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Title: The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence

With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham

Author: Robert Burns and Allan Cunningham

Release Date: June 4, 2006 [EBook #18500]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF ROBERT BURNS ***

•

Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sankar Viswanathan,

and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

http://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of

public domain works from the University of Michigan Digital Libraries.)

NOTICES, CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL,

BY ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

ELEGANTLY ILLUSTRATED.

BOSTON:

PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY.

NEW YORK: J.C DERBY.

1855

TO

ARCHIBALD HASTIE, ESQ.,

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR PAISLEY

THIS

EDITION

OF

THE WORKS AND MEMOIRS OF A GREAT POET,

IN WHOSE SENTIMENTS OF FREEDOM HE SHARES,

AND WHOSE PICTURES OF SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE HE LOVES,

IS RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED

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 honoursand inherit the virtues of their ancestors? The poetic genius of my country found me, as the prophetic bardElijah 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 native soil, in my nativetongue; I tuned my wild, artless notes as she inspired She whispered me to come to this ancient metropolis ofCaledonia, and lay my songs under your honoured protection: I now obey her dictates

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 honestrusticity is ashamed of it Nor do I present this address with the venal soul of a servile author, looking for acontinuation of those favours: I was bred to the plough, and am independent I come to claim the commonScottish name with you, my illustrious countrymen; and to tell the world that I glory in the title I come tocongratulate my country that the blood of her ancient heroes still runs

uncontaminated, 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 forefathers, mayPleasure ever be of your party: and may social joy await your return! When harassed in courts or camps withthe 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! Maycorruption shrink at your kindling indignant glance; and may tyranny in the ruler, and licentiousness in thepeople, equally find you an inexorable foe!

I have the honour to be,

With the sincerest gratitude and highest respect,

My Lords and Gentlemen,

Your most devoted humble servant,

on the authorship of the stanzas on "Pastoral Poetry," I can as little share in the feelings with which they haveintruded into the charmed circle of his poetry such compositions as "Lines on the Ruins of Lincluden

College," "Verses on the Destruction of the Woods of Drumlanrig," "Verses written on a Marble Slab in theWoods of Aberfeldy," and those entitled "The Tree of Liberty." These productions, with the exception of thelast, were never seen by any one even in the handwriting of Burns, and are one and all wanting in that originalvigour of language and manliness of sentiment which distinguish his poetry With respect to "The Tree ofLiberty" in particular, a subject dear to the heart of the Bard, can any one conversant with his genius imaginethat he welcomed its growth or celebrated its fruit with such "capon craws" as these?

"Upo' this tree there grows sic fruit,

Its virtues a' can tell, man;

It raises man aboon the brute,

It mak's him ken himsel', man

Gif ance the peasant taste a bit,

He's greater than a lord, man,

An' wi' a beggar shares a mite

O' a' he can afford, man."

There are eleven stanzas, of which the best, compared with the "A man's a man for a' that" of Burns, soundslike a cracked pipkin against the "heroic clang" of a Damascus blade That it is extant in the handwriting ofthe poet cannot be taken as a proof that it is his own composition, against the internal testimony of utter want

of all the marks by which we know him the Burns-stamp, so to speak, which is visible on all that ever camefrom his pen Misled by his handwriting, I inserted in my former edition of his works an epitaph, beginning

"Here lies a rose, a budding rose,"

the composition of Shenstone, and which is to be found in the church-yard of Hales-Owen: as it is not

included in every edition of that poet's acknowledged works, Burns, who was an admirer of his genius, had, itseems, copied it with his own hand, and hence my error If I hesitated about the exclusion of "The Tree ofLiberty," and its three false brethren, I could have no scruples regarding the fine song of "Evan Banks,"claimed and justly for Miss Williams by Sir Walter Scott, or the humorous song called "Shelah O'Neal,"composed by the late Sir Alexander Boswell When I have stated that I have arranged the Poems, the Songs,and the Letters of Burns, as nearly as possible in the order in which they were written; that I have omitted nopiece of either verse or prose which bore the impress of his hand, nor included any by which his high

reputation would likely be impaired, I have said all that seems necessary to be said, save that the followingletter came too late for insertion in its proper place: it is characteristic and worth a place anywhere

My most respectful compliments to Mr and Mrs Laurie; and a Poet's warmest wishes for their happiness tothe young ladies; particularly the fair musician, whom I think much better qualified than ever David was, orcould be, to charm an evil spirit out of a Saul

Indeed, it needs not the Feelings of a poet to be interested in the welfare of one of the sweetest scenes ofdomestic peace and kindred love that ever I saw; as I think the peaceful unity of St Margaret's Hill can only

be excelled by the harmonious concord of the Apocalyptic Zion

I am, dear Sir, yours sincerely,

ROBERT BURNS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

THE LIFE OF ROBERT BURNS

Preface to the Kilmarnock Edition of 1786

Dedication to the Edinburgh Edition of 1787

POEMS.

Winter A Dirge

The Death and dying Words of poor Mailie

Poor Mailie's Elegy

First Epistle to Davie, a brother Poet

Second

Address to the Deil

The auld Farmer's New-year Morning Salutation to his auld Mare Maggie

To a Haggis

A Prayer under the pressure of violent Anguish

A Prayer in the prospect of Death

Stanzas on the same occasion

A Winter Night

Remorse A Fragment

The Jolly Beggars A Cantata

Death and Dr Hornbook A True Story

The Twa Herds; or, the Holy Tulzie

Holy Willie's Prayer

Epitaph to Holy Willie

The Inventory; in answer to a mandate by the surveyor of taxes

The Holy Fair

The Ordination

To John Goudie of Kilmarnock, on the publication of his Essays

To J Lapraik, an old Scottish Bard First Epistle

To J Lapraik Second Epistle

To J Lapraik Third Epistle

To William Simpson, Ochiltree

Address to an illegitimate Child

Nature's Law A Poem humbly inscribed to G.H., Esq

To the Rev John M'Math

To a Mouse

Scotch Drink

The Author's earnest Cry and Prayer to the Scotch Representatives of the House of Commons

Address to the unco Guid, or the rigidly Righteous

Tam Samson's Elegy

Lament, occasioned by the unfortunate issue of a Friend's Amour

Despondency An Ode

The Cotter's Saturday Night

The first Psalm

The first six Verses of the ninetieth Psalm

To a Mountain Daisy

Epistle to a young Friend

To a Louse, on seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church

Epistle to J Rankine, enclosing some Poems

On a Scotch Bard, gone to the West Indies

The Farewell

Written on the blank leaf of my Poems, presented to an old Sweetheart then married

A Dedication to Gavin Hamilton, Esq

Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux

Letter to James Tennant of Glenconner

On the Birth of a posthumous Child

To Miss Cruikshank

Willie Chalmers

Verses left in the room where he slept

To Gavin Hamilton, Esq., recommending a boy

To Mr M'Adam, of Craigen-gillan

Answer to a Poetical Epistle sent to the Author by a Tailor

To J Rankine "I am a keeper of the law."

