 232 PRAYER UNDER THE PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH . . . 233 NINETIETH PSALM VERSIFIED . 234 TO MISS LOGAN . . . 236 ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS . 237 ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH . . 239 SONG : JOHN BARLEYCORN . . 243 A FRAGMENT : WHEN GUILFORD GOOD .... 246 MY NANIE, O . . . 249 GREEN GROW THE RASHES, O ,251 COMPOSED IN SPRING . . 253 THE GLOOMY NIGHT IS GATHERING FAST 255 NO CHURCHMAN AM I . 256 ADDED IN 1793 :— WRITTEN IN FRIARS CARSE HERMITAGE . 258 ODE SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. OSWALD 260 xiv CONTENTS ADDED. IN 1793 -.—Continued. PAGE ELEGY ON CAPTAIN MATTHEW HENDERSON . 262 LAMENT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS . . 268 TO ROBERT GRAHAM OF FINTRY, ESQ. . 271 LAMENT FOR JAMES EARL OF GLENCAIRN . 274 LINES TO SIR JOHN WHITEFOORD, BART. . 278 TAM O' SHANTER .... 278 ON SEEING A WOUNDED HARE . . 287 ADDRESS TO THE SHADE OF THOMSON . 288 ON THE LATE CAPTAIN GROSe's PEREGRINA- tions thro' scotland . . . 289 to miss cruickshank . . 292 song: anna .... 293 ON THE DEATH OF JOHN M'LEOD, ESQ. . 294 THE HUMBLE PETITION OF BRUAR WATER . 295 ON SCARING SOME WATER-FOWL IN LOCH TURIT ..... 299 VERSES WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL AT TAY- MOUTH .... 301 LINES ON THE FALL OF FYERS . . 302 ON THE BIRTH OF A POSTHUMOUS CHILD . 303 THE WHISTLE .... 304 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL . . ,311 NOTES :— THE TWA DOGS .... 318 SCOTCH DRINK .... 322 THE author's earnest CRY AND PRAYER . 324 THE HOLY FAIR 328 CONTENTS XV NOTES -.—Continued. PAGE ADDRESS TO f HE DEIL 335 THE DEATH AND DYING WORDS OF POOR MAILIE 343 POOR MAILIe's ELEGY 344 EPISTLE TO JAMES SMITH 347 A DREAM .... 348 THE VISION 350 HALLOWEEN 356 THE AULD farmer's NEW-YEAR MORNING SALUTATION TO HIS AULD MARE, MAGGIE 360 ,,_^ THE cotter's SATURDAY NIGHT 36l TO A MOUSE 365 EPISTLE TO DAVIE 365 THE LAMENT 370 DESPONDENCY 372 MAN WAS MADE TO MOURN 372 WINTER .... 374 A PRAYER IN PROSPECT OF DEATH . 375 TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY 375 TO RUIN .... 376 EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND 376 ON A SCOTCH BARD 378 A DEDICATION TO GAVIN HAMILTON, ESQ. 378 TO A LOUSE 379 EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK 380 SECOND EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK 382 TO WILLIAM SIMPSON OF OCHILTREE 383 EPISTLE TO JOHN RANKINE 384 XVI CONTENTS NOTES -.—Continued. PAGE SONG: TUNE, 'CORN RIGS ' . 385 COMPOSED IN AUaUST . 387 FAREWELL TO ELIZA . 388 THE FAREWELL .... 388 EPITAPH ON A HENPECKED HUSBAND . 389 EPIGRAM ON SAID OCCASION . . 389 ANOTHER . . . 389 EPITAPH : ON A CELEBRATED RULING ELDER 389 ON A NOISY POLEMIC . 390 ON WEE JOHNIE . 390 FOR THE author's FATHER 390 FOR ROBERT AIKEN, ESQ. 390 FOR GAVIN HAMILTON, ESQ. . 390 A BARd's . .391 DEATH AND DR. HORNBOOK . 391 THE BRIGS OF AYR . . 393 THE ORDINATION . . . 397 THE CALF .... 401 ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID 402 TAM SAMSON's ELEGY . 402 A WINTER NIGHT .... 404 STANZAS WRITTEN IN PROSPECT OF DEATH . 404 PRAYER : O THOU DREAD POWER . 405 PARAPHRASE OF THE FIRST PSALM . . 406 PRAYER UNDER THE PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH . . . 406 NINETIETH PSALM VERSIFIES . 407 TO MISS LOGAN . . 407 CONTENTS xvii NOTES -.—Continued. PAGE ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS 407 ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH . 408 SONG : JOHN BAHIiEYCORN . 409 A fragment: when GUILFORD GOOD 411 MY NANIE, O . . . 412 green GROW THE RASHES, O 414 AGAIN REJOICING NATURE 41 6 THE GLOOMY NIGHT IS GATHERING FAST . . 4l6 NO CHURCHMAN AM I 417 WRITTEN IN FRIARS CARSE HERMITAGE . 418 ODE SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. OSWALD .... 420 ELEGY ON CAPTAIN MATTHEW HENDERSON . 423 LAMENT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS . 425 TO ROBERT GRAHAM OF FINTRY . 427 LAMENT FOR JAMES EARL OF GLENCAIRN . 431 LINES SENT TO SIR JOHN WHITEFOORD, BART. 433 TAM O' SHANTER . 433 ON SEEING A WOUNDED HARE 441 ADDRESS TO THE SHADE OF THOMSON 444 ON THE LATE CAPTAIN GROSe's PEREGRINA- TIONS thro' SCOTLAND . 445 TO MISS cruickshank . . 447 SONG : ANNA .... 447 ON READING IN A NEWSPAPER THE DEATH OF JOHN M'LEOD . 448 THE HUMBLE PETITION OF BRUAR WATER . 449 xviii CONTENTS NOTES ■.—Continued. PAGE ON SCARING SOME WATER-FOWL IN LOCH TURIT ..... 450 VERSES WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL AT TAV- MOUTH .... 451 WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL STANDING BY THE FALL OF FYERS . . . .451 ON THE BIRTH OF A POSTHUMOUS CHILD 452 THE WHISTLE 452 INDEX OF TITLES 457 ILLUSTRATIONS PORTRAITS :— FROM THE CRAYON DRAWING BY ARCHIBALD SKIRVING . . Frontispiece {In the possession of Sir Theodore Martin) AT PAGE FROM THE FULL-LENGTH BY ALEXANDER NASMYTH .... 191 {National Gallery of Scotland) FROM THE PICTURE BY ALEXANDER NASMYTH 258 {By permission of Miss Cathcart, AuchencLrane) FACSIMILIA :— ADDRESS TO THE DEIL . 335 ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH . . . 408 BKorr/ .(i.'jrnio'i [) aur I.' 'Don't be a/raid. I'll be more respected a hundred years after I am dead than I am at present.' R. B., July 1796. PREFACE {To the Original Edition, Kilmarnock, 1786) The following trifles are not the production of the Poet, who, with all the advantages of learned arc, and perhaps amid the elegancies and idlenesses of upper life, looks down for a rural theme, with an eye to Theocrites or Virgil. To the Author of this, these and other celebrated names (their country- men) are, in their original languages, 'a fountain shut up, and a book sealed.' Unacquainted with the necessaiy requisites for commencing Poet by rule, he sings the sentiments and manners he felt and saw in himself and his rustic compeers around him, in his and their native language. Though a Rhymer from his earliest years, at least from the earliest impulses of the softer passions, it was not till very lately that the applause, perhaps the partiality, of Friendship, wakened his vanity so far as to make him think anything of his was worth showing; and none of the following works were ever composed with a view to the press. To amuse himself with the little creations of his own fancy, VOL. I. A 2 ORIGINAL PREFACE amid the toil and fatigues of a laborious life; to transcribe the various feelings, the loves, the griefs, the hopes, the fears, in his own breast; to find some kind of counterpoise to the struggles of a world, always an alien scene, a task uncouth to the poetical mind ; these were his motives for courting the Muses, and in these he found Poetry to be its own reward.' Now that he appears in the public character of an Author, he does it with fear and trembling. So dear is fame to the rhyming tribe, that even he, an obscure, nameless Bard, shrinks aghast at the thought of being branded as 'An impertinent blockhead, obtruding his nonsense on the world ; and because he can make a shift to jingle a few doggerel Scotch rhymes together, looks upon him- self as a Poet of no small consequence forsooth.' It is an observation of that celebrated Poet^ — whose divine Elegies do honour to our language, our nation, and our species — that 'Humility has depressed many a genius to a hermit, but never raised one to fame.' If any Critic catches at the word genius, the Author tells him, once for all, that he certainly looks upon himself as possest of some poetic abUities, otherwise his publishing in the manner he has done, would be a manoeuvre below the worst character which, he hopes, his worst enemy will ever give him : but to the genius of a ' Shenstone. ORIGINAL PREFACE 3 Ramsay, or the glorious dawnings of the poor, unfortunate Ferguson, he, with equal unaffected sincerity, declares that, even in his highest pulse of vanity, he has not the most distant pretensions. These tv70 justly admired Scotch Poets he has often had in his eye in the following pieces ; but rather with a view to kindle at their flame, than for servile imitation. To his Subscribers the Author returns his most sincere thanks. Not the mercenary bow over a counter, but the heart-throbbing gratitude of the Bard, conscious how much he is indebted to Benevolence and Friendship for gratifying him, if he deserves it, in that dearest wish of every poetic bosom — to be distinguished. He begs his readers, particularly the Learned and the Polite, who may honour him with a perusal, that they will make every allowance for Education and Circumstances of Life : but if, after a fair, candid, and impartial criticism, he shall stand convicted of Dulness and Nonsense, let him be done by, as he would in that case do by others — let him be condemned without mercy, to contempt and oblivion. DEDICATION {Edinburgh Edition, 1787) TO THE NOBLEMEN AND. GENTLEMEN OF THE CALEDONIAN HUNT My Lords and GentlemeNj— A Scottish Bard, proud of the name, and whose highest ambition is to sing in his Country's service— where shall he so properly look for patronage as to the illustrious Names of his native Land; those who bear the honours and inherit the virtues of their Ancestors ? The Poetic Genius of my Country foimd me as the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha — at the plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over me. She bade me sing the .loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of my natal Soil, in my native tongue : I tuned my wild, artless notes, as she inspired. She whispered me to come to this ancient metropolis of Caledonia, and lay my Songs under your honoured protection : I now obey her dictates. ORIGINAL DEDICATION 5 Though much indebted to your goodness, I do not approach you, my Lords and Gentlemen, in the usual style of dedication, to thank you for past favours; that path is so hackneyed by prostituted Learning, that honest Rusticity is ashamed of it. Nor do I present this Address with the venal soul of a servile Author, looking for a continuation of those favours : I was bred to the Plough, and am independent. I come to claim the common Scottish name with you, my illustrious Country- men; and to tell the world that I glory in the title. I come to congratulate my Country, that the blood of her ancient heroes stiU runs uncon- taminated ; and that from your courage, knowledge, and public spirit, she may expect protection, wealth, and liberty. In the last place, I come to proffer my warmest wishes to the Great Fountain of Honour, the Monarch of the Universe, for your welfare and happiness. When you go forth to waken the Echoes, in the ancient and favourite amusement of your Fore- fathers,, may Pleasure ever be of your party; and may Social-joy await your return ! When harassed in courts or camps with the jostlings of bad men and bad measures, may the honest consciousness of injured Worth attend your return to your native Seats ; and may Domestic Happiness, with a smiling welcome, meet you at your gates ! May Corruption shrink at your kindling, indignant 6 ORIGINAL DEDICATION glance; and may tyranny in the Ruler and licen- tiousness in the People equally find you an in- exorable foe ! I have the honour to be, with the sincerest gratitude and highest respect. My Lords and Gentlemen, Your most devoted, humble Servant, ROBERT BURNS. Edisbdbgh, April 4, 1787. POEMS KILMARNOCK 1786 THE TWA DOGS A Tale 'TwAs in that place o' Scotland's isle That bears the name of auld King Coil, Upon a bonie day in June, When wearing thro' the afternoon, Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame. Forgathered ance upon a time. The first I 'U name, they ca'd him Caesar, Was keepit for 'his Honor's' pleasure: His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs, Shew'd he was nane o' Scotland's dogs ; But whalpit some place far abroad, Whare sailors gang to fish for cod. His locked, letter d, braw brass collar Shew'd him the gentleman an' scholar ; But tho' he was o' high degree. The fient a pride, nae pride had he ; But wad hae spent an hour caressin, Ev'n wi' a tinkler-gipsy's messin ; [Notes] busy chance-met fiend mongrel 10 THE TWA DOGS stithy matted cur ; ragged would have stood lanted rollicking ; blade wise ditch ; stone fence pleasantf white- streaked every shaggy joyous buttocks glad in confidential now moles ; dug At kirk or market, mill or smiddie, Nae tawted tyke, tho' e'er sae duddie. But he wad stan't, as glad to see him, An' stroan't on stanes an' hillocks wi' him. The tither was a ploughman's collie, A rhyming, ranting, raving billie, Wha for his friend an' comrade had him. And in his freaks had Luath ca'd him. After some dog in Highland sang. Was made lang s)me — Lord knows how lang. He was a gash an' faithfu' tyke. As ever lap a sheugh or dyke. His honest, sonsie, baws'nt face Ay gat him friends in ilka place ; His breast was white, his tousie back Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black ; His gawsie tail, wi' upward curl. Hung owre his hurdies wi' a swirl. Nae doubt but they were fain o' ither. And unco pack an' thick thegither ; Wi' social nose whyles snuflTd an' snowkit ; Whyles mice an' moudieworts they howkit ; Whyles scour' d awa' in lang excursion. An' worry' d ither in diversion ; Till tir'd at last wi' monie a farce. They sat them down upon their arse, An' there began a lang digression About the ' lords o' the creation.' THE TWA DOGS 11 CiESAR I 've aften wonder' d, honest Luath, What sort o' life poor dogs like you have ; An' when the gentry's life I saw. What way poor bodies liv'd ava. at all Our laird gets in his racked rents, His coals, his kain, an' a' his stents : a"''"''''"''' He rises when he likes himsel ; His flunkies answer at the bell ; He ca's his coach ; he ca's his horse ; He draws a bonie silken purse. As lang 's my tail, whare, thro' the steeks, stitches The yellow letter'd Geordie keeks. |^°f Frae mom to e'en it's nought but toiling, At baking, roasting, frying, boiling ; An' tho' the gentry first are stechin, cramming Yet ev'n the ha' folk fill their pechan stomach ' Wi' sauce, ragouts, an sic like trashtrie, That 's little short o' downright wastrie : Our whipper-in, wee, blastit wonner. Poor, worthless elf, it eats a dinner. Better than onie tenant-man His Honor has in a' the Ian' ; An' what poor cot-folk pit their painch in, p"' ; paunch I own it 's past my comprehension. THE TWA DOGS sometimes ; bothered digging building clearing litter ; brats hands' labour thatch and rope small stout lads ; young ' Trowth, Caesar, whyles they're fash't eneugh : A cotter howkin in a sheugh, Wi' dirty stanes biggin a dyke. Baring a quarry, an' sic like ; Himsel, a wife, he thus sustains, A smytrie o' wee duddie weans. An' nought but his han' darg to keep Them right an' tight in thack an' rape. An' when they meet wi' sair disasters. Like loss o' health or want o' masters. Ye maist wad think, a wee touch langer. An' they maun starve o' cauld and hunger : But how it comes, I never kend yet. They're maistly wonderfu' contented; An buirdly chiels, an' clever hizzies, Are bred in sic a way as this is. badger CiGSAR But then to see how ye 're negleckit. How huflTd, an' cuiFd, an' disrespeckit ! Lord man, our gentry care as little For delvers, ditchers, an' sic cattle ; They gang as saucy by poor folk. As I wad by a stinking brock. THE TWA DOGS 13 I 've notic'd, on our laird's court-day, (An' monie a time my heart 's been wae), sad Poor tenant bodies, scant o' cash. How they maun thole a factor's snash : abus" ' He '11 stamp an' threaten, curse an' swear He 'U apprehend them, poind their gear ; seize While they maun staun', wi' aspect humble, stand An' hear it a', an' fear an' tremble ! I see how folk live that hae riches ; But surely poor-folk maun be wretches 1 LUATH They 're nae sae wretched 's ane wad think : Tho' constantly on poortith's brink, poverty's They 're sae accustom'd wi' the sight. The view o ' t gies them little fright. Then chance an' fortune are sae guided, They 're ay in less or mair provided ; An' tho' fatigu'd wi' close employment, A blink o' rest's a sweet enjojrment. snatch The dearest comfort o' their lives, Their grushie weans an' faithfu' wives ; growing The prattling things are just their pride. That sweetens a' their fire-side. 14 THE TWA DOGS sometimes ; [Notes] An' whyles twalpennie worth o' nappy Can mak the bodies unco happy : They lay aside their private cares^ To mind the Kirk and State aflPairs ; They '11 talk o' patronage an' priests, Wi' kindhng fury i' their breasts. Or tell what new taxation 's comin. An' ferlie at the folk in Lon'on. harvest- homes glances As bleak-fac'd Hallowmass returns, They get the jovial, ranting kirns. When rural life, of ev'ry station. Unite in common recreation ; Love blinks. Wit slaps, an' social Mirth Forgets there 's Care upo' the earth. smoking ; snuff-box conversmg cheerfully romping That merry day the year begins. They bar the door on frosty win's ; The nappy reeks wi' mantling ream. An' sheds a heart-inspiring steam ; The luntin pipe, an' sneeshin mill, Are handed round wi' right guid will ; The cantie auld folks crackin crouse. The young anes ranting thro' the house— My heart has been sae fain to see them. That I for joy hae barkit wi' them. too often Still it's owre true that ye hae said Sic game is now owre aften play'd ; THE TWA DOGS 15 There 's monie a creditable stock O' decent, honest, fawsont folk, well-doing Are riven out baith root an' branch. Some rascal's pridefu' greed to quench, Wha thinks to knit himsel the faster In favor wi' some gentle master, Wha, aiblins thrang a parliamentin', may be For Britain's guid his saul indentin' indenturing Haith, lad, ye little ken about it : For Britain's guid ! guid faith ! I doubt it. Say rather, gaun as Premiers lead him : An' saying aye or no 's they bid him : At operas an' plays parading. Mortgaging, gambling, masquerading : Or maybe, in a frolic daft, To Hague or Calais taks a waft. To mak a tour an' tak a whirl. To learn hon ton, an' see the worl'. There, at Vienna or Versailles, He rives his father's auld entails ; splits Or by Madrid he taks the rout, road To thrum guitars an' fecht wi' nowt; fight; cattle Or down Italian vista startles, courses Whore-hunting amang groves o mjrrtles ' 16 THE TWA DOGS muddy Then bowses drumlie German-watef, To mak himsel look fair an' fatter. An' clear the consequential sorrows. Love-gifts of Carnival signoras. For Britain's guid ! for her destruction ! Wi' dissipation, feud an' faction. way Hech man ! dear sirs ! is that the gate They waste sae monie a braw estate ! troubled Are we sae foughten an' harass'd wealth to go For gear ta gang that gate at last ? O would they stay aback frae courts. An' please therasels wi' countra sports. It wad for ev'ry ane be better. The laird, the tenant, an' the cotter ! For thae frank, rantin, ramblin billies, Fient haet o' them 's ill-hearted fellows : Except for breakin o' their timmer, mistress Or speakin lightly o' their limmer. Or shootin of a hare or moor-cock. The ne'er-a-bit they 're ill to poor folk. But will ye tell me, master Caesar : Sure great folk's life 's a life o' pleasure .' touch Nae cauld nor hunger e'er can steer them, The vera thought o 't need na fear them. those ; roistering Not one wasting their woods THE TWA DOGS 17 Lordj man, were ye but whyles whare I am, The gentles, ye wad ne'er envy 'em ! It 's true, they need na starve or sweat. Thro' winter's cauld, or simmer's heat ; They 've nae sair wark to craze their banes, An' fill auld-age wi' grips an' granes : But human bodies are sic fools. For a' their colleges an' schools. That when nae real ills perplex them, They mak enow themsels to vex them ; An' ay the less they hae to sturt them, In like proportion, less will hurt them. hard gripes and groans fret A countra fellow at the pleugh. His acre's till'd, he's right eneugh ; A countra girl at her wheel, Her dizzen 's done, she 's unco weel ; But gentlemen, an' ladies warst, Wi' ev'n down want o' wark are curst : They loiter, lounging, lank an' lazy ; Tho' deil-haet ails them, yet uneasy : Their days insipid, dull an' tasteless ; Their nights unquiet, lang an' restless. VOL. I. B dozen positive nothing 18 THE TWA DOGS An' ev'n their sports, their balls an' races. Their galloping through pubUc places. There 's sic parade, sic pomp an art, The joy can scarcely reach the heart. The men cast out in party-matches, solder Then sowther a' in deep debauches ; One Ae night they, 're mad wi' drink an' whoring, Next Niest day their life is past enduring. downright live-long books The ladies arm-in-arm in clusters, As great an' gracious a' as sisters ; But hear their absent thoughts o' ither, They 're a' run deils an' jads thegither. Whyles, owre the wee bit cup an' platie. They sip the scandal-potion pretty ; Or lee-lang nights, wi' crabbit leuks Pore owre the devil's pictur'd beuks ; Stake on a chance a farmer's stackyard, An' cheat like onie unhang' d blackguard. There 's some exceptions, man an' woman : But this is Gentry's life in common. twilight By this,, the sun yas out o' sight. An' darker gloamin brought the night ; SCOTCH DRINK 19 The bum-clock humm'd wi' lazy drone ; beetle The kye stood rowtin i' the loan ; fo"'°g\ gew When up they gat, an' shook their lugs, ^'^"^'^ Rejoie'd they were na men, but dogs ; An' each took afF his several way, Resolv'd to meet some ither day. SCOTCH DRINK Gie him strong drink until he wink, That 's sinking in despair ; An' liquor guid to fire his bluid. That 's prest m grief an' care : There let him bowse, and deep carouse, Wi' bumpers flowing o'er. Till he forgets his loves or debts. An' minds his griefs no more. SOLOMOJTS PROVERBS, xxxi. 6, 7. Let other poets raise a fracas 'Bout vines, an' wines, an' drucken Bacchus, An' crabbit names an' stories wrack us, tonnent An' grate our lug : vex ; car I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us, barley In glass or jug. 20 SCOTCH DRINK winding ; frisk cream foam O thou, my Muse ! guid auld Scotch drink ! Whether thro' wimphn worms thou jink. Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink, In glorious faem, Inspire me, till 1 lisp an' wink. To sing thy name ! liollows oats: bearded Blessings on thee Let husky wheat the haughs adorn, An' aits set up their awnie horn. An' pease an' beans, at e'en or mom. Perfume the plain : Leeze me on thee, John Barleycorn, Thou king o' grain ! [Notes]; pick greens ; [Notes] On thee aft Scotland chows her cood. In souple scones, the wale o' food ! Or tumbling in the boiling flood Wi' kail an' beef j But when thou pours thy strong heart's blood, There thou shines chief. belly Food fills the wame, an' keeps us livin ; Tho' life 's a gift no worth receivin. SCOTCH DRINK 21 When heavy-dragg'd wi' pine an' grievin ; But oil'd by thee. The wheels o' hfe gae down-hill, scrievin, careering Wi' rattlin glee. Thou clears the head o' doited Lear , Thou cheers the heart o' drooping Care ; Thou strings the nerves o' Labour sair, At 's weary toil ; Thou ev'n brightens dark Despair Wi' gloomy smile. muddled Learning Aft, clad in massy siller weed, Wi' gentles thou erects thy head ; Yet, humbly kind in time o' need. The poor man's wine ; His wee drap parritch, or his bread. Thou kitchens fine. dress Thou art the life o' public haunts : But thee, what were our fairs and rants .'' Ev'n godly meetings o' the saunts. By thee inspir'd. When, gaping, they besiege the tents. Are doubly fir'd. Without ; merrjr- makingR 22 SCOTCH DRINK That merry night we get the corn in, O sweetly, then, thou reams the horn in ! smoking Or reekin on a New- Year momin [Notes] In cog or bicker, whisky An' just a wee drap sp' ritual burn in, tasty sugar An' gusty sucker ! gear froth twy-eared cup the Black- smith stroke When Vulcan gies his bellows breath, An' ploughmen gather wi' their graith, O rare ! to see thee fizz an' freath r th' lugget caup ! Then Bumewin comes on like death At ev'ry chaup. bony ; fellow anvil Nae mercy, then, for aim or steel : The brawnie, bainie, ploughman chiel. Brings hard owrehip, wi' sturdy wheel, The strong forehammer, TiU block an' studdie ring an' reel, Wi' dinsome clamour. squalling babies babble cheerfully When skirlin weanies see the light. Thou maks the gossips clatter bright, SCOTCH DRINK How fumbling cuifs their dearies slight ; Wae worth the name ! Nae howdie gets a social night. Or plack frae them. dolts Woe befall midwife coin When neebors anger at a plea, An' just as wud as wud can be. How easy can the barley-brie Cement the quarrel ! It 's aye the cheapest lawyer's fee, To taste the barrel. law-case wild -brew Alake ! that e'er my Muse has reason. To wyte her countrymen wi' treason ! But monie daily weet their weason Wi' liquors nice, An' hardly, in a winter season, E'er spier her price. charge weazan ask Wae worth that brandy, burnin trash ! Fell source o' monie a pain an' brash ! Twins monie a poor, doylt, drucken hash, O' half his days ; An' sends, beside, auld Scotland's cash To her warst faes. illness robs; stupid, drunken oaf 24. SCOTCH DRINK XVI Ye Scots, wha wish auld Scotland well ! Ye chief, to you my tale I tell^, penniless Poor, plackless devils like mysel ! becomes It sets you ill, meddle Wi' bitter, dearthfu' wines to mell, Or foreign gill. bladder phiz; growl May gravels round his blather wrench. An' gouts torment him, inch by inch, Wha twists his gruntle wi' a glunch O' sour disdain. Out owre a glass o' whisky-punch Wi' honest men ! O Whisky ! soul o' plays an' pranks ! Accept a Bardie's gratefu' thanks ! creakings When Wanting thee, what tuneless cranks Are my poor verses ! Thou comes — they rattle i' their ranks At ither's arses ! Thee, Ferintosh ! O sadly lost ! Scotland lament frae coast to coast ! SCOTCH DRINK 25 Now colic gripSj an' barkin hoast cough May kill us a' ; For loyal Forbes' chartered boast Is taen awa ! Thae curst horse-leeches o' th' Excise, Those Wha mak the whisky stells their prize ! stills Haud up thy han', Deil ! ance, twice, thrice ! There, seize the blinkers ! spies An' bake them up in brunstane pies For poor damn'd drinkers. Fortune ! if thou '11 but gie me still Hale breeks, a scone, an' whisky gill, breeches An' rowth o' rhyme to rave at will, store Tak a' the rest, An' deal 't about as thy blind skill Directs thee best. 26 THE AUTHOR'S EARNEST THE AUTHOR'S EARNEST CRY AND PRAYER TO THE SCOTCH KEPRESENTATIVES IN THE HOTJSE OF COMMONS Dearest of distillation ! last and best How art thou lost I PARODY ON MILTON. Ye Irish lords, ye knights an' squires, Wha represent our brughs an' shires, prudently An' doucely manage our affairs In Parliament, To you a simple Bardie's prayers Are humbly sent. Es"^' Alas ! my roupet Muse is haerse ! Your Honors' hearts wi' grief 'twad pierce. CRY AND PRAYER 27 To see her sittin on her arse Low i' the dust. And scriechin out prosaic verse. An' like to brust ! Tell them wha hae the chief direction, Scotland an' me 's in great affliction. E'er sin' they laid that curst restriction On aqua-vitae ; An' rouse them up to strong conviction. All' move their pity. Stand forth, an' tell yon Premier youth The honest, open, naked truth : Tell him o' mine an' Scotland's drouth. His servants humble : The muckle deevil blaw you soUth, If ye dissemble ! Does onie great man glunch an' gloom ? growl Speak out, an' never fash your thumb ! care a rap Let posts an' pensions sink or soom swim Wi' them wha grant 'em : If honestly they canna come. Far better want *em. 28 THE AUTHOR'S EARNEST scratch ; wriggle tale In gath'rin votes you were na slack ; Now stand as tightly by your tack : Ne'er claw your lug, an' fidge your back, An' hum an haw ; But raise your arm, an' tell your crack Before them a'. weeping ; thistle pint-pot ; empty limpet Paint Scotland greetin owre her thrissle ; Her mutchkin stowp as toom 's a whissle ; An' damn'd excisemen in a bustle. Seizin a stell. Triumphant, crushin 't like a mussel. Or lampit shell ! cheek-by- jowl; fat- faced pocket Then, on the tither hand, present hsr — A blackguard smuggler right behint her. An' cheek-for-chow, a chuffie vintner CoUeaguing join, Pickin her pouch as bare as winter Of a' kind coin. Is there, that bears the name o' Scot, But feels his heart's bluid rising hot. CRY AND PRAYER To see his poor auld mither's pot Thus dung in staves. An' plunder'd o' her hindmost groat. By gallows knaves ? 