To
the rich, the great, the fashionable, the polite, I have no equivalent
to offer; and I am afraid my meteor appearance will by no means
entitle me to a settled correspondence with any of you, who are the
permanent lights of genius and literature.
the rich, the great, the fashionable, the polite, I have no equivalent
to offer; and I am afraid my meteor appearance will by no means
entitle me to a settled correspondence with any of you, who are the
permanent lights of genius and literature.
Robert Burns-
]
_Edinburgh, Feb. 5th, 1787. _
REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,
When I look at the date of your kind letter, my heart reproaches me
severely with ingratitude in neglecting so long to answer it. I will
not trouble you with any account, by way of apology, of my hurried
life and distracted attention: do me the justice to believe that my
delay by no means proceeded from want of respect. I feel, and ever
shall feel for you the mingled sentiments of esteem for a friend and
reverence for a father.
I thank you, Sir, with all my soul for your friendly hints, though I
do not need them so much as my friends are apt to imagine. You are
dazzled with newspaper accounts and distant reports; but, in reality,
I have no great temptation to be intoxicated with the cup of
prosperity. Novelty may attract the attention of mankind awhile; to it
I owe my present eclat; but I see the time not far distant when the
popular tide which has borne me to a height of which I am, perhaps,
unworthy, shall recede with silent celerity, and leave me a barren
waste of sand, to descend at my leisure to my former station. I do not
say this in the affectation of modesty; I see the consequence is
unavoidable, and am prepared for it. I had been at a good deal of
pains to form a just, impartial estimate of my intellectual powers
before I came here; I have not added, since I came to Edinburgh,
anything to the account; and I trust I shall take every atom of it
back to my shades, the coverts of my unnoticed, early years.
In Dr. Blacklock, whom I see very often, I have found what I would
have expected in our friend, a clear head and an excellent heart.
By far the most agreeable hours I spend in Edinburgh must be placed to
the account of Miss Laurie and her piano-forte. I cannot help
repeating to you and Mrs. Laurie a compliment that Mr. Mackenzie, the
celebrated "Man of Feeling," paid to Miss Laurie, the other night, at
the concert. I had come in at the interlude, and sat down by him till
I saw Miss Laurie in a seat not very distant, and went up to pay my
respects to her. On my return to Mr. Mackenzie he asked me who she
was; I told him 'twas the daughter of a reverend friend of mine in the
west country. He returned, there was something very striking, to his
idea, in her appearance. On my desiring to know what it was, he was
pleased to say, "She has a great deal of the elegance of a well-bred
lady about her, with all the sweet simplicity of a country girl. "
My compliments to all the happy inmates of St. Margaret's.
R. B.
* * * * *
XLVI.
TO DR. MOORE.
[In the answer to this letter, Dr. Moore says that the poet was a
great favourite in his family, and that his youngest son, at
Winchester school, had translated part of "Halloween" into Latin
verse, for the benefit of his comrades. ]
_Edinburgh, 15th February, 1787. _
SIR,
Pardon my seeming neglect in delaying so long to acknowledge the
honour you have done me, in your kind notice of me, January 23d. Not
many months ago I knew no other employment than following the plough,
nor could boast anything higher than a distant acquaintance with a
country clergyman. Mere greatness never embarrasses me; I have nothing
to ask from the great, and I do not fear their judgment: but genius,
polished by learning, and at its proper point of elevation in the eye
of the world, this of late I frequently meet with, and tremble at its
approach. I scorn the affectation of seeming modesty to cover
self-conceit. That I have some merit I do not deny; but I see with
frequent wringings of heart, that the novelty of my character, and the
honest national prejudice of my countrymen, have borne me to a height
altogether untenable to my abilities.
For the honour Miss Williams has done me, please, Sir, return her in
my name my most grateful thanks. I have more than once thought of
paying her in kind, but have hitherto quitted the idea in hopeless
despondency. I had never before heard of her; but the other day I got
her poems, which for several reasons, some belonging to the head, and
others the offspring of the heart, give me a great deal of pleasure. I
have little pretensions to critic lore; there are, I think, two
characteristic features in her poetry--the unfettered wild flight of
native genius, and the querulous sombre tenderness of "time-settled
sorrow. "
I only know what pleases me, often without being able to tell why.
R. B.
* * * * *
XLVII.
TO JOHN BALLANTYNE, ESQ.
[The picture from which Beugo engraved the portrait alluded to in this
letter, was painted by the now venerable Alexander Nasmyth--the eldest
of living British artists:--it is, with the exception of a profile by
Miers, the only portrait for which we are quite sure that the poet
sat. ]
_Edinburgh, Feb. 24th, 1787. _
MY HONOURED FRIEND,
I will soon be with you now, in guid black prent;--in a week or ten
days at farthest. I am obliged, against my own wish, to print
subscribers' names; so if any of my Ayr friends have subscription
bills, they must be sent in to Creech directly. I am getting my phiz
done by an eminent engraver, and if it can be ready in time, I will
appear in my book, looking like all other _fools_ to my title-page.
R. B.
* * * * *
XLVIII.
TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN.
[The Earl of Glencairn seems to have refused, from motives of
delicacy, the request of the poet: the verses, long lost, were at last
found, and are now, through the kindness of my friend, Major James
Glencairn Burns, printed with the rest of his eminent father's works. ]
_Edinburgh, 1787_
MY LORD,
I wanted to purchase a profile of your lordship, which I was told was
to be got in town; but I am truly sorry to see that a blundering
painter has spoiled a "human face divine. " The enclosed stanzas I
intended to have written below a picture or profile of your lordship,
could I have been so happy as to procure one with anything of a
likeness.
As I will soon return to my shades, I wanted to have something like a
material object for my gratitude; I wanted to have it in my power to
say to a friend, there is my noble patron, my generous benefactor.
Allow me, my lord, to publish these verses. I conjure your lordship,
by the honest throe of gratitude, by the generous wish of benevolence,
by all the powers and feelings which compose the magnanimous mind, do
not deny me this petition. I owe much to your lordship: and, what has
not in some other instances always been the case with me, the weight
of the obligation is a pleasing load. I trust I have a heart as
independent as your lordship's, than which I can say nothing more; and
I would not be beholden to favours that would crucify my feelings.
Your dignified character in life, and manner of supporting that
character, are flattering to my pride; and I would be jealous of the
purity of my grateful attachment, where I was under the patronage of
one of the much favoured sons of fortune.
Almost every poet has celebrated his patrons, particularly when they
were names dear to fame, and illustrious in their country; allow me,
then, my lord, if you think the verses have intrinsic merit, to tell
the world how much I have the honour to be,
Your lordship's highly indebted,
And ever grateful humble servant,
R. B.
* * * * *
XLIX.
TO THE EARL OF BUCHAN.
[The Earl of Buchan, a man of talent, but more than tolerably vain,
advised Burns to visit the battle-fields and scenes celebrated in song
on the Scottish border, with the hope, perhaps, that he would drop a
few of his happy verses in Dryburgh Abbey, the residence of his
lordship. ]
MY LORD,
The honour your lordship has done me, by your notice and advice in
yours of the 1st instant, I shall ever gratefully remember:--
"Praise from thy lips, 'tis mine with joy to boast,
They best can give it who deserve it most. "[167]
Your lordship touches the darling chord of my heart when you advise me
to fire my muse at Scottish story and Scotch scenes. I wish for
nothing more than to make a leisurely pilgrimage through my native
country; to sit and muse on those once hard-contended fields, where
Caledonia, rejoicing, saw her bloody lion borne through broken ranks
to victory and fame; and, catching the inspiration, to pour the
deathless names in song. But, my lord, in the midst of these
enthusiastic reveries, a long-visaged, dry, moral-looking phantom
strides across my imagination, and pronounces these emphatic words:--
"I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence. Friend, I do not come to open the
ill-closed wounds of your follies and misfortunes, merely to give you
pain: I wish through these wounds to imprint a lasting lesson on your
heart. I will not mention how many of my salutary advices you have
despised: I have given you line upon line and precept upon precept;
and while I was chalking out to you the straight way to wealth and
character, with audacious effrontery you have zigzagged across the
path, contemning me to my face: you know the consequences. It is not
yet three months since home was so hot for you that you were on the
wing for the western shore of the Atlantic, not to make a fortune, but
to hide your misfortune.
"Now that your dear-loved Scotia puts it in your power to return to
the situation of your forefathers, will you follow these will-o'-wisp
meteors of fancy and whim, till they bring you once more to the brink
of ruin? I grant that the utmost ground you can occupy is but half a
step from the veriest poverty; but still it is half a step from it. If
all that I can urge be ineffectual, let her who seldom calls to you in
vain, let the call of pride prevail with you. You know how you feel at
the iron gripe of ruthless oppression: you know how you bear the
galling sneer of contumelious greatness. I hold you out the
conveniences, the comforts of life, independence, and character, on
the one hand; I tender you civility, dependence, and wretchedness, on
the other. I will not insult your understanding by bidding you make a
choice. "
This, my lord, is unanswerable. I must return to my humble station,
and woo my rustic muse in my wonted way at the plough-tail. Still, my
lord, while the drops of life warm my heart, gratitude to that
dear-loved country in which I boast my birth, and gratitude to those
her distinguished sons who have honoured me so much with their
patronage and approbation, shall, while stealing through my humble
shades; ever distend my bosom, and at times, as now, draw forth the
swelling tear.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 167: Imitated from Pope's Eloisa to Abelard. ]
* * * * *
L.