Lines written on a Bank-note

A Dream

A Bard's Epitaph

The Twa Dogs A Tale

Lines on meeting with Lord Daer

Address to Edinburgh

Epistle to Major Logan

The Brigs of Ayr

On the Death of Robert Dundas, Esq., of Arniston, late Lord President of the Court of Session

On reading in a Newspaper the Death of John M'Leod, Esq

To Miss Logan, with Beattie's Poems

The American War, A fragment

The Dean of Faculty A new Ballad

To a Lady, with a Present of a Pair of Drinking-glasses

To Clarinda

Verses written under the Portrait of the Poet Fergusson

Prologue spoken by Mr Woods, on his Benefit-night, Monday, April 16, 1787

Sketch A Character

To Mr Scott, of Wauchope

Epistle to William Creech

The humble Petition of Bruar-Water, to the noble Duke of Athole

On scaring some Water-fowl in Loch Turit

Written with a pencil, over the chimney-piece, in the parlour of the Inn at Kenmore, Taymouth

Written with a pencil, standing by the Fall of Fyers, near Loch Ness

To Mr William Tytler, with the present of the Bard's picture

Written in Friars-Carse Hermitage, on the banks of Nith, June, 1780 First Copy

The same December, 1788 Second Copy

To Captain Riddel, of Glenriddel Extempore lines on returning a Newspaper

A Mother's Lament for the Death of her Son

First Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray

On the Death of Sir James Hunter Blair

Epistle to Hugh Parker

Lines, intended to be written under a Noble Earl's Picture

Elegy on the year 1788 A Sketch

Address to the Toothache

Ode Sacred to the memory of Mrs Oswald, of Auchencruive

Fragment inscribed to the Right Hon C.J Fox

On seeing a wounded Hare limp by me, which a Fellow had just shot

To Dr Blacklock In answer to a Letter

Delia An Ode

To John M'Murdo, Esq

Prologue, spoken at the Theatre, Dumfries, 1st January, 1790

Scots Prologue, for Mr Sutherland's Benefit-night, Dumfries

Sketch New-year's Day To Mrs Dunlop

To a Gentleman who had sent him a Newspaper, and offered to continue it free of expense

The Kirk's Alarm A Satire First Version

The Kirk's Alarm A Ballad Second Version

Peg Nicholson

On Captain Matthew Henderson, a gentleman who held the patent for his honours immediately from

Almighty God

The Five Carlins A Scots Ballad

The Laddies by the Banks o' Nith

Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray, on the close of the disputed Election between Sir James Johnstone,and Captain Miller, for the Dumfries district of Boroughs

On Captain Grose's Peregrination through Scotland, collecting the Antiquities of that kingdom

Written in a wrapper, enclosing a letter to Captain Grose

Tam O' Shanter A Tale

Address of Beelzebub to the President of the Highland Society

To John Taylor

Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, on the approach of Spring

The Whistle

Elegy on Miss Burnet of Monboddo

Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn

Lines sent to Sir John Whitefoord, Bart., of Whitefoord, with the foregoing Poem

Address to the Shade of Thomson, on crowning his Bust at Ednam with bays

To Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray

To Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray, on receiving a favour

A Vision

To John Maxwell, of Terraughty, on his birthday

The Rights of Women, an occasional Address spoken by Miss Fontenelle, on her benefit-night, Nov 26, 1792Monody on a Lady famed for her caprice

Epistle from Esopus to Maria

Poem on Pastoral Poetry

Sonnet, written on the 25th January, 1793, the birthday of the Author, on hearing a thrush sing in a morningwalk

Sonnet on the death of Robert Riddel, Esq., of Glenriddel, April, 1794

Impromptu on Mrs Riddel's birthday

Liberty A Fragment

Verses to a young Lady

The Vowels A Tale

Verses to John Rankine

On Sensibility To my dear and much-honoured friend, Mrs Dunlop, of Dunlop

Lines sent to a Gentleman whom he had offended Address spoken by Miss Fontenelle on her Benefit-night

On seeing Miss Fontenelle in a favourite character

To Chloris

Poetical Inscription for an Altar to Independence

The Heron Ballads Balled First

The Heron Ballads Ballad Second

The Heron Ballads Ballad Third

Poem addressed to Mr Mitchell, Collector of Excise, Dumfries, 1796

To Miss Jessy Lewars, Dumfries, with Johnson's

Musical Museum

Poem on Life, addressed to Colonel de Peyster, Dumfries, 1796

EPITAPHS, EPIGRAMS, FRAGMENTS, &c

On the Author's Father

On Miss Jean Scott

On a henpecked Country Squire

Lines written under the Picture of the celebrated Miss Burns

Extempore in the Court of Session

The henpecked Husband

Written at Inverary

On Elphinston's Translation of Martial's Epigrams

Inscription on the Head-stone of Fergusson

On a Schoolmaster

A Grace before Dinner

A Grace before Meat

On Wat

On Captain Francis Grose

Impromptu to Miss Ainslie

The Kirk of Lamington

The League and Covenant

Written on a pane of glass in the Inn at Moffat

Spoken on being appointed to the Excise

The Creed of Poverty

Written in a Lady's pocket-book

The Parson's Looks

The Toad-eater

On Robert Riddel

The Toast

On a Person nicknamed the Marquis

Lines written on a window

Lines written on a window of the Globe Tavern, Dumfries

The Selkirk Grace

To Dr Maxwell, on Jessie Staig's Recovery

Epitaph

Epitaph on William Nicol

On the Death of a Lapdog, named Echo

Extempore, pinned on a Lady's coach

Lines to John Rankine

Jessy Lewars

The Toast

On Miss Jessy Lewars

On the recovery of Jessy Lewars

Tam the Chapman

"Here's a bottle and an honest friend"

"Tho' fickle fortune has deceived me"

To John Kennedy

To the same

"There's naethin' like the honest nappy"

On the blank leaf of a work by Hannah More, presented by Mrs C

To the Men and Brethren of the Masonic Lodge at Tarbolton

Impromptu

Prayer for Adam Armour

SONGS AND BALLADS.

