Beneath a craigy steep, a Bard, Laden with years and meikle pain, In loud lament bewail'd his lord, Whom Death had all untimely ta'en. He lean'd him to an ancient aik, rocky much Whose trunk was mould'ring down with years; His locks were bleachèd white with time, His hoary cheek was wet wi' tears! And as he touch'd his trembling harp, And as he tun'd his doleful sang, The winds, lamenting thro' their caves, To Echo bore the notes alang. "Ye scatter'd birds that faintly sing, oak choir But nocht in all revolving time nothing Can gladness bring again to me. "I am a bending aged tree, That long has stood the wind and rain; And my last hold of earth is gane; "I've seen sae mony changefu' years, Unheard, unpitied, unreliev'd, I bear alane my lade o' care, For silent, low, on beds of dust, Lie a' that would my sorrows share. "And last, (the sum of a' my griefs!) His country's pride, his country's stay: For a' the life of life is dead, And hope has left my aged ken, On forward wing forever fled. "Awake thy last sad voice, my harp! The voice of woe and wild despair! Awake, resound thy latest lay, Then sleep in silence evermair! And thou, my last, best, only friend, That fillest an untimely tomb, Accept this tribute from the Bard Thou brought from Fortune's mirkest gloom. "In Poverty's low barren vale, Thick mists obscure, involv'd me round; "O! why has worth so short a date, While villains ripen grey with time? Must thou, the noble, gen'rous, great, Fall in bold manhood's hardy prime ! load darkest Why did I live to see that day- "The bridegroom may forget the bride That on his head an hour has been; That smiles sae sweetly on her knee; And a' that thou hast done for me!" [On 27th January 1791, died at Falmouth, on his return from Lisbon, whither he had gone in the search for health, James Earl of Glencairn, the amiable friend and patron of Burns. The poet put on mourning for the deceased, and designed, if possible, to attend his funeral in the family vault at Kilmaurs. On 19th March, Burns enclosed a rough copy of the poem to his lordship's factor, Mr. Alexander Dalziel. In the letter which accompanied it, he says:-"An author, by the time he has composed and corrected his work, has quite pared away all his powers of critical discrimination . . . . I had a packet of poetical bagatelles ready to send to Lady Betty, when I saw the fatal tidings in the newspaper. I see by the same channel that the honored remains of my noble patron are designed to be brought to the family burial place. Dare I trouble you to let me know privately before the day of interment, that I may cross the country, and steal among the crowd, to pay a tear to the last sight of my ever-revered benefactor? It will oblige me beyond expression.” .... To the sister of his lordship also, he enclosed a copy, and in his letter he says:-"If among my children I have a son that has a heart, he shall hand it down to his child as a family honor and a family debt, that my dearest existence I owe to the noble house of Glencairn! "I was about to say, my lady, that if you think the poem may venture to see the light, I would, in some way or other, give it to the world." We note the following variations : In relation to the two variations on the last stanza Sir James Coxe wrote to Mr. Douglas, in 1876, saying:-"In the poem on the Earl of Glencairn, Burns wrote originally "I'll remember gude Glencairn, and a' that he has done for me," but in reading it to the Earl's sister or sisters, the epithet "Gude" was objected to and "great" proposed in its stead. Burns, however, felt that "great" was altogether inappropriate, and was placed in the dilemma of adhering to "gude," and giving offence where he wished to give pleasure, or violating his sense of what was right and fitting by adopting "great." Calling on Miss Leslie Baillie, he mentioned to her the difficulty he was in, when she suggested the dropping of both 'gude' and 'great,' and addressing the closing words to the Earl :— "I'll remember thee, Glencairn, and a' that thou hast done for me." This happy suggestion was at once adopted by Burns. My authority was Lady Coxe, the daughter of Bonie Leslie."] LINES TO SIR JOHN WHITEFOORD, BART., SENT WITH THE FOREGOING POEM. (EDINBURGH Ed., 1793.) THOU, who thy honor as thy God rever'st, Who, save thy mind's reproach, nought earthly fear'st, To thee this votive offering I impart, The tearful tribute of a broken heart. The Friend thou valued'st, I, the Patron lov'd; His worth, his honor, all the world approved : We'll mourn till we too go as he has gone, And tread the shadowy path to that dark world unknown. [As the author has printed these lines in connection with the Lament for Glencairn, we do not separate the pieces, although an interval of several months occurred between the compositions. Sir John, in a letter dated from Maybole on 16th October 1791, acknowledged receipt of a copy of the Lament, and of these complimentary lines to himself. He very orthodoxly observes as follows:-"I have always thought it most natural to suppose (and it is a strong argument for a future existence), that worth and honor, when neglected here, shall, in a happier state beyond the grave, meet with their just reward, and temporal misfortunes shall receive an eternal recompense. Let us cherish this hope for our departed friend, and moderate our grief for the loss we have sustained, knowing that he cannot come to us, but we may go to him." The poet's manuscript, originally forwarded to Sir John, is now in the British Museum, where, instead of the third and fourth lines of the author's improved text, we read as follows: "Witness the ardor of this votive lay, With streaming eyes and throbbing heart I pay." The word "shadowy" in the closing line, is a farther improvement, which occurred to Burns while his poems were at the press. In his MS. the word is dreary." He ordered the alteration to be made; but unfortunately the correction came too late to be effected in the edition of 1793, and in the next issue that matter was overlooked.] CRAIGIEBURN WOOD. (JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.) This song was composed on a passion which a Mr. Gillespie, a particular friend of mine, had for a Miss Lorimer, afterwards Mrs. Whelpdale. The young lady was born at Craigieburn Wood. The chorus is part of an old, foolish ballad.-R. B. Glenriddell Notes. SWEET closes the ev'ning on Craigieburn Wood, But the pride o' the spring on the Craigieburn Can yield me nought but sorrow. Chorus.-Beyond thee, dearie, beyond thee, dearie, O sweetly, soundly, weel may he sleep |