TO MR. JAMES CANDLISH.
[James Candlish, a student of medicine, was well acquainted with the
poetry of Lowe, author of that sublime lyric, "Mary's Dream," and at
the request of Burns sent Lowe's classic song of "Pompey's Ghost," to
the Musical Museum. ]
_Edinburgh, March 21, 1787. _
MY EVER DEAR OLD ACQUAINTANCE,
I was equally surprised and pleased at your letter, though I dare say
you will think by my delaying so long to write to you that I am so
drowned in the intoxication of good fortune as to be indifferent to
old, and once dear connexions. The truth is, I was determined to write
a good letter, full of argument, amplification, erudition, and, as
Bayes says, _all that. _ I thought of it, and thought of it, and, by my
soul, I could not; and, lest you should mistake the cause of my
silence, I just sit down to tell you so. Don't give yourself credit,
though, that the strength of your logic scares me: the truth is, I
never mean to meet you on that ground at all. You have shown me one
thing which was to be demonstrated: that strong pride of reasoning,
with a little affectation of singularity, may mislead the best of
hearts. I likewise, since you and I were first acquainted, in the
pride of despising old woman's stories, ventured in "the daring path
Spinosa trod;" but experience of the weakness, not the strength of
human powers, made me glad to grasp at revealed religion.
I am still, in the Apostle Paul's phrase, "The old man with his
deeds," as when we were sporting about the "Lady Thorn. " I shall be
four weeks here yet at least; and so I shall expect to hear from you;
welcome sense, welcome nonsense.
I am, with the warmest sincerity,
R. B.
* * * * *
LI.
TO ----.
[The name of the friend to whom this letter was addressed is still
unknown, though known to Dr. Currie. The Esculapian Club of Edinburgh
have, since the death of Burns, added some iron-work, with an
inscription in honour of the Ayrshire poet to the original headstone.
The cost to the poet was ? 5 10s. ]
_Edinburgh, March, 1787. _
MY DEAR SIR,
You may think, and too justly, that I am a selfish, ungrateful fellow,
having received so many repeated instances of kindness from you, and
yet never putting pen to paper to say thank you; but if you knew what
a devil of a life my conscience has led me on that account, your good
heart would think yourself too much avenged. By the bye, there is
nothing in the whole frame of man which seems to be so unaccountable
as that thing called conscience. Had the troublesome yelping cur
powers efficient to prevent a mischief, he might be of use; but at the
beginning of the business, his feeble efforts are to the workings of
passion as the infant frosts of an autumnal morning to the unclouded
fervour of the rising sun: and no sooner are the tumultuous doings of
the wicked deed over, than, amidst the bitter native consequences of
folly, in the very vortex of our horrors, up starts conscience, and
harrows us with the feelings of the damned.
I have enclosed you, by way of expiation, some verse and prose, that,
if they merit a place in your truly entertaining miscellany, you are
welcome to. The prose extract is literally as Mr. Sprott sent it me.
The inscription on the stone is as follows:--
"HERE LIES ROBERT FERGUSSON, POET.
Born, September 5th, 1751--Died, 16th October 1774.
"No scuptur'd marble here, nor pompous lay,
'No storied urn or animated bust;'
This simple stone directs pale Scotia's way
To pour her sorrows o'er her poet's dust. "
On the other side of the stone is as follows:
"By special grant of the managers to Robert Burns, who erected this
stone, this burial place is to remain for ever sacred to the memory of
Robert Fergusson. "
* * * * *
_Session-house, within the Kirk of Canongate, the
twenty-second day of February, one thousand seven hundred
eighty-seven years. _
Sederunt of the Managers of the Kirk and Kirk-Yard funds of Canongate.
Which day, the treasurer to the said funds produced a letter from Mr.
Robert Burns, of date the 6th current, which was read and appointed to
be engrossed in their sederunt book, and of which letter the tenor
follows:--
"To the honourable baillies of Canongate, Edinburgh. --Gentlemen, I am
sorry to be told that the remains of Robert Fergusson, the so justly
celebrated poet, a man whose talents for ages to come will do honour
to our Caledonian name, lie in your church-yard among the ignoble
dead, unnoticed and unknown.
"Some memorial to direct the steps of the lovers of Scottish song,
when they wish to shed a tear over the 'narrow house' of the bard who
is no more, is surely a tribute due to Fergusson's memory: a tribute I
wish to have the honour of paying.
"I petition you then, gentlemen, to permit me to lay a simple stone
over his revered ashes, to remain an unalienable property to his
deathless fame. I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your very humble
servant (_sic subscribitur_),
ROBERT BURNS. "
Thereafter the said managers, in consideration of the laudable and
disinterested motion of Mr. Burns, and the propriety of his request,
did, and hereby do, unanimously, grant power and liberty to the said
Robert Burns to erect a headstone at the grave of the said Robert
Fergusson, and to keep up and preserve the same to his memory in all
time coming. Extracted forth of the records of the managers, by
WILLIAM SPROTT, Clerk.
* * * * *
LII.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[The poet alludes in this letter to the profits of the Edinburgh
edition of his Poems: the exact sum is no where stated, but it could
not have been less than seven hundred pounds. ]
_Edinburgh, March 22d, 1787. _
MADAM,
I read your letter with watery eyes. A little, very little while ago,
I had scarce a friend but the stubborn pride of my own bosom: now I am
distinguished, patronized, befriended by you. Your friendly advices, I
will not give them the cold name of criticisms, I receive with
reverence. I have made some small alterations in what I before had
printed. I have the advice of some very judicious friends among the
literati here, but with them I sometimes find it necessary to claim
the privilege of thinking for myself. The noble Karl of Glencairn, to
whom I owe more than to any man, does me the honor of giving me his
strictures: his hints, with respect to impropriety or indelicacy, I
follow implicitly.
You kindly interest yourself in my future views and prospects; there I
can give you no light. It is all
"Dark as was Chaos ere the infant sun
Was roll'd together, or had tried his beams
Athwart the gloom profound. "[168]
The appellation of a Scottish bard, is by far my highest pride; to
continue to deserve it is my most exalted ambition. Scottish scenes
and Scottish story are the themes I could wish to sing. I have no
dearer aim than to have it in my power, unplagued with the routine of
business, for which heaven knows I am unfit enough, to make leisurely
pilgrimages through Caledonia; to sit on the fields of her battles; to
wander on the romantic banks of her rivers; and to muse by the stately
towers or venerable ruins, once the honoured abodes of her heroes.
But these are all Utopian thoughts: I have dallied long enough with
life; 'tis time to be in earnest. I have a fond, an aged mother to care
for: and some other bosom ties perhaps equally tender. Where the
individual only suffers by the consequences of his own thoughtlessness,
indolence, or folly, he may be excusable; nay, shining abilities, and
some of the nobler virtues, may half sanctify a heedless character; but
where God and nature have intrusted the welfare of others to his care;
where the trust is sacred, and the ties are dear, that man must be far
gone in selfishness, or strangely lost to reflection, whom these
connexions will not rouse to exertion.
I guess that I shall clear between two and three hundred pounds by my
authorship; with that sum I intend, so far as I may be said to have
any intention, to return to my old acquaintance, the plough, and if I
can meet with a lease by which I can live, to commence farmer. I do
not intend to give up poetry; being bred to labour, secures me
independence, and the muses are my chief, sometimes have been my only
enjoyment. If my practice second my resolution, I shall have
principally at heart the serious business of life; but while following
my plough, or building up my shocks, I shall cast a leisure glance to
that dear, that only feature of my character, which gave me the notice
of my country, and the patronage of a Wallace.
Thus, honoured Madam, I have given you the bard, his situation, and
his views, native as they are in his own bosom.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 168: Blair's Grave. ]
* * * * *
LIII.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[This seems to be a letter acknowledging the payment of Mrs. Dunlop's
subscription for his poems. ]
_Edinburgh_, 15 _April, 1787. _
MADAM,
There is an affectation of gratitude which I dislike. The periods of
Johnson and the pause of Sterne, may hide a selfish heart. For my
part, Madam, I trust I have too much pride for servility, and too
little prudence for selfishness. I have this moment broken open your
letter, but
"Rude am I in speech,
And therefore little can I grace my cause
In speaking for myself--"[169]
so I shall not trouble you with any fine speeches and hunted figures.
I shall just lay my hand on my heart and say, I hope I shall ever have
the truest, the warmest sense of your goodness.
I come abroad in print, for certain on Wednesday. Your orders I shall
punctually attend to; only, by the way, I must tell you that I was
paid before for Dr. Moore's and Miss Williams's copies, through the
medium of Commissioner Cochrane in this place, but that we can settle
when I have the honour of waiting on you.
Dr. Smith[170] was just gone to London the morning before I received
your letter to him.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 169: From Othello. ]
[Footnote 170: Adam Smith. ]
* * * * *
LIV.
TO MR. SIBBALD,
BOOKSELLER IN EDINBURGH.