Handsome Nell

Luckless Fortune

"I dream'd I lay where flowers were springing"

Tibbie, I hae seen the day

"My father was a farmer upon the Carrick border"

John Barleycorn A Ballad

The Rigs o' Barley

Montgomery's Peggy

The Mauchline Lady

The Highland Lassie

Peggy

The rantin' Dog the Daddie o't

"My heart was ance as blithe and free"

My Nannie O

A Fragment "One night as I did wander"

Bonnie Peggy Alison

Green grow the Rashes, O

My Jean

"Her flowing locks, the raven's wing"

"O leave novels, ye Mauchline belles"

Young Peggy

The Cure for all Care

Eliza

The Sons of Old Killie

And maun I still on Menie doat

The Farewell to the Brethren of St James's Lodge, Tarbolton

On Cessnock Banks

Mary

The Lass of Ballochmyle

"The gloomy night is gathering fast"

"O whar did ye get that hauver meal bannock?"

The Joyful Widower

"O Whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad"

"I am my mammy's ae bairn"

The Birks of Aberfeldy

Macpherson's Farewell

Braw, braw Lads of Galla Water

"Stay, my charmer, can you leave me?"

Strathallan's Lament

My Hoggie

Her Daddie forbad, her Minnie forbad

Up in the Morning early

The young Highland Rover

Hey the dusty Miller

Duncan Davison

Theniel Menzies' bonnie Mary

The Banks of the Devon

Weary fa' you, Duncan Gray

The Ploughman

Landlady, count the Lawin

"Raving winds around her blowing"

"How long and dreary is the night"

Musing on the roaring Ocean

Blithe, blithe and merry was she

The blude red rose at Yule may blaw

O'er the Water to Charlie

A Rose-bud by my early walk

Rattlin', roarin' Willie

Where braving angry Winter's Storms

Tibbie Dunbar

Bonnie Castle Gordon

My Harry was a gallant gay

The Tailor fell through the bed, thimbles an' a'

Ay Waukin O!

Beware o' Bonnie Ann

The Gardener wi' his paidle

Blooming Nelly

The day returns, my bosom burns

My Love she's but a lassie yet

Jamie, come try me

Go fetch to me a Pint O' Wine

The Lazy Mist

O mount and go

Of a' the airts the wind can blaw

Whistle o'er the lave o't

O were I on Parnassus' Hill

"There's a youth in this city"

My heart's in the Highlands

John Anderson, my Jo

Awa, Whigs, awa

Ca' the Ewes to the Knowes

Merry hae I been teethin' a heckle

The Braes of Ballochmyle

To Mary in Heaven

Eppie Adair

The Battle of Sherriff-muir

Young Jockey was the blithest lad

O Willie brewed a peck o' maut

The braes o' Killiecrankie, O

I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen

The Banks of Nith

O meikle thinks my luve o' my beauty

Gudewife, count the Lawin

There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame

The bonnie lad that's far awa

I do confess thou art sae fair

Yon wild mossy mountains sae lofty and wide

It is na, Jean, thy bonnie face

When I think on the happy days

Whan I sleep I dream

"I murder hate by field or flood"

O gude ale comes and gude ale goes

Robin shure in hairst

Bonnie Peg

Gudeen to you, Kimmer

Ah, Chloris, since it may na be

Eppie M'Nab

Wha is that at my bower-door

What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man

Bonnie wee thing, cannie wee thing

The tither morn when I forlorn

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever

Lovely Davies

The weary Pond o' Tow

Naebody

An O for ane and twenty, Tam

O Kenmure's on and awa, Willie

The Collier Laddie

Nithsdale's Welcome Hame

As I was a-wand'ring ae Midsummer e'enin

Bessy and her Spinning-wheel

The Posie

The Country Lass

Turn again, thou fair Eliza

Ye Jacobites by name

Ye flowery banks o'bonnie Doon

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon

Willie Wastle

O Lady Mary Ann

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation

The Carle of Kellyburn braes

Jockey's ta'en the parting kiss

Hey ca' thro', ca' thro'

The Gallant weaver

The deuks dang o'er my Daddie

She's fair and fause

The Deil cam' fiddling thro' the town

The lovely Lass of Inverness

O my luve's like a red, red rose

Louis, what reck I by thee

Had I the wyte she bade me

Coming through the rye

Young Jamie, pride of a' the plain

Out over the Forth I look to the north

The Lass of Ecclefechan

The Cooper o' Cuddie

For the sake of somebody

I coft a stane o' haslock woo

The lass that made the bed for me

Sae far awa

I'll ay ca' in by yon town

O wat ye wha's in yon town

O May, thy morn

Lovely Polly Stewart

Bonnie laddie, Highland laddie

Anna, thy charms my bosom fire

Cassilis' Banks

To thee, lov'd Nith

Bannocks o' Barley

Hee Balou! my sweet wee Donald

Wae is my heart, and the tear's in my e'e

Here's his health in water

My Peggy's face, my Peggy's form

Gloomy December

My lady's gown, there's gairs upon 't

Amang the trees, where humming bees

The gowden locks of Anna

My ain kind dearie, O

Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary

She is a winsome wee thing

Wandering Willie First Version

Wandering Willie Last Version

Oh, open the door to me, oh!

Jessie

The poor and honest sodger

Meg o' the Mill

Blithe hae I been on yon hill

Logan Water

"O were my love yon lilac fair"

Bonnie Jean

Phillis the fair

Had I a cave on some wild distant shore

By Allan stream

O Whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad

Adown winding Nith I did wander

Come, let me take thee to my breast

Daintie Davie

Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled First Version

Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled Second Version

Behold the hour, the boat arrives

Thou hast left me ever, Jamie

Auld lang syne

"Where are the joys I have met in the morning"

"Deluded swain, the pleasure"

Nancy

Husband, husband, cease your strife

Wilt thou be my dearie?

But lately seen in gladsome green

"Could aught of song declare my pains"

Here's to thy health, my bonnie lass

It was a' for our rightfu' king

O steer her up and haud her gaun

O ay my wife she dang me

O wert thou in the cauld blast

The Banks of Cree

On the seas and far away

Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes

Sae flaxen were her ringlets

O saw ye my dear, my Phely?

How lang and dreary is the night

Let not woman e'er complain

The Lover's Morning Salute to his Mistress

My Chloris, mark how green the groves

Youthful Chloe, charming Chloe

Lassie wi' the lint-white locks

Farewell, thou stream, that winding flows

O Philly, happy be the day

Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair

Canst thou leave me thus, my Katy

My Nannie's awa

O wha is she that lo'es me

Caledonia

O lay thy loof in mine, lass

The Fête Champêtre

Here's a health to them that's awa

For a' that, and a' that

Craigieburn Wood

O lassie, art thou sleeping yet

O tell na me o' wind and rain

The Dumfries Volunteers

Address to the Wood-lark

On Chloris being ill

Their groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon

'Twas na her bonnie blue een was my ruin

How cruel are the parents

Mark yonder pomp of costly fashion

O this is no my ain lassie

Now Spring has clad the grove in green

O bonnie was yon rosy brier

Forlorn my love, no comfort near

Last May a braw wooer cam down the lang glen

Chloris

The Highland Widow's Lament

To General Dumourier

Peg-a-Ramsey

There was a bonnie lass

O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet

Hey for a lass wi' a tocher

Jessy "Here's a health to ane I lo'e dear"

Fairest Maid on Devon banks

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.

