592 Page 96, 34. Var. And curse the ruthless wretch, and mourn thy hapless fate. The changes in this poem were made on the suggestion of Dr. Gregory, to whom the Poet had sent a copy. Page 97. This poem was addressed to the daughter of Mr. William Cruikshank, one of the masters of the High School of Edinburgh. Page 98. Bruar Falls, in Athol, are exceedingly picturesque and beautiful, but their effect is much impaired by the want of trees and shrubs. R. B. Page 98, 119, col 2. Var. The bairdie, music's youngest child. Page 99, 11, col 2. Mr. Walker in his letter to Dr. Currie, describing the impression Burns made at Blair, says, 'The Duke's fine family attracted much of his admiration; he drank their health as honest men and bonie lasses, an idea which was much applauded by the company, and with which he has very felicitously closed his poem.' Page 99. The occasion of the satire was as follows. In 1786 Dr. Wm. McGill, one of the ministers of Ayr, published an essay on "The Death of Jesus Christ,' which was denounced as heterodox by Dr. Wm. Peebles, of Newton-upon-Ayr, in a sermon preached by him November 5th, 1788. Dr. McGill published a defence, and the case came before the Ayr presbytery, and finally before the synod of Glasgow and Ayr. In August, 1789, Burns wrote to Mr. Logan: 'I have, as you will shortly see, finished the "Kirk's Alarm;" but now that it is done, and that I have laughed once or twice at the conceits of some of the stanzas, I am determined not to let it get into the public: so I send you this copy, the first I have sent to Ayrshire, except some few of the stanzas, which I wrote off in embryo for Gavin Hamilton, under the express provision and request that you will only read it to a few of us, and do not any account give, or permit to be taken, any copy of the ballad.' With reference to the ballad he wrote to Mr. Graham of Fintry: I laughed myself at some conceits in it, though I am convinced in my conscience that there are a good many heavy stanzas in it too. Page 102, I 2. Var. The eye with pleasure and amazement fills. Page 102. Miss Susan Dunlop, daughter of Mr. Dunlop, married a French gentleman named Henri. The young couple were living at Loudon Castle when M. Henri died, leaving his wife pregnant. The verses were written on the birth of a son and heir. Mrs. Dunlop communicated the intelligence to Burns, and received the following letter in return: "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country!" Fate has long owed me a letter of good news from you, in return for the many tidings of sorrow which I have received. In this instance I most cordially obey the Apostle -"Rejoice with them that do rejoice." For me to sing for joy is no new thing; but to preach | for joy, as I have done in the commencement of this epistle, is a pitch of extravagant rapture | to which I never rose before. I read your letter -I literally jumped for joy: how could such a mercurial creature as a poet lumpishly keep his seat on the receipt of the best news from his best friend? I seized my gilt-headed Wangee | rod, an instrument indispensably necessary, in my left hand, in the moment of inspiration and rapture; and stride, stride-quick and quicker -out skipped I among the blooming banks of Nith, to muse over my joy by retail. To keep within the bounds of prose was impossible.' Mr. Chambers traces the future history of Mrs. Henri and her son: 'In a subsequent letter Burns deplores her (Mrs. Henri's) dangerous and distressing situation in France, exposed to the tumults of the Revolution; and he has soon after occasion to condole with his venerable friend on the death of her daughter in a foreign land. When this sad event took place, the orphan child fell under the immediate care of his paternal grandfather, who, however, was soon obliged to take refuge in Switzerland, leaving the infant behind him. he and the Scotch friends of the child heard Years passed, nothing of it, and concluded that it was lost. At length, when the elder Henri was enabled to return to his ancestral domains, he had the unspeakable satisfaction of finding that his grandson and heir was alive and well, having never been removed from the place. been protected and reared with the greatest The child had care by a worthy female named Mademoiselle Susetté, formerly a domestic in the family. This excellent person had through all the levelling violence of the intereven contrived, vening period, to preserve in her young charge the feeling appropriate to his rank. Though absolutely indebted to her industry for his bread, she had caused him always to be seated by himself at table and regularly waited on, so that the otherwise plebeian circumstances in which he lived did not greatly affect him. The subject of Burns' stanzas was, a very few years ago, proprietor of the family estates; and it is agreeable to add that Mademoiselle Susette then lived in his paternal mansion, in the enjoyment of that grateful respect to which her fidelity and discretion so eminently entitled her.' Page 103. This epistle was prefixed to the edition of Sillar's poems, published in Kilmarnock in 1789. Page 104. to Mr. Aitken of Ayr, surveyor of taxes for the The 'Inventory' was addressed district. It was first printed in the Liverpool edition of the poems. He Page 105. the Whistle is curious,' writes Burns, I shall 'As the authentic prose history of here give it :-In the train of Anne of Denmark, when she came to Scotland with our James the Sixth, there came over also a Danish gentleman of gigantic stature and great prowess, and a matchless champion of Bacchus. had a little ebony whistle, which at the commencement of the orgies he laid on the table; and whoever was last able to blow it, everybody else being disabled by the potency of the bottle, was to carry off the whistle as a trophy of victory. The Dane produced credentials of his victories, without a single defeat, at the courts of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Moscow. Warsaw, and several of the petty courts in Germany: and challenged the