[This letter first appeared in that very valuable work, Nicholl's
Illustrations of Literature. ]
_Lawn Market. _
SIR,
So little am I acquainted with the words and manners of the more
public and polished walks of life, that I often feel myself much
embarrassed how to express the feelings of my heart, particularly
gratitude:--
"Rude am I in my speech,
And little therefore shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself--"
The warmth with which you have befriended an obscure man and a young
author in the last three magazines--I can only say, Sir, I feel the
weight of the obligation, I wish I could express my sense of it. In
the mean time accept of the conscious acknowledgment from,
Sir,
Your obliged servant,
R. B.
* * * * *
LV.
TO DR. MOORE.
[The book to which the poet alludes, was the well-known View of
Society by Dr. Moore, a work of spirit and observation. ]
_Edinburgh, 23d April, 1787. _
I received the books, and sent the one you mentioned to Mrs. Dunlop. I
am ill skilled in beating the coverts of imagination for metaphors of
gratitude. I thank you, Sir, for the honour you have done me; and to
my latest hour will warmly remember it. To be highly pleased with your
book is what I have in common with the world; but to regard these
volumes as a mark of the author's friendly esteem, is a still more
supreme gratification.
I leave Edinburgh in the course of ten days or a fortnight, and after
a few pilgrimages over some of the classic ground of Caledonia, Cowden
Knowes, Banks of Yarrow, Tweed, &c. , I shall return to my rural
shades, in all likelihood never more to quit them. I have formed many
intimacies and friendships here, but I am afraid they are all of too
tender a construction to bear carriage a hundred and fifty miles.
To
the rich, the great, the fashionable, the polite, I have no equivalent
to offer; and I am afraid my meteor appearance will by no means
entitle me to a settled correspondence with any of you, who are the
permanent lights of genius and literature.
My most respectful compliments to Miss Williams. If once this tangent
flight of mine were over, and I were returned to my wonted leisurely
motion in my old circle, I may probably endeavour to return her poetic
compliment in kind.
R. B.
* * * * *
LVI.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[This letter was in answer to one of criticism and remonstrance, from
Mrs. Dunlop, respecting "The Dream," which she had begged the poet to
omit, lest it should harm his fortunes with the world. ]
_Edinburgh, 30th April, 1787. _
---- Your criticisms, Madam, I understand very well, and could have
wished to have pleased you better. You are right in your guess that I
am not very amenable to counsel. Poets, much my superiors, have so
flattered those who possessed the adventitious qualities of wealth and
power, that I am determined to flatter no created being, either in
prose or verse.
I set as little by princes, lords, clergy, critics, &c. , as all these
respective gentry do by my bardship. I know what I may expect from the
word, by and by--illiberal abuse, and perhaps contemptuous neglect.
I am happy, Madam, that some of my own favourite pieces are
distinguished by your particular approbation. For my "Dream," which
has unfortunately incurred your loyal displeasure, I hope in four
weeks, or less, to have the honour of appearing, at Dunlop, in its
defence in person.
R. B.
* * * * *
LVII.
TO THE REV. DR. HUGH BLAIR.
[The answer of Dr. Blair to this letter contains the following
passage: "Your situation, as you say, was indeed very singular: and in
being brought out all at once from the shades of deepest privacy to so
great a share of public notice and observation, you had to stand a
severe trial. I am happy you have stood it so well, and, as far as I
have known or heard, though in the midst of many temptations, without
reproach to your character or behaviour. "]
_Lawn-market, Edinburgh, 3d May, 1787. _
REVEREND AND MUCH-RESPECTED SIR,
I leave Edinburgh to-morrow morning, but could not go without
troubling you with half a line, sincerely to thank you for the
kindness, patronage, and friendship you have shown me. I often felt
the embarrassment of my singular situation; drawn forth from the
veriest shades of life to the glare of remark; and honoured by the
notice of those illustrious names of my country whose works, while
they are applauded to the end of time, will ever instruct and mend the
heart. However the meteor-like novelty of my appearance in the world
might attract notice, and honour me with the acquaintance of the
permanent lights of genius and literature, those who are truly
benefactors of the immortal nature of man, I knew very well that my
utmost merit was far unequal to the task of preserving that character
when once the novelty was over; I have made up my mind that abuse, or
almost even neglect, will not surprise me in my quarters.
I have sent you a proof impression of Beugo's work[171] for me, done on
Indian paper, as a trifling but sincere testimony with what heart-warm
gratitude I am, &c.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 171: The portrait of the poet after Nasmyth. ]
* * * * *
LVIII.
TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN.
[The poet addressed the following letter to the Earl of Glencairn,
when he commenced his journey to the Border. It was first printed in
the third edition of Lockhart's Life of Burns; an eloquent and manly
work. ]
MY LORD,
I go away to-morrow morning early, and allow me to vent the fulness of
my heart, in thanking your lordship for all that patronage, that
benevolence and that friendship with which you have honoured me. With
brimful eyes, I pray that you may find in that great Being, whose
image you so nobly bear, that friend which I have found in you. My
gratitude is not selfish design--that I disdain--it is not dodging
after the heels of greatness--that is an offering you disdain. It is a
feeling of the same kind with my devotion.
R. B.
* * * * *
LIX.
TO MR. WILLIAM DUNBAR.
[William Dunbar, Colonel of the Crochallan Fencibles. The name has a
martial sound, but the corps which he commanded was club of wits,
whose courage was exercised on "paitricks, teals, moorpowts, and
plovers. "]
_Lawn-market, Monday morning. _
DEAR SIR,
In justice to Spenser, I must acknowledge that there is scarcely a
poet in the language could have been a more agreeable present to me;
and in justice to you, allow me to say, Sir, that I have not met with
a man in Edinburgh to whom I would so willingly have been indebted for
the gift. The tattered rhymes I herewith present you, and the handsome
volumes of Spenser for which I am so much indebted to your goodness,
may perhaps be not in proportion to one another; but be that as it
may, my gift, though far less valuable, is as sincere a mark of esteem
as yours.
The time is approaching when I shall return to my shades; and I am
afraid my numerous Edinburgh friendships are of so tender a
construction, that they will not bear carriage with me. Yours is one
of the few that I could wish of a more robust constitution. It is
indeed very probable that when I leave this city, we part never more
to meet in this sublunary sphere; but I have a strong fancy that in
some future eccentric planet, the comet of happier systems than any
with which astronomy is yet acquainted, you and I, among the harum
scarum sons of imagination and whim, with a hearty shake of a hand, a
metaphor and a laugh, shall recognise old acquaintance:
"Where wit may sparkle all its rays,
Uncurs'd with caution's fears;
That pleasure, basking in the blaze,
Rejoice for endless years. "
I have the honour to be, with the warmest sincerity, dear Sir, &c.
R. B.
* * * * *
LX.
TO JAMES JOHNSON.
[James Johnson was an engraver in Edinburgh, and proprietor of the
Musical Museum; a truly national work, for which Burns wrote or
amended many songs. ]
_Lawn-market, Friday noon, 3 May, 1787. _
DEAR SIR,
I have sent you a song never before known, for your collection; the
air by M'Gibbon, but I know not the author of the words, as I got it
from Dr. Blacklock.
Farewell, my dear Sir! I wished to have seen you, but I have been
dreadfully throng, as I march to-morrow. Had my acquaintance with you
been a little older, I would have asked the favour of your
correspondence, as I have met with few people whose company and
conversation gives me so much pleasure, because I have met with few
whose sentiments are so congenial to my own.
When Dunbar and you meet, tell him that I left Edinburgh with the idea
of him hanging somewhere about my heart.
Keep the original of the song till we meet again, whenever that may
be.
R. B.
* * * * *
LXI.
TO WILLIAM CREECH, ESQ.
EDINBURGH.
[This characteristic letter was written during the poet's border tour:
he narrowly escaped a soaking with whiskey, as well as with water; for
according to the Ettrick Shepherd, "a couple of Yarrow lads, lovers of
poesy and punch, awaited his coming to Selkirk, but would not believe
that the parson-looking, black-avised man, who rode up to the inn,
more like a drouket craw than a poet, could be Burns, and so went
disappointed away. "]
_Selkirk, 13th May, 1787. _
MY HONOURED FRIEND,
The enclosed I have just wrote, nearly extempore, in a solitary inn in
Selkirk, after a miserable wet day's riding. I have been over most of
East Lothian, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk-shires; and next week I
begin a tour through the north of England. Yesterday I dined with Lady
Harriet, sister to my noble patron,[172] _Quem Deus conservet_! I would
write till I would tire you as much with dull prose, as I dare say by
this time you are with wretched verse, but I am jaded to death; so,
with a grateful farewell,
I have the honour to be,
Good Sir, yours sincerely,
R. B.
Auld chuckie Reekie's sair distrest,
Down drops her ance weel burnish'd crest,
Nae joy her bonnie buskit nest
Can yield ava;
Her darling bird that she loves best,
Willie's awa. [173]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 172: James, Earl of Glencairn. ]
[Footnote 173: See Poem LXXXIII. ]
* * * * *
LXII.
TO MR. PATISON,
BOOKSELLER, PAISLEY.