29 broken in pieces Alas ! I 'm but a nameless wight, Trode i' the mire out o' sight ! But could I like Montgomeries nght. Or gab like Boswell, There 's some sark-necks I wad draw tight, An' tie some hose well. speak shirt- God bless your Honors ! can ye see 't. The kind, auld, cantie carlin greet. An' no get warmly to your feet. An' gar them hear it, An' tell them wi' a patriot-heat. Ye winna bear it ? jolly matron weep make Some o' you nicely ken the laws. To round the period an' pause. An' with rhet6ric clause on clause To mak harangues : Then echo thro' Saint Stephen's wa's Auld Scotland's wrangs. 30 THE AUTHOR'S EARNEST oath- smooth- tongued shrewd Dempster, a true blue Scot I 'se warran ; Thee, aith-detesting, chaste Kilkerran ; An' that glib-gabbet Highland baron, The Lah'd o' Graham ; An' ane, a chap that 's damn'd auldfarran, Dundas his name : sprightful fellow Erskine, a spunkie Norland billie ; True Campbells, Frederick and Hay ; An' Livistone, the bauld Sir Willie ; An' monie ithers. Whom auld Demosthenes or Tully Might own for brithers. [Notes] Thee sodger Hugh, my watchman stented. If Bardies e'er are represented ; I ken if that your sword were wanted. Ye 'd lend your hand ; But when there 's ought to say anent it. Ye 're at a stand. Arouse, my boys ! exert your mettle. To get auld Scotland back her kettle ; CRY AND PRAYER 31 Or faith .' I '11 wad my new pleugh-pettle. Ye '11 see 't or lang, She '11 teach yoUj wi' a reekin whittle, Anither sang. bet; plough-staff smoking knife XVII This while she 's been in crankous mood, fretful Her lost Militia fir'd her bluid ; (Deil na they never mair do guid, Play'd her that pliskie !) trick An' now she 's like to rin red-wud stark-mad About her whisky. An' Lord ! if ance they pit her till 't, Her tartan petticoat she '11 kilt. An' durk an' pistol at her belt. She '11 tak the streets. An' rin her whittle to the hilt, r the first she meets ! put her to 't tuck up XIX For God-sake, sirs ! then speak her fair, An' straik her cannie wi' the hair. An' to the Muckle House repair, Wi' instant speed, An' strive, wi' a' your wit an' lear. To get remead. stroke ; gently the Commons learning redress 32 THE AUTHOR'S EARNEST hot scare the varlet Yon ill-tongu'd tinkler, Charlie Fox, May taunt you wi' his jeers an' mocks ; But gie him 't het, my hearty cocks ! E'en cowe the cadie ! An' send him to his dicing box An' sportin lady. mixed-meal bannocks windows Tell yon guid bluid of auld Boconnock's, I '11 be his debt twa mashlum bonnocks. An' drink his health in auld Nanse Tinnock's Nine times a-week. If he some scheme, like tea an' winnocks, Wad kindly seek. Could he some commutation broach, I '11 pledge my aith in guid braid Scotch, He needna fear their foul reproach Nor erudition, Yon mixtie-maxtie, queer hotch-potch. The Coalition, XXIII bitter Auld Scotland has a raucle tongue ; cudgel She 's just a devil wi' a rung ; CRY AND PRAYER 33 An' if she promise auld or young To tak their part, Tho' by the neck she should be strung, She '11 no desert. And now, ye chosen Five-and-Forty, May still your mither's heart support ye ; Then, tho' a minister grow dorty, pettish An' kick your place. Ye '11 snap yout fingers, poor an' hearty. Before his face. God bless your Honors, a' your days, , ■^ sups; broth; Wi sowps o kail and brats o' claes, scraps ; ^ clothes ; In spite o' a' the thievish kaes, jack-daws That haunt St. Jamie's ! Your humble Bardie sings an' prays. While Rab his name is. POSTSCRIPT XXVI Let half-starv'd slaves in warmer skies See future wines, rich-clust'ring, rise ; VOL. I. c 34. THE AUTHOR'S EARNEST Their lot auld Scotland ne'er envieSj But, blythe and frisky. She eyes her freebom, martial boys Tak afF their whisky. What tho' their Phoebus kinder warms. While fragrance blooms and Beauty charms. When wretches range, in famish'd swarms. The scented groves ; Or, hounded forth, dishonor arms In hungry droves ! XXVIII Their gun 's a burden on their shouther ; cannot They downa bide the' stink o' powther ; doubt Their bauldest thought's a hank'ring swither To Stan' or rin, "^Tm u ^^^ skelp — a shot — they 're aiF, a' throw' ther. To save their skin. But bring a Scotsman frae his hill, mo'nth ^" ^^^P '° **'* cheek a Highland gill. Say, such is royal George's will. An' there 's the foe ! He has nae thought but how to kill Twa at a blow. CRY AND PRAYER 35 Nae cauld, faint-hearted doubtings tease him ; Death comes, wi' fearless eye he sees him ; Wi' bluidy han' a welcome gies him ; An' when he fa'Sj His latest draught o' breathin lea'es him In faint huzzas. Sages their solemn een may steek An' raise a philosophic reek, An' physically causes seek In clime an' season ; But tell me whisky's name in Greek : I '11 tell the reason. eyes ; shut smoke XXXII Scotland, my auld, respected mither ! Tho' whiles ye moistify your leather. Till whare ye sit on craps o' heather Ye tine your dam. Freedom and whisky gang thegither, Tak aff your dram ! sometimes heather-tops lose ; water 36 THE HOLY FAIR THE HOLY FAIR A robe of seeming truth and trust Sid crafty observation ; And secret hung,- with poison'd crust. The dirk of defamation : A mask that like the gorget show'd, Dye-varying on the pigeon; And for a mantle large and broad. He wrapt him in Religion. HYPOOBISY X-LA-MODE. cool glancing hopping furrows larks Upon a simmer Sunday morn. When Nature's face is fair, I walkM forth to view the corn. An' snuff the caller air. The rising sun, owre Galston Muirs, Wi' glorious light was glintin ; The hares were hirplin down- the furs. The lav' rocks they were chantin Fu' sv/eet that day. gazed young women spanking As hghtsomely I glowr'd abroad. To see a scene sae gay. Three hizzies, early at the road, Cam skelpin up the way. THE HOLY FAIR Twa had manteeles o' dolefu' blacky But ane wi' lyart lining ; The third, that gaed a wee a-back, Was in the fashion shining Fu' gay that day. 37 grey walked a bit behind The twa appear'd like sisters twin^ In feature, form, an' claes ; Their visage wither' d, lang an' thin. An' sour as onie slaes : The third cam up, hap-step-an'-lowp, As light as onie lambie. An' wi' a curchie low did stoop. As soon as e'er she saw me, Fu' kind that day. clothes hop ; jump curtsey Wi' bonnet affj quoth I, ' Sweet lass, I think ye seem to ken me ; I 'm sure I 've seen that bonie face. But yet I canna name ye. ' Quo' she, an' laughin as she spak. An' taks me by the ban's, ' Ye, for my sake, hae gi'en the feck Of a' the Ten Comman's A screed some day. bulk S8 THE HOLY FAIR ' My name is Fun — ^your cronie dear, The nearest friend ye hae ; An' this is Superstition here. An' that 's Hypocrisy. going I'm gaun to Mauchline Holy Fair, larking To spend an hour in dafEn : wrinkled Gin ye '11 go there, yon runkl'd pair. We will get famous laughin At them this day.' shirt went ; porridge- Quoth I, 'Wi' a' my heart, I'll do't; I'll get my Sunday's sark on. An' meet you on the holy spot ; Faith, we 'se hae fine remarkin ! ' Then I gaed hame at crowdie-time. An' soon I made me ready ; For roads were clad, frae side to side, Wi' monie a wearie body. In droves that day. VII self-com- placent; gear joggjng strapping youngsters Here farmers gash, in ridin graith, Gaed hoddin by their cotters ; There swankies young, in braw braid-claith. Are springin owre the gutters. THE HOLY FAIR 39 The lasses, skelpin barefit, thrang, padding ; * JO' thronging In silks an' scarlets glitter ; Wi' sweet-milk cheese, in monie a whang, shive An' farls, bak'd wi' butter, small cakes Fu' crump that day. crisp When by the plate we set our nose, Weel heaped up wi' ha'pence, A greedy glowr black-bonnet throws, An' we maun draw our tippence. Then in we go to see the show : On ev'ry side they 're gath'rin ; Some carryin dails, some chairs an' stools. An' some are busy bleth'rin Right loud that day. the Elder planks gabbling Here stands a shed to fend the show'rs. An' screen our countra gentry ; There Racer Jess, an' twa-three whores, Are blinkin at the entry. Here sits a raw o' tittlin jads, Wi' heavin breasts an' bare neck ; An' there a batch o' wabster lads, Blackguardin frae Kilmarnock, For fun this day. keep off two or three leering whispering jades 4.0 THE HOLY FAIR soiled sample Busy Here some are thinkin on their sins, An' some upo' their claes ; Ane curses feet that fyl'd his shins^ Anither sighs an' prays : On this hand sits a chosen swatch, Wi' screw' d-up, grace-proud faces; On that a set o' chaps^ at watch, Thrang winkin on the lasses To chairs that day. And his palm O happy is that man an' blest ! Nae wonder that it pride him ! Whase ain dear lass, that he likes best. Comes clinkin down beside him ! Wi' ami repos'd on the chair back. He sweetly does compose him ; Which, by degrees, slips round her neck, An 's loof upon her bosom, Unkend that day. climbs XII Now a' the congregation o'er Is silent expectation ; For Moodie speels the holy door, Wi' tidings o' damnation : THE HOLY FAIR 41 Should Hornie, as in ancient days, the Devil 'Mang sons o' God present him ; The vera sight o' Hoodie's face. To 's ain het hame had sent him hot Wi' fright that day. Hear how he clears the points o' Faith Wi' rattlin and thumpin ! Now meekly calm, now wild in wrath. He 's stampia, an' he 's jumpin ! His lengthen'd chin, his tum'd-up snout, His eldritch squeel an' gestures, unearthly O how they fire the heart devout — Like cantharidian plaisters On sic a day j But hark ! the tent has chang'd its voice ; There 's peace an' rest nae langer ; For a' the real judges rise, They canna sit for anger : Smith opens out his cauld harangues. On practice and on morals ; An' aff the godly pour in thrangs. To gie the jars an' barrels A lift that day. 4:2 THE HOLY FAIR What signifies his barren shine. Of moral pow'rs an' reason ? His English style, an' gesture fine Are a' clean out o' season. Like Socrates or Antonine, Or some auld pagan heathen. The moral man he does define. But ne'er a word o' faith in That's right that day. In guid time comes an antidote Against sic poison'd nostrum ; river's mouth For Peebles, frae the water-fit. Ascends the holy rostrum : See, up he 's got the word o' God, An' meek an' mim has view'd it, While Common-sense has taen the road. An' aff, an' up the Cowgate Fast, fast that day. recites by rote xvn Wee MiUer niest, the guard relieves. An' orthodoxy raibles, Tho' in his heart he weel beUeves, An' thinks it auld wives' fables : THE HOLY FAIR 43 But faith ! the birkie wants a manse : fellow; living So, cannilie he hums them ; humbugs Altho' his carnal wit an' sense Like hafflins-wise o'ercomes him Nearly half At times that day. XVIII Now butt an' ben the change-house fills, Wi' yiU-caup commentators ; Here 's crying out for bakes an' gills. An' there the pint-stowp clatters ; While thick an' thrang, an' loud an' lang, Wi' logic an' wi' Scripture, They raise a din, that in the end Is like to breed a rupture O' wrath that day. [Notes] tavern ale fAM SAMSON'S ELEGY 221 An' deed her bairns — man, wife an' wean — clothe ; chad In mourning weed ; To Death she 's dearly pay'd the kain : rent in kind Tarn Samson's dead ! The Brethren o' the mystic level May hing their head in woefu' bevel. While by their nose the tears will revel, Like onie bead ; Death's gien the Lodge an unco devel : Tarn Samson 's dead ! slope stunning hlow When Winter muffles up his cloak. And binds the mire like a rock ; When to the loughs the curlers flock, Wi' gleesome speed, Wha will they station at the cock ? — Tam Samson 's dead ! ponds mark He was the king of a' the core. To guard, or draw, or wick a bore. Or up the rink like Jehu roar In time o' need ; But now he lags on Death's hog-score : Tam Samson 's dead ! company [Notes] [Notes] 222 TAM SAMSON'S ELEGY salmon pikes Now safe the stately sawmont sailj And trouts bedropp'd wi' crimson hail. And eels, weel-kend for souple tail. And geds for greed. Since, dark in Death's fish-creel, we wail Tarn Samson dead ! partridges leg-plumed ; confidently hares ; tail Rejoice, ye birring paitricks a' ; Ye cootie moorcocks, crousely craw ; Ye maukins, cock your fud fu' braw Withouten dread ; Your mortal fae is now awa : Tam Samson 's dead ! leashes That woefu' morn be ever mourn' d, Saw him in shootin graith adorn'd. While pointers round impatient bum'd, Frae couples free'd ; But och ! he gaed and ne'er retum'd : Tam Samson 's dead. In vain auld-age his body batters. In vain the gout his ancles fetters, TAM SAMSON'S ELEGY 223 In vain the burns cam down like waters, }'™*= ' An acre braid ! Now ev'ry auld wife, greetin, clatters : weeping ' Tam Samson 's dead ! ' Owre monie a weary hag he limpit, moss An' ay the tither saot he thumpit. Till coward Death behint him jumpit, Wi' deadly feide ; feud Now he proclaims wi' tout o' trumpet : blast ' Tam Samson's dead ! ' When at his heart he felt the dagger. He reel'd his wonted bottle-swagger. But yet he drew the mortal trigger Wi' weel-aim'd heed ; ' Lord, five ! ' he cry'd, an' owre did stagger- Tam Samson 's dead ! Ilk hoary hunter mourn'd a brither ; Each Ilk sportsman-youth bemoan' d a father ; Yon auld gray stane^ amang the heather, Marks out his head ; Whare Burns has wrote, in rhyming blether : babble ' Tam Samson 's dead ! ' 224 TAM SAMSON'S ELEGY There low he lies in lasting rest ; Perhaps upon his mould' ring breast builds Some spitefu' moorfowl bigs her nest. To hatch an' breed : Alas ! nae mair he'll them molest : Tam Samson 's dead ! When August winds the heather wave, And sportsmen wander by yon grave. Three volleys let his memory crave O' pouther an' lead. Till Echo answers frae her cave : ' Tam Samson 's dead ! ' XV ' Heav'n rest his saul whare'er he be ! ' more Is th' wish o' monie mae than me : He had twa fauts, or maybe three, [Notes] Yet what remead ? One Ae social, honest man want we : Tam Samson 's dead ! THE EPITAPH Tam Samson's weel-worn clay here lies : Ye canting zealots, spare him ! If honest worth in Heaven rise. Ye '11 mend or ye win near him. A WINTER NIGHT 225 PEE CONTRA Go, Fame, an' canter like a filly Thro' a' the streets an neuks o' Killie ; Tell ev'ry social honest billie To cease his grievin ; For, yet vmskaith'd by Death's gleg gullie, Tam Samson's leevin ! [Notes] fellow quick knife A WINTER NIGHT Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are. That bide the pelting of this pity less storm I How shall your houseless heads and unfsd sides. Tour loop'd and windovfd ra^gedness, defend you From seasons such as these ? SHAKSSPEARE. When biting Boreas, fell and doure. Sharp shivers thro' the leafless bow'r ; When Phoebus gies a short-liv'd glow'r. Far south the lift, Dim-dark'ning thro' the flaky show'r Or whirling drift : cruel ; cut stare horizon Ae night the storm the steeples rocked ; Poor Labour sweet in sleep was locked ; While bums, wi' snawy wreaths up-choked, Wild-eddying swirl. Or, thro' the mining outlet bocked, Down headlong hurl : VOL. I. p One brooks 226 A WINTER NIGHT windows List'ning the doors an' winnocks rattle, shivering I thought me on the ourie cattle, helpless Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle O' winter war, scramble And thro the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle jutting rock Beneath a scaur. Each Ilk happing bird — wee, helpless thing ! — That in the merry months o' spring Delighted me to hear thee sing. What comes o' thee ? Whare wilt thou cow'r thy chittering wing. An' close thy e'e ? Ev'n you, on murd'ring errands toil'd. Lone from your savage homes exil'd. The blood-stain' d roost and sheep-cote spoil'd My heart forgets. While pityless the tempest wild Sore on you beats ! Now Phoebe, in her midnight reign, Dark-muffl'd, view'd the dreary plain ; AWINTER NIGHT 227 Still crowding thoughts, a pensive train. Rose in my soul, When on my ear this plaintive strain, Slow-solemn, stole :— ' Blow, blow, ye winds, with heavier gust ! And freeze, thou bitter-biting frost ! Descend, ye chilly, smothering snows ! Not all your rage, as now united, shows More hard unkindness unrelenting. Vengeful mialice, unrepenting. Than heaven-illumin'd Man on brother Man bestows ! See stern Oppression's iron grip. Or mad Ambition's gory hand. Sending, like blood-hounds from the slip, Woe, Want, and Murder o'er a land ! Ev'n in the peaceful rural vale, Truth, weepingj tells the mournful tale : How pamper'd Luxury, Flatt'ry by her side. The parasite empoisoning her ear, With all the servile wretches in the rear. Looks o'er proud Property, extended wide ; And eyes the simple, rustic hind. Whose toil upholds the gUtt'ring show — A creature of another kind. Some coarser substance, unrefin'd— Plac'd for her lordly use, thus far, thus vile, below ! 228 A WINTER NIGHT Wliere, where is Love's fond, tender throe, With lordly Honor's lofty brow. The pow'rs you proudly own ? Is there, beneath Love's noble name, Can harbour, dark, the selfish aim. To bless himself alone ? Mark Maiden-Innocence a prey Tj love-pretending snares : This boasted Honor turns away. Shunning soft Pity's rising sway. Regardless of the tears and unavailing pray'rs ! Perhaps this hour, in Misery's squalid nest. She strains your infant to her joyless breast. And with a. mother's fears shrinks at the rocking blast ! ' O ye ! who, sunk in beds of down, Feel not a want but what yourselves create. Think, for a moment, on his wretched fate, Whom friends and fortune quite disown ! lU-satisfy'd keen nature's clam'rous call, Stretch'd on his straw, he lays himself to sleep ; While through the ragged roof and chinky wall. Chill, o'er his slumbers piles the drifty heap ! Think on the dungeon's grim confine,. Where Guilt and poor Misfortune pine ! Guilt, erring man, relenting view ! But shall thy legal rage pursue STANZAS IN PROSPECT OF DEATH 229 The wretch, already crushed low By cruel Fortune's undeserved blow ? Affliction's sons are brothers in distress ; A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss ! ' I heard nae mair, for Chanticleer Shook off the pouthery snaw, powdery And hail'd the morning with a cheer, A cottage-rousing craw. But deep this truth impress' d my mind : Thro' all His works abroad. The heart benevolent and kind The most resembles God. STANZAS WRITTEN IN PROSPECT OF DEATH Why am I loth to leave this earthly scene } Have I so found it full of pleasing charms ^ Some drops of joy with draughts of ill between; Seme gleams of sunshine mid renewing storms. 230 STANZAS IN PEOSPECT OF DEATH Is it departing pangs my soul alarms ? Or death's unlovely, dreary, dark abode ? For guilt, for guilt, my terrors are in arms : I tremble to approach an angry God, And justly smart beneath his sin-avenging rod. Fain would I say : ' Forgive my foul offence,' Fain promise never more to disobey. But should my Author health again dispense. Again I might desert fair virtue's way ; Again in folly's path might go astray ; Again exalt the brute and sink the man : Then how should I for heavenly mercy pray. Who act so counter heavenly mercy's plan ? Who sin so oft have mourn' d, yet to temptation ran? O Thou great Governor of all below ! — If I may dare a lifted eye to Thee, — Thy nod can make the tempest cease to blow. Or still the tumult of the raging sea : With that controlling pow'r assist ev'n me Those headlong furious passions to confine, For all unfit I feel my pow'rs to be To rule their torrent in th' allowed line : O, aid me with Thy help. Omnipotence Divine ! THOU DREAD POWER 231 PRAYER : O THOU DREAD POWER Lying at a reverend friend' s house one night the author left the following verses in the room where he slept. O Thou dread Power, who reign'st above, I know thou wilt me hear. When for this scene of peace and love I make my prayer sincere. The hoary Sire — the mortal stroke. Long, long be pleas'd to spare : To bless his little filial flock. And show what good men are. She, who her lovely offspring eyes With tender hopes and fears — O, bless her with a mother's joys, But spare a mother's tears ! Their hope, their stay, their darling youth. In manhood's dawning blush. Bless him, Thou God of love and truth, Up to a parent's wish. 232 PARAPHRASE OF THE FIRST PSALM The beauteous, seraph sister-band — With earnest tear^ I pray — Thou know'st the snares on every hand. Guide Thou their steps alway. When, soon or late, they reach that coast. O'er Life's rough ocean driven. May they rejoice, no wand'rer lost, A family in Heaven ! PARAPHRASE OF THE FIRST PSALM The man, in life wherever plac'd, ' Hath happiness in store. Who walks not in the wicked's way Nor learns their guilty lore ; Nor from the seat of scornful pride Casts forth his eyes abroad. But with humility and awe Still walks before his God ! PRAYER UNDER VIOLENT ANGUISH 233 That man shall flourish like the trees. Which by the streamlets grow : The fruitful top is spread on high, And firm the root below. But he, whose blossom buds in guilt. Shall to the ground be cast. And, like the rootless stubble, tost Before the sweeping blast. For why } that God the good adore Hath giv'n them peace and rest. But hath decreed that wicked men Shall ne'er be truly blest. PRAYER UNDER THE PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH O Thou Great Being ! what Thou art Surpasses me to know ; Yet sure I am, that known to Thee Are all Thy works below. 234 NINETIETH PSALM VERSIFIED Thy creature here before Thee stands. All wretched and distrest ; Yet sure those ills that wring my soul Obey Thy high behest. Sure ThoUj Almighty, canst not act From cruelty or wrath ! O, free my weary eyes from tears. Or close them fast in death ! But, if I must afflicted be To suit some wise design, Then man my soul with firm resolves To bear and not repine ! THE NINETIETH PSALM VERSIFIED O ThoHj the first, the greatest friend Of aU the human race ! Whose stiong right hand has ever been Their stay and dwelling place ! NINETIETH PSALM VERSIFIED 235 Before the mountains heav'd tbeir heads Beneath Thy forming hand. Before this ponderous globe itself Arose at Thy command : That Power, which rais'd and still upholds This universal frame. From countless, unbeginning time Was ever still the same. Those mighty periods of years. Which seem to us so vast. Appear no more before Thy sight Than yesterday that 's past. Thou giv'st the word : Thy creature, man. Is to existence brought ; Again Thou say'st : 'Ye sons of men, Return ye into nought ! ' Thou layest them, with all their cares. In everlasting sleep ; As with a flood Thou tak'st them off With overwhelming sweep. 236 TO MISS LOGAN They flourish like the morning flower In beauty's pride array' d, But long ere night, cut down, it lies All wither'd and decay'd. TO MISS LOGAN WITH BEATTIe's poems FOE A NEW YEAe's GIFT JANUAEY 1, 1787 I Again thq. silent wheels cf time Their annual round have driv'n, And you, tho' scarce in maiden prime. Are so much nearer Heav'n. No gifts have I from Indian coasts The infant year to hail ; I send you more than India boasts In Edwin's simple tale. Our sex with guile, and faithless love, Is charg'd — perhaps too true ; But may, dear maid, each lover prove An Edwin still to you. ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS 237 ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face. Great chieftain o' the puddin-race ! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm : Weel are ye wordy of a grace As lang 's my arm. jolly Above Paunch ; small guts The groaning trencher there ye fill. Your hurdies like a distant hil!. Your pin wad help to mend a mill In time o' need. While thro' your pores the dews distil Like amber bead. buttocks skewer His knife see rustic Labour dight. An' cut ye up wi' ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright. Like onie ditch ; And then, O what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich ! wipe skill 238 ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS spoon bellies : by- and-bye burst Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive : Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive, Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve Are bent like drums ; Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive, ' Bethankit ! ' hums. sicken disgust Is there that owre his French ragout, Or olio that wad staw a sow. Or fricassee wad mak her spew Wi' perfect sconner, Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view On sic a dinner ? weak ; rush fist : nut Poor devil ! see him owre his trash. As feckless as a wither'd rash. His spindle shank a guid whip-lash. His nieve a nit ; Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash, O how unfit ! But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed, The trembling earth resounds his tread. ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH 239 Clap in his walie nieve a blade, ample He '11 make it whissle ; An' legs, an' arms, an heads -will sned crop Like taps o' thrissle. Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care. And dish them out their bill o' fare, Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware, watery Thatjaupsinluggies; f^^^;^ But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer, Gie her a Haggis ! ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH Edina ! Scotia's darling seat ! All hail thy palaces and toVrs, Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet, Sat Legislation's sov' reign pow'rs : From marking wildly-scatt'red flow'rs. As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd, And singing, lone, the ling'ring hours, I shelter in thy honor'd shade. 240 ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH Here Wealth still swells the golden tide. As busy Trade his labours plies ; There Architecture's noble pride Bids elegance and splendour rise : Here Justice, from her native skies. High wields her balance and her rod ; There Learning, with his eagle eyes, Seeks Science in her coy abode. Thy sons, Edina, social, kind, With open arms the stranger hail ; Their views enlarg'd, their lib'ral mind. Above the narrow, rural vale ; Attentive still to Sorrow's wail. Or modest Merit's silent claim : And never may their sources fail ! And never Envy blot their name ! Thy daughters bright thy walks adorn, Gay as the gilded summer sky. Sweet as the dewy, milk-white thorn, Dear as the raptur'd thrill of joy ! Fair Burnet strikes th' adoring eye, Heav'n's beauties on my fancy shine : I see the Sire of Love on high. And own His work indeed divine ! ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH 241 V There, watching high the least alarms, Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar ; Like some bold vet'ran, grey in arms. And mark'd with many a seamy scar : The pond' reus wall and massy bar. Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock, Have oft withstood assailing war. And oft repell'd th' invader's shock. With awe-struck thought and pitying tears, I view that noble, stately dome, Where Scotia's kings of other years, Fam'd heroes ! had their royal home : Alas, how chang'd the times to come ! Their royal name low in the dust ! Their hapless race wild-wand'ring roam ! Tho' rigid Law cries out : ' 'Twas just ' Wild beats my heart to trace your steps. Whose ancestors, in days of yore. Thro' hostile ranks and ruin'd gaps Old Scotia's bloody lion bore : Ev'n I, who sing in rustic lore. Haply my sires have left their shed, And fac'd grim Danger's loudest roue. Bold-following where your fathers led ! VOL. I. Q 242 ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH Edina ! Scotia's darling sfeat ! All hail thy palaces and tow'rs ; Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet. Sat Legislation's sov' reign pow'rs : From marking wildly-scatt'red flow'rs, As on the banks of Ayr I stray' d. And singing, lone, the ling' ring hours, I shelter in thy honour'd shade. SONGS 243 SONGS JOHN BARLEYCORN A Ballad There was three kings into the east. Three kings both great and high. And they hae sworn a solemn oath John Barleycorn should die. They took a plough and plough'd him down. Put clods upon his head. And they hae sworn a .solemn oath John Barleycorn was dead. But the cheerful Spring came kindly on, And show'rs began to fall ; John Barleycorn got up again. And sore surpris'd them all. 24,4 JOHN BARLEYCORN The sultry suns of Summer came. And he grew thick and strong : His head weel arra'd wi' pointed spears, That no one should him wrong. The sober Autumn enter'd mild. When he grew wan and pale ; His bending joints and drooping head Show'd he began to fail. His colour sicken'd more and more, He faded into age ; And then his enemies began To show their deadly rage. They've taen a weapon long and sharp, And cut him by the knee ; Then ty'd him fast upon a cart, Like a rogue for forgerie. They laid him down upon his back. And cudgell'd him full sore. They hung him up before the storm. And turn'd him o'er and o'er. JOHN BARLEYCORN, 245 They filled up a darksome pit With -water to the brim, They heavfed in John Barleycorn — There, let him sink or swim ! They laid him out upon the floor. To work him farther woe ; And still, as signs of life appear' d. They toss'd him to and fro. They wasted o'er a scorching flame The marrow of his bones ; But a miller us'd him worst of all, For he crush'd him between two stones. And they hae taen his very heart's blood. And drank it round and round ; And still the more and more they drank. Their joy did more abound. John Barleycorn was a hero bold, Of noble enterprise ; For if you do but taste his blood, 'Twill make your courage rise. WHEN GUILFORD GOOD 'Twill make a man forget his woe ; 'Twill heighten all his joy : 'Twill make the widow's heart to sing, Tho' the tear were in her eye. Then let us toast John Barleycorn, Each man a glass in hand ; And may his great posterity Ne'er fail in old ScotMnd ! A FRAGMENT: WHEN GUILFORD GOOD TuNB : Oillicrankie When Guilford good our pilot stood, helm turn An' did our hellim thraw, man ; Ae night, at tea, began a plea. Within America, man : lea-pot Then up they gat the maskin-pat, dash And in the sea did jaw, man ; An' did nae less, in full Congress, Than quite refuse our law, man. WHEN GUILFORD GOOD 247 Then thro' the lakes Montgomery takes, I wat he was na slaw, man ; Down Lowrie's Burn he took a turn. And Carleton did ca', man : But yet, whatreck, he at Quebec Montgomery-like did fa', man, Wi' sword in hand, before his band, Amang his en'mies a', man. what matter Poor Tammy Gage within a cage Was kept at Boston-ha', man ; Till Willie Howe took o'er the knowe For Philadelphia, man ; Wi' sword an' gun he thought a sin Guid Christian bluid to draw, man ; But at New- York wi' knife an' fork Sir-Loin he hackfed sma', man. ' hill IV Burgoyne gaed up, like spur an' whip, Till Fraser brave did fa', man ; Then lost his way, ae misty day, In Saratoga shaWj man. Comwallis fought as lang 's he do ugh t. An did the buckskins claw, man ; But Clinton's glaive frae rust to save. He hung it to the wa', man. wood could [Notes] 24>8 WHEN GUILFORD GOOD obstinate ; fight thwart let loose Then Montague, an' Guilford too. Began to fear a fa', man ; And Sackville doure, wha stood the stoure The German chief to thraw, man : For Paddy Burke, like onie Turk, Nae mercy had at a', man ; An' Charlie Fox threw by the box. An' lows'd his tinkler jaw, man. Then Rockingham took up the game. Till death did on him ca', man ; When Shelburne meek held up his cheek, Conform to gospel law, man : Saint Stephen's boys, wi' jarring noise. They did his measures thraw, man ; For North an' Fox united stocks. An' bora him to the wa,' man. cheers Then clubs an' hearts were CharUe's cartes: He swept the stakes awa', man. Till the diamond's ace, of Indian race. Led him a sair faux pas, man : The Saxon lads, wi loud placads. On Chatham's boy did ca', man ; An' Scotland drew her pipe an' blew : ' Up, Wilhe, waur them a', man ! ' MY NANIE, O 249 Behind the throne then Granville's gone, A secret word or twa, man ; While slee Dundas arous'd the class Be-north the Roman wa', man : An' Chatham's wi-aith, in heav'nly graith, finspirfed bardies saw, man), Wi' kindling eyes, cry'd: 'Willie, rise! Would I hae fear'd them a', man ? ' sly North of garb But, word an' blow, North, Fox, and Co. GowfF'd Willie like a ba', man. Till Suthron raise an' coost their claise Behind him in a raw, man : An' Caledon threw by the drone. An' did her whittle draw, man ; An' swoor fu' rude, thro' dirt an' bluid, To mak it guid in law, man. golfed rose ; cast ; clothes bagpipes blade MY NANIE, O Behind yon hills where Lugar flows 'Mang moors an' mosses many, O, The wintry sun the day has clos'd. And I '11 awa to Nanie, O. 250 MY NANIE, O western dark The westlin wind blaws loud an' shill, The night's baith mirk and rainy, O ; But I '11 get my plaid, an' out I '11 steal, An' owre the hill to Nanie, O. My Nanie's charming, sweet, an' young ; Nae artfu' wiles to win ye, O : May ill befa' the flattering tongue That wad beguile my Nanie, O ! daisy Her face is fair, her heart is true ; As spotless as she 's bonie, O, The op'ning go wan, wat wi' dew, Nae purer is than Nanie, O. A country lad 's my degree. An' few there be that ken me, O ; But what care I how few they be ? I 'm welcome ay to Nanie, O. manage ; carefully My riches a 's my penny-fee, An' I maun guide it cannie, O ; But warl's gear ne'er troubles me. My thoughts are a'— my Nanie, O. GREEN GROW THE RASHES 251 vn Our auld guidman delights to view His sheep an' kye thrive bonie, O ; kine But I 'm as blythe that hauds his pleugh. An' has uae care but Nanie, O. Come weelj come woe, I care na by ; do not care I '11 tak what Heav'n will send me, O : Nae ither care in life have I, But live, an' love my Nanie, O. GREEN GROW THE RASHES, O Chorus Green grow the rashes, O ; Green grow the rashes, O ; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend. Are spent among the lasses, O. There's nought but care on ev'ry han, In every hour that passes, O : What signifies the life o' man. An' 'twere na for the lasses, O. 252 GREEN GROW THE RASHES worldly The war'ly race may riches chase, An' riches still may fly them, O ; An' tho' at last they catch them fast, Their hearts can ne'er enjoy them, O. quiet But gie me a cannie hour at e'en. My arms about my dearie, O, worldly An' war'ly cares an' war'ly men topsyturvy May a' gae tapsalteerie, O ! grave world For you sae douce, ye sneer at this ; Ye 're nought but senseless asses, O : The wisest man the warl' e'er saw, He dearly lov'd the lasses, O. Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O : Her prentice han' she try'd on man. An' then she made the lasses, O. Chorus Green grow the rashes, O ; Green grow the rashes, O ; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend, Are spent among the lasses, O. AGAIN REJOICING NATURE 263 COMPOSED IN SPRING Tune : Johnny's Grey Breeka Again rejoicing Nature sees Her robe assume its vernal hues : Her leafy locks wave in the breeze. All freshly steep'd in morning dews. Chorus And maun I still on Menie doat, And bear the scorn that 's in her e'e ? For it's jet, jet-black, an' it's like a hawk. An' it winna let a body be. In vain to me the cowslips blaw. In vain to me the vi'lets spring ; In vain to me in glen or shaw. The mavis and the lintwhite sing. unnet The merry ploughboy cheers his team, Wi' joy the tentie seedsman stalks ; careful But life to me 's a, weary dream, A dream of ane that never wauks. wakes 254 AGAIN REJOICING NATURE IV The wanton coot the water sk NOTES THE Stanza XVIII. Line i. 'Now but and ben': — ^The entrance HOLY to the Scottish cottage was at the kitchen end, and the PAIR visitM passed through the ' but ' or outer apartment into the ' ben ' or inner one. Stanza xix. Line 7; • Xt never fails on drinking deep,' 1794- Stanza xx. Line 2. ' TTieir lowan drowth toe quencii,' MS. (A). 4. ' An' steer about the punchy MS. (A). 6. '^They 're wo^JWij- observations,' 1794. 8. 'An' _;&^»8f»^ assignations,' 1786. Stanza XXI. Line 4. 'Black Russell is na j/owk,' 1787(1), 1787 (2), and 1793 ; ^ Black Jock he is no sparin,' MS. (A) : — John Russel, then minister of the chapel-bf-ease, Kilmarnock, a native of Moray, born about 1740; for some time parochial teacher at Ciomarty; ordained at Kilmarnock 30th March 1774; translated to the second charge of Stirling i8th January 1800 ; died at Stirling 23rd February 1817, in his seventy-seventh year. Author of preface to Eraser's Sermons on Sacramental Occasions, Kilmarnock 1785 ; The Nature of the Gospel delineated in a Sermon, August 1796; The Reason of our Loris Agony, a sermon, Stirling 1801 ; and four sermons published in a posthumous volume of sermons by his son. Rev. John Russel of Muthill,. Glasgow 1826. Russel was a Calvinist of the sternest type, with a visage dark and morose and a tremendous voice : both combining to heighten the effect of his messages of wrath. As a schoolnmster he earned an altogether unique repute for severity, and astounding illus- trations of the mingled dread and hatred cherished towards him by his scholars in Cromarty are given by Hugh Miller in his Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland. Others relate that, being oiF duty, he was not without a certain geniality, and even humour. Over his parishioners he exer- cised a discipline well-nigh as rigid as that which he had maintained in his schooL Such was the awe inspired by his mere presence that when, on Sunday afternoons, armed with a formidable cudgel, he began his wonted rounds in pursuit of Sabbath-breaking strollers, his appearance in the street was the signal for an instant breaking-up and a dis- appearing within-doors of gossiping groups. Russel is one of Burns's Twa Herds, and there are uncomplimentary allusions ADDRESS TO THE DEIL. Printer's copy, Kilmarrock, 1786, (By permission of tlie Irvine Burns Club. Reduced/rom 12J in. X ^\ in.) Who My^;^S;mi^, (A/t- 'M^a^ ^lO, S 4 y ^ //~/x. sMy 'iUf . 'aJ(ff^ / ^y>^ ' ^rrni'y\4^j-g/. -/ettH// ^h y ,/t ,i^fl/t<'7\if ■'WS'T) -^i^/tJt Au//;yri<^ yc^^%, f^-'f ' ^/iJ^^n -W**»1 , . ■ kr/l^ j^i /Jt^ k,^ uJiyl^i^ ^*j^^ r, •-'^^i^ tM/ae/ Mym/i 'fui^f /(/J^^/u^ ^n y t^ ^4, i^if/f/^ ^^^^^ /^M s' 4a^4*t^ , ^ ^-r^:; [ ■- ' ffi-J-r< f^nC'-z-u-^ /ill/ . O/M-ttcp mif.Sc AyneJi' 4-^H^ a.-r',l' ,i/ /tf / T? — 77- '■n ^fy\,^y, f, ,(tY/;y ,/ 'tT u-f /a > I Q' < , ,, ? '-7' 'm-^l// ^4A>;y^'/ ^\ Myi' Ml'f/^^f^'m/tAyit,/ /^'^-^i^/^if, . ^, - i V Sv^^«r/ /■ ■•rf*«V!-/^/ .^' '^yTH/a^, /^,,4i.^ ^.;B- A' NOTES 335 to him in The Ordination, The Kirk's Alarm, and the Epistle THE to John Goldie. 5. ' His piercing words like twa-edge swords,' holy MS. (A). : — The change to 'Highlan' may have been suggested fair by Russel's northern origin. 8. ' Our vera sauls does harrow ': —•Shakespeare's Hamlet' (R. B.). Stanza xxii. Linb 3. ' IVha 's raging flame an' scorchi?tg heat,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), and 1793 ; ' Wha's,' 1794:; ' raging an' scorching,' 1786. 6. 'An' think they hear it roaring,' 1787 (l), 1787 (2), and 1793. 8. "Twas but some neebor snoring,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), and 1793. Stanza xxiii. Line 5. ' How yill gaed round in cogs an caups,' MS. (A) : — For ' cog,' see Note to Scotch Drink (ante, p. 323). The ale-caup was a wooden mug about the size of a half-pint pot. 6. 'Among the furms and benches,' 1787 (2). 7. 'An' bread and cheese frae women's laps,' MS. (A). Stanza xxvi. Lines i-z in Ms. (A) read thus : — ' Then Robin Gib aij" weary jow. Begins to clink and croon. ' ADDRESS TO THE DEIL Gilbert Burns states that his brother first repeated the Address to the Deil in the winter 'following the summer of 1784,' while they ' were going together with carts of coal to the family fire'; but it is clear from Bums's letter to Richmond, 12th February 1786, that he misdates the poem by a year. The Address is, in part, a good-natured burlesgue, of the Miltonic ideal of Satan j and this is effected 'by, the introduction,' to use the words of Gilbert Burns, 'of ludicrous accounts and representations,' from ' various quarters,' of that ' august personage.' Bums in his despairing moods was accus- tomed to feign the strongest admiration for Milton's Arch-Fiend and his dauntless superiority to his des- perate circumstances ; and his farewell apostrophe, although it takes the form of an exclamation of pity — and was accepted- merely as such by the too-too senti- 336 NOTES ADDRESS mental yet austere Carlyle — is in reality a satiric thrust TO THE at the old Satanic dogma. DEIL The six-line stave in rime couee, built on two rhymes, of the Address to the Deil ' was borrowed from the TroubadourSj and freely used in Mediaeval English during the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Centuries' (thus — after Guest— the late Professor Minto in a note, unsigned, on 'The Metres of Burns,' in The Soots — now The National — Observer for March 23rd, 1889). Guest gives no quotations from the Troubadour min- strelsy, but his statement can be amply verified. The earliest signed example is the work of the first-known Troubadour, William ix.. Count of Poitiers and Duke of Guienne (1071-1127) ; and, on the lips of the famous Bernard de Ventadour, it may very well have come to England in the train of his grandchild, Eleanor of Poitou, wife of that Henry of Anjou whose accession to the English throne (1154) made London the literary as well as the political capital of Aquitaine. Two of the nine examples extant of Count William's muse are in this stave : — ' Farai un vers de dreit nen, Non er de mi ni d'autra gen, Non er d'amor ni de joven Ni de ren au, Qu'enans fo trobatz eu durmen Sobre chevau.' With differences, too, the stave is found in the Gan- doneiro Portugitee da Vaticana, which was written by the Troubadours attached to the courts of Diniz ii. and other Kings of Portugal in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Cen- turies ; while the Trouvere, Colins de Chanpiaus (Thir- teenth Century), varies it thus : — ' L'autrier f oris d'Angiers alai Dedusant par un tans gai : Trovai dame a ouer verai, Cors out ranvoisi. NOTES 337 Bele et blonde, bien le sai : ADDRESS Si chantoit ensi. TO THB ' Amors, amors, amors DEIL Mi demeine, demeine. Tout enssi demeine Mon cueret joli.' Another example in the dialect of Northern France is quoted in an Appendix to the Origines de la Po6sie Lyrique en France au Moyen Age of M. Alfred Jeanroy (1889) : ' A definement d'esteit Lairai ma jolletait ; Yvers vient tout apresteis, Froidure repaire ; J'ai trop an folie estait. Si m'an voil retraire. Eminently aristocratic in its inception, it presently became a rhythmus for the people, with which artists in prosody, as Chaucer and Henryson, in the end disdained to deal. Thus, in the Twelfth Century, one Hilary, a monk of Paris, falls into it {Versus et Ludi, 1830) in an Eistoria de Daniel representanda and elsewhere : — ' Danielem nos vidimus Pronum suis numinibua. Esca detur leonibus Quia sprevit Quod Babilonis Darius Bex decrevit.' Thus, too, it first appears in English in a Thirteenth Century love-song (anonymous) contained in ms. Harl. 2253, which Mr. Wright ascribes to the year 1307, or thereabouts : — ' A wayle whyt as whalles bon, A greiu in golde that godly shon, A tortle that myn herte is on, In tonnes trewe ; Hire gladshipe nes never gon, Whil y may glewS.' VOL. I. Y S38 NOTES ADDRESS It occurs again in the same ms.^ but with a difference in TO THE the bob-wheel :— ' Ase J me rod this ender day. By grene "wode to seche play, Mid herte y thohte al on a may, Suetest of alle thinge ; Kythe, ant ichou telle may Al of that snete things.' It is the stanza of Octavian Imperator, a Fourteenth Cen- tury rendering (for recitation) from the French : — ' Jhesn, that was with spare y stonnge And for us hard and sore y swounge, Glade[l]y bothe old and younge With wytte honest, That wylled a whyle stere her tounge And herken [m]y gest.' Four of the York Plays are written in it; it crops up, with a difference, in the Ludus Ooventriae (1468) ; and it is used in the Towneley Mysteries, the ms. of which appears to belong to the end of the Fifteenth Century. There is small doubt that it was known to Mediaeval Scotland, but the first Scotsman whose name is attached to it is Sir David Lindsay, in Part i. of Ane Pleasant Satire of the Three Estaitis (1540) :— ' Thare is ane thing that I wald speir, Quhat sail I do quhen scho cums heir ? For I kuaw nocht the craft perqueir Of lufferis gyn ; Thairfoir, at lenth, ye moa me leir How to begin.' It appears in various guises in The Banrmtyne MS. (1668): — now composed of one decasyllabic line and three octo- syllablics, and with the hemistichs cut down by the half, fitted to a single rhyme, and adapted to a refrain, as in Montgomerie's Regrate of His Unhappie Luve : — ' Irkit I am with langum luv'is lair, Oursett with inwart siching sair, NOTES 339 For in the presone of Despair ADDRESS I ly, TO THE Seing ilk wicht gettia svun weilfair DEIL BotI'; now with the four octosyllabics in present use, but bur- dened with a double refrain, as in this by Alexander Scott :— ' It cumis you luvaris to be laill, OS body, hairt, and mind alhaill, And thocht ye with your ladyis daill, Ressovm, Bot and yon faith and lawty faill, Tressoun ' ; now of an exact syllabic equality with the later form, but tagged with a refrain, as in these verses by an in- nominate : — ' My hairt repoiss the and the rest, In dolour be na langer diest, Sen thow hes it thow luvis best To beit thy baill, Quhilk ia ane grund the gudliest. With littill daill ' ; now with the four octosyllabic verses adapted, as thus, to a monosyllabic bob-wheel : — ' Pausing of Inf e quhat lyf it leidis, My will express with ressoun pleidis. And nocht I ynd to stop their feidis Plane, Bot luf e to reput best remeid is Tane ' ; and now precisely as in the Address to the Deil : — ' In somer when flouris will smell. As I fure our fair fieldis and fell, Allone I wanderit by ane well, On "Weddinsday ; I met a cleir vndir keU, A weilfaird may ; 340 NOTES ADDRESS and again, in a Complaint aganis Cupeid, signed Alexander TO THE Scott: — DEIL ' Quhome sould I wyt of my mischance Bot Cupeid King of variance ? Thy court, without considerance, Quhen I it knew, Or evir made the observance, Sa far I rew.' Sir Richard Maitland '■(1496-1686) uses a variation in his Aganis the Theivia of Liddisdaill, and also in Solace in Age, written about 1570, shortly after he was deprived of his lands of Lethington {Poems, Maitland Club, 1830) : — ' Thooht that this warld be verie strange. And thei£Bes hes done my rowmis range And teynd my fald, Yet wald I leif , and byde ane change ; Thoch I be aid.' It is found in Ane Ballat of the Scripture in the book of Crude and Godly Ballots, first published in 1578 (these Ballats, be it remembered, were pious parodies of popular songs, and were made to popular tunes) : — ' Eicht eairly musing in my mynde, For pity soir my heart is pynde. When I remember on Christ so kynde That sauit me : Nane could me saif from thyne till Ynde Bot only he.' It is not denoted in King James's Ane Schorte Treatise Conteining some Revlis and Cautelis to be Observit and Eschewit in Scotiis Poesie (1685). Indeed, it fell into dis- use with the decline of popular poetry after the Reforma- tion, the next known example being the famous Piper of Kilbarchan (see post. Prefatory Note to Poor Mailie's Elegy, p. 346), ' standard Habbie,' as Ramsay calls it : which is said to have been written about 1640; which was long popular as a broadside ; and which, reprinted, with other examples, all derivatives, in Watson's First and Second NOTES 341 Parts (1706, 1709), may fairly be said to have begun the address process of nationalisation. That process was completed to the by Allan Ramsay, who took the stave straight from deil Watson and the Piper; used it in Elegies— on Maggie Johnston (1711), John Cowper (1714), and Lucky Wood (1717)— in Imcky Spence's Last Advice, in Familiar Epistles, and the like— all sold as chap-books, and all widely read and sedulously imitated. It was written by Hamilton of Gilbertfield (see post, p. 344); a classic in it (anony- mous), some forty stanzas long, is The Merry Wives of Musleburgh, at their meeting together to welcome Meg Dickson aftir her loup from the Ladder (1724) ; it so took the Scottish ear that by Fergusson's time, as may be seen in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine (1768-1784), it had be- come the common inheritance of all such Scotsmen as could rhyme. Through Fergusson, who did his sprightliest work in it, and John Mayne (1759-1836) — author of The Siller Gun (1777), who wrote it by cantos — it passed into the hands of Burns, who put it to all manner of uses and informed it with all manner of sentiments : in ambi- tious and serious poetry like The Vision ; in Addresses — to a Louse, a Mountain Daisy, the Toothache, the Devil, a Haggis, Scotch Drink, to name but these ; in Elegies — upon Tarn Samson arid Poor Mailie and Captain Matthew Henderson ; in such satires as Death and Dr. Hornbook and Holy Willie's Prayer; and in a series of Epistles of singular variety and range. His thoughts and fancies fell naturally into the pace which it imposes : as Dryden's into the heroic couplet, as Spenser's into the stanza of The Faerie Queen. Indeed, he cannot keep it out of his head, and his Alexandrines often march to the tune of it : — ' And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounced By Heaven's command ' — 'And "Let us worship God," he says With solemn air ' — ' And cm:se the ruffian's aim, and mourn Thy hapless fate.' 342 NOTES ADDRESS 'Tis small wonder, therefore, that a very large proportion TO THE of his non-lyrical achievement is set forth in it, or that DEIL Wordsworth should choose it for the stave of his memorial verses. A MS. of the Address — ms. (A) — is included in the book purchased by the Kilmarnock Committee : it lacks the Miltonic motto. The printer's copy — ms. (B) — is in the possession of the Irvine club. Stanza ii. Line 3. 'I'm sure sma' comfort it can gie,' MS. (A). Stanza hi. Line 3. -An' the' yon kowe het hole's thy hame,' ms. (A). Stanza ix. 6. • Owre howkit dead '-.—Cf. Allan Ramsay, The Gentle Shepherd (1725), ii. 2 :— ' At midnight hours o'er the kirk-yard she raves, And howks unchristened weans out of their graves' ; and Tam 0' Shunter (p. 323), ' Co6Bns stood round,' etc. Stanza X. Line 3. 'For 0! the yellow treasure's taen,' 1787 (2) ; ' Och,' Mss. (A and B). 4. ' By wicket skill,' Ms. (A); ' cantraip skill,' deleted reading in MS. (A). 5. 'An daufiet, twal-pint Hankie's ^a««,' MS. (A); ' gane,' MS. (B), and 1786. Stanza xi. in ms. (A), originally read thus : — ' Thence knots are coosten, spells contriv'd, An^ the brisk bridegroom-, newly wiv'd. Just as the kittle point arriv'd. Fond, keen, aii! croose. Is by some spitefu' jad depriv'd O 's warklum's use.' Of Lines I and 2 the final reading in MS. (A) is : — ' Thence mystic knots breed great abuse To young guidmen, fond, keen, and croose ' ; and in MS. (B), 'breed' is a deleted reading. S- 'Isix'^"'^ useless as a louse,' final reading in MS. (A). Stanza xii. Line 5. ' An* nightly trav'Uers are allur'd,' MS. (A). NOTES 343 Stanza xni. Line 3. 'The dancin, curst, mischievous address monkeys,' MS. (A). TO THE Stanza xv. in MS. (A) originally readthus : — deil ' Lang syne in Eden's happy scene When strappin Edie's ['Adam's ' deleted] days were green. An' Eve was like my bonie Jean My dearest part, A dancin, sweet, young, handsome queen Wi' guileless heart. ' The substituted stanza —' bonie yard,' by the vpay, is Fergusson's — which, as printed, is inserted at the end of the poem in MS. (A), was no doubt written after the difficulty with Armour. Stanza xvii. Line 3. 'Ye did present your ^f/y phiz,' MS. (A). Stanza xix. Line 3. 'Sin' that day Michael did you pierce ' :— ' Vide Milton, Book 6th ' (R. B. ) Stanza xx. Line 2. ' That Robin 's rantin, rtveann, drinkin,' MS. (A). THE DEATH AND DYING WORDS OF POOR MAILIE One of the few pieces written before 1784. Burns ' had, partly by way of froliCj bought a ewe and two lambs from a neighbour, and she was tethered in a field adjoining the house at Lochlie. He and I were going out with our teams, and our two younger brothers to drive for us, at mid-day, when Hugh Wilson, a curious- looking, awkward boy, clad in plaiding, came to us with much anxiety in his face, with the information that the ewe had entangled herself in the tether, and was lying in the ditch. Robert was much tickled with Huoc's appear- ance and postures on the occasion. Poor Mailie was set to rights, and when we returned from the plough in the evening he repeated to me her Death and Dying Words pretty much in the way they now stand. ' — Gilbert Burns. 344 NOTES POOR The 'Dying Words' of Poor Mailie, though in a MAILIE different metre, trace back without doubt to the Last Dying Words of Bonny Heck (Watson's First Part), written by HamUton of Gilbertfield (1665 ?-l767), who para- phrased and metricized Blind Harry's Wallace : — ' " Alas ! alas ! " quo Bonnie Heck, " On former days when I reflect ! I was a Dog much in respect For doughty Deed : But now I must hing by the Neck Without Eemead." ' It was imitated in Ramsay's iMcky fence's Last Advice and The Last Speech of a Wretched Miser, and established a convention in Scots verse. The poem was entered in the First Common Place Book in June 1786 — ^ms. (A). It was also inscribed in a book, of which two leaves of beautiful manuscript — ms. (B) — are in the possession of the representatives of the late ex- Provost Brown, Paisley ; and it appears in the book pur- chased by the Kilmarnock Committee — ms. (C). Line 2. ' Were ae day nibblin on the tether,' Ms. (A). 4, 'And o'er she warsl'd in the ditch,' Mss. (A and B). 6. ' When Hughoc he came doytin by ' : — ' A neebour herd- callant about three-fourths as wise as other folk' (R. B. in 1786, etc.) ; ' Hughoc was an odd, glowran, gapin callan about three-fourths,' etc. (R. B. in MS. [B]). 24. ' To scores o' lambs and packs o' woo,' 1787 (2). 27. ' An' now my dying charge I ffae him,' 1786. 31. 'But gie them gude Aet milk their fill,' MS. (A). 39. ' So may they like their auld for- bearsj MS. (A). 47. ' An' warn him ay at ridin time,' mss. (A, B and C), and 1 786. 59. 'An' when ye ever mind your mither,' MS. (A); 'ye,' ms. (C) and 1786. 66. 'An' clos'd her e'en amang the dead,' 1794. POOR MAILIE'S ELEGY This delightful piece of sympathy and fun does not appear in the First Common Place Book. It was probably NOTES 345 composed after Burns had determined on publica- poor tion. Mailik's The six-line stave in rime eouie (see ante, p. 336), was elegy adapted to elegiac purposes, by the use of a refrain which ends in ' dead,' by Sir Robert Sempill of Beltrees (1595 ?-1661 ?) in The Piper ofKilbarchan :— ' Kilbarchan now may aay Alaoe ! For sho hos lost her Ga/me amd Grace, Bayth Trixie and the Maiden Trace ; Bot quhat remeid? For na man can supply his place — Hab Simson 's deid.' Sir Robert is also credited with an Epitaph on Sanny Briggs, which runs on precisely similar lines. Both are printed in Watson's Choice Collection, which includes, besides, an Epitaph on William Lithgow, a drunken Writer to the Signet, closely imitated from the pair of Sempills ; and the tradition is observed in Ramsay's Elegies (see ante, p. 341), and in Fergusson's On David Gregory and On the Death of Scotch Music (which last perhaps suggested Poor Mailie). By Burns's time, in fact, the elegiac formula had become completely Scotticized, and had entered into the common stock-in-trade of rhyming Scottish men. An early draft — ms. (A) — follows The Death in a ms. in the possession of the representatives of the late ex- Provost Brown of Paisley. The piece is also inscribed in the book at Kilmarnock — ms. (B). ms. (A) differs so * much from the printed version, and affords so capital an illustration of the writer's methods that we give it in full:— ' Lament, in rhyme, a' ye wha dow, Your elbuck ruban claw your pow. Poor Robin 's ruin'd, stick an' stow, Fast a' remead : His only darlin, ain pet yowe Poor Mailie 's dead. ' Ochon, alais, his luckless lot ! In losin her he lost a note ; 34.6 NOTES POOR majlie's ELEGY He fell'd her lambs to buy a coat A mournin weed : He 'b saxpence poorer than a groat Sin' Mailie 'a dead. ' She was nae get o' luuted rams, Wi' woo like gaits, an' legs like trams; She was the flow'r o' Fairlie lambs, A famous breed ! Now Eobin greetan chows the hams O' Mailie dead! ' O fortune, how thou does us mock I He thought in her he saw a stock Would heave him up wi' hyvie folk To cock his head : Now a' his hopes are gane like smoke, For Mailie 's dead. ' Wae worth,' etc., as in the text, the leaf ending in the middle of the stanza. Stanza i. Line 3. ' Poor Robin's fate is at a close,' MS. (B). Stanza ii. Line 3. ' Or gar poor Robin, dowie, wear,' MS. (B); 'make,' 1786. Stanza hi. Line i. ' Ay whare he gaed she trotted by him,' MS. (B). Stanza iv. Line i. ' I wat she was a yowe o' sense,' MS. (B). 