1781

No I To William Burness His health a little better, but tired of life The Revelations

1783

II To Mr John Murdoch His present studies and temper of mind

III To Mr James Burness His father's illness, and sad state of the country

IV To Miss E Love

V To Miss E Love

VI To Miss E Love

VII To Miss E On her refusal of his hand

VIII To Robert Riddel, Esq Observations on poetry and human life

1784

IX To Mr James Burness On the death of his father

X To Mr James Burness Account of the Buchanites

XI To Miss With a book

1786

XII To Mr John Richmond His progress in poetic composition

XIII To Mr John Kennedy The Cotter's Saturday Night

XIV To Mr Robert Muir Enclosing his "Scotch Drink"

XV To Mr Aiken Enclosing a stanza on the blank leaf of a book by Hannah More

XVI To Mr M'Whinnie, Subscriptions

XVII To Mr John Kennedy Enclosing "The Gowan"

XVIII To Mon James Smith His voyage to the West Indies

XIX To Mr John Kennedy His poems in the press Subscriptions

XX To Mr David Brice Jean Armour's return, printing his poems

XXI To Mr Robert Aiken Distress of mind

XXII To Mr John Richmond Jean Armour

XXIII To John Ballantyne, Esq Aiken's coldness His marriage-lines destroyed

XXIV To Mr David Brice Jean Armour West Indies

XXV To Mr John Richmond West Indies The Armours

XXVI To Mr Robert Muir Enclosing "The Calf"

XXVII To Mrs Dunlop Thanks for her notice Sir William Wallace

XXVIII To Mr John Kennedy Jamaica

XXIX To Mr James Burness His departure uncertain

XXX To Miss Alexander "The Lass of Ballochmyle"

XXXI To Mrs Stewart, of Stair and Afton Enclosing some songs Miss Alexander

XXXII Proclamation in the name of the Muses

XXXIII To Mr Robert Muir Enclosing "Tam Samson." His Edinburgh expedition

XXXIV To Dr Mackenzie Enclosing the verses on dining with Lord Daer

XXXV To Gavin Hamilton, Esq Rising fame Patronage

XXXVI To John Ballantyne, Esq His patrons and patronesses The Lounger

XXXVII To Mr Robert Muir A note of thanks Talks of sketching the history of his life

XXXVIII To Mr William Chalmers A humorous sally

1787

XXXIX To the Earl of Eglinton Thanks for his patronage

XL To Gavin Hamilton, Esq Love

XLI To John Ballantyne, Esq Mr Miller's offer of a farm

XLII To John Ballantyne, Esq Enclosing "The Banks o' Doon." First Copy

XLIII To Mrs Dunlop Dr Moore and Lord Eglinton His situation in Edinburgh

XLIV To Dr Moore Acknowledgments for his notice

XLV To the Rev G Lowrie Reflections on his situation in life Dr Blacklock, Mackenzie

XLVI To Dr Moore Miss Williams

XLVII To John Ballantyne, Esq His portrait engraving

XLVIII To the Earl of Glencairn Enclosing "Lines intended to be written under a noble Earl's picture"XLIX To the Earl of Buchan In reply to a letter of advice

L To Mr James Candlish Still "the old man with his deeds"

LI To On Fergusson's headstone

LII To Mrs Dunlop His prospects on leaving Edinburgh 341

LIII To Mrs Dunlop A letter of acknowledgment for the payment of the subscription

LIV To Mr Sibbald Thanks for his notice in the magazine

LV To Dr Moore Acknowledging the present of his View of Society

LVI To Mr Dunlop Reply to criticisms

LVII To the Rev Dr Hugh Blair On leaving Edinburgh Thanks for his kindness

LVIII To the Earl of Glencairn On leaving Edinburgh

LIX To Mr William Dunbar Thanking him for the present of Spenser's poems

LX To Mr James Johnson Sending a song to the Scots Musical Museum

LXI To Mr William Creech His tour on the Border Epistle in verse to Creech

LXII To Mr Patison Business

LXIII To Mr W Nicol A ride described in broad Scotch

LXIV To Mr James Smith Unsettled in life Jamaica

LXV To Mr W Nicol Mr Miller, Mr Burnside Bought a pocket Milton

LXVI To Mr James Candlish Seeking a copy of Lowe's poem of "Pompey's Ghost"

LXVII To Robert Ainslie, Esq His tour

LXVIII To Mr W Nicol Auchtertyre

LXIX To Mr Wm Cruikshank Auchtertyre

LXX To Mr James Smith An adventure

LXXI To Mr John Richmond His rambles

LXXII To Mr Robert Ainslie Sets high value on his friendship

LXXIII To the same Nithsdale and Edinburgh

LXXIV To Dr Moore Account of his own life

LXXV To Mr Robert Ainslie A humorous letter

LXXVI To Mr Robert Muir Stirling, Bannockburn

LXXVII To Gavin Hamilton, Esq Of Mr Hamilton's own family

LXXVIII To Mr Walker Bruar Water The Athole family

LXXIX To Mr Gilbert Burns Account of his Highland tour

LXXX To Miss Margaret Chalmers Charlotte Hamilton Skinner Nithsdale

LXXXI To the same Charlotte Hamilton, and "The Banks of the Devon"

LXXXII To James Hoy, Esq Mr Nicol Johnson's Musical Museum

LXXXIII To Rev John Skinner Thanking him for his poetic compliment

LXXXIV To James Hoy, Esq Song by the Duke of Gordon

LXXXV To Mr Robert Ainslie His friendship for him

LXXXVI To the Earl of Glencairn Requesting his aid in obtaining an excise appointment

LXXXVII To James Dalrymple, Esq Rhyme Lord Glencairn

LXXXVIII To Charles Hay, Esq Enclosing his poem on the death of the Lord President Dundas