[This letter has a business air about it: the name of Patison is
nowhere else to be found in the poet's correspondence. ]
_Berrywell, near Dunse, May 17th, 1787. _
DEAR SIR,
I am sorry I was out of Edinburgh, making a slight pilgrimage to the
classic scenes of this country, when I was favoured with yours of the
11th instant, enclosing an order of the Paisley banking company on the
royal bank, for twenty-two pounds seven shillings sterling, payment in
full, after carriage deducted, for ninety copies of my book I sent
you. According to your motions, I see you will have left Scotland
before this reaches you, otherwise I would send you "Holy Willie" with
all my heart. I was so hurried that I absolutely forgot several things
I ought to have minded, among the rest sending books to Mr. Cowan; but
any order of yours will be answered at Creech's shop. You will please
remember that non-subscribers pay six shillings, this is Creech's
profit; but those who have subscribed, though their names have been
neglected in the printed list, which is very incorrect, are supplied
at subscription price. I was not at Glasgow, nor do I intend for
London; and I think Mrs. Fame is very idle to tell so many lies on a
poor poet. When you or Mr. Cowan write for copies, if you should want
any direct to Mr. Hill, at Mr. Creech's shop, and I write to Mr. Hill
by this post, to answer either of your orders. Hill is Mr. Creech's
first clerk, and Creech himself is presently in London. I suppose I
shall have the pleasure, against your return to Paisley, of assuring
you how much I am, dear Sir, your obliged humble servant,
R. B.
* * * * *
LXIII.
TO W. NICOL, ESQ. ,
MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, EDINBURGH.
[Jenny Geddes was a zealous old woman, who threw the stool on which
she sat, at the Dean of Edinburgh's head, when, in 1637, he attempted
to introduce a Scottish Liturgy, and cried as she threw, "Villain,
wilt thou say the mass at my lug! " The poet named his mare after this
virago. ]
_Carlisle, June 1. , 1787. _
KIND, HONEST-HEARTED WILLIE,
I'm sitten down here after seven and forty miles ridin', e'en as
forjesket and forniaw'd as a forfoughten cock, to gie you some notion
o' my land lowper-like stravaguin sin the sorrowfu' hour that I sheuk
hands and parted wi' auld Reekie.
My auld, ga'd gleyde o' a meere has huch-yall'd up hill and down brae,
in Scotland and England, as teugh and birnie as a vera devil wi' me.
It's true, she's as poor's a sang-maker and as hard's a kirk, and
tipper-taipers when she taks the gate, first like a lady's gentlewoman
in a minuwae, or a hen on a het girdle; but she's a yauld, poutherie
Girran for a' that, and has a stomack like Willie Stalker's meere that
wad hae disgeested tumbler-wheels, for she'll whip me aff her five
stimparts o' the best aits at a down-sittin and ne'er fash her thumb.
When ance her ringbanes and spavies, her crucks and cramps, and fairly
soupl'd, she beets to, beets to, and ay the hindmost hour the
tightest. I could wager her price to a thretty pennies, that for twa
or three wooks ridin at fifty miles a day, the deil-stricket a five
gallopers acqueesh Clyde and Whithorn could cast saut on her tail.
I hae dander'd owre a' the kintra frae Dumbar to Selcraig, and hae
forgather'd wi' monie a guid fallow, and monie a weelfar'd huzzie. I
met wi' twa dink quines in particular, ane o' them a sonsie, fine,
fodgel lass, baith braw and bonnie; the tither was clean-shankit,
straught, tight, weelfar'd winch, as blythe's a lintwhite on a
flowerie thorn, and as sweet and modest's a new-blawn plumrose in a
hazle shaw. They were baith bred to mainers by the beuk, and onie ane
o' them had as muckle smeddum and rumblegumtion as the half o' some
presbytries that you and I baith ken. They play'd me sik a deevil o' a
shavie that I daur say if my harigals were turn'd out, ye wad see twa
nicks i' the heart o' me like the mark o' a kail-whittle in a castock.
I was gaun to write you a lang pystle, but, Gude forgie me, I gat
mysel sae noutouriously bitchify'd the day after kail-time, that I can
hardly stoiter but and ben.
My best respecks to the guidwife and a' our common friens, especiall
Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank, and the honest guidman o' Jock's Lodge.
I'll be in Dumfries the morn gif the beast be to the fore, and the
branks bide hale.
Gude be wi' you, Willie! Amen!
R. B.
* * * * *
LXIV.
TO MR. JAMES SMITH,
AT MILLER AND SMITH'S OFFICE, LINLITHGOW.
[Burns, it seems by this letter, had still a belief that he would be
obliged to try his fortune in the West Indies: he soon saw how hollow
all the hopes were, which had been formed by his friends of "pension,
post or place," in his native land. ]
_Mauchline, 11th June, 1787. _
MY EVER DEAR SIR,
I date this from Mauchline, where I arrived on Friday even last. I
slept at John Dow's, and called for my daughter. Mr. Hamilton and your
family; your mother, sister, and brother; my quondam Eliza, &c. , all
well. If anything had been wanting to disgust me completely at
Armour's family, their mean, servile compliance would have done it.
Give me a spirit like my favourite hero, Milton's Satan:
Hail, horrors! hail,
Infernal world! and thou proufoundest hell,
Receive thy new possessor! he who brings
A mind not be chang'd by _place_ or _time_!
I cannot settle to my mind. --Farming, the only thing of which I know
anything, and heaven above knows but little do I understand of that, I
cannot, dare not risk on farms as they are. If I do not fix I will go
for Jamaica. Should I stay in an unsettled state at home, I would
only dissipate my little fortune, and ruin what I intend shall
compensate my little ones, for the stigma I have brought on their
names.
I shall write you more at large soon; as this letter costs you no
postage, if it be worth reading you cannot complain of your
pennyworth.
I am ever, my dear Sir,
Yours,
R. B.
P. S. The cloot has unfortunately broke, but I have provided a fine
buffalo-horn, on which I am going to affix the same cipher which you
will remember was on the lid of the cloot.
* * * * *
LXV.
TO WILLIAM NICOL, ESQ.
[The charm which Dumfries threw over the poet, seems to have dissolved
like a spell, when he sat down in Ellisland: he spoke, for a time,
with little respect of either place or people. ]
_Mauchline, June 18, 1787. _
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I am now arrived safe in my native country, after a very agreeable
jaunt, and have the pleasure to find all my friends well. I
breakfasted with your gray-headed, reverend friend, Mr. Smith; and was
highly pleased both with the cordial welcome he gave me, and his most
excellent appearance and sterling good sense.
I have been with Mr. Miller at Dalswinton, and am to meet him again in
August. From my view of the lands, and his reception of my bardship,
my hopes in that business are rather mended; but still they are but
slender.
I am quite charmed with Dumfries folks--Mr. Burnside, the clergyman,
in particular, is a man whom I shall ever gratefully remember; and his
wife, Gude forgie me! I had almost broke the tenth commandment on her
account. Simplicity, elegance, good sense, sweetness of disposition,
good humour, kind hospitality are the constituents of her manner and
heart; in short--but if I say one word more about her, I shall be
directly in love with her.
I never, my friend, thought mankind very capable of anything generous;
but the stateliness of the patricians in Edinburgh, and the servility
of my plebeian brethren (who perhaps formerly eyed me askance) since I
returned home, have nearly put me out of conceit altogether with my
species. I have bought a pocket Milton, which I carry perpetually
about with me, in order to study the sentiments--the dauntless
magnanimity, the intrepid, unyielding independence, the desperate
daring, and noble defiance of hardship, in that great personage,
SATAN. 'Tis true, I have just now a little cash; but I am
afraid the star that hitherto has shed its malignant, purpose-blasting
rays full in my zenith; that noxious planet so baneful in its
influences to the rhyming tribe, I much dread it is not yet beneath my
horizon. --Misfortune dodges the path of human life; the poetic mind
finds itself miserably deranged in, and unfit for the walks of
business; add to all, that thoughtless follies and hare-brained whims,
like so many _ignes fatui_, eternally diverging from the right line of
sober discretion, sparkle with step-bewitching blaze in the
idly-gazing eyes of the poor heedless bard, till, pop, "he falls like
Lucifer, never to hope again. " God grant this may be an unreal picture
with respect to me! but should it not, I have very little dependence
on mankind. I will close my letter with this tribute my heart bids me
pay you--the many ties of acquaintance and friendship which I have, or
think I have in life, I have felt along the lines, and, damn them,
they are almost all of them of such frail contexture, that I am sure
they would not stand the breath of the least adverse breeze of
fortune; but from you, my ever dear Sir, I look with confidence for
the apostolic love that shall wait on me "through good report and bad
report"--the love which Solomon emphatically says "is strong as
death. " My compliments to Mrs. Nicol, and all the circle of our common
friends.
P. S. I shall be in Edinburgh about the latter end of July.
R. B.
* * * * *
LXVI.
TO MR. JAMES CANDLISH.
[Candlish was a classic scholar, but had a love for the songs of
Scotland, as well as for the poetry of Greece and Rome. ]
_Edinburgh, 1787. _
MY DEAR FRIEND,
If once I were gone from this scene of hurry and dissipation, I
promise myself the pleasure of that correspondence being renewed
which has been so long broken. At present I have time for nothing.
Dissipation and business engross every moment. I am engaged in
assisting an honest Scotch enthusiast,[174] a friend of mine, who is an
engraver, and has taken it into his head to publish a collection of
all our songs set to music, of which the words and music are done by
Scotsmen. This, you will easily guess, is an undertaking exactly to my
taste. I have collected, begged, borrowed, and stolen, all the songs I
could meet with. Pompey's Ghost, words and music, I beg from you
immediately, to go into his second number: the first is already
published. I shall show you the first number when I see you in
Glasgow, which will be in a fortnight or less. Do be so kind as to
send me the song in a day or two; you cannot imagine how much it will
oblige me.