5. ' Now Robin lanely keeps the spence,' MS. (B). Stanza v. Line i. ' At times he wanders up the howe,' MS. (B). 2. 'Comes bleatin tohira, owretheknowe,' 1787(1), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. Stanza vi. in a. deleted version — MS. (B)— reads, as does Stanza hi. in MS. (A) : — 'She was nae get,' etc. William Burness was for some time gardener at Fairlie House, Ayrshire. Stanza vii. Line i. 'Wae worth that man wha first did shape,' 1786. Stanza viii. Line 2. ' Your chanters tune ' :— In Lowland Scotland the bagpipe was at one time as common as it is and was in the Highlands. Its disuse was due to the action of the Kirk authorities in connexion with dancing. NOTES 347 EPISTLE TO JAMES SMITH The recipient of this epistle was the son of Robert Smith, merchant, Mauchline. He was born 1st March 1765, and was thus six years younger than the poet. He lost his father early, and, perhaps by reason of his stepfather's rigid discipline, grew something regardless of restraint. He was, however, clever, affectionate, and witty; secured the poet's especial esteem by his loyalty during the Armour troubles ; was a member of the Court of Equity (or Bache- lors' Club, which met at the Whitefoord Arms), and the subject of a humorous epitaph (see post, vol. ii.) which need not be interpreted too literally ; for some time kept a small draper's shop in Mauchline ; in 1787 became partner ia the Avon Printworks, Linlithgowshire ; and about 1788 went to Jamaica, where he died. Several letters to him are included in Burns's correspondence. His sister's ' wit ' is celebrated in The Belles of Mauchline. The Epistle was probably written early in 1786, .before Bums had quite decided to attempt publication. In the book purchased by the Kilmarnock Committee the ms. gives some interesting variations from the printed ver- sion. The third stanza is wanting, and probably, there- fore, was not included in the Epistle as sent to Smith, but was added in transcribing for the press. Stanza iv. Line 5. ' Will ye lay-bye a wee whyUs time,' deleted reading in MS. Stanza v. in the ms. reads as follows :— ' Some rhyme because they like to clash. An' gie a neebor's name a lash ; An' some {vain thought) for needfu' cash ; An' some for fame ; For me, / string my dogg-rel trash For fun at hame ' ; but this reading is deleted, and the printed one is substituted, with the exception of 'kintra ' for ' countra ' in Line 3. 348 NOTES EPISTLE Stanza IX. Line i. ' Then_;^r«(/e/ hopes o' laurel-boughs,' TO JAMES MS., 1786, 1787 (i), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794 ; but in the 1786 SMITH ' of foi ' o'.' S- ' An' <«// the lanely heights an' howes,' MS. Stanza XI. Line 2. 'Just now I'm livin, sound an' keal,' MS. ; 'and,' 1794. 3-6. A deleted reading of these lines in the MS. is as follows : — ' Then top an' main-top Aoisi the sail All hands aloft. An' large before Enjoyment's gale Let 's send adrift.' Stanza xii. Line 3. 'An' pleasure is the magic wand,' MS. Stanza XIV. Lines. ' Kn'/arewelAesx bewitching •woraa.n,' MS., which has 'fareweV instead of 'fareweel ' in the preceding lines of this stanza. Stanza xvii. Line 5. 'And eye the barren hungry hut,' MS. Stanza xviii. Line 5. 'Then cozie in some ca»e> place,' MS. Stanza xxiii. Line i. ' A title, Dempster merits it ' : — George Dempster of Dunnichen, M.P. (See ante. Notes to The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer, p. 325). A deleted reading, Lines 2, 3 in the MS. , is as follows : — ' Honor, gie that toe Willie Pit If he goes on to merit it. ' Stanza xxvi. Line 1. ' O' ye guidio'^ wha live by rule,' MS. Stanza xxviii. Line 4. 'The rantin sqaaA,' us. ; 'ramb- ling,' 1786; and 'rattlin',' 1794. Not impossibly 'rambling,' in the 1786 Edition, was a misprint for 'ranting.' A DREAM The outspokenness of this address — partly traceable to the poet's latent Jacobitism — was distasteful to some of his loyal patrons, who advised that, unless it were modified, it should not be retained in the 1787 Edition. NOTES 349 But, as he wi-ote to Mrs. Dunlop (30th April), he was a dream 'not very amenable to counsel' in such a matter; and, his sentiments once published, he scorned either to with- draw them or to dilute his expression. The author of the Ode here ridiculed was Thomas Warton. For the stave of A Dream, see ante (p. 329), the Prefatory Note to The Holy Fair. Stanza i. Line 4. 'A humble Bardie wishes,' 1786, 1787 (l), and 1787 (2):— The variation ' Poet ' in Editions '93 and '94 is preferable in view of ' hardship ' in the following line. Stanza ii. Line 2. 'By many a lord an' lady,' 1786, 1787 (I), 1787 (2), and 1793. Stanza iv. Line 7. ' And now the third part ^the string,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. 9. 'Than did ae day': — Before the American Colonies were lost. Stanza vii. Line 8. ' Abridge your fowwy Barges,' 1787(2): — In the spring of 1785 it had been proposed to reduce the Navy. Stanza ix. Line 4. 'A simple Poet gi&s ye,' 1793 and 1794. 5. ' Thae bonny Bairntime Heaven has lent,' 1787 (2). Stanza x. Line i. ' For you, young Potentate o' Wales ' •- — Afterwards George iv. Stanza xi. Line i. ' Yet aft a ragged cowt's been known,' 1787 (2). 5. 'There him at Agincourt wha shone': — 'King Henry v.' (R. B.) 7. ' And yet, wi' funny queer Sir John': — ' sir John Falstaff, vide Shakespeare ' (R. B.). Stanza xii. ' For you, right rev'rend Osnaburg ' : — Frede- rick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany, second son of George III. ; born i6th August 1763 ; elected to the Bishopric of Osnaburg in infancy (1764); had abandoned the title in 1784, on being created Duke of York and Albany; was appointed Commander-in-Chief in 1798 ; but in 1809 was compelled by the Clarke Scandals to resign. He died sth January 1827. Stanza xiii. Line 3. ' A glorious galley stem and stem,' 1786, 1787 (l), 1787 (2), and 1793:— 'Alluding to the newspaper account of a certain Royal sailor's amour ' (R. B.). The royal sailor was Prince William Henry — appointed captain in the Navy loth April 1 786— afterwards Duke of Clarence, and 350 NOTES A DREAM finally King William IV. His connexion with Dorothy Jordan did not begin till 1790. Stanza xiv. Line i. 'Ye lastly bonny blossoms a',' 1787 (2). THE VISION The division into ' Duans ' was borrowed from Ossian : — 'Duan, a term of Ossian's for the different divisions of a digressive poem. See his Cath-Loda, voL ii. of MTherson's Translation.' (R. B.) To Duan i., as it appeared in the 1786 Edition, seven stanzas were added in that of 1787, and one to Duan 11. Fourteen stanzas of the poem as originally composed were with- held by Bums from publication, and were first printed (1852) in Chambers's Edition from the Stair ms., then in the possession of Mr. Dick of Irvine. Since then this MS. has been divided and sold piecemeal, the most of the suppressed stanzas, with two of the stanzas pub- lished in 1787, being now in the possession of Sir Robert Jardine of Castlemilk. The suppressed stanzas are strik- ingly inferior to those published in the original Edition ; but the true explanation seems to be — not any ' nodding ' on the part of Bums after his genius was matured but — as stated in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 15th January 1787, that they formed part of The Vision as it ' originally stood,' when he composed it 'long ago.' In all likelihood the published stanzas were revised for the Kilmarnock volume, the others remaining untouched. Bums also states that the stanzas added in the '87 Edition formed part of the poem as it ' originally stood ' ; but the pro- bability is that they were almost entirely recast. At least it is plain that in one case, that of Stanza xxii. (Duan i.), this was so : — 'Bry dene's brave ward, I well could spy,' etc., which is merely an improved reading of Stanza xi. of the suppressed set : — ' Brydone's brave ward I saw him stand,' etc. NOTES 351 The following are the suppressed stanzas. After the the 18th of Duan i. :— vision ' With secret tliroes I marked that earth, That cottage, witness of my birth ; And near I saw, bold issuing forth In youthful pride, A Lindsay race of noble worth. Famed far and wide. ' Where, hid behind a spreading wood. An ancient Fict-built mansion stood, I spied, among an angel brood, A female fair ; Sweet shone their high maternal blood And fathers' air.' • An ancient tower 2 to memory brought How Dettingen's bold hero fought ; Still, far from sinking into nought, It owns a lord Who far in western climates fought. With trusty sword. ' Among the rest I well could spy One gallant, graceful, martial boy. The soldier sparkled in his eye, A diamond water ; I blest that noble badge with joy That owned me fratcr.^ After the 20th stanza of the text : — ' Near by arose a mansion fine,^ The seat of many a muse divine ; Not rustic muses such as mine, With holly crown'd, But th' ancient, tuneful, laureU'd Nine, From classic ground. 1 Sundram.— iJ. B. 2 stair.— iJ. B. 3 Captain James Montgomerio, Master of St. James' Lodge, Tarbolton, to which the author has the honour to belong. — B. B. * Auchinleck. — R. B. 352 NOTES THE I monm'd the card that Foitune dealt, VISION To see where bonie Whitefoords dwelt ; i But other prospects made me melt : That village near ; ^ There Nature, Friendship, Love, I felt. Fond-mingling dear ! ' Hail ! Nature's pang, more strong than death ! Warm Friendship's glow, like kindling wrath ! Love, dearer than the parting breath Of dying friend ! Not eVn with life's wild devious path, Your force shall end ! ' The Pow'r that gave the soft alarms In blooming Whiteford's rosy charms. Still threats the tiny, f eather'd arms, The barbed dart, While lovely WUhelminia warms The coldest heart.' ' After the 21st stanza of the text : — ' ' Where Lugar leaves his moorland plaid, ^ Where lately Want was idly laid, I marked busy, bustling Trade, In fervid flame. Beneath a Patroness's aid, Of noble name, ' Wild, countless hills I could survey. And countless flocks as wild as they ; But other scenes did charms display. That better please. Where polish'd manners dwell with Gray, In rural ea«e.° ' Where Cessnock pours' with gurgling sound ; ^ And Irwine, marking out the bound, 1 Ballochmyle. ^ Mauchline. ^ Miss Wilhelminia Alexander, * Cumnock. — B. B. ^ Mr. Farquhar Gray. — B. B, ' Auchinskieth. — B. B. NOTES S53 Enamour'd of the scenes around, xhe Slow runs his race, vision A name I doubly honor'd found, ^ With knightly grace. ' Brydone's brave ward,^ I saw him stand. Fame humbly ofiering her hand. And near, his kinsman's rustic band,* With one accord. Lamenting their late blessed land Must change its lord. ' The owner of a pleasant spot, Near sandy wilds, I last did note ; * A heart too warm, a pulse too hot At times, o'erran ; But large in ev'ry feature wrote, Appear'd the Man.' Stanza i. Line i. 'The sun had clos'd the winter day': — Cf. Afy Nannie 0' (p. 249), Stanza i. Line 3. 'The wintry sun the day has closed. ' Stanza II. Line 2. 'The lee-lang day had Hr'd me,' 1786 and 1787 (I). Stanza iv. Line i. "AH in this motty, misty clime,' 1787 (2). 2. ' I backward mus'd on wastet time,' 1787 (2). Stanza x. Line i. ' A " hair-brained, sentimental trace " ': — Cf. Epistle to James Smith (p. 67), Stanza xxvii. Line I. 'Nae hair-brained, sentimental traces.' Stanza xi. Line 3. 'And such a leg ! My Bess I ween,' 1786; 'My bonny Jean,' 1787 (2): — 'Bess' was substituted for 'Jean' in preparing the poem for the '86 Edition, on account of Armour's temporary renunciation ; but although the acquaintanceship was not renewed until June '87, her name was restored in the '87 Edition, which was published in April. Stanza xvi. This Stanza and the remaining ones of Duan I. were first published in the '87 Edition. 1 Caprington.— iJ. B. 2 Colonel Fullarton.— /J. B. 3 Dr. Fullarton.— iJ. B. " Orangefield.— 7J. B. VOL. I. Z 354 NOTES THE Stanza XVII. Line 2. 'To see a race heroic wheel' : — 'The VISION Wallaces' (R. B.). Stanza xviii. Line i. ' His Country's Saviour, mark him well ' ;— ' William Wallace ' (R. B.). 2. 'Bold Richardton's heroic swell ' : — 'Adam Wallace of Richardton, cousin to the im- mortal preserver of Scottish independence' (R. B.). Richardton is now known as Riccarton. 3. ' The chief, on Sark who glorious fell ' : — ' Wallace, laird of Craigie, who was second in command, under Douglas, Earl of Ormond, at the famous battle on the banks of Sark, fought anno 1448. That glorious victory was principally owing to the judicious conduct and intrepid valour of the gallant laird of Craigie, who died of his wounds after the action' (R. B.). The Wallaces of Craigie were descended from the Wallaces of Riccarton, John Wallace of Riccarton having married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir John Lindsay of Craigie. The heiress of Craigie in Burns's time was his friend Mrs. Dunlop, whose maiden name was Frances Anne Wallace. 5. 'And he whom ruthless fates exfell,' 1787 (2). Stanza xix. Line i. 'There, where a sceptr'd Pictish shade,' etc. : — ' Coilus, King of the Picts, from whom the district of Kyle is said to take its name, lies buried, as tradition says, near the family seat of the Montgomeries of Coilsfield, where his burial place is still shown ' (R. B. ). Stanza xx. Line i. ' Thro' many a -wild, romantic grove ' : — ' Barskimming, the seat of the Lord Justice-Clerk' (R. B.). It lies two miles south-west of Mauchline. The ' aged Judge ' of Line 5 — to whom it belonged — was Sir Thomas Miller, son of William Miller of Glenlee, Kirkcudbrightshire; bom 3rd November 1717 ; called to the Scottish Bar 21st February 1742; appointed Lord Justice-Clerk 14th June 1766, with the title of Lord Barskimming, afterwards changed to that of Lord Glenlee ; I(?/r on countless thousands rant,' MS. (B). II. ' Mair spier na, nor fear na':— ' Ramsay ' (R. B. ). VOL. T. 2 a 370 NOTES EPISTLE The line most nearly resembling this in Ramsay is 'Nocht TO DAVIE feirful, but cheirful,' in The Vision. It closely resembles a line in Ane Ballat of the Creatioun of the Warld: — 'Nocht feiring bott speiring,' and more faintly one in The Cherry and the Slae : — ' Then fear not, nor hear not,' which also occurs in The Banks of Helicon. Stanza hi. Line i. 'To lye in kilns and barns at e'en,' MS. (C) and 1786. II. 'An' mind still, you'll find still,' MS (C) and 1787 (2). 14. ' Nae further we can fa',' MS. (C), 1786, 1787 (I), 1787 (2), and 1793. Stanza iv. Line 13. ' Syne rhyme till 't, well time till 't, 1786, 1787 (I), and 1793. Stanza vi. Line 14. 'It's a' an idle tale,' MS. (B) and 1787 (2). Stanza vii. Line 5. 'Yet here I sit has met wi' some,' MS. (B) and deleted reading in MS. (C) ; 'has,' MS. (C). 9. ' They let us see the naked truth,' MS. (A). Stanza ix. Line i. 'O' all you pow'rs who rule above,' 1787 (2). 7-10. These lines in MS. (B) and as deleted in Ms. (C) read thus :— ' In a' my share o^care an' grief Which fate has largely given. My hope, my comfort an' relief Are thoughts 0' her an' heaven.' Stanza x. Line 10. ' A tye more tender still,' ms. (C) and 1786. Stanza XI. Line 3. 'Without a claw or rug,' ms. (A). 6. ' Were harkin in my lug,' MS. (A). THE LAMENT ' The unfortunate issue,' not of a ' friend's/ but of his own ' amour ' — (when Jean Armour, overborne by paternal authority, agreed to discard him)— was. Burns declares, the 'unfortunate story alluded to' in the Lament: a ' shocking affair ' he calls it, which had nearly given him ' one or two of the principal qualifications among those who have lost the chart and mistaken the reckoning of rationality.' According to Gilbert, the poem was com- NOTES 371 posed 'after the first distraction of his feelings had a the little subsided.' lament Scott Douglas refers to the 'amazing double somer- satilt of rhyme/ which is done in every stanza of this piece. But for a couple of centuries at least the octave on three rhymes — a, b, a, b, b, c, b, c — was the most popular of the old Scots staves. It is described and ezampled in the Schorte Treatise : — ' For any heich and graue subiectis/ says the royal Prentise, 'specially drawin out of leamit authouris, vse this kynde of verse following, caUit Ballot Royal, as : — That nicht be ceist, and went to bed, bot greind Zit fast for day, and tbocht the nicbt to lang : At last Diana down her head recleind. Into the sea. Then Lucifer vpsprang, Auroras post, whome sho did send amang The leittie cludds, for to foretell ane hour Before sho stay her tears, quhilk Guide sang Fell for her loue, quhilk tnmit in a flour.' Here the structure of the stave and the arrangement and number of the rhymes are precisely those of an octave in an octosyllabic ballade : wherein, however, the rhymes of the first eight verses are those of all the twenty-eight The French influence was strong in Scotland. Dunbar, to go no further back, is drenched in it, and handles {passim) the three-rhymed octave with special ease (see Poetical Works, S. T. S. 's Edition [1888-89], Appendix iii. ) : as do many of the men, innominate or not, whose work is preserved in The Bannatyne MS. and the Maitland mss. In lines, then, of ten, eight, or even six feet, the three- rhymed octave is a classic in Scots versification. It is used by Henryson (1430-1506 ?), who got it from Chaucer, and by the Mersar of Dunbar's Lament — ' He hes reft Merseir his endite' — in the sole example of his work which has survived ; by Gavin Douglas (1475 .'-1522) in King Hart and the Prolong to the ' Sext Buik ' of his ^?i«ado«(1513);.by Dunbar as we have said, and in the bulk of his Flyting with Walter Kennedy (1460-1608 ?) ; 372 NOTES THE by Kennedy himself; by Sir David Lindsay in his LAMENT Descriptioun of Pedder Coffeii and his Oomplaynt of Bagsche; by John Bellenden (fl. 1508-1687) in the Proheme affixed to his Boece {1536) ; by Sir Richard Mait- land, Robert Semple, Scott, Montgomerie, Hume of Polwarth (whose Flyting with Montgomerie is included in Watson's Second Part), and a score besides : one of the last to handle it in the old Scots manner being that Prancis Sempill of Beltrees (d. 1679), to whom has been ascribed a very early set of Auld Lang Syne, and whose Banishment of Povertie, though it is printed in quatrains, is certainly written in ballade octaves. What is more to our purpose is the fact that Allan Ramsay printed some twenty capital examples in The Ever Green : — Kennedy's Mouth Thankless, Scott's Ballot to the Derisioune and Scorne of Wantoun Wemen, Lindsay's Pedder Coffeis aforesaid, the old songs of Harlaw and the Beid-Squar, the Panygyriek on Sr. Penny, the pleasant IjTic beginning ' Quhen Flora had owrfrett the Firth,' Semple's Ballat Maid upon Margaret Fleming, Dunbar's Flyting, the ballad ot Auld Kyndness, and the like. So that it came to Burns as a national formula, and as such it was instantly acceptable to him. Stanza i. Line 3. ' Thou seest a wretch that inly pines,' 1793 and 1794. Stanza viii. Line 3. ' My toil-beat nerves and teni-vjon eye,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), and 1793. DESPO>rDENCY Composed, no doubt, a little after the Lament. MAN WAS MADE TO MOURN In a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 10th August 1788, Burns tells of an old grand-uncle who had gone blind : — ' His NOTES 373 most voluptuous enjoyment was to sit down and cry, while man was my mother would sing the simple old song of The Life made to and Age of Man. The old song began thus :— mourn 'Twas in the sixteenth hunder year Of God and fifty-three Frae Christ was born, that bought us dear, As writings testifie ; On January the sixteenth day, As I did lie alone. With many a sob and sigh did say. Ah ! man was made to moan ! ' A copy of this ballad — 'to the tune Isle of Kell' — was published as a chap by J. & M. Robertson, Saltmarket, Glasgow, 1806, under the title : — The Age and Life of Man, or a Short Description of the (sic) Nature, Rise and Fall, according to the Twelve Months of the Year. According to Gilbert Burns, the later dirge was intended to set forth 'a sentiment of the author ' : that there is ' no more morti- fying picture of human nature than a man seeking work. ' But the miseries it paints are those of excessive and ill- requited toil. In the First Common Place Book it — ms. (A) — entered under the date August 1786, is headed : ' A Song (Tune — Peggy Bawn).' A sts. — ms. (B) — is included in the book purchased by the Kilmarnock Committee. Stanza i. Line 3. 'One ev'ning as I wandertd forth,' ms. (A); 'wander'd' MS. (B) and 1787 (2). Stanza in. Line 4. ' The Lordly Cassilis pride,' mss. (A and B). Stanza v. Line S- ' But see him on the edge of days,' ms. (A). 6. ' With cares and labors worn,' mss. (A and B). Stanza vi. Line 2. ' In Fortune's lap carest,' mss. (A and B). 6. ' To wants and sorrows l/orn,' yis. (k) ; 'are wretched and forlorn,' 1794. . Stanza vii. Lines i-2 in ms. (A) read thus :— ' Many the ills that Nature's hand Has woven with om- frame.' 374 NOTES MAN WAS Stanza viii. Line 8. ' And helpless children mourn,' MADE TO MS. (A). MOURN Stanza ix. Lines 1-2. In mss. (A and B) these lines read thus : — ' If I am doom'd yon lordling's slave By Nature's hand design'd.' Stanza x. Lines 5-6. In ms. (A) these lines read thus :— ' The poor oppressM honest heart Had surely ne'er been born.' Stanza xi. Line 6. 'Yiom pomp and pleasures torn,' ms. (A); 'pomp and pleasures,' MS. (B). 7. 'But oh! a blest relief/a;- those,' MS. (A), MS. (B), 1786 and 1787 (i). WINTER Burns writes in the First Common Place Book under date April 1784 : — 'There is scarcely any earthly object gives me more — I don't know if I should call it pleasure, but something which exalts me, something which enraptures me — than to walk in the sheltered side of a wood or high plantation, in a cloudy winter day, and hear a stormy wind howling among the trees and raving o'er the plain. It is my best season for devotion ; my mind is rapt up in a kind of enthusiasm to Him who in the pompous lan- guage of Scripture, "Walks on the wings of the wind." In one of these seasons, just after a tract of misfortunes, I composed the following song ' — Winter, to wit. Gilbert affirms it to be a 'juvenile production'; and the poet himself, in his Autobiographic Letter to Dr. Moore, refers to it as ' the eldest of my printed pieces,' and includes it among others composed in the interval between his re- turn from Kirkoswald and his residence in Irvine. It is therefore impossible to assign it to a period so late as that conjectured by Chambers and Scott Douglas; and the ' tract of misfortunes ' cannot describe, as the latter held, the disasters at Irvine, but was probably one of family losses. In the ms. in the First Common Place Book — ms. NOTES 375 (A) — the tune assigned to it is MThefton's Farewell; in winter the book purchased by the Kilmarnock Committee— ms. (B>— it is called simply JtPherson. An improved read- ing, in the fifth line in ms. (B)— perhaps forgotten when the MS. was copied for the printer — is adopted in the text. Stanza i. Line 5. ' And tumbling brown the burn comes down,' MS. (A). In MS. (B) ' while ' is deleted and ' wild ' inserted, although all the printed Editions have 'whiU.' 7. 'And bird and beast in covert rest,' MS. (A), and all Editions. 8. ' And pass the weary day,' MS. (A). Stanza ii. Line i. ' The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast' : —'Dr. Young' (R. B.). Stanza hi. Line 8. ' help me to resign,' ms. (B). A PRAYER IN PROSPECT OF DEATH First Common Place Book, under date August 1784 : — 'A Prayer when fainting fits, and other alarming symptoms of a pleurisy or some other dangerous disorder, which indeed still threaten me, first put nature on the alarm. ' A MS. in the Burns Monument, Edinburgh, has the heading : ' A Prayer when dangerously threatened with pleuritic attacks.' The piece has been assigned to 1784, but the entry in the Common Place Book proves it earlier than the August of that year. It was probably written during Burns's residence in Irvine, when, as would appear from a letter to his father, 27th December 1781, he had the prospect of ' perhaps very soon ' bidding 'adieu to all the pains, and uneasiness, and disquietudes of this weary life.' None of the mss. differs from the copy as printed. TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY Enclosed, under the title of The Gowan, in a letter of 20th April 1786, to John Kennedy, clerk to the Earl of Dumfries, at Dumfries House, near Mauchline:— 'I 376 NOTES TO A have here likewise enclosed a small piece, the very latest MOUNTAIN of my productions. I am a good deal pleased with some DAISY sentiments myself, as they are just the native querulous feelings of a heart which, as the elegantly melting Gray says, "melancholy has marked for her own.'" The last five stanzas conveying the moral are in undiluted English. Stanza ii. Line 4. ' IVi 's spreckl'd breast,' 1786. Stanza ix. Line 3. 'Stern Ruin's plough-share drives elate ':— Possibly, but not necessarily, a reminiscence of Young ; — ' Stars rush, and final Ruin fiercely drives Her plough-share o'er creation. ' TO RUIN From the lines : — ' For one has cut my dearest tie, And quivers in my heart ' : — it would appear that this piece dates from the close of Burns's residence at Irvine in 1782, when, to crown his misfortunes, he was, as he relates in his Autobiographical Letter, jilted 'with peculiar circumstances of mortifica- tion,' by one 'who had pledged her soul to marry him.' True, he was greatly distracted by Armour's conduct in repudiating him ; but there is no evidence that he was revisited by the hypochondriacal longing for death to which expression is given in his second stanza. For the stave see ante (p. 366), Prefatory Note to the Epistle to Davie. EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND The ' young friend ' of this Epistle was Andrew Hunter Aiken, son of Robert Aiken of Ayr. After a successful commercial career in Liverpool, he became English consul at Riga, where he died in 1831. His son, Peter Freeland NOTES 377 Aiken— bom 1790, died 3rd March 1877— published in 1876 Memoirs of Robert Bums and some of his Contem- poraries. William Niven of Kirkoswald — afterwards of May- bole, and finally of Kilbride — was accustomed to com- plain — not, however, to Burns, in so far as is known, nor till after his death — that this Epistle was originally addressed to him. His claim was supported by the Rev. Hamilton Paul (Poem^ and Songs of Burns, 1819) ; but, as Niven had no copy to show, it would seem that, if a rhyming Epistle were sent him, he set little store by the honour. The stave is that of Ramsay's Bessy Bell and Mary Gray and Come, Shepherds, a' Your Whistles Join. The original Epistle sent to Aiken — dated 15th May 1786 — is now in the Kilmarnock Monument Museum. In this copy Stanzas iii. and iv. are transposed, and after Stanza vr. occurs the following octave, omitted in the printed version : — ' If ye hae made a step aside, Some hap-mistake o'ertaen you, Yet, still keep up a decent pride. An' ne'er owre far demean you. Time comes wi' kind, oblivious shade An' daily darker sets it ; An' if na-mae mistakes are made The world soon forgets it.' Stanza II. Line 6. 