LXXXIX To Miss M n Compliments

XC To Miss Chalmers Charlotte Hamilton

XCI To the same His bruised limb The Bible The Ochel Hills

XCII To the same His motto "I dare." His own worst enemy

XCIII To Sir John Whitefoord Thanks for his friendship Of poets

XCIV To Miss Williams Comments on her poem of the Slave Trade

XCV To Mr Richard Brown Recollections of early life Clarinda

XCVI To Gavin Hamilton, Esq Prayer for his health

XCVII To Miss Chalmers Complimentary poems Creech

1788

XCVIII To Mrs Dunlop Lowness of spirits Leaving Edinburgh

XCIX To the same Religion

C To the Rev John Skinner Tullochgorum Skinner's Latin

CI To Mr Richard Brown His arrival in Glasgow

CII To Mrs Rose of Kilravock Recollections of Kilravock

CIII To Mr Richard Brown Friendship The pleasures of the present

CIV To Mr William Cruikshank Ellisland Plans in life

CV To Mr Robert Ainslie Ellisland Edinburgh Clarinda

CVI To Mr Richard Brown Idleness Farming

CVII To Mr Robert Muir His offer for Ellisland The close of life

CVIII To Miss Chalmers Taken Ellisland Miss Kennedy

CIX To Mrs Dunlop Coila's robe

CX To Mr Richard Brown Apologies On his way to Dumfries from Glasgow

CXI To Mr Robert Cleghorn Poet and fame The air of Captain O'Kean

CXII To Mr William Dunbar Foregoing poetry and wit for farming and business

CXIII To Miss Chalmers Miss Kennedy Jean Armour

CXIV To the same Creech's rumoured bankruptcy

CXV To the same His entering the Excise

CXVI To Mrs Dunlop Fanning and the Excise Thanks for the loan of Dryden and Tasso

CXVII To Mr James Smith Jocularity Jean Armour

CXVIII To Professor Dugald Stewart Enclosing some poetic trifles

CXIX To Mrs Dunlop Dryden's Virgil His preference of Dryden to Pope

CXX To Mr Robert Ainslie His marriage

CXXI To Mrs Dunlop On the treatment of servants

CXXII To the same The merits of Mrs Burns

CXXIII To Mr Robert Ainslie The warfare of life Books Religion

CXXIV To the same Miers' profiles

CXXV To the same Of the folly of talking of one's private affairs

CXXVI To Mr George Lockhart The Miss Baillies Bruar Water

CXXVII To Mr Peter Hill With the present of a cheese

CXXVIII To Robert Graham Esq., of Fintray The Excise

CXXIX To Mr William Cruikshank Creech Lines written in Friar's Carse Hermitage

CXXX To Mrs Dunlop Lines written at Friar's Carse Graham of Fintray

CXXXI To the same Mrs Burns Of accomplished young ladies

CXXXII To the same Mrs Miller, of Dalswinton "The Life and Age of Man."

CXXXIII To Mr Beugo Ross and "The Fortunate Shepherdess."

CXXXIV To Miss Chalmers Recollections Mrs Burns Poetry

CXXXV To Mr Morison Urging expedition with his clock and other furniture for Ellisland

CXXXVI To Mrs Dunlop Mr Graham Her criticisms

CXXXVII To Mr Peter Hill Criticism on an "Address to Loch Lomond."

CXXXVIII To the Editor of the Star Pleading for the line of the Stuarts

CXXXIX To Mrs Dunlop The present of a heifer from the Dunlops

CXL To Mr James Johnson Scots Musical Museum

CXLI To Dr Blacklock Poetical progress His marriage

CXLII To Mrs Dunlop Enclosing "Auld Lang Syne"

CXLIII To Miss Davies Enclosing the song of "Charming, lovely Davies"

CXLIV To Mr John Tennant Praise of his whiskey

1789

CXLV To Mrs Dunlop Reflections suggested by the day

CXLVI To Dr Moore His situation and prospects

CXLVII To Mr Robert Ainslie His favourite quotations Musical Museum

CXLVIII To Professor Dugald Stewart Enclosing some poems for his comments upon

CXLIX To Bishop Geddes His situation and prospects

CL To Mr James Burness His wife and farm Profit from his poems Fanny Burns

CLI To Mrs Dunlop Reflections His success in song encouraged a shoal of bardlings

CLII To the Rev Peter Carfrae Mr Mylne's poem

CLIII To Dr Moore Introduction His ode to Mrs Oswald

CLIV To Mr William Burns Remembrance

CLV To Mr Peter Hill Economy and frugality Purchase of books

CLVI To Mrs Dunlop Sketch inscribed to the Right Hon C.J Fox

CLVII To Mr William Burns Asking him to make his house his home

CLVIII To Mrs M'Murdo With the song of "Bonnie Jean"

CLIX To Mr Cunningham With the poem of "The Wounded Hare"

CLX To Mr Samuel Brown His farm Ailsa fowling

CLXI To Mr Richard Brown Kind wishes

CLXII To Mr James Hamilton Sympathy

CLXIII To William Creech, Esq Toothache Good wishes

CLXIV To Mr M'Auley His own welfare

CLXV To Mr Robert Ainslie Overwhelmed with incessant toil

CLXVI To Mr M'Murdo Enclosing his newest song

CLXVII To Mrs Dunlop Reflections on religion

CLXVIII To Mr Fergusson the poet

CLXIX To Miss Williams Enclosing criticisms on her poems

CLXX To Mr John Logan With "The Kirk's Alarm"

CLXXI To Mrs Dunlop Religion Dr Moore's "Zeluco"

CLXXII To Captain Riddel "The Whistle"

CLXXIII To the same With some of his MS poems

CLXXIV To Mr Robert Ainslie His Excise employment

CLXXV To Mr Richard Brown His Excise duties

CLXXVI To Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray The Excise Captain Grose Dr M'Gill

CLXXVII To Mrs Dunlop Reflections on immortality

CLXXVIII To Lady M.W Constable Jacobitism

CLXXIX To Provost Maxwell At a loss for a subject

1790

CLXXX To Sir John Sinclair Account of a book-society in Nithsdale

CLXXXI To Charles Sharpe, Esq A letter with a fictitious signature

CLXXXII To Mr Gilburt Burns His farm a ruinous affair Players

CLXXXIII To Mr Sutherland Enclosing a Prologue

CLXXXIV To Mr William Dunbar Excise His children Another world

CLXXXV To Mrs Dunlop Falconer the poet Old Scottish songs

CLXXXVI To Mr Peter Hill Mademoiselle Burns Hurdis Smollett and Cowper

CLXXXVII To Mr W Nicol The death of Nicol's mare Peg Nicholson

CLXXXVIII To Mr W Cunningham What strange beings we are

CLXXXIX To Mr Peter Hill Orders for books Mankind

CXC To Mrs Dunlop Mackenzie and the Mirror and Lounger

CXCI To Collector Mitchell A county meeting

CXCII To Dr Moore "Zeluco." Charlotte Smith

CXCIII To Mr Murdoch William Burns

CXCIV To Mr M'Murdo With the Elegy on Matthew Henderson

CXCV To Mrs Dunlop His pride wounded

CXCVI To Mr Cunningham Independence

CXCVII To Dr Anderson "The Bee."