Direct to me at Mr.
_Edinburgh, Feb. 5th, 1787. _
REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,
When I look at the date of your kind letter, my heart reproaches me
severely with ingratitude in neglecting so long to answer it. I will
not trouble you with any account, by way of apology, of my hurried
life and distracted attention: do me the justice to believe that my
delay by no means proceeded from want of respect. I feel, and ever
shall feel for you the mingled sentiments of esteem for a friend and
reverence for a father.
I thank you, Sir, with all my soul for your friendly hints, though I
do not need them so much as my friends are apt to imagine. You are
dazzled with newspaper accounts and distant reports; but, in reality,
I have no great temptation to be intoxicated with the cup of
prosperity. Novelty may attract the attention of mankind awhile; to it
I owe my present eclat; but I see the time not far distant when the
popular tide which has borne me to a height of which I am, perhaps,
unworthy, shall recede with silent celerity, and leave me a barren
waste of sand, to descend at my leisure to my former station. I do not
say this in the affectation of modesty; I see the consequence is
unavoidable, and am prepared for it. I had been at a good deal of
pains to form a just, impartial estimate of my intellectual powers
before I came here; I have not added, since I came to Edinburgh,
anything to the account; and I trust I shall take every atom of it
back to my shades, the coverts of my unnoticed, early years.
In Dr. Blacklock, whom I see very often, I have found what I would
have expected in our friend, a clear head and an excellent heart.
By far the most agreeable hours I spend in Edinburgh must be placed to
the account of Miss Laurie and her piano-forte. I cannot help
repeating to you and Mrs. Laurie a compliment that Mr. Mackenzie, the
celebrated "Man of Feeling," paid to Miss Laurie, the other night, at
the concert. I had come in at the interlude, and sat down by him till
I saw Miss Laurie in a seat not very distant, and went up to pay my
respects to her. On my return to Mr. Mackenzie he asked me who she
was; I told him 'twas the daughter of a reverend friend of mine in the
west country. He returned, there was something very striking, to his
idea, in her appearance. On my desiring to know what it was, he was
pleased to say, "She has a great deal of the elegance of a well-bred
lady about her, with all the sweet simplicity of a country girl. "
My compliments to all the happy inmates of St. Margaret's.
R. B.
* * * * *
XLVI.
TO DR. MOORE.
[In the answer to this letter, Dr. Moore says that the poet was a
great favourite in his family, and that his youngest son, at
Winchester school, had translated part of "Halloween" into Latin
verse, for the benefit of his comrades. ]
_Edinburgh, 15th February, 1787. _
SIR,
Pardon my seeming neglect in delaying so long to acknowledge the
honour you have done me, in your kind notice of me, January 23d. Not
many months ago I knew no other employment than following the plough,
nor could boast anything higher than a distant acquaintance with a
country clergyman. Mere greatness never embarrasses me; I have nothing
to ask from the great, and I do not fear their judgment: but genius,
polished by learning, and at its proper point of elevation in the eye
of the world, this of late I frequently meet with, and tremble at its
approach. I scorn the affectation of seeming modesty to cover
self-conceit. That I have some merit I do not deny; but I see with
frequent wringings of heart, that the novelty of my character, and the
honest national prejudice of my countrymen, have borne me to a height
altogether untenable to my abilities.
For the honour Miss Williams has done me, please, Sir, return her in
my name my most grateful thanks. I have more than once thought of
paying her in kind, but have hitherto quitted the idea in hopeless
despondency. I had never before heard of her; but the other day I got
her poems, which for several reasons, some belonging to the head, and
others the offspring of the heart, give me a great deal of pleasure. I
have little pretensions to critic lore; there are, I think, two
characteristic features in her poetry--the unfettered wild flight of
native genius, and the querulous sombre tenderness of "time-settled
sorrow. "
I only know what pleases me, often without being able to tell why.
R. B.
* * * * *
XLVII.
TO JOHN BALLANTYNE, ESQ.
[The picture from which Beugo engraved the portrait alluded to in this
letter, was painted by the now venerable Alexander Nasmyth--the eldest
of living British artists:--it is, with the exception of a profile by
Miers, the only portrait for which we are quite sure that the poet
sat. ]
_Edinburgh, Feb. 24th, 1787. _
MY HONOURED FRIEND,
I will soon be with you now, in guid black prent;--in a week or ten
days at farthest. I am obliged, against my own wish, to print
subscribers' names; so if any of my Ayr friends have subscription
bills, they must be sent in to Creech directly. I am getting my phiz
done by an eminent engraver, and if it can be ready in time, I will
appear in my book, looking like all other _fools_ to my title-page.
R. B.
* * * * *
XLVIII.
TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN.
[The Earl of Glencairn seems to have refused, from motives of
delicacy, the request of the poet: the verses, long lost, were at last
found, and are now, through the kindness of my friend, Major James
Glencairn Burns, printed with the rest of his eminent father's works. ]
_Edinburgh, 1787_
MY LORD,
I wanted to purchase a profile of your lordship, which I was told was
to be got in town; but I am truly sorry to see that a blundering
painter has spoiled a "human face divine. " The enclosed stanzas I
intended to have written below a picture or profile of your lordship,
could I have been so happy as to procure one with anything of a
likeness.
As I will soon return to my shades, I wanted to have something like a
material object for my gratitude; I wanted to have it in my power to
say to a friend, there is my noble patron, my generous benefactor.
Allow me, my lord, to publish these verses. I conjure your lordship,
by the honest throe of gratitude, by the generous wish of benevolence,
by all the powers and feelings which compose the magnanimous mind, do
not deny me this petition. I owe much to your lordship: and, what has
not in some other instances always been the case with me, the weight
of the obligation is a pleasing load. I trust I have a heart as
independent as your lordship's, than which I can say nothing more; and
I would not be beholden to favours that would crucify my feelings.
Your dignified character in life, and manner of supporting that
character, are flattering to my pride; and I would be jealous of the
purity of my grateful attachment, where I was under the patronage of
one of the much favoured sons of fortune.
Almost every poet has celebrated his patrons, particularly when they
were names dear to fame, and illustrious in their country; allow me,
then, my lord, if you think the verses have intrinsic merit, to tell
the world how much I have the honour to be,
Your lordship's highly indebted,
And ever grateful humble servant,
R. B.
* * * * *
XLIX.
TO THE EARL OF BUCHAN.
[The Earl of Buchan, a man of talent, but more than tolerably vain,
advised Burns to visit the battle-fields and scenes celebrated in song
on the Scottish border, with the hope, perhaps, that he would drop a
few of his happy verses in Dryburgh Abbey, the residence of his
lordship. ]
MY LORD,
The honour your lordship has done me, by your notice and advice in
yours of the 1st instant, I shall ever gratefully remember:--
"Praise from thy lips, 'tis mine with joy to boast,
They best can give it who deserve it most. "[167]
Your lordship touches the darling chord of my heart when you advise me
to fire my muse at Scottish story and Scotch scenes. I wish for
nothing more than to make a leisurely pilgrimage through my native
country; to sit and muse on those once hard-contended fields, where
Caledonia, rejoicing, saw her bloody lion borne through broken ranks
to victory and fame; and, catching the inspiration, to pour the
deathless names in song. But, my lord, in the midst of these
enthusiastic reveries, a long-visaged, dry, moral-looking phantom
strides across my imagination, and pronounces these emphatic words:--
"I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence. Friend, I do not come to open the
ill-closed wounds of your follies and misfortunes, merely to give you
pain: I wish through these wounds to imprint a lasting lesson on your
heart. I will not mention how many of my salutary advices you have
despised: I have given you line upon line and precept upon precept;
and while I was chalking out to you the straight way to wealth and
character, with audacious effrontery you have zigzagged across the
path, contemning me to my face: you know the consequences. It is not
yet three months since home was so hot for you that you were on the
wing for the western shore of the Atlantic, not to make a fortune, but
to hide your misfortune.
"Now that your dear-loved Scotia puts it in your power to return to
the situation of your forefathers, will you follow these will-o'-wisp
meteors of fancy and whim, till they bring you once more to the brink
of ruin? I grant that the utmost ground you can occupy is but half a
step from the veriest poverty; but still it is half a step from it. If
all that I can urge be ineffectual, let her who seldom calls to you in
vain, let the call of pride prevail with you. You know how you feel at
the iron gripe of ruthless oppression: you know how you bear the
galling sneer of contumelious greatness. I hold you out the
conveniences, the comforts of life, independence, and character, on
the one hand; I tender you civility, dependence, and wretchedness, on
the other. I will not insult your understanding by bidding you make a
choice. "
This, my lord, is unanswerable. I must return to my humble station,
and woo my rustic muse in my wonted way at the plough-tail. Still, my
lord, while the drops of life warm my heart, gratitude to that
dear-loved country in which I boast my birth, and gratitude to those
her distinguished sons who have honoured me so much with their
patronage and approbation, shall, while stealing through my humble
shades; ever distend my bosom, and at times, as now, draw forth the
swelling tear.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 167: Imitated from Pope's Eloisa to Abelard. ]
* * * * *
L.
TO MR. JAMES CANDLISH.
