VERSES ON THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WOODS NEAR DRUMLANRIG. (HOGG AND MOTHERWELL'S ED., 1835.) As on the banks of winding Nith, And drank my fill o' fancy's dream, Dark, like the frowning rock, his brow, Amang his caves, the sigh he gave- To muse some favorite Scottish theme, "There was a time, it's nae lang syne, Threw broad and dark across the pool; linnets wails birchen not long ago * These words are nearly synonymous, both meaning level land by the side of a stream, yet to a farmer there is a shade of difference. The haugh is not so necessarily close on a river.-J. H. "When, glinting thro' the trees, appear'd glancing That, slowly curling, clamb the hill. Its leafy bield for ever gane, To shiver in the blast its lane." above hearth-fire smoke "Alas!" quoth I, "what ruefu' chance climbed shelter birch alone bereft Has stripp'd the cleeding aff your braes? covering Was it the bitter eastern blast, That scatters blight in early spring? Or was't the wil'fire scorch'd their boughs, lightning "Nae eastlin blast," the sprite replied; Nae canker-worms get leave to dwell: That reptile wears a Ducal crown." cruel [On no reliable evidence, except what is conveyed to the reader by the force and beauty of the lines, can it be demonstrated that this is a production of Burns. It first appeared in print in the Scots Magazine for Feb. 1803, where we are told in a note that the verses were found in Burns's hand-writing, pasted on the back of a window-shutter in an inn or toll-house, near the scene of desolation. It is said also that the piece was well-known in the district by oral rehearsal long before it was printed in the periodical named. Allan Cunningham has condemned his brother-minstrel William Motherwell for placing this effusion "within the charmed circle of Burns's poetry; "but in this instance we commend Motherwell for his superior taste and judgment. We know not on what ground the year 1795 has been set down by some editors as the probable date of this poem. We have good reason for claiming 1791 as the proper date. The poet's detestation of the character of the Duke of Queensberry has been sufficiently displayed to the reader, both in the text and notes of the Election Ballads. But we give to the public in the Prose portion of this Edition, a very conciliatory letter addressed by Burns to his Grace in 1793, which justifies us in giving an earlier date to the bitter verses in the text.] (The Duke's object in felling the trees on his beautiful estates -for the woods around Neidpath in Peeblesshire shared the same fate was to raise money to provide a princely dowry for the Countess of Yarmouth, his supposed natural daughter. The mother of this lady had more than one string to her bow; for she levied similar "black mail" upon another member of the aristocracy, Sir John Selwyn, and it is said she was a woman of such wonderful tact, and had both of the venerable rakes (who were equally eager after the honor of the paternity) so thoroughly under control, that she gave them to understand that he who most richly endowed the offspring should enjoy the dubious honor. Queensberry, by the reckless sacrifice, which Burns deplores, won the day. This sacrifice he made the more readily because he detested the Buccleuch family who were to inherit his estates, they being too respectable to permit themselves to hold intercourse with the old roué-J. H.) THE GALLANT WEAVER. (JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.) WHERE Cart rins rowin to the sea, My daddie sign'd my tocher-band, gave be lost dowry-bond But to my heart I'll add my hand,* And give it to the Weaver. While birds rejoice in leafy bowers, While bees delight in opening flowers, While corn grows green in summer showers, [In connection with a song given at p. 148, Vol. II., "To the Weaver's gin ye go," we have suggested that the poet may have composed it as a humorous reference to a portion of Jean Armour's history in 1786, when she was sent to Paisley to keep her out of his way. The same observation will apply to the present very admirable song. George Thomson coveted this song for his collection; but he spoiled it by substituting "Sailor" for Weaver, in every fourth line; and, apparently ill-satisfied with the melody to which the song is set in the Museum-"The Weaver's March "-he selected another air for it, called "The auld wife ayont the fire." Neither of these melodies are of consequence enough to justify repetition here.] (Mr. Douglas's suggestion that this song has reference to Jean's alleged flirtation with "Robie" Wilson may be well-founded-or it may not. If the fact is as he suggests, then Burns made a considerable draught on the license granted to poets when he spoke of Jean's father signing a "tocher-band" in favor of "the lad that has the land." Armour was not in a temper to sign such a bond, and Burns had not a rood of land.-J. H.) EPIGRAM AT BROWNHILL INN. (CHAMBERS, 1838.) AT Brownhill we always get dainty good cheer, [This Inn, three miles south of Thornhill, on the road near Ellisland, was a convenient resting-place for the poet on his home "And in the lustre of her youth, she gave Her hand, with her heart in it, to Francesco."-Rogers' Italy. ward journey in some of his Excise rounds. The Estate of Closeburn had been purchased in 1773, by the Rev. James Stuart Menteith, Rector of Barrowby in Lincolnshire, who appointed a gentleman named William Stewart to be resident factor of his Dumfriesshire property. Mr. Bacon, the landlord of Brownhill Inn, was married to a sister of the factor, and Burns contracted some intimacy with the family during the period of his occupation of Ellisland. An English commercial traveller communicated the above epigram and relative anecdote to Chambers, who has recorded that his informant having one day rested for dinner at Brownhill found himself in the company of Burns. The principal dish on the table was bacon and beans, and the Innkeeper, as was his wont, dined with the visitors, who seemed to feel that they had rather too much of the host's presence. During an interval when he left the room to see after a fresh supply of toddy, Burns was called upon for one of those impromptu verses which he was famous for producing, as occasion suggested, and he immediately uttered the above riddle which afforded much amusement, and was not hard to solve. Mr. Bacon continued to keep the same Inn till his death in 1825, when at a sale of his effects, a plainly mounted horn snuff-box, which he had received from Burns, brought five pounds.] YOU'RE WELCOME, WILLIE STEWART. (LOCKHART'S LIFE OF BURNS, 1829.) Chorus.-You're welcome, Willie Stewart, There's ne'er a flower that blooms in May, Come, bumpers high, express your joy, The tappet hen,* gae bring her ben, You're welcome, Willie Stewart, &c. in *Literally a hen with a large bright comb. The term was in former days applied, figuratively, to a large measure for whisky.-J. H. |