'Ev'n when your Mea/'i attained,' ms. 7. 'An' a' your schemes may come to nought,' MS. Stanza hi. Line 5. ' But generally mankind are weak,' MS. Stanza iv. Line 2. 'Their fate we would na censure,' 1794. Stanza vi. Line 5 : — The use of ' rove ' as a substantive is rare. Most likely Burns borrowed it from Young : — ' Thy nocturnal rove.' Stanza XI. Line 1. ' Fareweel, dear, amiable youth,' ms. 8. ' Than e'er did th' Adviser,' 1787 (2). EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND 378 NOTES ON A SCOTCH BARD GONE TO THE WEST INDIES Pbobably among the latest written for the Kilmarnock Edition. While it was in progress. Burns was maturing his plans for emigration, and on l7th July 1786 he wrote to David Brice, Glasgow : — ' I am now fixed to go for the West Indies in October.' A ms. was in the possession of the editor of the Aldine Burns, published by Pickering in 1839. Stanza i. Line 5. ' Our Billie Bob has taen a jink,' ms. Stanza 11. Line 5. ' ^« 'j caw^e?^^ ^ anither shore,' ms. Stanza hi. Line 1. ' The bonie lasses weel may miss him,' 1793. 2. ' KrC pray kind fortune to redress him,' MS. Stanza\ v. Line i. ' Auld, cantie Kyle may weepers wear ' : — Weepers are strips of muslin worn on the cuffs of mourners. Kyle is a district in Ayrshire : not Kilmarnock, as stated by some editors. 3. ' 'Twill gar her poor, auld heart, I fear,' MS. Stanza vii. Line 2. ' Ar^ scarce a bellyfu' o' drummock,' MS. > Stanza x. Line i. ' Thenfare-you well my rhymin billie,' MS. A DEDICATION TO GAVIN HAMILTON, ESQ. Gavin Hamilton — to whom Bums here dedicates the First Edition of his poems, because 'I thought them something like yoursel,' was descended from an old Ayrshire family, the Hamiltons of Kype. The fifth son of John Hamilton of Kype — who was settled as a Writer in Mauchline — by his first wife, Jacobina King, he was born in 1751, probably in November, as he was baptized on the 20th of that month ; succeeded his father as solicitor in Mauchline, occupying a castel- lated mansion, now partly in ruins, hard by the church- yard ; and sublet the farm of Mossgiel to Burns and his brother Gilbert. Like the poet, he sympathised NOTES 379 with liberalism in religion, and they became warm to oavin friends. He was prosecuted in the autumn of- 1784 by the Hamilton Kirk-Session of Mauchline for neglect of public ordi- nances and other irregularities ; and wrote a letter to the Session, affirming that its proceedings were dictated by 'private pique and ill-nature.' The accusation is cor- roborated by Cromek, who states that the Rev. William Auld of Mauchline had quarrelled with Hamilton's father (in all probability the true cause of both the quarrel with the father and the Sessional prosecution of the son was the hereditary Episcopacy of the Hamiltons). Ulti- mately, through the , intervention of the Presbytery of Ayr, Gavin Hamilton compelled the Session, on 17th July 1786, to grant him a certificate that he was ' free from public scandal or ground of Church censure known ' to them : a triumph celebrated in Holy Willie's Prayer. He was again prosecuted by the Session for causing his servants to dig new potatoes in his garden on the ' last Lord's day ' of July 1787. He died 5th February 1805. Hamilton's character is very fully portrayed in the Dedication, and incisively in his Epitaph (p. 188). Several letters from Burns to him are pub- lished, including a Rhyming Epistle and Stanzas on Nae- thing ; and. there are references to him in Holy Willie's Prayer, the Epistle to John M'Math, and The Farewell. For the rhythmus, see ante (p. 319), Prefatory Note to The Twa Dogs. Line 26. ' He 's just — nae better than he shou'd be,' 178 (i), 1787 (2), and 1793. 5*- ' •A°<^ °'^ ' t*!^' '5 "^^ regenera- tion ' :— Omitted in 1787 (i), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. 54. 'Vain is his life whose stay and trust is,' 1794. 69. ' O ye ' wha leave the springs c/' Calvin,' I794' TO A LOUSE A MS. is in the Bodleian Library. Stanza i. Line i. ' Ha ! whare ye gaun, ye blastit ferlie,' 380 NOTES TO A MS. 2. ' Your impudence protects you sairlie,' 1787 (l), 1787 LOUSE (2), and 1793. S- 'Tho' faith! I fear ye ^erf but sparely,' MS. Stanza ii. Line 3. • How daur ye set a fit upon her,' Ms. ; 'dare,' 1794. S- ' SwithI somewhere else, and seek your dinner,' MS. Stanza hi. Line i. ' Gae ! in some beggar's hauffet squattle,' MS. 2 and 3: — These lines are transposed in the MS. 4. ' Whare horn nor bane ne'er dare unsettle,' 1794. Stanza iv. Line 2. ' Below the fatt'rils, snug and tight,' 1786, 1787 (I), 1787 (2), and 1793. 3. 'Na, haith! ye yet ! ye '11 no be right,' MS. 5. ' The vera upmost topmost height,' MS.; ' tapmost /(TOn»,' 1786. Stanza v. Line 5, ' I 'd gie ye sic a hearty doze o't,' 1794. Stanza VI. Line 3. 'Or OToy *e some bit duddieboy,' ms. Stanza vii. Line i. ' O, Jeany, dinna toss your head,' MS. Stanza viii. Line 2. 'To see (j»««/as ithers see us,' ms. EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK John Lapbaik^ whose song. When I upon Thy Bosom Lean, 'so thirl'd the heart-strings' of Bui-nSj was de- scended from an old Ayrshire family, which for several generations possessed the estate of Laigh Dalquhram, near Muirkirk. He was born in 1727 ; succeeded to the estate on the death of his father^ and also rented the farm and mill of Muirsmill ; lost his estate and all his means by the failure of the Ayr Bank in 1772 ; was inspired by Burns's success to publish Poems on Several Occasions (1788) ; and died 7th May 1807. Lapraik's song, so warmly praised by Burns, and after- wards sent by him for insertion to Johnson's Museum, iii. 214 (1790), closely resembles one in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, 11th October 1773, When On Thy Bosom I Recline, dated Edinbui-gh, 11th October, and signed ' Happy Husband. ' It has been too rashly inferred that Lapraik plagiarised from this lyric : he may have written it himself Another, When West Winds did NOTES 381 Blow, which Burns also sent to Johnson, is not without merit The original Epistle was at one time in the pos- session of Sir Robert Jardine, and the piece is also entered in the Mrst Common Place Book under date June 1785. Stanza ii. Line i. ' On Fasten-een we had a rockin ': — The term 'rockin' is thus explained by Gilbert Burns: — 'Derived from those primitive times, when the country-women employed their spare hours in spinning on the rock, or distaflf. This simple implement is a very portable one, and well fitted on the social inclination of meeting in a neighbour's house ; hence the phrase oi going a-rocking, or with the rock.' Stanza hi. Line J. ' It thriltd the heart-strings through the breast,' 1787 (2) ; 'It touched the feelings 0' the breast,' MS. Stanza iv. Lines 1-2 read thus in the MS. : — ' I 've scarce heard ought I flea/ d sae weel, The style sae tastie and genteel.' Stanza v. Lines 1-2 in the ms. read thus :— 'My heart was fidgiiC fain to hear 't, And sae about him a' I speirt. ' 3-6 read thus : — • He was a devil But had a frank and friendly heart, Discreet and civil.' Stanza viii. Lines 2-3 in the ms. read thus : — ' Amaist since ever I could spell / 've dealt in makin' rhymes mysel. ' S-6 read thus : — ' But croonin at afleugh or flail Do well enough.' Stanza x. Line 3. ' You wha ken hardly verse by prose,' MS. 5. ' But, by your leaves, my learned foes ' : — Burns's use of the plural of leave has been objected to, and it has been supposed to be a printer's error ; but it occurs in the First Common Place Book, and the fact that leaf has the same plural does not necessarily deprive leave of its own. EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK 382 NOTES EPISTLE Stanza xii. Link l. 'A set of silly senseless asses,' ms. TO J. 4, ' Thus sac to speak,' MS. 5. ' And then they think to climb LAPRAIK Parnassus,' MS. Stanza xiv. Line 2. ' Or Feigusson's, the bauld and slee,' '794- 3- ' Or tight Lapraik, my friend to be,' MS. Stanza XV. Line 3. 'But if your catalogue hefou,' 1793 and 1794. Stanza xvr. Line 3. ' But friends and folks that wish me well,' 1794. Stanza xxi. Line 2. ' Whose hearts true generous friend- ship warms,' MS. SECOND EPISTLE TO J. LAPRAIK Entered in the First Common Place Book under The First Epistle with this explanation : — ' On receiving an answer to the above I wrote the following.' Stanza i. Line 2. ' An' pownies reek at pleugh or brake, MS. Stanza ii. Line £. ' My dowie muse sair pleads and begs,' MS. 6. ' I z«o»'(fna write,' 1794. Stanza III. Line 2. ' She 'ssaft at best a«(^ something lazy,' 1794. 3. ' Quo' she, ye ken, / 've been sae bissie,' MS. Stanza V. Line i. 'ShallbauldLapraik, the ^«o' hearts,' Stanza vi. Lines 2-3 in the ms. read thus : — ' And in went stumpie in the ink, Says I before I sleep a wink.' Stanza vii. Line 1. 'But what my theme's to be, or whether,' ms. Stanza x. is omitted in the ms. Stanza xi. Line 2. ■ Behind a kist to lie an' sklent,' 1787 (2) ; ' Behint a kist to lie and sklent,' 1794. 4. ' ^«(f muckle wame,' 1794. Stanza xii. Line 3. 'Nae sheep-shank bane':— z'.c. a personage of no small importance. 5. 'While caps and bonnets aff are taen,' MS. 1787 (l), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. Stanzaxiii. Line I. 'May He-viVa. gives ■a'ie.^z'a. good ^ii,' MS. 3. ' Then tho' he turn me out adrift,' MS. NOTES 383 Stanza XVI. Lines. ' The followers o' the ragged Nine ' : second — Motherwell and some other editors adopt the reading, ' The epistle ragged followers o' the Nine ' ; but Burns wrote and steadily to j. passed the verse as it is printed. It is classically inexact ; but lapraik the proposed change would be no improvement, since the followers of the Nine should surely have no special charac- teristics which the Nine have not. Stanza xvii. Lines 1-2 in the MS. read thus :— ' Tho' here they grunt, an' scrape, an' growl, Their silly nivefow o' a soul,* 5. ' Or in a day-detesting owl,' MS. Stanza xviii. Line i. ' Lapraik an' Burness then may ^ rise,' MS. : — A transposition was necessary when the poet adopted the spelling 'Burns.' 2. 'And reach their native kindred skies,' MS. TO WILLIAM SIMPSON OF OCHILTREE The 'winsome WiUie* of this Epistle was William Simpson, son of John Simpson, farmer in Ten-Pound Land, in the parish of Ochiltree. He was born 23rd August 1758 ; was educated at the University of Glasgow ; became parish schoolmaster of Ochiltree in 1780, and in 1788 of Cumnock ; and died ith July 1815. It has been inferred that the piece which drew the flattering letter from him was The Twa Herds. But the inference is not supported by the evidence adduced — the statement of Burns himself, that he gave a copy of that satire to 'a particular fHend '; for Burns affirmed to this same friend that he did not know who was the author, and had got a copy by accident. Stanza hi. Line 1. ' My senses wad be in a. creel ' : — A creel is an ozier basket. To be ' in a creel' is to be perplexed, muddled, or fascinated : a sense probably derived from the old Scottish marriage custom of 'creeling.' 3. 'Wi' Allan, or wi' Gilbertfield ' : — Allan Ramsay, of course, and his con- 384 NOTES TO temporary, Hamilton of Gilbertfield (see ante, p. 344, Pre- WILLIAM fatory Note to The Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie), SIMPSON whom, with Fergusson, Burns was accustomed to regard as his models ; but, as he states in his Preface to the Kilmarnock Edition, 'rather with a view to kindle at their flame, than for servile imitation. ' Stanza vi. Line 1. ' Auld Coila, now, may fidgefu' fain ' : — ' Coila ' is the district of Kyle in Ayrshire. 2. ' She 's gotten Foets o' her ain,' 1794. 3. ' Chiels wha their chanters winna hain ': — Chanter is properly a bagpipe (see ante, p. 346, Note to Poor Mailie' s Elegy) Stanza viii. Line 2. Stanza vii. Line 2. ' To set her name in measur'd stile,' 1794- Stanza x. Line 5. ' Frae Southron billies,' 1794. Stanza xix. Line 4. 'By this " New- Light '":— In the Edinburgh Editions Burns refers to a note to The Ordination : — 'New Light is a cant phrase in the West of Scotland for those religious opinions which Dr. Taylor of Norwich has defended so strenuously. ' The names, ' New Light ' and ' Old Light,' were subsequently assumed by separate divisions of the Secession Church of Scotland, which became merged in the United Presbyterian Church. Stanza XXI. Line 4. 'Gaed past their viewing,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. Stanza xxvi. Line 5. ' Till lairds forbad by strict com- mands,' 1786. EPISTLE TO JOHN RANKINE Rankine was farmer at Adamhill, in the parish of Craigie, near Lochlie. His wit, his dreams (invented for the purpose of roasting his dislikes), and his practical jokes, were the talk of the countryside. His sister, Margaret, was the first wife of John Lapraik, and his daughter, Anne, afterwards Mrs. Merry, vaunted herself the heroine of The Rigs 0' Barley. Burns also addressed to Rankine a Reply to an Announcement, and compU- raents him in an Epitaph as the one 'honest man' in ' a mixtie-maxtie motley squad. ' NOTES 385 It is to be noted that the last seven stanzas of this epistle piece set forth an account in good venereal slang — {e,g, to john 'straik' [i.c. ' s\,To\iQ''\=mba^tare; 'hen,' 'wame/ 'tail/ Rankine ' gun,' ' feathers/ and so forth)— of Burns's amour with Elizabeth Paton, by whom he had an illegitimate child (November 1784), and with whom he did penance by order of the Session. Stanza i. Line 4. ' Your dreams and tricks ' ; — ' A certain humourous dream of his was then making a noise in the countryside ' (R. B.). Stanza iv. Line 2. 'The Blue-gown badge an' claithing': — This was the livery of a licensed order of beggars known as the King's bedesmen [no doubt in earlier years a religious fraternity], whose number coincided with that of the King's years. Every Maunday Thursday they received a new outfit, which included a blue gown and a pewter badge on which were inscribed the words : ' Pass and Repass. ' Sir Walter immortalized the craft in the Edie Ochiltree of The Antiquary. 3. 'O saunts ; tak that, ye lea'e them naithing,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. Stanza v. Line i. ' I 've sent you here some rhymin ware,' 1786. 5. 'Yon sang ye '11 sen't, wi' cannie care ' : — 'A song he had promised the author ' (R. B.). Stanza VI. Lines. ' I 'd better gaen an' rajV^/ the king, '1794. Stanza viii. Line 2. ' I strakit it a wee for sport,' 1794. Stanza x. Line 5. ' The game shall pay owre moor an' dail,' 1786 ; 'o'er' 1787 (l), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. Stanza xi. Line 4. ' For my gowd guinea ' : — It was the custom of the Kirk-Session to require the person who had been disciplined for fornication to testify to the sincerity of his penitence by contributing a guinea for the poor. 5. ' Tho' I should herd the buckskin kye': — 'Buckskin' is slang for Virginian, and ' kye ' for niggers. SONG Tune : Corrn Riga In an interleaved copy of Johnson's Museum, Burns remarks : — 'All the old words that ever I could meet to VOL. I. 2 b 386 NOTES SONG this were the following which seem to have been an old chorus : — " O corn rigs and rye rigs, O corn rigs are bonie, And when'er you meet a bonnie lass, Preen up her oookemony." ' The last song in Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, My Patie is a Lover Gay, to the tune Corn Rigs are Bonny, con- cludes as follows : — ' Then I '11 comply and marry Pate, And syne my cockeruony He 's free to touzle air and late Where com rigs are bonny.' Burns wrote to George Thomson : — ' My Patie is a Lover Gay — is unequal. "His mind is never muddy," is -'(fkindlyin,' MS. (B). 202. 'O, hadM'Laughlin, thairm-inspiringsage' : — 'A well-known performer of Scottish music on the violin' (R. B.). M'Laughlin was accustomed to give performances in the West of Scotland. 205. ' Or when they touch'd old Scotia's melting airs,' MS. (A). 225. ' Next followed Courage ': — The reference is to the Montgomeries (see ante, p. 325, Note to The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer, Stanza x. Line 3), through whose grounds the Feal flowed. 227. 'Benevolence,' etc. : — Mrs. Stewart of Stair. 229. ' Learning and Worth ': — The reference is to Professor Dugald Stewart, who resided at Catrine House (see ante, p. 354, Note to The Vision, Duan i. Stanza xxi. Line 2). THE ORDINATION In a letter to Richmond (l7th February 1786), Burns mentions that he had composed The Ordination, and de- scribes it as * a poem on Mr. M'Kinley's being called to Kilmarnock.' Probably he intended to publish it in the '86 Edition, which he was then contemplating, and had called it The Ordination to that end ; nevertheless, as appears from the letter, not only was it written before the ordination, which took place 6th April, but also it was not even written in view thereof — it only celebrated the presentation. Moreover, an early copy — ms. (A) — in the possession of Lord Rosebery, has merely this head- ing, 'A Scotch Poem, by Rab Rhymer.' James Mackinlay, born at Douglas, Lanarkshire, in 398 NOTES THE 1756, was first presented to the second charge of the ORDINA- Laigh Kirk, Kilmarnock, in the August of 1785. He TiON declined the presentation on account of certain condi- tions attached to it. Presentation to another was made out on 15th November, but the messenger to the Presby- tery of Irvine was despoiled of the warrant by certain parishioners. Thereupon a new presentation was made out for Mackinlay, who was ordained on 6th April follow- ing ; was translated to the first charge, on a petition of the parishioners, 31st January 1809; was made D.D., Aberdeen, 1810 ; died 10th February 1841. A volume of his Sermons was published posthumously, with a Life by his son. Rev. James Mackinlay. Like Russell, he had a rousing voice ; but his oratory was more persuasive and less menacing than Russell's. In a note to Tarn Samson's Elegy Burns describes him ' as a great favourite of the million.' In The Kirk's Alarm he is addressed as 'Simper James.' His more than partiality for the 'fair Killie dames' drew on him a presbyterial rebuke some years afterwards. In all probability the satire was composed immediately after the second presentation. In ms. (A) the motto is signed Buisseaux, which is playful French for 'Bums' ( = brooks). Another ms. — ms. (B) — was before the Aldine editor, 1839. For the stave see ante, p. 328, Prefatory Note to The Holy Fair. Stanza i. Line i. ' Kilmarnock wabsters, fidge a«rfclaw,' 1793. 6. ' Then afif to Crooies's in a raw,' MS. (A) : — In 1786, apparently, Begbie succeeded Crookes in the inn — now the Angel Hotel — near the Laigh Kirk, with which it was con- nected by a close so narrow that worshippers had to traverse it in Indian file. Stanza ii. Line i. 'Curst Common-sense, that imp 0' hell ' : — ' Common sense ' was supposed to be a special attribute of the moderate clergy. 2. ' Cam in wi' Maggie Lauder ' : — ' Alluding to a scoffing ballad which was made on, the admission of the late Reverend and worthy Mr. Lindsay to the Laigh NOTES 399 Kirk ' (R. B. in '87 and subsequent Editions).—' I sup- pose the author here means Mrs. Lindsay, wife of the late Reverend and worthy Mr. Lindsay, as that was her maiden name, I am told. JV.B. — He got the Laigh Kirk of Kilmarnock' (R. B. in MS. [A]). The ' scoffing ballad' is reprinted in M'Kay's History of Kilmarnock. According to current rumour, the Rev. William Lindsay, being minister at Cumbrae, was, through his wife's interest (she had been house- keeper, or governess, in the Glencaim family) presented to the Laigh Kirk, Kilmarnock, by the Earl of Glencairn, 30th November 1762. But a Mr. Henderson, her descendant, maintains, in a series of letters to Robert Chambers (ms. corre- spondence in an interleaved copy of Chambers's Bums, 1851, vol. i. in the Kilmarnock Monument Museum), that she never was a member of the Glencaim household in any capacity ; and explains that Lindsay had been tutor to the Earl of Glencairn. The Presbytery refused to sustain the call, but it was finally sustained by the General Assembly, in the teeth of so determined an opposition that the ordination (I2th July 1764) took place in a public-house : with the result that ten persons were tried before the criminal court at Ayr for riot and assault, of whom three were convicted and whipped through the town. 3. 'But Oliphant aft made her yell ' : — ^James Oliphant, born about 1734 : Russell's predecessor in the chapel-of-ease or High Church, Kilmar- nock, to which he was translated from Gorbals chapel-of-ease, Glasgow; was ordained at Kilmarnock, 17th May 1764; translated to Dumbarton, 23rd December 1773 ; died loth April 1818, in his eighty-fourth year.— Author of a Mother's Catechism (frequently reprinted), and a Scuramental Catechism. 4. 'An' Russell sair misca'd her.' — See ante, p. 334, Note to The Holy Fair, Stanza xxi. , Line 4. 5. ' This day Mackinlay taks the flail.'— See Prefatory Note. Stanza hi. Line 2. 'O' double verse':— The Scottish Metrical Psalms are set forth in staves, each composed of a double quatrain. 4. ' An' skirl up the Bangor' :— A favourite Scottish Psalm tune in the minor mode. Stanza iv. Line x. 'Come wale a text a proper verse,' MSS. (A and B). 3. ' How Ham leugh at his father's arse,' Mss. (A and B) :— ' Genesis ix. 22 ' (R. B.). 5. < Or Phineas THE ORDINA- TION 400 NOTES THE did four buttocks pierce,' Mss. (A and B) : — (Scott Douglas ORDINA- mentions a variation, ' AiAfair Cozbi pierce ') : — ' Numbers xxv. TION 8 ' (R. B). 7. ' Or Zipporah ■mi scaulding hearse,' MSS. (A. and B) :— ' Exodus iv. 25' (R. B.) Stanza v. Lines 2-5 in mss. (A and B) read thus : — ' Wi form'la an' confession ; An' lay your hands upon his head An' seal Ms high commission^ The Holy flock to tent an' feed.' Stanza vi. Line 5. 'For lapfu's large n' gospel ^rai/i,' MS. (A). 9. ' But every day,' MS. (A). Stanza viii. Line 3. ' As lately Fenwick, sair forfairn ' : — William Boyd, born 1747, was presented to the church of Fenwick by George, Earl of Glasgow, 20th September 1780 ; but on account of the opposition of the parishioners (who barricaded the church) a settlement was not effected until 25th June 1782, when, by order of the Assembly, the ordina- tion took place at Irvine. Boyd afterwards won the respect of his parishioners. He died 17th October 1828. Stanza iX. Line i. ' Now Robertson harangue nae malr ' • — ^John Robertson, ordained to the first charge, Kilmarnock, 25th April 1765 ; died 5th June 1799, in his sixty-seventh year. He belonged to the Common-sense party. See Tarn Samson's Blegy, post, p. 403. 7. ' Or to the Netherton repair' : — A carpet-weaving district in Kilmarnock. Stanza x. Line i. ' Mu'trie and you were just a match ' : — ^John Multrie, Lindsay's successor, and predecessor of Mac- kinlay in the second charge of the Laigh Kirk, was ordained 8th March 1775 ; he died 2nd June 1785, in his fortieth year. 9. ^ In haste 'Cta% day,' MS. (A); ' Fu fast this day,' MS. (B). Stanza xi. Line 8. ' To mak to Jamie Beattie ' :— Dr. James Beattie, author of the Essay on Truth. Stanza xiii. Line 3. ' Morality's delusive joys,' ms. (B). In MS. (A) 3-4 read as follows : — ' Get up — viha ever 'sflt to rise An' thro' the room let 's thorter. ' 6. ' That heresy can torture,' MS. (B). NOTES 401 Stanza xiv. Line 3. ' To every New Light mother's son ' • —'New Light' is a cant phrase in the West of Scotland for those religious opinions which Dr. Taylor of Norwich has so strenuously defended ' (R. B.). THE ORDINA- TION THE CALF ' A NEARLY extemporaneous production, on a wager with Mr. Hamilton that I would not produce a poem on the suhject in a given time' :— R. B., Letter to Robert Muir, 8th September 1786. It was written on Sunday, 3rd September, after listening to a sermon by the Rev. James Steven. As originally composed and read to Gavin Hamilton and Dr. Mackenzie, it consisted of four stanzas only ; but on the Sunday evening at eight o'clock Burns sent a copy to Dr. Mackenzie with two more — the fourth and the sixth. It was printed in 1787 (presumably before its appearance in the Edinburgh Edition), with some other verses, in a tract called The Calf; The Unco Calfs Answer ; Virtue to a Mountain Bard ; and the DeiFs Answer to his vera worthy Frien Robert Bums. An ex- planation was added that The Oalf had been sent to The Glasgow Advertiser, but declined. The same year appeared Burns' Calf turned a Bull; or Some Remarks on his mean and unprecedented attack on Mr 8 when preaching from Malaehi iv, 2. James Steven, a native of KUmamock, was licensed to preach 28th June 1786 ; acted for some time as assistant to Robert Dow, minister of Ardrossan ; was ordained minister of Crown Court Chapel, London, 1st November 1787 ; was one of the founders of the London Missionary Society J was admitted minister of Kilwinning, 28th March 1803 ; and died of apoplexy 15th February 1824. William Bunas, Robert's younger brother, in a letter of 20th March 1790, thus chronicles a visit to Steven's church : — ' We were at Covent Garden Chapel this forenoon to hear the Ca^ preach; he is grown veiy fat, and is as boisterous VOL. I. 9.C 402 NOTES THE The copy sent to Dr. Mackenzie was inspected by Scott CALF Douglas. It contains a few variations from the printed version. Stanza ii. Lines 1-2 in the us. reads thus :— ■ And when some patron shall be kind To bless you wi' a kirk. ' Stanza hi. Line i. 'But if the lover's viystic hour,' MS. 2. ' Should ever be your lot,' Ms. Stanza iv. Line i. 'And when a kind connubial dear,' MS. 2. 'Your but-an-ben': — See ante, -p. 334, Note to The Holy Fair, Stanza xviii. Line i. Stanza v. Line i. ' And to conclude, most reverend James,' MS. Stanza vi. Line 2. ' Baneath a grassy hillock,' ms. ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID Stanza i. Line 7. ' The heaped happer's ebbing still,' 1787 (I). Stanza v. Line i. 'See Social Life and Glee sit down,' 1787 (2). Stanza vi. Line 8. 'Ye 're ahlins nae temptation,' 1787 (2). Stanza vii. Line 3. ' Tho' they may gang a-kennin wrang,' 1787 (2) : — ' A-kennin ' means a ' very little ' ; merely as much as can be perceived or known. TAM SAMSON'S ELEGY 'When this worthy old sportsman went out last muir-fowl season, he supposed it was to be, in Ossian's phrase, " the last of his fields," and expressed an ardent wish to die and be buried in the muirs. On this hint the author composed his Elegy and Epitaph' (R. B.). Samson — a nursery- gardener and seedsman in Kilmarnock, and an ardent sportsman — died 12th December 1795, in his seventy-third year. The Epitaph is inscribed on his tombstone in the NOTES 403 yard of the Laigh Kirk, adjoiuing those of the two tam ministers, Mackinlay and Rohertson, mentioned in the samson's first stanza. The piece is modelled— even to the use of elegy certain lines — on Sempill's Piper ofKilbarchan. See ante, p. 346, Prefatory Note to Poor Mailie's Elegy. On 18th Novemher 1786, shortly before setting out for Edinburgh, Burns wrote to his friend Robert Muii- : ' Inclosed you have Tam Samson, as I intend to print him. ' Stanza i. Line 2. ' Or great Mackinlay thrawn his heel ' : — 'A certain preacher, a great favourite with the million. Vide The Ordination, Stanza ll.' (R. B.). 3. ' Or Robertson again grown weel : ' — ' Another preacher, an equal favourite with the few, who was at that time ailing. For him see also The Ordination, Stanza ix.' (R. B.). 4. 'To preach an' read':— The orthodox party strongly objected to a 'read' sermon. Stanza ii. Line i. ' Kilmarnock lang may grunt axi' grain,' 1787 (2). 2. 'An' sigh, an' sob, an' greet her lane,' 1787 (i), and 1793. Stanza hi. Line i. ' The Brethren of the mystic level, 1794. Stanza IV. Line 4. 'Wi' gleesome spied,' 1787 (i), and 1787 (2). Stanza v. Line i. ' He was the king 0' a' the core,' 1787 (2), and 1794. 