[James Candlish, a student of medicine, was well acquainted with the
poetry of Lowe, author of that sublime lyric, "Mary's Dream," and at
the request of Burns sent Lowe's classic song of "Pompey's Ghost," to
the Musical Museum. ]
_Edinburgh, March 21, 1787. _
MY EVER DEAR OLD ACQUAINTANCE,
I was equally surprised and pleased at your letter, though I dare say
you will think by my delaying so long to write to you that I am so
drowned in the intoxication of good fortune as to be indifferent to
old, and once dear connexions. The truth is, I was determined to write
a good letter, full of argument, amplification, erudition, and, as
Bayes says, _all that. _ I thought of it, and thought of it, and, by my
soul, I could not; and, lest you should mistake the cause of my
silence, I just sit down to tell you so. Don't give yourself credit,
though, that the strength of your logic scares me: the truth is, I
never mean to meet you on that ground at all. You have shown me one
thing which was to be demonstrated: that strong pride of reasoning,
with a little affectation of singularity, may mislead the best of
hearts. I likewise, since you and I were first acquainted, in the
pride of despising old woman's stories, ventured in "the daring path
Spinosa trod;" but experience of the weakness, not the strength of
human powers, made me glad to grasp at revealed religion.
I am still, in the Apostle Paul's phrase, "The old man with his
deeds," as when we were sporting about the "Lady Thorn. " I shall be
four weeks here yet at least; and so I shall expect to hear from you;
welcome sense, welcome nonsense.
I am, with the warmest sincerity,
R. B.
* * * * *
LI.
TO ----.
[The name of the friend to whom this letter was addressed is still
unknown, though known to Dr. Currie. The Esculapian Club of Edinburgh
have, since the death of Burns, added some iron-work, with an
inscription in honour of the Ayrshire poet to the original headstone.
The cost to the poet was ? 5 10s. ]
_Edinburgh, March, 1787. _
MY DEAR SIR,
You may think, and too justly, that I am a selfish, ungrateful fellow,
having received so many repeated instances of kindness from you, and
yet never putting pen to paper to say thank you; but if you knew what
a devil of a life my conscience has led me on that account, your good
heart would think yourself too much avenged. By the bye, there is
nothing in the whole frame of man which seems to be so unaccountable
as that thing called conscience. Had the troublesome yelping cur
powers efficient to prevent a mischief, he might be of use; but at the
beginning of the business, his feeble efforts are to the workings of
passion as the infant frosts of an autumnal morning to the unclouded
fervour of the rising sun: and no sooner are the tumultuous doings of
the wicked deed over, than, amidst the bitter native consequences of
folly, in the very vortex of our horrors, up starts conscience, and
harrows us with the feelings of the damned.
I have enclosed you, by way of expiation, some verse and prose, that,
if they merit a place in your truly entertaining miscellany, you are
welcome to. The prose extract is literally as Mr. Sprott sent it me.
The inscription on the stone is as follows:--
"HERE LIES ROBERT FERGUSSON, POET.
Born, September 5th, 1751--Died, 16th October 1774.
"No scuptur'd marble here, nor pompous lay,
'No storied urn or animated bust;'
This simple stone directs pale Scotia's way
To pour her sorrows o'er her poet's dust. "
On the other side of the stone is as follows:
"By special grant of the managers to Robert Burns, who erected this
stone, this burial place is to remain for ever sacred to the memory of
Robert Fergusson. "
* * * * *
_Session-house, within the Kirk of Canongate, the
twenty-second day of February, one thousand seven hundred
eighty-seven years. _
Sederunt of the Managers of the Kirk and Kirk-Yard funds of Canongate.
Which day, the treasurer to the said funds produced a letter from Mr.
Robert Burns, of date the 6th current, which was read and appointed to
be engrossed in their sederunt book, and of which letter the tenor
follows:--
"To the honourable baillies of Canongate, Edinburgh. --Gentlemen, I am
sorry to be told that the remains of Robert Fergusson, the so justly
celebrated poet, a man whose talents for ages to come will do honour
to our Caledonian name, lie in your church-yard among the ignoble
dead, unnoticed and unknown.
"Some memorial to direct the steps of the lovers of Scottish song,
when they wish to shed a tear over the 'narrow house' of the bard who
is no more, is surely a tribute due to Fergusson's memory: a tribute I
wish to have the honour of paying.
"I petition you then, gentlemen, to permit me to lay a simple stone
over his revered ashes, to remain an unalienable property to his
deathless fame. I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your very humble
servant (_sic subscribitur_),
ROBERT BURNS. "
Thereafter the said managers, in consideration of the laudable and
disinterested motion of Mr. Burns, and the propriety of his request,
did, and hereby do, unanimously, grant power and liberty to the said
Robert Burns to erect a headstone at the grave of the said Robert
Fergusson, and to keep up and preserve the same to his memory in all
time coming. Extracted forth of the records of the managers, by
WILLIAM SPROTT, Clerk.
* * * * *
LII.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[The poet alludes in this letter to the profits of the Edinburgh
edition of his Poems: the exact sum is no where stated, but it could
not have been less than seven hundred pounds. ]
_Edinburgh, March 22d, 1787. _
MADAM,
I read your letter with watery eyes. A little, very little while ago,
I had scarce a friend but the stubborn pride of my own bosom: now I am
distinguished, patronized, befriended by you. Your friendly advices, I
will not give them the cold name of criticisms, I receive with
reverence. I have made some small alterations in what I before had
printed. I have the advice of some very judicious friends among the
literati here, but with them I sometimes find it necessary to claim
the privilege of thinking for myself. The noble Karl of Glencairn, to
whom I owe more than to any man, does me the honor of giving me his
strictures: his hints, with respect to impropriety or indelicacy, I
follow implicitly.
You kindly interest yourself in my future views and prospects; there I
can give you no light. It is all
"Dark as was Chaos ere the infant sun
Was roll'd together, or had tried his beams
Athwart the gloom profound. "[168]
The appellation of a Scottish bard, is by far my highest pride; to
continue to deserve it is my most exalted ambition. Scottish scenes
and Scottish story are the themes I could wish to sing. I have no
dearer aim than to have it in my power, unplagued with the routine of
business, for which heaven knows I am unfit enough, to make leisurely
pilgrimages through Caledonia; to sit on the fields of her battles; to
wander on the romantic banks of her rivers; and to muse by the stately
towers or venerable ruins, once the honoured abodes of her heroes.
But these are all Utopian thoughts: I have dallied long enough with
life; 'tis time to be in earnest. I have a fond, an aged mother to care
for: and some other bosom ties perhaps equally tender. Where the
individual only suffers by the consequences of his own thoughtlessness,
indolence, or folly, he may be excusable; nay, shining abilities, and
some of the nobler virtues, may half sanctify a heedless character; but
where God and nature have intrusted the welfare of others to his care;
where the trust is sacred, and the ties are dear, that man must be far
gone in selfishness, or strangely lost to reflection, whom these
connexions will not rouse to exertion.
I guess that I shall clear between two and three hundred pounds by my
authorship; with that sum I intend, so far as I may be said to have
any intention, to return to my old acquaintance, the plough, and if I
can meet with a lease by which I can live, to commence farmer. I do
not intend to give up poetry; being bred to labour, secures me
independence, and the muses are my chief, sometimes have been my only
enjoyment. If my practice second my resolution, I shall have
principally at heart the serious business of life; but while following
my plough, or building up my shocks, I shall cast a leisure glance to
that dear, that only feature of my character, which gave me the notice
of my country, and the patronage of a Wallace.
Thus, honoured Madam, I have given you the bard, his situation, and
his views, native as they are in his own bosom.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 168: Blair's Grave. ]
* * * * *
LIII.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[This seems to be a letter acknowledging the payment of Mrs. Dunlop's
subscription for his poems. ]
_Edinburgh_, 15 _April, 1787. _
MADAM,
There is an affectation of gratitude which I dislike. The periods of
Johnson and the pause of Sterne, may hide a selfish heart. For my
part, Madam, I trust I have too much pride for servility, and too
little prudence for selfishness. I have this moment broken open your
letter, but
"Rude am I in speech,
And therefore little can I grace my cause
In speaking for myself--"[169]
so I shall not trouble you with any fine speeches and hunted figures.
I shall just lay my hand on my heart and say, I hope I shall ever have
the truest, the warmest sense of your goodness.
I come abroad in print, for certain on Wednesday. Your orders I shall
punctually attend to; only, by the way, I must tell you that I was
paid before for Dr. Moore's and Miss Williams's copies, through the
medium of Commissioner Cochrane in this place, but that we can settle
when I have the honour of waiting on you.
Dr. Smith[170] was just gone to London the morning before I received
your letter to him.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 169: From Othello. ]
[Footnote 170: Adam Smith. ]
* * * * *
LIV.
TO MR. SIBBALD,
BOOKSELLER IN EDINBURGH.
[This letter first appeared in that very valuable work, Nicholl's
Illustrations of Literature. ]
_Lawn Market. _
SIR,
So little am I acquainted with the words and manners of the more
public and polished walks of life, that I often feel myself much
embarrassed how to express the feelings of my heart, particularly
gratitude:--
"Rude am I in my speech,
And little therefore shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself--"
The warmth with which you have befriended an obscure man and a young
author in the last three magazines--I can only say, Sir, I feel the
weight of the obligation, I wish I could express my sense of it. In
the mean time accept of the conscious acknowledgment from,
Sir,
Your obliged servant,
R. B.
* * * * *
LV.