CXCVIII To William Tytler, Esq With some West-country ballads

CXCIX To Crauford Tait, Esq Introducing Mr William Duncan

CC To Crauford Tait, Esq "The Kirk's Alarm"

CCI To Mrs Dunlop On the birth of her grandchild Tam O' Shanter

1791

CCII To Lady M.W Constable Thanks for the present of a gold snuff-box

CCIII To Mr William Dunbar Not gone to Elysium Sending a poem

CCIV To Mr Peter Mill Apostrophe to Poverty

CCV To Mr Cunningham Tam O' Shanter Elegy on Miss Burnet

CCVI To A.F Tytler, Esq Tam O' Shanter

CCVII To Mrs Dunlop Miss Burnet Elegy writing

CCVIII To Rev Arch Alison Thanking him for his "Essay on Taste"

CCIX To Dr Moore Tam O' Shanter Elegy on Henderson Zeluco Lord Glencairn

CCX To Mr Cunningham Songs

CCXI To Mr Alex Dalzel The death of the Earl of Glencairn

CCXII To Mrs Graham, of Fintray With "Queen Mary's Lament"

CCXIII To the same With his printed Poems

CCXIV To the Rev G Baird Michael Bruce

CCXV To Mrs Dunlop Birth of a son

CCXVI To the same Apology for delay

CCXVII To the same Quaint invective on a pedantic critic

CCXVIII To Mr Cunningham The case of Mr Clarke of Moffat, Schoolmaster

CCXIX To the Earl of Buchan With the Address to the shade of Thomson

CCXX To Mr Thomas Sloan Apologies His crop sold well

CCXXI To Lady E Cunningham With the Lament for the Earl of Glencairn

CCXXII To Mr Robert Ainslie State of mind His income

CCXXIII To Col Fullarton With some Poems His anxiety for Fullarton's friendship

CCXXIV To Miss Davis Lethargy, Indolence, and Remorse Our wishes and our powers

CCXXV To Mrs Dunlop Mrs Henri The Song of Death

1792

CCXXVI To Mrs Dunlop The animadversions of the Board of Excise

CCXXVII To Mr William Smellie Introducing Mrs Riddel

CCXXVIII To Mr W Nicol Ironical reply to a letter of counsel and reproof

CCXXIX To Francis Grose, Esq Dugald Stewart

CCXXX To the same Witch stories

CCXXXI To Mr S Clarke Humorous invitation to teach music to the M'Murdo family

CCXXXII To Mrs Dunlop Love and Lesley Baillie

CCXXXIII To Mr Cunningham Lesley Baillie

CCXXXIV To Mr Thomson Promising his assistance to his collection of songs and airs

CCXXXV To Mrs Dunlop Situation of Mrs Henri

CCXXXVI To the same On the death of Mrs Henri

CCXXXVII To Mr Thomson Thomson's fastidiousness "My Nannie O," &c

CCXXXVIII To the same With "My wife's a winsome wee thing," and "Lesley Baillie"

CCXXXIX To the same With Highland Mary The air of Katherine Ogie

CCXL To the same Thomson's alterations and observations

CCXLI To the same With "Auld Rob Morris," and "Duncan Gray"

CCXLII To Mrs Dunlop Birth of a daughter The poet Thomson's dramas

CCXLIII To Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray The Excise inquiry into his political conduct

CCXLIV To Mrs Dunlop Hurry of business Excise inquiry

1793

CCXLV To Mr Thomson With "Poortith cauld" and "Galla Water"

CCXLVI To the same William Tytler, Peter Pindar

CCXLVII To Mr Cunningham The poet's seal David Allan

CCXLVIII To Thomson With "Mary Morison"

CCCXLIX To the same With "Wandering Willie"

CCL To Miss Benson Pleasure he had in meeting her

CCLI To Patrick Miller, Esq With the present of his printed poems

CCLII To Mr Thomson Review of Scottish song Crawfurd and Ramsay

CCLIII To the same Criticism Allan Ramsay

CCLIV To the same "The last time I came o'er the moor"

CCLV To John Francis Erskine, Esq Self-justification The Excise inquiry

CCLVI To Mr Robert Ainslie Answering letters Scholar-craft

CCLVII To Miss Kennedy A letter of compliment

CCLVIII To Mr Thomson Frazer "Blithe had I been on yon hill"

CCLIX To Mr Thomson "Logan Water." "O gin my love were yon red rose"

CCLX To the same With the song of "Bonnie Jean"

CCLXI To the same Hurt at the idea of pecuniary recompense Remarks on song

CCLXII To the same Note written in the name of Stephen Clarke

CCLXIII To the same With "Phillis the fair"

CCLXIV To the same With "Had I a cave on some wild distant shore"

CCLXV To the same With "Allan Water"

CCLXVI To the same With "O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad," &c

CCLXVII To the same With "Come, let me take thee to my breast"

CCLXVIII To the same With "Dainty Davie"

CCLXIX To Miss Craik Wretchedness of poets

CCLXX To Lady Glencairn Gratitude Excise Dramatic composition

CCLXXI To Mr Thomson With "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled"

CCLXXII To the same With "Behold the hour, the boat arrive"

CCLXXIII To the same Crawfurd and Scottish song

CCLXXIV To the same Alterations in "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled"

CCLXXV To the same Further suggested alterations in "Scots wha hae" rejected

CCLXXVI To the same With "Deluded swain, the pleasure," and "Raving winds around her blowing"CCLXXVII To the same Erskine and Gavin Turnbull

CCLXXVIII To John M'Murdo, Esq Payment of a debt "The Merry Muses"

CCLXXIX To the same With his printed poems

CCLXXX To Captain Anxiety for his acquaintance "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled"

CCLXXXI To Mrs Riddel The Dumfries Theatre

1794

CCLXXXII To a Lady In favour of a player's benefit

CCLXXXIII To the Earl of Buchan With a copy of "Scots wha hae"

CCLXXXIV To Captain Miller With a copy of "Scots wha hae"

CCLXXXV To Mrs Riddel Lobster-coated puppies

CCLXXXVI To the same The gin-horse class of the human genus

CCLXXXVII To the same With "Werter." Her reception of him

CCLXXXVIII To Mrs Riddel Her caprice

CCLXXXIX To the same Her neglect and unkindness

CCXC To John Syme, Esq Mrs Oswald, and "O wat ye wha's in yon town"

CCXCI To Miss Obscure allusions to a friend's death His personal and poetic fame

CCXCII To Mr Cunningham Hypochondria Requests consolation

CCXCIII To the Earl of Glencairn With his printed poems

CCXCIV To Mr Thomson David Allan "The banks of Cree"