2. ' To guard, or draw, or wick a bore ':— In curling, ' to guard ' is to defend a stone in a good position by placing another opposite it ; ' to draw ' is to send it into a good position, by hitting it with just the right force ; and ' to wick a bore ' is to hit it obliquely and send it through an opening. 4. ' In time of need,' 1794. 5. ' Death's hog-score ' :— The hog- score is a line, which the curling stone must cross, or go out of play and be removed. Stanza vi. Line 3. ' An' eels, weel ken'd for souple tail ' 1794- Stanza ix. Line 3. ' In vain the bums came down' like waters,' 1793 and 1794. 4. ■ Anacre-irforf,' 1793. Stanza x. Line 3. ■ Till coward Death behind him jumpit 1787 (I), 1793, and 1794. 404 NOTES TAM Stanza xii. Line 3. 'Yon auld gray stane amang the Samson's hether, 1787 (2). ELEGY Stanza xiii. was added in 1793. Line 4. 'To hatch and breed,' 1794. Stanza xiv. Line i. 'When August winds the Aeiier wave,' 1787 (2). Stanza xv. Line 4. ' Yet what remead ? ' :— Cf. The Apocrypha, Wisd. ii. I :— ' In the death of a man there is no remedy ' ; and Sempill, The Piper of Kilbarchan, Stanza i. Line 4. Per Contra. Line 2. ' Thro' a' the streets an' neuks 0' Killie ' : — ' Killie is a phrase the country-folks sometimes use for the name of a certain town in the west' (R. B.). A WINTER NIGHT Probably the piece which Burns sent to John Ballantine on 20th November 1786 : — ' Enclosed you have my first attempt in that irregular kind of measure in which many of our finest odes are wi-ote. How far I have succeeded I don't know, but I shall be happy to have your opinion on Friday first (24th November), when I intend being in Ayr.' The irregular strophes — imitated from Gray, and strikingly inferior to the introductory stanzas — are freely paraphrased from Shakespeare's Blow, Blow, thou Winter Wind in As You Like It. STANZAS WRITTEN IN PROSPECT OF DEATH In the Edinburgh Editions these Stanzas follow the Prayer in Prospect of Death, and are entitled Stanxas on the Same Occasion. They were entered in the First Common Place Book — ms. (A) — in August 1784, under the title. Misgivings in the Hour of Despondency and Prospect of Death ; and were also inserted in the Second Common Place Book under the title, Stanxas on the Same Occasion in the manner of Beattie's Minstrel. This ms. — MS. (B) — torn from the Second Common Place Book, now in the possession of Mr. Alexander Macmillan, London, NOTES 405 is in the Burns Monument, Edinburgh. The poem, under in the title. Reflections on a Sickbed— jss. (C)— was inscribed prospect by Bums on a flyleaf of the copy of the '86 Edition now of death in the British Museum. Another copy— ms. (D)— entitled Misgivings of Despondency on the Approach of the Gloomy Monarch of the Grave, and forming part of the now dis- membered Stair manuscript^ is in the possession of Mr. William Nelson, Edinburgh. For the stave, see ante, p. 362, Prefatory Note to The Cotter's Saturday Night. Stanza i. Line 4. ' Some gleams of sunshine ?nidsi renewing stoims,' Mss. (A and B). 5. ' Is it departing pangs my ieart alarms ? ' MS. (A). Stanza ii. Line 4. ' Again I would desert fair Virtue's way,' all MSS. fi. 'Again io passions I would fall a prey,' MS. (A.)]; 'Again with passions woitld be led astray,' MS. (B) ; 'Again by passion would be led astray,' MSS. (C and D). 7. 'Then how can I for heavenly mercy pray,' all MSS. 9. 'Who sin so oft have mourn'd, then to temptation ran,' MS. (A). Stanza hi. Line 2. 'If one so black with crimes dare call on thee,' all MSS. 3. ' Thy breath can make the tempest cease to blow,' MS. (A). 4. ' And still the tumult of the raging sea,' MSS. (A and C). 6. ' Those rapid headlong passions to con- fine,' MS. (C). 7. ' For all unfit my native powers be,' all MSS. ; ' I feel my powers be,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), and 1793. PRAYER : O THOU DREAD POWER ' The first time ever Robert heard the spinnet played was at the house of Dr. Lawrie, then minister of Loudoun. . . . Dr. Lawrie (has) several daughters ; one of them played ; the father and mother led down the dance ; the rest of the sisters, the brother, the poet, and the other guests mixed in it. It was a delightful family scene for our poet, then lately introduced to the world. His mind was roused to a poetic enthusiasm, and the 406 NOTES O THOU DREAD POWER stanzas were left in the room where he slept ' : — Gilbert Burns. Robert wi-ote to the son on 13th November 1786 : — ' A poet's warmest wishes for their happiness to the young ladies^ particularly the fair musician, whom I think much better qualified than ever David was, or could be, to charm an evU spirit out of Saul. Indeed, it needs not the feelings of the poet to be interested in the welfare of one of the sweetest scenes of domestic peace and kindred love that ever I saw; as I think the peaceful unity of St. Margaret's HiU can only be excelled by the harmonious concord of the Apocalyptic Zion.' When he paid this visit his chest ' was on the road to Greenock ' ; and but for the fact that Lawrie showed him Dr. Blacklock's letter, strongly recommending a second edition of his poems, he would have sailed in a few days for Jamaica. PARAPHRASE OF THE FIRST PSALM This is probably an early composition, and dates from about the same time as the next piece. A PRAYER UNDER THE PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH Inscribed in the First Common Place Book — bis. (B) — and thus prefaced: — 'There was a certain period of life that my spirit was broke by repeated losses and dis- asters, which threatened, and indeed effected, the utter ruin of my future. My body, too, was attacked by that most dreadful distemper, a Hypochondria, or confirmed melancholy : in this wretched state, the recollection of which makes me yet shudder, I hung my harp on the willow trees except in some lucid intervals, in one of which I composed the following.' It was probably written about the close of Burns's residence in Irvine in 1782, and. NOTES 407 under the title. Prayer under the Premre of Bitter Anguish, prayer is inscribed— in an early hand— at the end of a copy of under Fergusson's Poems, published that year, now in the posses- violent sion of the Earl of Rosebery— ms. (A). anguish Stanza i. Line 2. ' Surpasses! me to know,' ms. (B). 4. ' Are all affairs below,' MSS. (A and B). Stanza it. Line 3. ' Yet sure those ills that press my soul,' MS. (B). Stanza hi. Line i. ' Sure thou, all Perfect, canst not act,' MS. (B). Stanza iv. Line 3. ' ! man my soul with firm resolves,' Mss. (A and B). THE NINETIETH PSALM VERSIFIED Probably dating from the same period as the two last. An early MS. is in the Burns Monument, Edinburgh. Stanza ii. Line 3. ' Before this mighty globe itself,' MS. Stanza V. Line 2. 'Is aWofem^ brought,' deleted reading in MS. Stanza vi. Line i. ' Thou layest them and all their cares,' MS. 2. ' In never eliding sleep,' MS. TO MISS LOGAN The Miss Ixigan of these verses was the 'sentimental sister Susie ' of the Epistle to Major Logan (vol. ii.). It is probable that Burns, when he last met her, had promised her a New Year's gift from Jamaica ; but, his prospects changing, he sent her Beattie's volumes instead. ADDRESS TO A HAGGIS Hogg states that this spirited extravaganza was ' written in the house of Mr. Andrew Bruce, Castlehill, Edinburgh, where a haggis one day made part of the dinner ' ; but 408 NOTES ADDRESS it is unlikely that Burns set to work on it there and then. TO A Chambers's story, that the germ was the last stanza (as HAGGIS first printed) extemporised as grace at a friend's house, is seemingly a variation of the same legend. The Address — (' never before published ') — appeared in The Caledonian Mercury on 19th December 1786, and in The Scots Maga- zine for January 1787. Stanza i. Line 5. 'Weel are ye wordy 0' a grace,' Cale- donian Mercury and 1787 (2). Stanza vr. Line 2. 'As feckless as a' wither'd rash,' 1787 (2). Stanza viii. Line 3. 'Auld Scotland wants nae stinking ware,' 1787 (2) :— See ante. Bibliographical, p. 313. Stanza viii., as printed in The Caledonian Mercury and The Scots Magazine, reads thus : — ' Ye Powers wha gie us a' that 's glide. Still bless auld Caledonia' s brood WV great John Barleycorn' s hearts blade In stowps or luggies 1 And on our board that king 0' food, A glorious Haggice. ' ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH This poem and another were enclosed in a letter from Edinburgh, 27th December 1786, to William Chalmers, in which Burns stated that he 'had carded and spun them' since he 'passed Glenbuck' [the last Ayrshire hamlet on his way to Edinburgh]. A ms. — ms. (A) — is in the possession of Mr. Robert Clarke, Cincinnati, U.S.A., who has sent us a copy. Another ms., given by the poet to Lady Don — ms. (B) — is in the University of Edinburgh; and the Library Committee have kindl/ permitted us to produce it in facsimile. For the stave, see ante, p. 371, Prefatory Note to The Lament. Stanza I. Lines. ' From ^aMmw^wildly-scatt'red flowers,' ADDRESS TO EDINBURGH. Sent to Lady H. Don, 1787. (The University Library, Edinburgh. Reduccdfrom 9J in. X ^\ in.) W ti JjC rifui ^ AtJ^K cxtf Mt^ mo%v, '' Ai^i/ /(,r\0^it f. . , _ ^ / . ■c^ 'L / I ^ 1 _ / r ,-,'/ 1/ (rAi: ..'/W .^n^'f-^ V^tvA '/n^iy ^ /tW)\ ^W; (!^({^tl >j ^-/l^/ Y^^ ^pAJ\ T 1 rf»v!?^'y^ w»«f s«". -,^- > *'^^WWWIWKHS*'i I i«*;J %'-ll' ' t "JM NOTES 409 MS. (B). 8. 'I shelter in _y(7«rhonour'd shade,' deleted reading address in MS. (A). TO Stanza ii. Line i. ' Here wealth slow-swells the golden edin- tide,' MSS. (A and B). burgh Stanza III. Line 4. 'Above the narrow rustic vale,' MS. (A). S- ' Attentive still to pity's wail,' MS. (B), and deleted reading in Ms. (A). Stanza iv. Line 4. ' Fair Burnet strikes th' adoring eye ': — See Elegy on the late Miss Burnet of Monloddo, vol. ii. Stanza v. Line 7. ' Oft has it stood assailing war,' mss. (A and B) ; ' Have oft withstood,' as printed, being deleted in MS. (A). Stanza vi. Line 8. ' Though rigid truth cries out, " 'twas just," ' mss. (A and B), ' law ' being deleted in MS. (A). Stanza vii. Line 1. ' Afy heart beats wild to trace your steps,' MSS. (A and B) ; ' meet^ deleted reading for ' trace ' in MS. (A), g. ' Ev'n I who sing with rustic lore,' mss. (A and B). Stanza viii. Line 5. ' From gathering wildly-scatt'red flowers,' MS. (B). 8. ' I shelter in your honor'd shade,' mss. (A and B). SONGS JOHN BARLEYCORN • Entered in the First Common Place Book under date June 1786, with the title, John Barleycorn — A Song to its ovm Tune. Burns prefaces it with the remark that he had once heard the old song that goes by this name ; and that he remembered only the three first verses and 'some scraps' which he had 'interwoven here and there in the piece.' In the '87 Edition he inserted a note : ' This is pai-tly composed on the plan of an old song known by the same name.' In view of these state- ments, special interest attaches to a set printed in Laing's Early Metrical Tales (1826) from a stall copy of 1781, 410 NOTES JOHN BARLEY- CORN with a few corrections on the authority of two others of later date. Here are the three first stanzas : — ' There came three merry men from the east, And three merry men were they, And they did sware a solemn oath That Sir John Barleycorn they would slay. They took a plough, and plongh'd him down, And laid clods upon his head ; And then they swore a solemn oath, That Sir John Barleycorn was dead. ' But the spring-time it came on amain, And rain towards the earth did fall : John Barleycorn sprung up again. And so subdued them all.' Robert Jamieson prints a set in his Popular Ballads and Songs (1806) as he heard it in Moray when a boy. In its first three verses it closely resembles the Burns ; but Burns's poems were in circulation before Jamieson's boy- hood was over^ and may have influenced his memory. He prints another set from a black-letter copy in the Pepys' Libraryj Cambridge, as well as sets of the analo- gous Allan-a-Maut ballad, including that in The Bannatyne MS. There is, further, a curious chap (1757) which is not included in Jamieson. The ungrammatical ' was ' in Burns's first line was probably suggested by ' There was three ladies in a ha', in Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs (1776). Stanza i. Line 4. ' That John Barleycorn should die,' MS. Stanza ii. Line i. ' They 've taen a plough and plough'd him down,' MS. 3. ' And they have sworn a solemn oath,' MS. 4. ' That John Barleycorn was dead,' MS. Stanza III. Line i. ' But the spring-time it came aa,' tab. Stanza IV. Line i. ' The summer it came on,' us. 3. 'His head well arm'd with pointed spears,' MS. Stanza v. In the ms. Lines 1-2 read thus ; — ' The Autumn it came on And he grew wan and pale.' NOTES 411 Stanza vii. In the ms. Lines 1-2 read thus : — john ' They took a hook was long and sharp BARLEY- Andcut him down at knee.' CORN Stanza x. Line i. ' They 've thrown him out upon the floor,' MS. Stanza xi. Line 3. ' But the miller used him worst of all,' MS. Stanza xii. Line i. ' And they have ta'en his very heart's blood,' MS. Stanza XIV. Lines. ' ^«(; heighten all his joy,' ms. A FRAGMENT : WHEN GUILFORD GOOD This was probably the 'political ballad' which Burns enclosed to Henry Erskine — on the advice of Glencaii-n — for his opinion as to whether he should or should not publish it. The work of some nameless Loyalistj the old song on which it is moulded is printed in David Laing's Varimis Pieces of Fugitive Scottish Poetry, First Series (1826)j which dates it 1689, under the title^ Killychrankie [the battle was fought in that year], 'To be Sung to its Own Tune ' : — ' Claverse and his Highland men Came down upon a Raw, then, "Who, being stout, gave many a Clout, The Lads began to claw then ' ; and so on for eight mortal octaves. The same volume sets forth an Answer to the same tune in as many more. An old (undated and unplaced) chap in a collection formed by Motherwell consists of — (1) An Excellent New Song In- tituled The Proceedings of the Rebels in the year (sic) Forty- five, Six, with the Total Overthrow of the Rebel Army by His Royal Highness and his brave Army at Culloden, near Inverness: 'To its Own Proper Tune'; and{2) The Answer. The metrical scheme of the Excellent New Song, which is in thirteen stanzas, is precisely that of Killicrankie. The Answer (in praise of Cumberland) runs a pace of its 412 NOTES WHEN own. Yet another set, but weighted with a chorus, is GUILFORD The Marquis of Buntley's Retreat from the Battle of GOOD Sheriffmuir : — ' From Bogle side to Bogie Gright, The Oordona all convened, man, With all their might, to battle weight l^aic). Together cloaa they joined, man ' : — reprinted, in Motherwell's New Boole of Old Ballads (Edinburgh, 1844), 'from the original broadside, sup- posed to be unique, belonging to Mr. David Haig of the Advocates' Library.' See The Battle ofSherramuir, Vol. iii. For the privilege of inspecting a holograph copy we are indebted to Mr. Davey, Great Russell Street, Blooms- bury, London. It coincides with the printed version, ex- cept that the last stanza is wanting, and that in Stanza v. occurs the following deleted reading of lines 3 and 4 : — ' And bauld G ne whom Minden's plain To fame will ever blaw, man ' ; the present reading being inserted in the margin. The ballad was printed both in Johnson's Museum, ii. 102 (1788), and in Thomson's Scottish Airs, iii. 125. MY NANIE, O Perhaps suggested by a poor thing of Ramsay's : — ' While some for pleasure pawn their health 'Twixt Lais and the bagnio, I '11 save myself, and without stealth Kiss and caress my Nanny, O.' In Hogg and Motherwell's Edition another version — oral : communicated by Peter Buchan, is printed ; it begins, 'As I gaed down thro' Embro' town. ' In the First Common Place Book — ms. (A) — where it appears under date of April 1784, it is headed Song {Tune, ' As I came in by London 0'). It is thus prefaced: — 'As I have been all along a miserable dupe to Love, and have been led into a thousand NOTES 413 weaknesses and follies by it, for that reason I put the my more confidence in my critical skUl in distinguishing nan IE, o foppery and conceit from real passion and nature. Whether the following song will stand the test, I will not pretend to say, because it is my own ; only I can say it was, at the time, real.' According to Gilbert Burns, the heroine was Agnes Fleming. She was daughter of John Fleming, farmer at Doura, in the parish of Tarbolton. On the other hand, Mrs. Begg asserts that it was written in honour of Peggy Thomson of Kirkoswald (see ante, p. 387, Prefatory Note to Composed in August), while Hamilton Paul champions the charms of a Kilmarnock girl. It was published in Johnson's Museum, vi. 600 (1803), and Thomson's Scottish Airs, i. 4. A second set has been attributed to Burns. See Vol. iv. A MS. — MS. (B) — in the possession of Mr. Adam ^V'ood, Troon, and probably belonging to the Stair manuscript, contains the two songs My Nanie, and Once I Lov'd a Bonie Lass, with' the preface : — ' The following songs were all done at a very early period of my life and consequently are incorrect.' In a postscript — dated Saturday morning — to his letter to Thomson of 26th October 1792, Burns wrote : — ' I find that I have still an hour to spare this morning before my con- veyance goes away: I shall give you "Nannie O" at length.' Notwithstanding Scott Douglas's assertion to the contrary, this copy — MS. (C) — is in the volume of Thomson's Correspondence in Brechin Castle. Stanza I. Line i. 'Behind yon hills where 5'/zkcA«?- flows,' MSS. (A and B), and all the Author's Editions ; 'where rimdets flow,' Johnson's Museum. Writing to Thomson, 20th October 1792, Burns says : — ' In the printed copy of My Nanie, 0, the name of the river is horribly prosaic. I will alter it : — • Behind yon hiUs where | gjj^^" ^°^=-' ' Girvan ' is the river that suits the idea of the stanza best : but 414 NOTES MY 'Lugar' is the most agreeable modulation of syllables. In NANIE, o MS. (C) Bums gave Thomson the choice of four streams : — rAfton 1 ' Behind yon hills where ■! Q^^f ^n \^°^^>' (.Stinziar J and Thomson drew his pen through the uppermost and the two lowermost names. Burns retained ' Stinchar' in the the '93 and the '94 Editions : — a fact which seems to make for the Kirkoswald theory. 2. ' Are moors an' mosses mony, O,' Johnson's Af«j««OT. 3. 'The weary sun the day has closed,' MS. (A) ; ' The sun the wintry day has clos'd,' MS. (B) and Jphnson's Museum. At the end of Stanza i. the following chorus — a mere variation of Ramsay's, which was probably borrowed from an older song — occurs in Ms. (A) : — ' And O my bonnie Nanie, O, My young, my handsome Nanie, O, Tho' I had the world all at my will, I would give it all for Nanie, O.' Stanza ii. Line i. ' Tho^ westlin wind blaws loud and shin,' Thomson, but MS. (C) shows the alteration in Thom- son's own hand. 2. ' The night 's baith dark and rainy O,' Mss. (A and B) ; 'And its baith mirk,' etc., Thomson's un- authorised alteration in MS. (C). 4. ' And o'er the hill to Nanie O,' MS. (A). Stanza iv. Line 3. ' The op'ning gowan wet wi' dew,' MSS. (A and B). Stanza vi. Line 4. ' My thoughts are a' aioat Nanie, O,' MS. (A). Stanza vii. Line r. ' Ourguidman delights to view,' mss. (A and B) and Johnson's Museum. 2. ' His sheep and his ky thrive bonny, O,' MS. (A). 4. 'And haes nae care but Nanie, O,' MS. (A). Stanza ix. After this stanza the chorus is repeated in MS. (A), ' to ' being substituted for 'for ' in Line 4. GREEN GROW THE RASHES, O This little masterpiece of wit and gaiety and movement was suggested either by the fragmentj Oreen Grow the NOTES 415 Bashes, in Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, or green by the blackguard old song itself. Herd gives only ghow three stanzas, of which the first is : — the ,- it 1, /^ RASHES Greeu grows the rashes — O Green grows the rashes — The feather-bed is no sae saft As a bed amang the rashes.' But the song (or what is left of it) is given in the unique and interesting garland called The Merry Muses of Cale- donia (c. 1800)j probably — almost certainly — collected by Burns for his private use, together with a second and still grosser set attributed, rightly or wrongly, to Burns him- self. Another set in The Factor's Garland, etc., an old Falkirk chap (undated), also in the Motherwell Collection, ' My Jooky Myth, for what thou 'st done There 's nae help for mending ; For thou hast jog 'd me out of tune, For a' thy fair pretending. My mither sees a change on me. For my complexion dashes, And this, alas ! has been (sic) with thee Sae late amang the rashes.' A song, Cow Thou me the Baschis Greene, mentioned in the Complaint of Scotland, may have been a Scots set of Colle to me the Byshes Greene, printed from a lis. of the time of Henry vi. in Ritson's Ancient Songs (1790). The original allusion was to the old-world material for a couch. Entered by Burns in the First Common Place Book, under date August 1786, the piece is preceded by a dis- sertation on young men, who are divided into ' two grand classes — the grave and the merry,' and by the remark : — ' It will enable any body to determine which of the classes I belong to.' It was published in Johnson's Museum, i. 77. Thomson proposed to set it to Cauld Kail in Aberdeen ; but Burns declared that it would ' never suit ' that air. Chorus. Line 3. ' The sweetest hours that e'er I spent,' 4,16 NOTES GREEN 1793 ^^^ '794) t>ut as it is ungrammatical in view of the ' me ' GROW of Line 4, it is probably a printer's error, the more especially THE that ^ spend'' is the reading in the MS., in 1787 (l), and 1787 (2), RASHES and in Johnson's Museum. Stanza iv. Line i. ' For you that 's douce an' sneers at this,' MS. 2. 'The wisest man the warl' saw,' 1787 (i), 1787 (2), 1793 and 1794. Stanza v. was probably written in Edinburgh, as it does not appear in the First Common Place Book. AGAIN REJOICING NATURE Burns explains that the chorus is ' part of a song com- posed by a gentleman in Edinburghj a particular friend of the author's ' ; and that 'Menie ' is the ' common abbre- viation of Marianne.' In all likelihood the song was composed after the rupture with Jean Armour, and the chorus added in Edinburgh by Burns himself. THE GLOOMY NIGHT IS GATHERING FAST In an interleaved copy of Johnson's Museum Burns in- scribed the following note : — 'I composed this song as I conveyed my chest so far on the road to Greenock, where I was to embark in a few days for Jamaica. I meant it as my farewell dirge to my native land.' In his Auto- biographic Letter to Dr. Moore, '\ had composed/ he says, ' a song. The Gloomy Night is Gathering Fast, which was to be the last effort of my muse in Caledonia, when a letter from Dr. Blacklock to a friend of mine overthrew all iny schemes.' Professor Walker, on R. B.'s authority, affirms that he composed it on the way home from Dr. Lawrie's;.but, as it was to Dr. Lawrie that Blacklock wrote, we must infer that Walker was so far mistaken, and that the verses were made on the way thither. Burns gives Roslin Castle as the tune to which this passionate lyric should be sung. His use of a refrain, NOTES 417 however, suggests that the true model was The Birks of gloomy Imermay. It was published in Johnson, iii. 293 (1790). night is A holograph, forming part of the dismembered Stair ms. qather- — MS. (A)— was before Hately Waddell, and it is also in- ing fast scribed in a copy of the '86 Edition— ms. (B)— in the posses- sion of Lord Bl5rthswood, who permitted us to inspect it. Stanza ii. Lines S-6 in ms. (A) read thus : — ' The whistling wind ajjrightens me, I think upon the raging sea.' MS. (B) has the same reading, with ' storm ' for ' wittd.' Stanza hi. Line 7. ' T^ose bleed afresh, these ties I tear,' MBS. (A and B). Stanza iv. Line 6. ' My love with these, my peace with those,' MSS. (A and B). NO CHURCHMAN AM I This poor performance, written probably in 1781 or 1782 for the Tarbolton Bachelors' Club, in imitation of a popular type of English drinking song, appears to have been suggested and inspired by a far better piece. The Women all Tell Me I'm False to My Lass (c. 1740 : still to be heard as Wine, Mighty Wine), the air of which may well have been in Burns's ear when he directed his own words to be sung to the tune of Prepare, my Dear Brethren. It is quoted, according to Mr. Baring Gould {English Minstrelsie, 1895, i. xxiii.), in The Bullfinch (1746), The Wreath (1763), and The Occasional Songster (1782); and we have found it, as Burns before us, in A Select Collection of English Songs (London, 1763) — an odd volume of which, containing this veiy lyric, with notes in his handwriting, is before us as we write — and in Calliope (Edinburgh, 1788). Here is a stanza which must certainly have been present when he was struggling with the halting lines and the second-rate buckishness of No Churchman Am I: — VOL. I. 2d 418 NOTES NO ' She too might have poisoned the joy of my life CHURCH- With nurses, and babies, and squalling, and strife ; MAN AM I ^'^* ™y vmss neither nurses nor babies can bring, AiiiS, a big-bdlied bottle 's a mighty good thing.' The ana^st with four accents has carried a bacchanalian connotation from the time of Shadwell's Psyche (1672) at least, and the present stave has been the vehicle of innumerable drinking songs, including the English A Tankard of Ale, and the Irish One Bottle More. Burns himself reverts to it in The Whistle (see post, p. 454). Stanza vi. Line i. ' " Life's cares they are comforts " — a maxim laid down ' :— ' Young's Mght Thoughts ' (R. B.). 3. 'And faith I agree with //5« old prig to a hair,' 1793- Stanza VII. Line 4. 'Have a big-bellied bottle when /mj^^ with care,' 1787 (l) and 1787 (2). ADDED IN 179S WRITTEN IN FRIARS CARSE HERMITAGE This is the second version of a piece originally inscribed on a window-pane of Friars Carse Hermitage in June 1788 (see vol. ii.); Friars Carse adjoined Ellisland, and the owner. Captain Robert Riddell of Glenriddell, had given Burns a key to the grounds and the little hermitage which he had built there. It would appear from an undated letter to WiUiam Dunbar (asking him to de- cide between the two sets), and from the fact that Burns distributed copies of both, that he was by no means convinced of the superiority of the second set. More- over, not merely do mss. of that set show a great many variations, but also — what is unusual with this poet — they indicate a real diversity of opinion. Our tale of variations includes those occurring in — (1) the Second Common Place Book — ms. (A) ,• (2) a ms. in the University Library, Edinburgh— ms. (B) ; (3) the (?/en- riddell Book at Liverpool — sis. (C) ; (4) the Afton Lodge NOTES 419 Book at Alloway — us. (D) ; (6) a ms. in the possession of friars Mr. Lennox, Dumfries— ms. (E) ; (6) another in the pos- carse session of Miss Gladstone of Fasque— ms. (F) ; (7) the ms. hermit- sent to William Dunhar — ms. (G) — for a copy of which age we are indebted to Mr. Davey, Great Russell Street, London ; (8) a dateless printed copy, published some time before the issue of the '93 Edition ; and (9) a copy in The Glasgow Weekly Miscellany for 31st November 1791, which was reprinted in other periodicals. After Line 6 the following two lines are inserted in MSS. (A, B, C, F and G) the printed copy and periodicals ; — ' Day, how rapid in its flight. Day, how few must see the night. ' 7. ' Hope not sunshine ew?7 hour,' 1793. 9. ' W/4«« youth and love with sprightly dance,' MSS. (D, E and G) and periodicals. 10. ' Beneath thy morning sun advance,' MSS. (F and G) and deleted in MS. (A). 14. 'Then raptured sip and sip it up,' 1793. 19. ' Check thy climbing steps plate,' MS. (A). 25. ' As thy shades of ev'ning close,' mss. (C and D), and 1793, with ^even- ing' for 'ev'ning'; ' When thy,' MS. (F), printed copy, and periodicals ; 'When the,' MS. (E). 31. 'And teach the sportive younker's brain,' MS. (A) ; 'younker-train,' MS. (C). In MS. (A) the reading adopted in the Author's Editions is deleted. 32. Experience' lore oft bought with pain,' MSS. (A and C). In MS. (A) the reading adopted in the Author's Editions is deleted. 