TO DR. MOORE.
[The book to which the poet alludes, was the well-known View of
Society by Dr. Moore, a work of spirit and observation. ]
_Edinburgh, 23d April, 1787. _
I received the books, and sent the one you mentioned to Mrs. Dunlop. I
am ill skilled in beating the coverts of imagination for metaphors of
gratitude. I thank you, Sir, for the honour you have done me; and to
my latest hour will warmly remember it. To be highly pleased with your
book is what I have in common with the world; but to regard these
volumes as a mark of the author's friendly esteem, is a still more
supreme gratification.
I leave Edinburgh in the course of ten days or a fortnight, and after
a few pilgrimages over some of the classic ground of Caledonia, Cowden
Knowes, Banks of Yarrow, Tweed, &c. , I shall return to my rural
shades, in all likelihood never more to quit them. I have formed many
intimacies and friendships here, but I am afraid they are all of too
tender a construction to bear carriage a hundred and fifty miles.
To
the rich, the great, the fashionable, the polite, I have no equivalent
to offer; and I am afraid my meteor appearance will by no means
entitle me to a settled correspondence with any of you, who are the
permanent lights of genius and literature.
My most respectful compliments to Miss Williams. If once this tangent
flight of mine were over, and I were returned to my wonted leisurely
motion in my old circle, I may probably endeavour to return her poetic
compliment in kind.
R. B.
* * * * *
LVI.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[This letter was in answer to one of criticism and remonstrance, from
Mrs. Dunlop, respecting "The Dream," which she had begged the poet to
omit, lest it should harm his fortunes with the world. ]
_Edinburgh, 30th April, 1787. _
---- Your criticisms, Madam, I understand very well, and could have
wished to have pleased you better. You are right in your guess that I
am not very amenable to counsel. Poets, much my superiors, have so
flattered those who possessed the adventitious qualities of wealth and
power, that I am determined to flatter no created being, either in
prose or verse.
I set as little by princes, lords, clergy, critics, &c. , as all these
respective gentry do by my bardship. I know what I may expect from the
word, by and by--illiberal abuse, and perhaps contemptuous neglect.
I am happy, Madam, that some of my own favourite pieces are
distinguished by your particular approbation. For my "Dream," which
has unfortunately incurred your loyal displeasure, I hope in four
weeks, or less, to have the honour of appearing, at Dunlop, in its
defence in person.
R. B.
* * * * *
LVII.
TO THE REV. DR. HUGH BLAIR.
[The answer of Dr. Blair to this letter contains the following
passage: "Your situation, as you say, was indeed very singular: and in
being brought out all at once from the shades of deepest privacy to so
great a share of public notice and observation, you had to stand a
severe trial. I am happy you have stood it so well, and, as far as I
have known or heard, though in the midst of many temptations, without
reproach to your character or behaviour. "]
_Lawn-market, Edinburgh, 3d May, 1787. _
REVEREND AND MUCH-RESPECTED SIR,
I leave Edinburgh to-morrow morning, but could not go without
troubling you with half a line, sincerely to thank you for the
kindness, patronage, and friendship you have shown me. I often felt
the embarrassment of my singular situation; drawn forth from the
veriest shades of life to the glare of remark; and honoured by the
notice of those illustrious names of my country whose works, while
they are applauded to the end of time, will ever instruct and mend the
heart. However the meteor-like novelty of my appearance in the world
might attract notice, and honour me with the acquaintance of the
permanent lights of genius and literature, those who are truly
benefactors of the immortal nature of man, I knew very well that my
utmost merit was far unequal to the task of preserving that character
when once the novelty was over; I have made up my mind that abuse, or
almost even neglect, will not surprise me in my quarters.
I have sent you a proof impression of Beugo's work[171] for me, done on
Indian paper, as a trifling but sincere testimony with what heart-warm
gratitude I am, &c.
R. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 171: The portrait of the poet after Nasmyth. ]
* * * * *
LVIII.
TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN.
[The poet addressed the following letter to the Earl of Glencairn,
when he commenced his journey to the Border. It was first printed in
the third edition of Lockhart's Life of Burns; an eloquent and manly
work. ]
MY LORD,
I go away to-morrow morning early, and allow me to vent the fulness of
my heart, in thanking your lordship for all that patronage, that
benevolence and that friendship with which you have honoured me. With
brimful eyes, I pray that you may find in that great Being, whose
image you so nobly bear, that friend which I have found in you. My
gratitude is not selfish design--that I disdain--it is not dodging
after the heels of greatness--that is an offering you disdain. It is a
feeling of the same kind with my devotion.
R. B.
* * * * *
LIX.
TO MR. WILLIAM DUNBAR.
[William Dunbar, Colonel of the Crochallan Fencibles. The name has a
martial sound, but the corps which he commanded was club of wits,
whose courage was exercised on "paitricks, teals, moorpowts, and
plovers. "]
_Lawn-market, Monday morning. _
DEAR SIR,
In justice to Spenser, I must acknowledge that there is scarcely a
poet in the language could have been a more agreeable present to me;
and in justice to you, allow me to say, Sir, that I have not met with
a man in Edinburgh to whom I would so willingly have been indebted for
the gift. The tattered rhymes I herewith present you, and the handsome
volumes of Spenser for which I am so much indebted to your goodness,
may perhaps be not in proportion to one another; but be that as it
may, my gift, though far less valuable, is as sincere a mark of esteem
as yours.
The time is approaching when I shall return to my shades; and I am
afraid my numerous Edinburgh friendships are of so tender a
construction, that they will not bear carriage with me. Yours is one
of the few that I could wish of a more robust constitution. It is
indeed very probable that when I leave this city, we part never more
to meet in this sublunary sphere; but I have a strong fancy that in
some future eccentric planet, the comet of happier systems than any
with which astronomy is yet acquainted, you and I, among the harum
scarum sons of imagination and whim, with a hearty shake of a hand, a
metaphor and a laugh, shall recognise old acquaintance:
"Where wit may sparkle all its rays,
Uncurs'd with caution's fears;
That pleasure, basking in the blaze,
Rejoice for endless years. "
I have the honour to be, with the warmest sincerity, dear Sir, &c.
R. B.
* * * * *
LX.
TO JAMES JOHNSON.
[James Johnson was an engraver in Edinburgh, and proprietor of the
Musical Museum; a truly national work, for which Burns wrote or
amended many songs. ]
_Lawn-market, Friday noon, 3 May, 1787. _
DEAR SIR,
I have sent you a song never before known, for your collection; the
air by M'Gibbon, but I know not the author of the words, as I got it
from Dr. Blacklock.
Farewell, my dear Sir! I wished to have seen you, but I have been
dreadfully throng, as I march to-morrow. Had my acquaintance with you
been a little older, I would have asked the favour of your
correspondence, as I have met with few people whose company and
conversation gives me so much pleasure, because I have met with few
whose sentiments are so congenial to my own.
When Dunbar and you meet, tell him that I left Edinburgh with the idea
of him hanging somewhere about my heart.
Keep the original of the song till we meet again, whenever that may
be.
R. B.
* * * * *
LXI.
TO WILLIAM CREECH, ESQ.
EDINBURGH.
[This characteristic letter was written during the poet's border tour:
he narrowly escaped a soaking with whiskey, as well as with water; for
according to the Ettrick Shepherd, "a couple of Yarrow lads, lovers of
poesy and punch, awaited his coming to Selkirk, but would not believe
that the parson-looking, black-avised man, who rode up to the inn,
more like a drouket craw than a poet, could be Burns, and so went
disappointed away. "]
_Selkirk, 13th May, 1787. _
MY HONOURED FRIEND,
The enclosed I have just wrote, nearly extempore, in a solitary inn in
Selkirk, after a miserable wet day's riding. I have been over most of
East Lothian, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk-shires; and next week I
begin a tour through the north of England. Yesterday I dined with Lady
Harriet, sister to my noble patron,[172] _Quem Deus conservet_! I would
write till I would tire you as much with dull prose, as I dare say by
this time you are with wretched verse, but I am jaded to death; so,
with a grateful farewell,
I have the honour to be,
Good Sir, yours sincerely,
R. B.
Auld chuckie Reekie's sair distrest,
Down drops her ance weel burnish'd crest,
Nae joy her bonnie buskit nest
Can yield ava;
Her darling bird that she loves best,
Willie's awa. [173]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 172: James, Earl of Glencairn. ]
[Footnote 173: See Poem LXXXIII. ]
* * * * *
LXII.
TO MR. PATISON,
BOOKSELLER, PAISLEY.