CCXCV To David M'Culloch, Esq Arrangements for a trip in Galloway

CCXCVI To Mrs Dunlop Threatened with flying gout Ode on Washington's birthday

CCXCVII To Mr James Johnson Low spirits The Museum Balmerino's dirk

CCXCVIII To Mr Thomson Lines written in "Thomson's Collection of songs"

CCXCIX To the same With "How can my poor heart be glad"

CCC To the same With "Ca' the yowes to the knowes"

CCCI To the same With "Sae flaxen were her ringlets." Epigram to Dr Maxwell

CCCII To the same The charms of Miss Lorimer "O saw ye my dear, my Phely," &c

CCCIII To the same Ritson's Scottish Songs Love and song

CCCIV To the same English songs The air of "Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon"

CCCV To the same With "O Philly, happy be the day," and "Contented wi' little"

CCCVI To the same With "Canst thou leave me thus, my Katy"

CCCVII To Peter Miller, jun., Esq Excise Perry's offer to write for the Morning Chronicle

CCCVIII To Mr Samuel Clarke, jun A political and personal quarrel Regret

CCCIX To Mr Thomson With "Now in her green mantle blithe nature arrays"

CCCX To Mr Thomson With "For a' that and a' that"

CCCXI To the same Abuse of Ecclefechan

CCCXII To the same With "O stay, sweet warbling woodlark, stay," and "The groves of sweet myrtle"CCCXIII To the same With "How cruel are the parents" and "Mark yonder pomp of costly fashion"

CCCXIV To the same Praise of David Allan's "Cotter's Saturday Night"

CCCXV To the same With "This is no my ain Lassie." Mrs Riddel

CCCXVI To Mr Thomson With "Forlorn, my love, no comfort near"

CCCXVII To the same With "Last May a braw wooer," and "Why tell thy lover"

CCCXVIII To Mrs Riddel A letter from the grave

CCCXIX To the same A letter of compliment "Anacharsis' Travels"

CCCXX To Miss Louisa Fontenelle With a Prologue for her

benefit-night

CCCXXI To Mrs Dunlop His family Miss Fontenelle Cowper's "Task"

CCCXXII To Mr Alexander Findlater Excise schemes

CCCXXIII To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle Written for a friend A complaint

CCCXXIV To Mr Heron, of Heron With two political ballads

CCCXXV To Mrs Dunlop Thomson's Collection Acting as Supervisor of Excise

CCCXXVI To the Right Hon William Pitt Address of the Scottish Distillers

CCCXXVII To the Provost, Bailies, and Town Council of Dumfries Request to be made a freeman of thetown

1796

CCCXXVIII To Mrs Riddel "Anarcharsis' Travels." The muses

CCCXXIX To Mrs Dunlop His ill-health

CCCXXX To Mr Thomson Acknowledging his present to Mrs Burns of a worsted shawl

CCCXXXI To the same Ill-health Mrs Hyslop Allan's etchings Cleghorn

CCCXXXII To the same "Here's a health to ane I loe dear"

CCCXXXIII To the same His anxiety to review his songs, asking for copies

CCCXXXIV To Mrs Riddel His increasing ill-health

CCCXXXV To Mr Clarke, acknowledging money and requesting the loan of a further sum

CCCXXXVI To Mr James Johnson The Scots Musical Museum Request for a copy of the collectionCCCXXXVII To Mr Cunningham Illness and poverty, anticipation of death

CCCXXXVIII To Mr Gilbert Burns His ill-health and debts

CCCXXXIX To Mr James Armour Entreating Mrs Armour to come to her daughter's confinement

CCCXL To Mrs Burns Sea-bathing affords little relief

CCCXLI To Mrs Dunlop Her friendship A farewell

CCCXLII To Mr Thomson Solicits the sum of five pounds "Fairest Maid on Devon Banks"

CCCXLIII To Mr James Burness Soliciting the sum of ten pounds

CCCXLIV To James Gracie, Esq His rheumatism, &c &c. his loss of appetite

Remarks on Scottish Songs and Ballads

The Border Tour

The Highland Tour

Burns's Assignment of his Works

Glossary

LIFE

OF

ROBERT BURNS.

Robert Burns, the chief of the peasant poets of Scotland, was born in a little mud-walled cottage on the banks

of Doon, near "Alloway's auld haunted kirk," in the shire of Ayr, on the 25th day of January, 1759 As anatural mark of the event, a sudden storm at the same moment swept the land: the gabel-wall of the fraildwelling gave way, and the babe-bard was hurried through a tempest of wind and sleet to the shelter of asecurer hovel He was the eldest born of three sons and three daughters; his father, William, who in his nativeKincardineshire wrote his name Burness, was bred a gardener, and sought for work in the West; but comingfrom the lands of the noble family of the Keiths, a suspicion accompanied him that he had been out asrebellion was softly called in the forty-five: a suspicion fatal to his hopes of rest and bread, in so loyal adistrict; and it was only when the clergyman of his native parish certified his loyalty that he was permitted totoil This suspicion of Jacobitism, revived by Burns himself, when he rose into fame, seems not to haveinfluenced either the feelings, or the tastes of Agnes Brown, a young woman on the Doon, whom he wooedand married in December, 1757, when he was thirty-six years old To support her, he leased a small piece of

ground, which he converted into a nursery and garden, and to shelter her, he raised with his own hands thathumble abode where she gave birth to her eldest son.

The elder Burns was a well-informed, silent, austere man, who endured no idle gaiety, nor indecorous

language: while he relaxed somewhat the hard, stern creed of the Covenanting times, he enforced all thework-day, as well as sabbath-day observances, which the Calvinistic kirk requires, and scrupled at

promiscuous dancing, as the staid of our own day scruple at the waltz His wife was of a milder mood: shewas blest with a singular fortitude of temper; was as devout of heart, as she was calm of mind; and loved,while busied in her household concerns, to sweeten the bitterer moments of life, by chanting the songs andballads of her country, of which her store was great The garden and nursery prospered so much, that he wasinduced to widen his views, and by the help of his kind landlord, the laird of Doonholm, and the more

questionable aid of borrowed money, he entered upon a neighbouring farm, named Mount Oliphant, extending

to an hundred acres This was in 1765; but the land was hungry and sterile; the seasons proved rainy andrough; the toil was certain, the reward unsure; when to his sorrow, the laird of Doonholm a generous

Ferguson, died: the strict terms of the lease, as well as the rent, were exacted by a harsh factor, and with hiswife and children, he was obliged, after a losing struggle of six years, to relinquish the farm, and seek shelter

on the grounds of Lochlea, some ten miles off, in the parish of Tarbolton When, in after-days, men's

characters were in the hands of his eldest son, the scoundrel factor sat for that lasting portrait of insolence andwrong, in the "Twa Dogs."