33. 'Say the criterion of their fate,' deleted reading in MS. (A), but adopted in mss. (B and F), the iprinted copy, and the periodicals. 34. ' The important query of their fate,' MS. (A) ; ' state,' deleted in MS. (A), but adopted in MSS. (B and F), the printed copy, and the periodicals ; ' The grand criterion of their fate,' MS. (C). 37. ' Wert thou cottager or king,' MSS. (B and F), the printed copy, and the periodicals, but deleted in MS. (A). 38. ' Peer or Peasant — no such thing,' us. {& &-ai¥),l\ie printed copy, and the periodicals, but deleted in MS. (A). 39. ' Tell them— press it on the mind,' printed copy and the periodicals. 55. 'Quod the Beadsman on Nidside,' or 'on Nithside,' mss : — 'Quod,' the old Scots form of 'Quoth,' was usually attached by the ' Makaris ' to their pieces. 420 NOTES ODE SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. OSWALD In a letter to Dr. Moore, 23rd March 1789, enclosing this Ode, Burns explains its origin : — ' In January last, on my road to Ayrshire, I had put up at Bailie Whigham's in Sanquhar, the only tolerahle inn in the place. The frost was keen, and the grim evening and howling wind were ushering in a night of snow and drift. My horse and I were hoth much fatigued with the lahors of the day, and just as my friend the Bailie and I were bidding defiance to the storm, over a smoking bowl, in wheels the funeral pageantry of the late great Mrs. Oswald; and poor I am forced to brave all the horrors of a tempestuous night, and jade my hoi-se, my young favourite horse, whom I had just christened Pegasus, twelve miles further on, through the wildest moors and hills of Ayrshire, to New Cumnock, the next inn. The powers of poesy and prose sink under me, when I would describe what I felt. Suffice it to say, that when a good fire at New Cumnock had so far recovered my frozen sinews, I sat down and wrote the inclosed ode.' In a letter (unpublished) to Mrs. Dunlop, enclosing the copy of the Ode, ' Before I reached the other stage,' he writes, ' I had composed the following, and sent it off at the first post office for the Courant,' by which, if this be true, it was declined. On May 7th, 1789, the piece appeared in Stuart's Star with the following preface, here for the first time reprinted :-^ 'Mr. Printer, 'I know not who is the author of the following, poem, but I think it contains some equally weU-told and just compliments to the memory of a matron who, a few months ago, much against her private inclination, left this good world and twice five good thousands per annum behind her. ' We are told by very respectable authority that " the NOTES 421 righteous die and none regardeth " ; but as this was by no ode means the case in point with the departed beldam, for to the whose memory I have the honour to interest myself, it is memory not easy guessing why prose and verse have both said so of mrs. little on the death of the owner of ten thousand a year. Oswald ' I dislike partial respect of persons, and am hurt to see the public make such a fuss when a poor pennyless gipsey is consigned over to Jack Ketch, and yet scarce take any notice when a purse-proud Priestess of Mammon is by the memorable hand of death prisoned in everlasting fetters of iU-gotten gold, and delivered up to the arch- brother among the finishers of the law, emphatically called by your bard, the hangman of creation. 'Tim Nettle.' The same issue contained a letter signed with Burns's own initials, which has never been republished. It is of some interest as regards his newspaper work : — 'Mr. Printer, 'Your goodness oppresses me: — "Talbot's death was woe enough though it had ended there." ' Your polite exculpation of me in your paper was' enough. The paper itself is more than I can in decency accept of, as I can do little or nothing on my part to requite the obligation. For this reason 1 am to be at liberty to resign your favour at pleasure, without any im- putation of little pride or pettish humour. 'I have had my usual luck in receiving your paper. They have all come to hand except the two which I most wanted, the 17th and 18th, in which 1 understand my verses are. So it has been with me always. A damned star has almost all my life usurped my zenith, and squinted out the cursed rays of its malign influences. In the strong language of the old Hebrew Seer :— " And behold, what- soever he purposeth, it shall not come to pass; and whatsoever he doth, it shall not prosper." 'Any alterations you think necessary in my trifles, make them and welcome. In political principles, I pre- 422 NOTES ODE sume you and I shall be seldom out of the way; as I TO THE would lay down my life for that amiable, gallant, generous MEMORY fellow, our heir-apparent. Allow me to correct the OF MRS. address you give me. I am not R. B., Bsqr. No poet, OSWALD by statute of Parnassus, has a right as an author to as- sume Bsqr., except he has had the honour to dedicate "by permission " to a Prince, if not a King ; so I am as yet simply Mr. Robert Bums, at your service. 'The preceding are yours, "As you like it" The ode is a compliment I paid to that venerable votary of iron avarice and sordid pride^the late Mrs. O — d of Auch — n, N — A — shire. The epitaph is not mine. [It was Gavin TurnbuU's.] ' I must beg of you never to put my name to anything I send you except when I myself set it at the head or foot of the piece. I am charmed with your paper. I wish it was more in my power to contribute to it ; but over and above a comfortable ^tock of laziness of which, or rather by which, I am possessed, the regions of my fancy are dreadfully subject to baleful east winds, which at times for months together wither every bud and blossom, and turn the whole into an arid waste. From which evil Good Lord deliver us. Amen. R. B.' Mrs. Oswald was the widow of Richard Oswald, second son of Rev. George Oswald, of Dunnet, Caithness. He purchased Auchencruive in 1772. He died at an ' ad- vanced age,' 6th November 1784, and in the obituary notice in The Scots Magazine is described as ' an eminent merchant in London, and lately employed at Paris as a commissioner for negotiating a peace with the United States.' From Burns's epithet, ' Plunderer of Armies,' he would appear to have been also an army contractor. In his letter to Dr. Moore, Bums states that he knew that Mrs. Oswald was detested by her tenants and servants ' with the most heartfelt cordiality.' She died 6th December 1788, at her house in Great George Street, Westminster, and when Burns was driven from his inn by her 'funeral NOTES 423 pageantry ' the body was on its way to Ayrshire. Bums himself was proceeding in the same direction (as we learn from a letter to Mrs. Dunlop ot 18th December) to the Ayr Fair, held about the 12th January. There are manuscripts of the ode at Lochryan^MS. (A) ; Edinbui-gh University— ms. (B) ; Liverpool— MS. (C); and Dalmeny— MS. (D) ; and the copy as sent to The Star corresponds, except as regards small points in spelling, with the text of Editions '93 and '94. Strophe. After Line 7 these lines occur in mss. (A and B):- ' The great despised her and her wealth, The poor man breathed a curse by stealth.' Antistrophe. Line i. ' Plunderer of Armies ':^See Pre- fatory Note. 2. 'A while forbear, ye torfring fiends,' 1794. 4. ' No angel kicked from upper skies,' mss. (A, B and C) ; ' hurled,' 1793. 6. ' Doomed to share thy fiery fate,' 1793. Epode. Line 2. ' Ten thousand glitfring pounds a year,' 1794- S- 'O bitter mockery of the pompous bier,' 1794. 7. ' The cave-lodged beggar with a conscience clear,' 1793. ODE TO THE MEMORY OF MPS. OSWALD ELEGY ON CAPTAIN MATTHEW HENDERSON Matthew Henderson was the son of David Henderson, of Tannockside, and Elizabeth Brown ; bom 24th Feb- ruary 1737 ; succeeded in early youth to the estates on his father's death ; became lieutenant in the Earl of Home's regiment ; left the army to hold a government appointment in Edinburgh ; was a member of the Poker and other convivial clubs, and a friend of Boswell, who has preserved one or two samples of his wit; died 21st November 1788 ; and was buried in Greyfiriars' Churchyard. On 23rd July 1790 Burns sent ' a first fair copy ' (in the possession of Mr. A. C. Lamb, Dundee), to Robert Cleghorn, Saughton, to whom he stated that Henderson 4,24 NOTES ELEGY ON was a man he ' much regarded.' On 2nd August he sent CAPTAIN a copy to John M'Murdo of Drumlanrig : — ' You knew HENDER- Henderson^' he said; 'I have not flattered his memory.' SON And in enclosing a copy to Dr. Moore (27th February 1791) he described the Elegy as ' a tribute to the memory of a man I loved much.' On the 'authority of Allan Cunningham,' and the ' poet's manuscripts of the finished piece ' [which appa- rently he had not seen], Scott Douglas, ignoring the arrangement in Editions '93 and '94, transferred the motto to what he describes as ' its original place at the end of the Epitaph which seemed to close abruptly wanting it ' ; and inserted instead a legend from Shakespeare : ' Should the poor be flatter'd ? ' This legend occurs in some early Mss.; but in the Second Common Place Book, the motto finally adopted is found, in process of composition, at the beginning of the Elegy, as afterwards in the text of the Author's Editions. The Elegy first appeared anony- mously in The Edinburgh Magazine for August 1790. Scott Douglas aflSrmed that the early draft [he referred to the copy in the possession of Mr. A. C. Lamb, Dundee, but erroneously stated its owner to be Mr. Paterson, Dundee] wanted the two closing verses and the Epitaph. This is a mistake ; but Stanzas v., vi. and xv. appear at the end as .'verses forgot.' Nor does this copy contain any important variations not found in the following mss : — the Second Common Place Book, the Afton Lodge Book, and a copy sent to Mrs. Dunlop, now at Lochryau. Stanza n. Lines 3-6 in the mss. and T/ie Edinbitrgh Magazine read thus :— ' Thee, Matthew, woods and wilds shall mourn Wi' a' their birth [one MS. has ' breath '] For whunstane man to grieve wad scorn For poor plain worth.' Stanza iv. Lines 4-6 in the mss. and The Edinburgh \zine read thus : — NOTES 425 ' At toddlin leisure, ELEGY ON Or o'er the linns, wi' hasty stens, CAPTAIN Flinging your treasure: HENDER- Stanza VII. Lines 3-5 in the mss. and The Edinburgh son Magazine read thus : — ' Ye curlews skirlin thro' a clud, Ye ■whistlin f liver. And mourn, ye iirrin paitrick brood.' Stanza viii. Line 3. ' Ye dmk and drake, wi' airy wheels,' MSS. and The Edinburgh Magazine. 4. 'Howte for his sake,' MSS. and The Edinburgh Magazine. Stanza ix. and x. are transposed in Mr. Lamb's and the Lochryan mss., and in The Edinburgh Magazine. Stanza x. Line 2. ' In some auld tree, or aulder tower,' MSS. and The Edinburgh Magazine. Stanza XI. Line 2. 'Oft have you heard my ?7 to the last hour of the noble creature's lift, an awful warning to the Carriek farmers not to stay too late in Ayr markets. 'The last relation I shall give, though equally true, is not so well idtentified as the two former with regard to the scene ; but as the be^ authorises give it 'fijr AiUoway, I shall relate it. On a summer's evening, about the time ■ nature puts on her tables to mouTn the escpiry of the cheerful day, a shepheird boy, Mldnging to a farmer in the immediate neighbourhood o!f Mloway >Kiistage at which the cavalcade ^tiept was a merchant's wine-cellar in Bofdeanix, where> %ith©ut saying' by. your liteve, they quaffed away at the best thB' cellar could afford until the morning, foe 'to the im^ ind works of darkness, threat- ened to throw light on the matter, and fftightened them NOTES 437 from their carousals. The poor shepherd lad, being tam o' equally a stranger to the scene and the liquor, heedlessly shanter got himself drunk ; and when the rest took horse he fell asleep, and was found so next day by some of the people belonging to the merchant. Somebody that understood Scotch^ asking him what he was, he said such a one's herd in Alloway ; and by some means or other getting home again, he lived long to tell the world the wondrous tale.' For the rhythmus of Tam o' Shanter, see ante. Prefatory Note to The Twa Dogs (p. 319). The motto is the eigh- teenth verse of Gavin Douglas's 'sixth 'Prolong' (JEneados), and should read thus :.-^' Of browneis and of bogilljs full this buke.' Probably Burns drew the suggestion of his hero, Tam o' Shanter, from the character and adventures of Douglas Graham— born 6th January 1739, died 23th June 1811-^ son of Robert Graham, farmer at Douglastown, tenant of the farm of Shanter on the Carrick Shore, and owner of a boat which he had named Tam o Shanter. Graham was noted for his convivial habits, which his wife's ratings tended rather to confirm than to eradi- cate. Tradition relaies that once, when his long-tailed grey mare had waited even longer than usual for her master at the tavern door, certain humourists plucked her tail to such an extent as to leave it little better than a stump, and that Graham, on his attention being called to its state next morning, swore that it had been been depilated by the witches at Alloway Kirk {MS. Notes by D. Auld of Ayr in Edinburgh University Library). The prototype— if prototype there were — of Souter Johnie is more doubtful ; but a shoemaker named John Davidson— born 1728, died 30th June 1806— did live for some time at Glenfoot of Ardlochan, near the farm of Shanter, whence he removed to Kirkoswald. In Alloway Kirk and its surroundings, apart from its uncanny associations, Burns cherished a special interest 'When my father,' says Gilbert, 'feued his little pro- 438 NOTES TAM o' perty near Alloway Kirk the wall of- the churchyard had SHANTER gone to ruiny and cattle had free liberty of pasturing in it. My father and two or three other neighbours joined in an application to the Town Council of Ayr^ who were superiors of the adjoining land, for liberty to rebuild it, and raised by subscription a sum for enclosing this ancient cemetery with a wall ; hence he came to consider it as his burial-pljicei and we learned the reverence for it people generally have for the burial-place of their ancestors.' When, therefore. Burns met Captain Grose — then on his peregrinations through Scotland — at the house of Captain Riddell, he suggested a drawing of the ruin ; and ' the captain,' Gilbert says, ' agreed to the request, provided the poet would furnish a witch story to be printed along with it. ' It is probable that Burns origin- ally sent the stories told above for insertion in the work, and that the narrative in rhyme was an afterthought. Lockhart, on Cromek's authority, accepts a statement, said to have been made by Mrs. Burns, that the piece was the work of a single day, and on this very slender evidence divers critics have indulged in a vast amount of admiration. Burns's general dictum must, however, be borne in mind: — 'All my poetry is the effect of easy composition, but of laborious correction ' ; together with his special verdict on Tarn o Sharder (letter to Mrs. Dunlop, April 1791) that it ' showed a finishing polish,' which he despaired of ' ever excelling. ' It appeared in Grose's Antiquities — published in April 1791 — the cap- tain's indebtedness being thus acknowledged : — ' To my ingenious friend, Mr. Robert Burns, I have been seriously obligated : he was not only at the pains of making out what was most worthy of notice in Ayrshire, the county honoured by his birth, but he also wrote, expressly for this work, \h6 pretty tale annexed to Alloway Church.' Ere Grose's work was before the public, the piece made its appearance in The Edinburgh Magazine for March 1791 ; and it was also published in The Edinburgh Herald of 18th NOTES 439 March 1791. The us. now in the Kilmarnock Museum — tam o' MS. (A) — of which a photolithograph was published in 1869, shanter is of special interest for some of its deleted readings. The copy at Lochryan — ms. (B) — was written in or before November 1790 (Letter to Mrs. Dunlop). Sometime be- fore publication Burns recited Tam o Shanter to Robert Ainslie, when he visited EUisland, and, after his depar- ture home, sent him a copy, which Ainslie gave to Sir Walter Scott, and which is now at Abbotsford — ms. (C). It is thus prefaced : — ' AUoway Kirk, the scene of the fol- lowing poem, is an old ruin in Ayrshire, hard by the road from Ayr to Maybole, on the banks of the river Doon, and very near the old bridge of that name. A drawing of this ruin, accompanied perhaps with Tam o Shanter, will make its appearance in Grose's Antiquities of Scotland. ' The piece is inscribed in the Afton Lodge Book at AUo- way — MS. (D) — and the Glenriddell Book at Liverpool — MS. (E). There is also a copy in the Observatory at Dum- fries : it is so framed as to show the front page alone. Line 8. ' The waters, mosses, slaps, and styles,' Mss. (B, D and E). 25. 'That every uaig was ca'd a shoe on,' 1793. 27. 'That at the L — (Ts even on Sunday,' periodicals. 28. 'Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean till Monday': — The Jean referred to is supposed to have been Jean Kennedy of Kirk- oswald, who with her sister kept a very respectable tavern, sometimes called the Ladies' House. 29. ' She prophesy'd that late or soon,' 1794. 30. 'Thou wad be found deep drowned in Doon,' mss. and periodicals. 37. ' But to our tale : ae market night,' 1794. 44. 'They had been fou for weeks tegither,' Giose. 47. 'The landlady ^'«i« «»cfl gracious,' MS. (B). 48. 'Vi\' favours, secret, sweet, and precious,' 1793 and 1794. 50. ' The landlord's laugh was ready chorus ' : — On MS. (C) Robert Ainslie has noted that when Burns recited to him the poem at EUisland he added these lines : — ' The crickets joined the chirping cry, The kittlin chased her tail for joy.' 52. ' Tam did na care the storm a whistle,' deleted reading in MS. (A). 54. ' E'en drown'd AjOTj^^amang the nappy,' 1794; 4.40 NOTES TAH 6' • amoHg^ Ms. (D) : — This line and the previous one are in Ms. sMaiJter (A) .written on ihe margin, beihg evidently Sn afterthbught. SS. 'As bees flee h'ame ladeh -SoV tfeasurfc,' deleted heading in MS. (A). S^-' '/S4 nrinute winged j'/j way wi' pleasure,' deleted readingin MS. (A). 62. ' Or like the snow falls in the river ':— The relative ' that ' or ' wiicA ' should be understood between ' snow' and ' fall.' Chambers gave this preposterous attempt at amendment : — ' Or like the snowfall in the river ' ; and Scott Douglas took upon him to affirm that Bums would have preferred ' snowflake ' before ' snowfall.' Plainly Burns preferred the line as it is. 71. 'And sic a night he took the road in,' Mss. ; ' Tarn,' deleted reading for 'he' in MS. (A). 73. 'The wind blew as twould blawn its last,' MS. (A). 74- ' The rattling shovi'rs rose on the blaSt, ' 1 794. 79. ' Weel mounted on his grey tneiire Meg, ' MSS. , Grose, and periodicals. 83. ' Whilbs hadding fast his guid blue bonnet,' periodicals. 84. 'Whiles crboning o'er an Auld Scots sonnet,' ms. (A). Sg. ' Whiles glowring round wi' prudent cares, ' 1793. 95. 'And near the tree aboon the well,' dfeleted reading in MS. (A). 113. ' She ventur'd forward to the light,' periodicals. 1 14. ' And wow ! Tam saw an unco sight,' MSS. and Grose. 116. ' Nae cotillon brent new frae France,' MSS. and Grose : — ' Brent new ' means quite new : new from the fire or forge. The term is no doubt agricultural. 125-8. ' Coffins stood round,' etc. : — Of these four matchless lines the first draft, as deleted in Ms. (A), was : — ■ The torches climb around the wa' Infimal fires, blue-bleeiing ti .' 136. ' Five strymitars,' cfc. :— After this line these two, deleted in MS. (A), Wete iliserted :-^ ' Seven gallows pins ; three han^an's •whittles ; 'A raw 0' weel seuTd Doctor's bottles,' 142. 'Which even to name,' etc.: — At this point, these four lines occur in all the MSS. and in Grose and the periodicals :— ' Three Lawyers' tongues, turned inside out, Wi' lies seamed like a beggar's clout; Three Priest^ hearts, rotten black as niuck, Lay stinking, vile, in every neuk ' : — but on Tytler's advice they were omitted from the Author's Editions. 153. ' Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flainen,' NOTES 441 MSS. and Grose. 154. ' Seventeen hunder linen ' :^Woven tam o' in a reed of 1700 divisions. 160. 'Rigwoodie hags would shanter spean a foal ' :— The rigwoodie is the rope or chain that crosses the saddle of a horse. Some editors translate the phrase as gallows-worthy. ' Rig ' is also a name for _ a strumpet, and the word read backwards might mean ' gallows- strumpet.' On the other hand, the simile refers to a mare, and it is probable that ' rigwoodie ' here means ancient or lean. 170. ' And held the country-side in fear,' alternative reading in MS. (A). 175. 'Ah little thought thy reverend grannie,' MSS., Grose and periodicals. 182. ' A souple^We she was and Strang,' 1793 and 1794. i88. ' Tam /w< his reason a' thegither, ' MSS., Grose and periodicals, with 'together' for 'thegither.' 19S. ' When plundering herds': — Boy-herds Who were in the habit of plundering the hives of Ijumble-bees. 199. ' When " haud the thief" resounds Aloud,' MSS. (B and C). 201. ' Wi' mony an eldritch shout and hollo,' MSS. (B, C, D, and E), and Grose : — It is probable that ' shout ' was suggested by Grose as a substitute for ' sAriech,' but MS. (A) has skriech, and the poet reverted to it in '93 and '94 ; ' holow, ' Grose and Editions '93 and '94; but the MSS. have either 'hollo' or ' holla,' even including MS. (A), where the ' w ' in hollow is deleted. 205. ' And win the key-stane n' the brig ' : — ' It is a well- known fact that witches, or any evil spirits, have no power to follow a poor wight any farther than the middle of the next running stream. It may be proper likewise to mention to the benighted traveller, that when he falls in with bogles, whatever danger may be in his going forward, there is much more hazard in turning back ' (R. B. in Editions '93 and '94). 207. ' Thy fairin ' — See !Note to Death and Dr. Hornbook, Stanza xxx. Line 6, p. 393. 214. ' But little kend [or kefit^ she Maggie's mettle,' MSS. 220. ' Each man,' and mother's son take heed,' M-ss. 225. 'Remember Tam o' Shanter's meare,' MSS., Grose, and periodicals. ON SEEING A WOtJNDED HARE On 21st April 1789 Bums enclosed a copy of this pro- duction — MS. (A) — ^in an unpublished letter to Mrs. Dunlop (Lochryan mss.) : — "^Two mornings agOj as I was 442 NOTES ON at a very early hour sowing in the fields, I heard a shot, SEEING A and presently a poor little hare limped hy^me apparently WOUNDED very much hurt. You will easily guess this set my HARE humanity in tears and my indignation in arms. The following was the result, which please read to the young ladies. I believe you may include the Major too, as what- ever I have said of shooting hares I have not spoken one irreverent word against coursing them. This is according to your just right the very first copy I wrote.' Enclos- ing a draft — Ms. (B) — to Alexander Cunningham, 4th May 1789 (in a letter only partly published in any collec- tion of the Correspondence), Burns, after a somewhat similar account of the incident, added : — ' You will guess my indignation at the inhuman fellow who could shoot a hare at this season, when all of them have young ones ; and it gave me no little gloomy satisfaction to see the poor injured creature escape him.' Another copy — MS. (C) — sent to Lady Don, is in the University Library, Edinburgh. It was also inscribed in the Second Common Place Book — ms. (D) — and the A/ton Lodge Book, now at Alloway — MS. (E). The title of the early mss. is On seeing a Fellow wound a Hare with a Shot. On 2nd June 1789 Dr. Gregory sent to Burns a some- what supercilious criticism, which induced him (however) to change one or two expressions for the better. Regard- ing the measure Dr. Gregory remarked that it was ' not a good one' ; that it did not ' flow well' ; and that the rhyme of the fourth line was ' almost lost by its distance from the first, and the two interposed close rhymes ' : hence, 'Dr. Gregory is a good man, but he crucifies me' (R. B.). Burns's use of his stanza is groping and tentative ; and the effect of his piece is one of mere frigidity. Stanza i. Line 4. 'Nor ever pleasure glad thy cruel heart,' all MSS. and 1793. Stanza ii. Line 3. 'No more the thickening brakes or verdant plains,' MSS. (A and B). 4. ' To thee or home, or food, or pastime yield,' mss. (A, B, C, and D) : — There is NOTES 443 no authority for the reading 'a home,' which has crept into on the text of modern editions, beyond an error in Currie (see seeing a Cunningham's letter, as printed there and elsewhere). wounded Stanza hi. in mss. (A, B, and C), reads as follows : — hare ' Seek, viangi d innocent, some wonted form. That wonted form, alas ! thy dying bed, The sheltering rushes whistling o'er thy head, The cold earth with thy blood-stained hasom warm.' Of the changes suggested by, or made in deference to, Gregory : — ' Mangled,^ which Burns left, he pronounced ' a coarse word '; and ' innocent,^ for which Burns substituted ' wretch,^ he damned as a ' nursery word,' admitting, however, that both 'might pass.' For ^blood-stained^ he suggested 'bleeding,' and Burns adopted 'bloody.' i. 'Seek, mangled wretch, some haunt of wonted rest,' MS. (E). Between Stanzas hi, and iv, another was introduced. It reads thus in the copy sent to Mrs. Dunlop : — ' Perhaps a mother's anguish adds its woe ; The playful pair crowd fondly by thy side ; Ah I little nurslings who will now provide That life a mother only can bestow ?' In the copy sent to Alexander Cunningham ' helpless ' was sub- stituted for ' little ' in Line 3 : — ' I am doubtful whether it would not have been an improvement to keep out the last stanza but one altogether' (R. B.). In MS. (D) he changed the three last verses of the stanza to this : — ' The playful pair espy thee o'er the plain. Ah ! helpless [ " hapless" deleted] nurslings who will now sustain Your little lives or shield you from the foe ' ; apparently in deference to Gregory's objection to ' Who will now provide,' etc., as 'not grammar' and 'not intelligible.' Still, his final judgment, though modem editors have not respected it, was that the stanza was superfluous : it being neither inscribed in the A/ton Lodge Book nor retained in his own Editions. Stanza iv. Line 4. ' And curse the ruffian's art and mourn thy hapless fate,' alternative reading in Ms. (D) : — There is no authority for a modern reading, 'arm,' which originally was a misprint. MS. (C) reads ' ruthless wretch ' for ' wretch's aim.' 444 NOTES ADDRESS TO THE SHADE OF THOMSON When, in 1791, the eccentric Earl of Buchan instituted an annual festival in commemoration of James Thomson, by crowning, with a wreath of bays, a bust of the poet surmounting the Ionic temple erected in his honour on the grounds in Dryburgh, he sent an invitation to Burns and suggested that he might compose an ode. Burns was harvesting, and niust needs decline ; tiut, in regard to the second half of the invitation, he (29th August 1791) wrote as follows : — 'Your lordship hints at an ode for the occa^ sion ; but who would write after Collins ? I read over his verses to the memory of Thomson and despaired. I attempted three or four stanzas, in the way of address to the shade of the Bard, on crowning his bust. I trouble your lordship with the enclosed copy of them, which, I am afraid, will be but too convincing a proof how unequal I am to the task you would obligingly assign me.' The piece is closely modelled upon Cofllins's ode. After Burns's death Lord Buchan set up in his memory a Parian urn beside the bust of Thomson. The Address appeared in The Edinburgh Advertiser of 13th September 1791, under the heading, Thomson's Birthday, and the following announcement : — ' If the weather proves favourable, the coronation of the bust of Thomson with a wreath of bays wiU be performed on Ednam Hill, c)n Thursday the 23d inst. ; if otherwise, in Horsington ballroom.' After the ceremony the Address was published with the Earl's speech in The Gentleman's and European Magazines for November 1791. The Address also appeared in The Glasgow Weekly Miscellany of 2nd November 1791 ; and, with Burns's letter, was published in the Earl of Buchan's Essay on the Life of Thomson, 1792. There is a copy in the Watson mss., and an early draft in Mr. Alfred Morri- son's CoUection. The latter gives an alternative reading of Stanza iii. : — NOTES 445 ' While Autumn on TioeeA's frmttful side address With goherjpace and hoary bead TO THE Surveys in self -approving j>r«ic shade OF Each creature on his bounty fed.' THOMSON Currie states that ' ia the first as. ' the tfisst thivee Stanzas read thus : — ' While eolS,"syeS, Spring, a virgin my. Unfolds her verdwnt mantle sweet. Or pranks the sod in iio]ie.joy, A oarpetfor her yputhfulfeet.; ' While Siunmer with a matron's grace, Waiks stately in the cooling shade, And, oft delighted, loves to trace The progress of the Spliky blade ; ' While Autumn, benefactor kind, With Age's hoary honours clad, Swrveys ■with BBlI*pproving mind Each creature on his booutjifed.' Stanza v. Line 2. 