[This letter has a business air about it: the name of Patison is
nowhere else to be found in the poet's correspondence. ]
_Berrywell, near Dunse, May 17th, 1787. _
DEAR SIR,
I am sorry I was out of Edinburgh, making a slight pilgrimage to the
classic scenes of this country, when I was favoured with yours of the
11th instant, enclosing an order of the Paisley banking company on the
royal bank, for twenty-two pounds seven shillings sterling, payment in
full, after carriage deducted, for ninety copies of my book I sent
you. According to your motions, I see you will have left Scotland
before this reaches you, otherwise I would send you "Holy Willie" with
all my heart. I was so hurried that I absolutely forgot several things
I ought to have minded, among the rest sending books to Mr. Cowan; but
any order of yours will be answered at Creech's shop. You will please
remember that non-subscribers pay six shillings, this is Creech's
profit; but those who have subscribed, though their names have been
neglected in the printed list, which is very incorrect, are supplied
at subscription price. I was not at Glasgow, nor do I intend for
London; and I think Mrs. Fame is very idle to tell so many lies on a
poor poet. When you or Mr. Cowan write for copies, if you should want
any direct to Mr. Hill, at Mr. Creech's shop, and I write to Mr. Hill
by this post, to answer either of your orders. Hill is Mr. Creech's
first clerk, and Creech himself is presently in London. I suppose I
shall have the pleasure, against your return to Paisley, of assuring
you how much I am, dear Sir, your obliged humble servant,
R. B.
* * * * *
LXIII.
TO W. NICOL, ESQ. ,
MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, EDINBURGH.
[Jenny Geddes was a zealous old woman, who threw the stool on which
she sat, at the Dean of Edinburgh's head, when, in 1637, he attempted
to introduce a Scottish Liturgy, and cried as she threw, "Villain,
wilt thou say the mass at my lug! " The poet named his mare after this
virago. ]
_Carlisle, June 1. , 1787. _
KIND, HONEST-HEARTED WILLIE,
I'm sitten down here after seven and forty miles ridin', e'en as
forjesket and forniaw'd as a forfoughten cock, to gie you some notion
o' my land lowper-like stravaguin sin the sorrowfu' hour that I sheuk
hands and parted wi' auld Reekie.
My auld, ga'd gleyde o' a meere has huch-yall'd up hill and down brae,
in Scotland and England, as teugh and birnie as a vera devil wi' me.
It's true, she's as poor's a sang-maker and as hard's a kirk, and
tipper-taipers when she taks the gate, first like a lady's gentlewoman
in a minuwae, or a hen on a het girdle; but she's a yauld, poutherie
Girran for a' that, and has a stomack like Willie Stalker's meere that
wad hae disgeested tumbler-wheels, for she'll whip me aff her five
stimparts o' the best aits at a down-sittin and ne'er fash her thumb.
When ance her ringbanes and spavies, her crucks and cramps, and fairly
soupl'd, she beets to, beets to, and ay the hindmost hour the
tightest. I could wager her price to a thretty pennies, that for twa
or three wooks ridin at fifty miles a day, the deil-stricket a five
gallopers acqueesh Clyde and Whithorn could cast saut on her tail.
I hae dander'd owre a' the kintra frae Dumbar to Selcraig, and hae
forgather'd wi' monie a guid fallow, and monie a weelfar'd huzzie. I
met wi' twa dink quines in particular, ane o' them a sonsie, fine,
fodgel lass, baith braw and bonnie; the tither was clean-shankit,
straught, tight, weelfar'd winch, as blythe's a lintwhite on a
flowerie thorn, and as sweet and modest's a new-blawn plumrose in a
hazle shaw. They were baith bred to mainers by the beuk, and onie ane
o' them had as muckle smeddum and rumblegumtion as the half o' some
presbytries that you and I baith ken. They play'd me sik a deevil o' a
shavie that I daur say if my harigals were turn'd out, ye wad see twa
nicks i' the heart o' me like the mark o' a kail-whittle in a castock.
I was gaun to write you a lang pystle, but, Gude forgie me, I gat
mysel sae noutouriously bitchify'd the day after kail-time, that I can
hardly stoiter but and ben.
My best respecks to the guidwife and a' our common friens, especiall
Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank, and the honest guidman o' Jock's Lodge.
I'll be in Dumfries the morn gif the beast be to the fore, and the
branks bide hale.
Gude be wi' you, Willie! Amen!
R. B.
* * * * *
LXIV.
TO MR. JAMES SMITH,
AT MILLER AND SMITH'S OFFICE, LINLITHGOW.
[Burns, it seems by this letter, had still a belief that he would be
obliged to try his fortune in the West Indies: he soon saw how hollow
all the hopes were, which had been formed by his friends of "pension,
post or place," in his native land. ]
_Mauchline, 11th June, 1787. _
MY EVER DEAR SIR,
I date this from Mauchline, where I arrived on Friday even last. I
slept at John Dow's, and called for my daughter. Mr. Hamilton and your
family; your mother, sister, and brother; my quondam Eliza, &c. , all
well. If anything had been wanting to disgust me completely at
Armour's family, their mean, servile compliance would have done it.
Give me a spirit like my favourite hero, Milton's Satan:
Hail, horrors! hail,
Infernal world! and thou proufoundest hell,
Receive thy new possessor! he who brings
A mind not be chang'd by _place_ or _time_!
I cannot settle to my mind. --Farming, the only thing of which I know
anything, and heaven above knows but little do I understand of that, I
cannot, dare not risk on farms as they are. If I do not fix I will go
for Jamaica. Should I stay in an unsettled state at home, I would
only dissipate my little fortune, and ruin what I intend shall
compensate my little ones, for the stigma I have brought on their
names.
I shall write you more at large soon; as this letter costs you no
postage, if it be worth reading you cannot complain of your
pennyworth.
I am ever, my dear Sir,
Yours,
R. B.
P. S. The cloot has unfortunately broke, but I have provided a fine
buffalo-horn, on which I am going to affix the same cipher which you
will remember was on the lid of the cloot.
* * * * *
LXV.
TO WILLIAM NICOL, ESQ.
[The charm which Dumfries threw over the poet, seems to have dissolved
like a spell, when he sat down in Ellisland: he spoke, for a time,
with little respect of either place or people. ]
_Mauchline, June 18, 1787. _
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I am now arrived safe in my native country, after a very agreeable
jaunt, and have the pleasure to find all my friends well. I
breakfasted with your gray-headed, reverend friend, Mr. Smith; and was
highly pleased both with the cordial welcome he gave me, and his most
excellent appearance and sterling good sense.
I have been with Mr. Miller at Dalswinton, and am to meet him again in
August. From my view of the lands, and his reception of my bardship,
my hopes in that business are rather mended; but still they are but
slender.
I am quite charmed with Dumfries folks--Mr. Burnside, the clergyman,
in particular, is a man whom I shall ever gratefully remember; and his
wife, Gude forgie me! I had almost broke the tenth commandment on her
account. Simplicity, elegance, good sense, sweetness of disposition,
good humour, kind hospitality are the constituents of her manner and
heart; in short--but if I say one word more about her, I shall be
directly in love with her.
I never, my friend, thought mankind very capable of anything generous;
but the stateliness of the patricians in Edinburgh, and the servility
of my plebeian brethren (who perhaps formerly eyed me askance) since I
returned home, have nearly put me out of conceit altogether with my
species. I have bought a pocket Milton, which I carry perpetually
about with me, in order to study the sentiments--the dauntless
magnanimity, the intrepid, unyielding independence, the desperate
daring, and noble defiance of hardship, in that great personage,
SATAN. 'Tis true, I have just now a little cash; but I am
afraid the star that hitherto has shed its malignant, purpose-blasting
rays full in my zenith; that noxious planet so baneful in its
influences to the rhyming tribe, I much dread it is not yet beneath my
horizon. --Misfortune dodges the path of human life; the poetic mind
finds itself miserably deranged in, and unfit for the walks of
business; add to all, that thoughtless follies and hare-brained whims,
like so many _ignes fatui_, eternally diverging from the right line of
sober discretion, sparkle with step-bewitching blaze in the
idly-gazing eyes of the poor heedless bard, till, pop, "he falls like
Lucifer, never to hope again. " God grant this may be an unreal picture
with respect to me! but should it not, I have very little dependence
on mankind. I will close my letter with this tribute my heart bids me
pay you--the many ties of acquaintance and friendship which I have, or
think I have in life, I have felt along the lines, and, damn them,
they are almost all of them of such frail contexture, that I am sure
they would not stand the breath of the least adverse breeze of
fortune; but from you, my ever dear Sir, I look with confidence for
the apostolic love that shall wait on me "through good report and bad
report"--the love which Solomon emphatically says "is strong as
death. " My compliments to Mrs. Nicol, and all the circle of our common
friends.
P. S. I shall be in Edinburgh about the latter end of July.
R. B.
* * * * *
LXVI.
TO MR. JAMES CANDLISH.
[Candlish was a classic scholar, but had a love for the songs of
Scotland, as well as for the poetry of Greece and Rome. ]
_Edinburgh, 1787. _
MY DEAR FRIEND,
If once I were gone from this scene of hurry and dissipation, I
promise myself the pleasure of that correspondence being renewed
which has been so long broken. At present I have time for nothing.
Dissipation and business engross every moment. I am engaged in
assisting an honest Scotch enthusiast,[174] a friend of mine, who is an
engraver, and has taken it into his head to publish a collection of
all our songs set to music, of which the words and music are done by
Scotsmen. This, you will easily guess, is an undertaking exactly to my
taste. I have collected, begged, borrowed, and stolen, all the songs I
could meet with. Pompey's Ghost, words and music, I beg from you
immediately, to go into his second number: the first is already
published. I shall show you the first number when I see you in
Glasgow, which will be in a fortnight or less. Do be so kind as to
send me the song in a day or two; you cannot imagine how much it will
oblige me.
Direct to me at Mr.