In this new farm William Burns seemed to strike root, and thrive He was strong of body and ardent of mind:every day brought increase of vigour to his three sons, who, though very young, already put their hands to theplough, the reap-hook, and the flail But it seemed that nothing which he undertook was decreed in the end toprosper: after four seasons of prosperity a change ensued: the farm was far from cheap; the gains under anylease were then so little, that the loss of a few pounds was ruinous to a farmer: bad seed and wet seasons hadtheir usual influence: "The gloom of hermits and the moil of galley-slaves," as the poet, alluding to thosedays, said, were endured to no purpose; when, to crown all, a difference arose between the landlord and thetenant, as to the terms of the lease; and the early days of the poet, and the declining years of his father, wereharassed by disputes, in which sensitive minds are sure to suffer

Amid these labours and disputes, the poet's father remembered the worth of religious and moral instruction: hetook part of this upon himself A week-day in Lochlea wore the sober looks of a Sunday: he read the Bibleand explained, as intelligent peasants are accustomed to do, the sense, when dark or difficult; he loved todiscuss the spiritual meanings, and gaze on the mystical splendours of the Revelations He was aided in theselabours, first, by the

schoolmaster of Alloway-mill, near the Doon; secondly, by John Murdoch, student of divinity, who undertook

to teach arithmetic, grammar, French, and Latin, to the boys of Lochlea, and the sons of five neighboringfarmers Murdoch, who was an enthusiast in learning, much of a pedant, and such a judge of genius that hethought wit should always be laughing, and poetry wear an eternal smile, performed his task well: he foundRobert to be quick in apprehension, and not afraid to study when knowledge was the reward He taught him toturn verse into its natural prose order; to supply all the ellipses, and not to desist till the sense was clear andplain: he also, in their walks, told him the names of different objects both in Latin and French; and though hisknowledge of these languages never amounted to much, he approached the grammar of the English tongue,through the former, which was of material use to him, in his poetic compositions Burns was, even in thoseearly days, a sort of enthusiast in all that concerned the glory of Scotland; he used to fancy himself a soldier ofthe days of the Wallace and the Bruce: loved to strut after the bag-pipe and the drum, and read of the bloodystruggles of his country for freedom and existence, till "a Scottish prejudice," he says, "was poured into myveins, which will boil there till the flood-gates of life are shut in eternal rest."

In this mood of mind Burns was unconsciously approaching the land of poesie In addition to the histories ofthe Wallace and the Bruce, he found, on the shelves of his neighbours, not only whole bodies of divinity, andsermons without limit, but the works of some of the best English, as well as Scottish poets, together with

songs and ballads innumerable On these he loved to pore whenever a moment of leisure came; nor was versehis sole favourite; he desired to drink knowledge at any fountain, and Guthrie's Grammar, Dickson on

Agriculture, Addison's Spectator, Locke on the Human Understanding, and Taylor's Scripture Doctrine ofOriginal Sin, were as welcome to his heart as Shakspeare, Milton, Pope, Thomson, and Young There is amystery in the workings of genius: with these poets in his head and hand, we see not that he has advanced onestep in the way in which he was soon to walk, "Highland Mary" and "Tam O' Shanter" sprang from otherinspirations

Burns lifts up the veil himself, from the studies which made him a poet "In my boyish days," he says toMoore, "I owed much to an old woman (Jenny Wilson) who resided in the family, remarkable for her

credulity and superstition She had, I suppose, the largest collection in the country of tales and songs,

concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights,wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, giants, enchanted towers, dragons, and other trumpery This cultivated thelatent seeds of poesie; but had so strong an effect upon my imagination that to this hour, in my nocturnalrambles, I sometimes keep a look-out on suspicious places." Here we have the young poet taking lessons inthe classic lore of his native land: in the school of Janet Wilson he profited largely; her tales gave a hue, alltheir own, to many noble effusions But her teaching was at the hearth-stone: when he was in the fields, eitherdriving a cart or walking to labour, he had ever in his hand a collection of songs, such as any stall in the landcould supply him with; and over these he pored, ballad by ballad, and verse by verse, noting the true, tender,and the natural sublime from affectation and fustian "To this," he said, "I am convinced that I owe much of

my critic craft, such as it is." His mother, too, unconsciously led him in the ways of the muse: she loved torecite or sing to him a strange, but clever ballad, called "the Life and Age of Man:" this strain of piety andimagination was in his mind when he wrote "Man was made to Mourn."

He found other teachers of a tenderer nature and softer influence "You know," he says to Moore, "ourcountry custom of coupling a man and woman together as partners in the labours of harvest In my fifteenthautumn my partner was a bewitching creature, a year younger than myself: she was in truth a bonnie, sweet,sonsie lass, and unwittingly to herself, initiated me in that delicious passion, which, in spite of acid

disappointment, gin-horse prudence, and bookworm philosophy, I hold to be the first of human joys How shecaught the contagion I cannot tell; I never expressly said I loved her: indeed I did not know myself why I liked

so much to loiter behind with her, when returning in the evenings from our labours; why the tones of her voicemade my heart strings thrill like an Æolian harp, and particularly why my pulse beat such a furious ratan,when I looked and fingered over her little hand, to pick out the cruel nettle-stings and thistles Among otherlove-inspiring qualities, she sang sweetly, and it was her favourite reel to which I attempted to give an

embodied vehicle in rhyme; thus with me began love and verse." This intercourse with the fair part of thecreation, was to his slumbering emotions, a voice from heaven to call them into life and poetry

From the school of traditionary lore and love, Burns now went to a rougher academy Lochlea, though notproducing fine crops of corn, was considered excellent for flax; and while the cultivation of this commoditywas committed to his father and his brother Gilbert, he was sent to Irvine at Midsummer, 1781, to learn thetrade of a

flax-dresser, under one Peacock, kinsman to his mother Some time before, he had spent a portion of a

summer at a school in Kirkoswald, learning mensuration and land-surveying, where he had mingled in scenes

of sociality with smugglers, and enjoyed the pleasure of a silent walk, under the moon, with the young and thebeautiful At Irvine he laboured by day to acquire a knowledge of his business, and at night he associated withthe gay and the thoughtless, with whom he learnt to empty his glass, and indulge in free discourse on topicsforbidden at Lochlea He had one small room for a lodging, for which he gave a shilling a week: meat heseldom tasted, and his food consisted chiefly of oatmeal and potatoes sent from his father's house In a letter tohis father, written with great purity and simplicity of style, he thus gives a picture of himself, mental andbodily: "Honoured Sir, I have purposely delayed writing, in the hope that I should have the pleasure of seeingyou on new years' day, but work comes so hard upon us that I do not choose to be absent on that account Myhealth is nearly the same as when you were here, only my sleep is a little sounder, and on the whole, I am