'Shall bloom that wreath thou well hast won,' 1793. ON THE LATE CAPTAIN GROSE'S PEREGRINA- TIONS THRO' SCOTLAND The son of Francis Grose, a SnrisSj who had settled as a jeweller at Richmond, Surrey, Francis Grose was born at Gr«enford, Middlesex about 1731 j was educated as an artist, and exhibited at tibe Royal Academy ; in 17&5 became Riclmiond Herald ; was made Adjutant in the Hampshire, and J^terly Captain and Adjutant in the Surrey militias ; published Antiquities of England and Wales, 1773-1787 ; made the acquaintance of Burns during his antiquaarian tour in Scotland 'in 1789 (see ante, p. 437, Prefetory Note to Tam 0' ■Shanter) ; pub- lished Antiquities of-Scotlaind, 17B9-41791 ; was author of many treatises in different branches of aaitiquarian lore, as well as various miscellaneous works — among them 446 NOTES ON THE an excellent Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) ; and LATE died (of apoplexy) 12th May 1791. His remarkable cor- CAPTAIN pulence is suggested in the Epigram on Captain Francis GROSE Grose (see vol. ii.); and his wanderings are further de- noted in the lively verses beginning ' Ken you aught o' Captain Grose?' (Vol. ii.). He had his own share of humour, and was an 'inimitable boon companion.' The piece on his Peregrinations was first published in The Edinburgh Evening Courant of 27th August 1789, under the signature 'Thomas A. Linn.' It was copied thence into The Kelso Chronicle of 4th September; and it also appeared in The Glasgow Weekly Miscellany, 3rd May 1790, The Edinburgh Magaeine for October 1791, and The Scots Magazine for November 1791. It was pub- lished in a Glasgow chap-book (undated) as an 'Address to the People of Scotland rejecting Francis Grose, Esq., The British Antiquarian, by Robert Burns the Ayrshire poet, to which are added Verses on seeing the ruin of an ancient Abley'; and again (in 1796) by Stewart and Meikle, Glasgow, in the same tract as An Unco' Mournful Tale [The Twa Herds'], under the title of The Antiquarian. It is inscribed in the Glenriddell Book- — ms. (A) ; and another ms. — ms. (B) — is in the possession of Mr. Fraser- Tytler of Aldourie Castle. Stanza hi. Line i. 'By some auldhowlet -haunted biggin': — • yide his Antiquities of Scotland' (R. B.). Stanza vi. Line 2. ' Rusty aim caps and jinglin jackets '•■ — ' Vidt his treatise on ancient armour and weapons' (R. B.), 5. ' And '/«VfA«r-pats, and w\& san-backets,' magazines. 6. ' Afore the flood,' Courant and Weekly Miscellany. ; Stanza vii. Line 5. ' A broomstick ^the witch of Endor,' MJ. (A). , Stanza viii. Lines 1-2. in the Courant, The Weekly Mis- cellany, and The Scots Magazine, j^szA, thus : — ' Besides Tas '11 cut you aff fu' gleg The shape of Adam's. pbilabeg.' 3. ' The knife that cuttet Abel'scraig,' Courant, Weekly Mis- NOTES 447 cellany, zxiA Scots Magazine. 5. '^Vroaj a faulding jocteleg,' on THE MS. (B). 6, ' Or lang-kail guUie ' : — A large knife used for late cutting the stalks of the colewort. captain Stanza x. Line i. ' Now, by the Powers of verse and grose prose,' MS. (A). TO MISS CRUICKSHANK Miss Jane Cbuickshank, to whom those lines were addressed, was the daughter of the poet's friend, Mr. William Cruickshank, of the High School, Edinburgh, and was then about twelve or thirteen years old. In June 1804 she married James Henderson, writer, of Jedburgh. She also inspired A Rosebud by my Early Walk. The present piece appears to have been written under the inspiration of ' Namby-Pamby ' Phillips {d. 1749). There are mss. in the possession of Mr. G. Seton Veitch, of Paisley, Mr. Alfred Morrison, London, and Mr. Fraser-Tytler, Aldourie Castle. It is inscribed in the Glenriddell Book. Line 2. ' Blooming on the early day,' MSS. ANNA Scott Douglas, on plausible evidence, conjectured that this song referred to a sweetheart of Alexander Cunning- ham, and that it was a 'vicarious effusion.' His con- jecture can now be fully substantiated. In an unpub- lished part of a letter to Cunningham, 4th May 1789, Burns wrote: — 'The publisher of The Star has been polite. He may find his account for it, though I would scorn to put my name to a newspaper poem — one instance, indeed, excepted. I mean your two stanzas. Had the lady kept her character she should have kept my verses ; but as she has prostituted the' one [by marry- ing in January 1789], and no longer made anything of the other; so sent them to Stuart as a bribe in 448 NOTES my earnestness to he cleared from tjie foul aspersions respecting the D-^ — of G-^^' [Duchess of Gordon]. The piece appeared in Stuart's Star, 18th April 1789. ^urns also enclosed a copy to Mrs. Dunlop : — ' The following is a jeu d' esprit of t' other day on a despairing lover leading me to see his Dulcinea.' It is inscribed in the Glen- riddell Book, and an ms. is in the possessioai of Mr. Fraser- Tytler. It is found in Johnson's Museum, vi. 547 (1803), and in Thomson's Scottish Airs, v. 218 : in the latter with the substitution of 'Sweet Anne' for 'Anna,' Stanza i. Line 2. ' And press my soul with care,' Loch- ryan MS. ON READING IN A NEWSPAPER THE DEATH OF JOHN M'LEOD Burns made tiie acquaintance of Miss Isabella M'Leod during his first visit to Edinburgh. Her brother, John M'Leod of Rasay — the representative of the main Lewis branch of the clan — died 20th July 1787. In reference to other misfortunes of the family Burns wrote his Bulling Winds around her Blowing. In a ms. note, ' This poetic compliment,' he says, ' what few poetic compliments are, was from the heart.' There is a oopy access to which we have to thank Mr. Brown, Prinoes Stneet, .Edinburgh. Another MS. — (ms. F) — is :in the pessessiop of Mr. >Erasesr-Tytler, Aldourie Castle, InvernessiShire. lit OQviespoiidSi exactly with the printed version. Stanza jv. Lji^e I. '.Weet,mn oft ,tsars,the bosom chords,' NOTES 449 MSS. (A and C), and deleted reading in MS. (B) 4. ' And so ON THE her heart was wrung,' MSS. (B and D). death of After Stanza iv. the following stanza occurs in MS. (B) : — john ' Were it in the Poet's power, ** LEOD Strong as he shares the grief That pierces Isabella's heart, To give that heart relief." Stanza v. Line 3. ' Can point those tearful, griefworn eyes,' MS. (A) and deleted reading in MS. (D) ; griefworn brim- ful, MSS. (B, C, D, and E) : — There is seemingly no authority, written or printed, for the reading 'brimful, care-v/oin,' of Scott Douglas, and other editors. THE HUMBLE PETITION OP BRUAR WATER Burns spent two days with the family of the Duke of AthoU during his northern tour in August 1787 ; and in the Gknriddell Book, in which the Humble Petition is inscribed, he wrote : — ' God, who knows all things, knows how my heart aches with the throes of gratitude, when- ever I recollect my reception at the noble house of Athdl. ' In a letter to Professor Joslah Walker^ enclosing the poem, he stated that ' it was, at least the most part of it, the eifusion of a half hour ' at Bruar. But, he adds, ' I do not mean it was extempoi-e, for I have endeavoured to brush it up as well as Mr. NicoU's chat and the jogging of the chaise would allow.' It is inserted in the Gknriddell Book — MS. (B) — and in the book — ms. (A) — referred to in the introduction to the preceding piece. It was first printed [anonymously] in The Edinburgh Magazine for November 1789. Stanza i. Line 5. ' How saucy PAebus' scorching beams,' 1793. 8. ' And drink my crystal tide ' : — ' Bruar falls are the finest in the country, but not a bush about them, which spoils much their beauty ' (R. B. in MS. [A]) ; ' Bruar Falls in AthoU are exceedingly picturesque and beautiful ; but their effect is 2f 450 NOTES THE much impaired by the want of trees and shrubs ' (R. B. in HUMBLE Editions '93 and '94). PETITION Stanza ii. Line 3. ' If in their wanton random spouts, ' OF BRUAR Edinburgh Magazine ; ' I 'm scorching up sae shallow,' Ms. WATER (B) and Edinburgh Magazine. Stanza hi. Line 2. • When Poet Burns came by,' MS. (A); ' Poet B ,' Edinburgh Magazine. Stanza iv. Line i. ' Here foaming down the shelvy rocks,' MSS. (A and B). Stanza vi. Line 3. 'The Bardie, Music's youngest child,' MSS. (A and B) and Edinburgh Magazine. 8. ^With all her locks of yellow,' MS. (A). Stanza vii. Lines 3-4 in ms. (A) and Edinburgh Maga- zine read thus : — ' And coward maukins sleep secure, Low in their grassy forms. ' Stanza ix. Line I. 'jind haply here at vernal dawn,' Edin- burgh Magazine. ON SCARING SOME WATER-FOWL IN LOCH TURIT Thus presented in the Glenriddell Book — ms. (B) : — 'This was the production of a solitary forenoon's walk from Oughtertyre House. I lived there, the guest of Sir William Murray, for two or three weeks [October 1787], and was much flattered by my hospitable recep- tion. What a pity that the mere emotions of gratitude are so impotent in this world ! 'Tis lucky that, as we are told, they will be of some avail in the world to come.' A copy sent to Mrs. Dunlop is at Lochryan — ms. (A). Line 2. ' For me your wo/ry haunt forsake,' 1793. 12. 'Hide , the surging billows shock,' MS. (A). 13-14 in MS. (A) read thus : — ' Conscious blushing/^;- my kind. Soon, too soon, your fears I find.' 19. ' The eagle from his cliffy brow,' MSS. (A and B). 39. 'And that foe you cannot brave,' MSS. (A and B). NOTES 451 VERSES WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL AT TAYMOUTH Burns visited Taymouth on 29th August 1787. The piece is inscribed in the Gknriddell Book in the hand of an amanuensis, with the following note by Burns : — ' I wrote this with a pencil over the chimneypiece in the parlour of the inn at Kenmore, at the outlet of Loch Tay.' Above the signature, ' R. B., August 29th, 1787,' it appeared in The Courant of September 6th, 1787, almost as printed in Editions '93 and '94. Slightly differing versions appeared in The Edinburgh Magazine for Septem- ber 1788, and in The Bee for 28th March 1792, the latter as ' Verses Written on a Window in Breadalbane by Mr. Robert Burns, May 9th, 1790.' In Edition '94— or at least in some copies — ^the pages were transposed by the printer. Line 6. 'Till fam'd Breadalbine opens o» my view,' MS., Courant and Bee. 7. 'The meeting hills each deep sunk glen divides,' Edinburgh Magazine; 'A rifted hill,' Bee. 8. ' The woods, wild scattered, clothe their towering sides,' MS.: — 'Ample,' as in Editions '93 and '94, is the more accurate expression. 10. ' The eye with pleasure and amaze- ment fills,' Edinburgh Magazine and Bee. 14-18. In The Edinburgh Magazine and The Bee a transposition occurs in the case of these lines, and they read thus : — ' The striding arches o'er the new-born stream, The village glittering in the noontide beam, The lawns wood-fringed in Nature's native taste, Nor tvith a single Goth-conceit disgraced.' On the whole, the version in these periodicals is an improve- ment on that in the Author's Editions. WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL STANDING BY THE FALL OF FYERS Burns visited the Fall in Foyers on 6th September 1787. In a note in the Qlenriddell Book, where the poem is 452 NOTES WRITTEN inscribed by an amanuensiSj 'I compoBed these lines/ he BY THE wrote, 'standing on the brink of the hideous cauldron FALL OF below the waterfall.' Line io. ' The hoary cavern, wide surrounding towers^ ms. ON THE BIRTH OF A POSTHUMOUS CHILD In the Gknriddell Book — where the poem is inscribed — Burns explains that it is ' on the birth of Mons. Henri, posthumous child to a Mons. Henri, a gentleman of family and fortune from Switzerland ; who died in three days' illness, leaving his lady, a sister of Sir Thomas Wallace, in her sixth month of this her first child. The lady and her family were particular friends of the author [she was a daughter of Mrs. Dunlop]. The child was born in November '90.' On receiving the news of the birth Burns wrote to Mrs. Dunlop : — ' How could such a mercurial creature as a poet lumpishly keep his seat on receipt of the best news from his best friend ? I seized my gilt-headed Wangee rod — an instrument indispens- ably necessary — in my left hand, in the moment of inspiration and rapture ; and stride, stride — quick and quicker — out skipt I among the broomy banks of Nith to muse over my joy by retail. To keep within the bounds of prose was impossible ... I, almost extempore, poured out to him in the following verses. ' The stanzas appeared in The Scots Magazine for December 1793 : in all proba^ bility they were reprinted from the published volume. Stanza v. Line 2. ' Fair on the summer's morn,' ms. THE WHISTLE Thus prefaced by Burns : — 'As the authentic Prose history of the Whistle is curious, I shall here give it. — In the train of Anne of Denmark, when she came to Scotland with our NOTES 45S James the Sixth, there came over also a Danish gentleman the of gigantic stature and great prowess, and a matchless whistle champion of Bacchus. He had a little ehony Whistle, which, at the commencement of the orgies, he laid on the table ; and whoever was last able to blow it, everybody else being disabled by the potency of the bottle, was to carry off the Whistle, as a trophy of victory. — The Dane produced credentials of his victories, without a single defeat, at the courts of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Moscow, Warsaw, and several of the petty courts in Germany ; and challenged the Scots Bacchanalians to the alternative of trying his prowess, or else of acknowledging their inferiority. After many overthrows on the part of the Scots, the Dane was encountered by Sir Robert Lowrie of Maxwelton, ancestor to the present worthy baronet of that name ; who, after three days and three nights' hard contest, left the Scandinavian under the table, "And blew on the Whistle his requiem shrill. " ' Sir Walter, son to Sir Robert before mentioned, after- wards lost the Whistle to Walter Riddell of Glenriddell, who had married a sister of Sir Walter's. On Friday, the 16th October 1790, at Friars-Carse, the Whistle was once more contended for, as related in the Ballad, by the present Sir Robert Lowrie of Maxwelton ; Robert Riddell, Esq. of Glenriddell, lineal descendant and representative of Walter Riddell, who won the Whistle, and in whose family it had continued ; and Alexander Ferguson, Esq. of Craigdarroch, likewise descended of the great Sir Robert, which last gentleman carried off the hard-won honours of the field.' In this Prefatory Note Burns misdates the contest by a year, as is proved by (1) the date of a letter — 16th October 1789 — to Captain Riddell, in which he refers to the con- test of the evening ; and (2) by the memorandum of the 'Bett,' now in the possession of Sir Robert Jardine of Castlemilk, first published in Notes and Queries, Second Series, vol. x. (1860), p. 423 :— 454 NOTES DOQUET THE ' The original Bett between Sir Eobert Laurie and Craigdarroch, WHISTLE for the noted "Whistle, which is so much celebrated by Robert Burns' Poems — in which Bett I was named Judge — 1789. The Bett decided at Carse— 16th October 1789. Won by Craigdarroch— he drank upds. of 5 Bottles of Claret. MEMORANDUM FOR THE "WHISTLE The "Whistle gained by Sir Robert Laurie (now) in possession of Mr. Riddell of GlenriddeU, is to be ascertained to the heirs of the said Sir Robert now existing, being Sir R. L., Mr. R. of G., and Mr. F. of C— to be settled under the arbitration of Mr. Jn. M'Murdo: the business to be decided at Carse, the 16th of October 1789. (Signed) Alex. Fekgcbon. R. Laueie. ROBT. RlDDELI,. CowHiLL, Wth October 1789. John M'Murdo accepts as Judge. Geo. Johnston witness, to be present. Patrick Miller witness, to be pre. if possible. Minute of Bett between Sir Robert Laurie and Craigdarroch, 1789.' The question, whether or not Bums was present, has been hotly debated. The references in his letter on the day of the fight, as well as the terms of the ' Bett,' seem to show that, tradition notwithstanding, he was not. But there are no data for an absolute conclusion. For the stanza, see ante, p. 417, Prefatory Note to No Churchman Am I. MSS. are numerous. The first rough sketch, embracing the four opening stanzas only, is in the Watson Collection. The MS. in the Crichton Institution, Dumfries, is said to be the commemorative copy sent to Friars Carse. The beautiful copy sent to the winner of the contest ['a small but sincere mark of the highest respect and esteem from the Author '] is in the possession of the Earl of NOTES 455 Rosebery. For the inspection of a fine copy on Excise the paper, our aclcnowledgments are due to Mr. James whistle Richardson, of Messrs. Kerr and Richardson, Queen Street, Glasgow. It includes the presentation stanza : — ' But one sorry quill, and that wome to the core, No paper — but such as I show it ; But such as it is, wUl the good Laird of Tor Accept, and excuse the poor Poet.' There are also mss. in the Dumfries Observatory, the museum at Thornhill, and the British Museum ; and the' ballad is inscribed in the Glenriddell Book. It was pub- lished in The Edinburgh Magazine for November 1791, on the 5th of the month in The Edinburgh Evening CourarU, and on the 6th in The Edinburgh Herald ; but both these prints were anticipated by The London Star, which gave it on the 2nd — 'fresh from his fertile pen.' In the Courant and the Star it is stated that the contest took place, 'it appears, in the presence of Mr. Bums.' The Whistle was also printed, soon afterwards, in a chapbook, and before its publication in Edition '93 it appeared in Johnson's Mttseum, iv. 324 (1792), set to music by Captain Riddell, with the chorus : — Fal de lal lal ly. The text is chiefly taken from Editions '93 and '94, and the variations from it in the mss. and in other printed versions are given below. Stanza ii. Line i. 'Old Loda, still rueing the arm of Fingal ':— ' See Ossian's Caric-thura ' (R. B.) 3-4 in the first draft read thus : — ' This Whistle 's your challenge — blow till the last breath. And since we can!tjight them. Let 's drink them to death.' Stanza iv. Line 3. ' Had drank his poor godship as deep as the sea. ' Stanza vi. Line 3. ' And trusty Glenriddell, so versed in old coins ' : — See Prefatory Note to Impromptu to Captain Riddell, vol. ii. 456 NOTES THE Stanza viii. Line 3. ' I 'U conjure the ghost of the great WHISTLE Rorie More : '— ' See Johnson's Tour in the Hebrides' (R. B.). 4- ' And bumper his horn with him twenty times more. ' Stanza ix. Line i. ' Sir Robert, a soldier, no speech could pretend.' 4. ' And knee-deep in claret he'd die or he 'd yield,' 1793 and 1794. Stanza x. Line 2. ' So noted for drowning both sorrow and care.' Stanza xi. Line 3. ' A Bard who detested all sorrow and spleen. ' Stanza xii. Line 3. ' In the bands of old friendship and kindred well set.' Stanza xiii. Line i. ' Gay pleasure ran riot till bumpers ran o'er. ' 4. ' Till Cynthia hinted he '6. find them next morn. ' Stanza xiv. Line 3. ' Turned o'er at one bumper a bottle of red.' 4. 'And swore 'twas the way that their ancestors did.' Stanza xviii. Line l. 'Thy line, that has struggled for freedom with Bruce.' 3. ' So thine be the laurels, and mine be the bay.' END OF THE FIRST VOLUME INDEX OF TITLES PAGE A Bard's Epitaph . 189 Address : To a Haggis . 237 To Edinburgh . . 239 TotheDeil . . 47 To the Shade of Thomson . 288 To the Unco Guid . 217 A Dedication : To Gavin Hamilton^ Esq. 147 A Dream ..... 68 A Fragment : When Guilford Good 246 Aiken, Esq., Epitaph for Robert . . . 188 Anguish, Prayer under the Pressure of Violent . 233 Anna: Song .... 293 Another : Epigram . 186 A Prayer in the Prospect of Death . 135 August, Composed in : Song . . 181 Auld Mare Maggie, The Auld Farmer's New- Year Morning Salutation to his . . 100 Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer, The 26 Author's Father, Epitaph for the 188 A Winter Night . . 225 Ayr, The Brigs of 200 Bard, On a Scotch 144 458 INDEX OF TITLES Bard's Epitaph, A Barleycorn, John : Song . Birth of a Posthumous Child, On the Brigs of Ayr, The Brother Poet, Epistle to Davie, a Bruar Water, The Humble Petition of PAGE 189 243 303 200 117 295 Calf, The ...... 216 Captain Grose's Peregrinations, On the Late 289 Captain Matthew Henderson, Elegy on . 262 Child, On the Birth of a Posthumous . 303 Churchman Am I, No : Song . 256 Composed in August : Song 181 Composed in Spring : Song . . 253 ' Corn Rigs ' : Song, Tune . 180 Cotter's Saturday Night, The .106 Cruickshank, To Miss . . .292 Cry and Prayer, The Author's Earnest . . 26 Daisy, To a Mountain . 136 Davie, a Brother Poet, Epistle to . 117 Death j Prayer in the Prospect of. . 135 Death and Doctor Hornbook . . 191 Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie, The 63 Deathof JohnM'Leod, Esq., Onthe . 294 Death, Stanzas in Prospect of, . . . 229 Dedication to Gavin Hamilton, Esq., A . 147 DeU, Address to the . . .47 Despondency ..... 127 Doctor Hornbook, Death and . . 191 Dogs, The Twa ... .9 Dream, A . . . . 68 INDEX OF TITLES 459 PAGE Drink, Scotch 19 Earl of Glencairnj Lament for James 274 Edinburgh, Address to 239 Elder, Epitaph on a Celebrated Ruling 187 Elegy on Captain Matthew Henderson 262 Poor Mailie's 56 Tam Samson's 220 Eliza, From Thee : Song 183 Epigram: Another 186 On Said Occasion 186 Epistle : To a Young Friend 140 To Davie, A Brother Poet 117 To J. Lapraik . 155 To J. Lapraik (Second) 161 To James Smith 69 To John Rankine 176 To Robert Graham of Fintry, Esq. 271 To William Simpson of OchUtree 167 Epitaph: A Bard's 189 For Gavin Hamilton^ Esq. 188 For Robert Aiken, Esq. 138 For the Author's Father 188 On a Celebrated Ruling Elder 187 On a Henpecked Squire 186 On a Noisy Polemic 187 On Wee Johnie 187 Fair, The Holy . 36 Fall of Fyers, Lines on the 302 FareweU, The . 184 Farmer's New- Year Morning Salutation to his Auld Mare Maggie, The Auld 100 4,60 INDEX OF TITLES PAGE Father, Epitaph for the Author's . 187 Fintry, Esq., To Robert Graham of 271 Friars Carse Hermitage, Written in 258 Friend, Epistle to a Young 140 From Thee Eliza : Song . . 183 Fyers, Lines on the Fall of 302 Glencairn, Lament for James, Earl of . 274 Graham of Fintry, Esq., To Robert . 271 Green Grow the Rashes : Song . 251 Guid, Address to the Unco . . 217 Guilford Good, When : A Fragment 239 Haggis, Address to a . . . 237 Halloween .... 88 Hamilton, Esq., A Dedication to Gavin . 147 Epitaph for Gavin . 188 Hare, On seeing a Wounded . . 287 Henderson, Elegy on Captain Matthew . 262 Hermitage, Written in Friars Carse 258 Holy Fair, The . . . 36 Hornbook, Death and Doctor . 191 Humble Petition of Bruar Water, The . 295 John Barleycorn : Song . 243 Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn 274 of Mary Queen of Scots . 268 The ... . 123 Lapraik, J., Epistle to . 165 Second Epistle to 161 Lines to Sir John Whitefoord, Bart. . . 278 INDEX OF TITLES 46l PAGE Lines on the Fall of Fyers . . 302 Loch Turit, On Scaring some Waterfowl in 299 Logan, To Miss ..... 236 M'Leod, Esq., On the Death of John . 294 Maggie, The Auld Farmer to his Auld Mare 100 MaUie, The Death and Dying Words of Poor 53 Mailie's Elegy, Poor ... 66 Man was Made to Mourn . . . 130 Mary Queen of Scots, Lament of . 268 Mourn, Man was Made to . 130 Mountain Daisy, To a 136 Mouse, To a . . 115 My Nanie, O : Song . . . 249 Night, The Cotter's Saturday . . 106 Night is Gathering Fast^ The Gloomy : Song 265 Night, A Winter .... 226 Ninetieth Psalm Versified 234 No Churchman Am I : Song 266 Occasion, Epigram on said . . 186 Ode Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald 260 On a Scotch Bard .... 144 On Seeing a Wounded Hare . . .287 On the Birth of a Posthumous ChUd . 303 On the late Captain Grose's Peregrinations . 289 Ordination, The . . . 210 Oswald, Ode Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. 260 O Thou Dread Power : Prayer . 231 Poet, Epistle to Davie, a Brother . 117 462 INDEX OF TITLES PolemiCj Epitaph on a Noisy- PAGE 187 Poor Mailie's Elegy 56 Poor Mailie, The Death and Dying Words of 53 Prayer in the Prospect of Death, A 135 Prayer : O Thou Dread Power 231 Prayer, The Author's Earnest Cry and . 26 Prayer under the Pressure of Violent Anguish 233 Psalm, Paraphrase of the First 232 Psalm Versified, Ninetieth 234 Rankine, John, Epistle to 176 Rashes 0, Green Grow the : Song 251 Ruin, To ..... 139 Rtiling Elder, Epitaph on a Celebrated . 187 Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald, Ode 260 Samson's Elegy, Tam 220 Saturday Night, The Cotter's 106 Scotch Bard, On a 144 Scotch Drink .... 19 Scots, Lament of Mary Queen of 268 Second Epistle to J. Lapraik 161 Shanter, Tam o' . 278 Simpson of Ochiltree, To William 167 Smith, James, Epistle to . 69 Song : Anna Thy Charms 293 Composed in August 181 Composed in Spring 253 From Thee Eliza . 183 Green Grow the Rashes, 251 John Barleycorn . 243 My Nanie, O . . . 249 INDEX OF TITLES 4,63 Song : No Churchman Am I PAGE 256 The Gloomy Night is Gathering Fast 256 Tune, ' Corn Rigs ' 180 When Guilford Good : A Fragment 246 Squire, Epitaph on a Henpecked . 186 Stanzas in Prospect of Death 229 Tarn o' Shanter . 278 Tam Samson's Elegy 220 Taymouth, Verses Written with a Pencil at 301 The Auld Farmer to his Auld Mare Maggie 100 The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer 26 The Brigs of Ayr . 200 The Calf . 216 The Cotter's Saturday Night 106 The Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie 63 The Farewell .... 184 The Gloomy Night is Gathering Fast : Song 266 The Holy Fair .... 36 The Humble Petition of Bruar Water 295 The Lament .... 123 The Ordination .... 210 The Twa Dogs .... 9 The Vision .... 74 The Whistle .... 304 Thomson, Address to the Shade of 288 To a Louse .... 152 To a Mountain Daisy 136 To a Mouse .... 115 To Miss Cruickshank 292 To Miss Logan .... 236 To Robert Graham of Fintry, Esq. 271 464 INDEX OF TITLES PAGE To Ruin .... .139 Tunej 'Corn Rigs': gong 180 Twa Dogs, The . . .9 Unco Guid, Address to the . . 217 Verses Written with a Pencil at Taymouth 301 Vision, The ..... 74 Waterfowl in Loch Turit, On Scaripg some . 299 Wee Johnie, Epitaph on . . 187 When GuUford Good : A Fragment 246 Whistle, The ... 304 Whitefoord, Bart., Lines to Sir John 278 Winter .... 134 Winter Night, A . . . . .225 Words of Poor Mailie, The Death and Dying 53 Young Friend, Epistle to a 140 Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press ERRATA The Editors regret to note the following Errata : — Page 41, line 3 — delete comma after ' fece ' in text. 94 ,, Tz—for ' meerly ' read ' merely ' in margin. 195 .. 3 — delete ' [Notes]' in margin. 212 „ 14 — delete ' broth ' in margin. 225 ,, 13-^j^ 'cut* read 'hard' in margin. 225 ,, •2-^— /or * omite' read ' vomited * in margin. 464 INDEX OF TITLES PAGE To Ruin ... 139 Tune, 'Corn Rigs': Song 180 Twa Dogs, The . . .9 Unco Guidj Address to the 217 Verses Written with a Pencil at Taymouth 301 Vifiinn. Thp ''I Printed by T. and A. Constable, Primers to Her Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press CBNTENABY EDITION ROBERT BURNS POETRY HENLEY AND HENDBKSON VOL. I XILMABNOCK POEMS 1786 EDINBUBGH 1787 : 1793