Scots' Bacchanalians to the alternative of trying his prowess. acknowledging their inferiority. After many or else overthrows on the part of the Scots, the Dane was encountered by Sir Robert Lawrie of Maxwelton, ancestor of the present worthy baronet of that name, who after three days' and three nights' hard contest, left the Scandinavian under the table, And blew on the whistle his requiem shrill. Sir Walter, son to Sir Robert before mentioned, afterwards lost the whistle to Walter Riddel of 593 Glenriddel, who had married a sister of Sir Walter's. On Friday, the 16th October, 1690, at Friar's Carse, the whistle was once more contended for, as related in the ballad, by the present Sir Robert Lawrie of Maxwelton; Robert Riddel. Esq. of Glenriddel, lineal descendant and representative of Walter Riddel, who won the whistle, and in whose family it had continued; and Alexander Ferguson, Esq. of Craigdarroch, likewise descended of the great Sir Robert; which last gentleman carried off the hard-won honours of the field. Oddly enough, on the 16th October, 1789, we R. B.' have a letter from Burns addressed to Captain Riddel, referring to the Bacchanalian contest. 'Big with the idea of this important day at Friar's Carse, I have watched the elements and skies in the full persuasion that they would announce it to the astonished world by some phenomena of terrific portent. Yesternight, till a very late hour, did I wait with anxious horror for the appearance of some comet firing half the sky, or aerial armies of sanguinary Scandinavians darting athwart the startled heaven, rapid as the ragged lightning, and horrid as the convulsions of nature that bury nations. "The elements, however, seem to take the It is not quite clear what share the poet took 594 Burns walked home without any assistance, Page 105, 5. See Ossian's Caric-thura. R. B. Page 105, 19. See Johnson's 'Tour to the Hebrides. R. B. Page 107. Concerning this 'sketch' Burns wrote to Mrs. Dunlop, April, 1789: 'I have a poetic whim in my head, which I at present dedicate, or rather inscribe, to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox; but how long that A few of the fancy may hold, I cannot say. first lines I have just rough-sketched as follows.' Page 108. Burns had sent a letter to Dr. Blacklock, under charge of Robert Heron, detailing certain recent changes in his circumstances. The letter miscarried, and Blacklock addressed Burns in the following epistle. Edinburgh, 24th August, 1789. If art it may be called in thee, And warms thy soul with all the Muses: And ruthless souls with grief surprise, Most anxiously I wish to know For me, with grief and sickness spent, THOS. BLACKLOCK." To this graceful effusion, breathing interest and good wishes, Burns responded, in a light mood at first, but which becomes overclouded with bitterness towards the close. or two. Page 109. Page 109. Miss Burnet, daughter of Lord Monboddo, celebrated in the Address to Edinburgh. This elegy seems to have cost the poet considerable trouble. In a letter to Mr. Cunningham, January, 1791, he says:-'I have these several months been hammering at an elegy on the amiable and accomplished Miss Burnet. I have got, and can get, no farther than the following fragment.' Page 110. This epistle is supposed to have been sent to Mr. Peter Stuart, of the Star From the remonstrance which newspaper, follows it would seem that the newspaper did not arrive with the punctuality which was desired. Page 111. Basil William, Lord Daer, son of the Earl of Selkirk, died in 1794, in his thirtyBurns met him at Professor second year. Dugald Stewart's villa at Catrine. Page 111. Miss Fontenelle was an actress at the Dumfries' Theatre. In sending her the address, Burns writes: "Will the foregoing lines be of any service to you in your approaching benefit-night? If they will, I shall They are be prouder of my muse than ever nearly extempore; I know they have no great merit but though they should add but little to the entertainment of the evening, they give me the happiness of an opportunity to declare how much I have the honour to be, &c.' Page 112, 2. Var. The Rights of Woman claim some small attention. Page 112, 19 Var. Our second Right-but idle here is caution. Page 112, 15. Var. Got drunk, would swagger, swear, kick up a riot. Page 112, I 20. An ironical allusion to the saturnalia of the Caledonian Hunt. Page 114. Gilbert Burns doubted whether the Poem on Pastoral Poetry was written by his brother. Few readers, we fancy, can have any doubt on the matter. Burns is, unquestionably, the author. The whole poem is full of lines which are like autographs,' and the four closing stanzas are in the Poet's best manner. Page 114. With reference to these verses Burns, in 1795, wrote Mr. Thomson: 4 Written on the blank leaf of a copy of the last edition of my poems, presented to the lady whom, in so many fictitious reveries of passion, but with the most ardent sentiments of real friendship, I have so often sung under the name of Chloris.' The lady was Miss Jean Lorimer, daughter of a farmer residing at some little distance from Dumfries. Chloris was the most unfortunate of all Burns' heroines While very young she eloped with a gentleman named Whelpdale, and was shortly after deserted by him. She died in 1831, having lived the greater portion of her life in penury. Page 115 Mr. Tytler had published an Inquiry, Historical and Critical, into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots.' Page 115, 37. An artist, named Miers, was then practising in Edinburgh as a maker of silhouette portraits. Burns sat to him, and to Mr. Tytler he forwarded one of Miers' performances. Page 116. This sketch is descriptive of the family of Mr. Dunlop, of Dunlop. Page 116, 11. Afterwards General Dunlop, of Dunlop. Page 127, 13, col. 2. Var. Auld Wodrow lang has wrought mischief. We trusted death wad bring relief. Page 128. The Rev. Mr. M'Math was, when Burns addressed him, assistant and successor to the Rev. Peter Wodrow, minister of Torbolton. He is said to have been an excellent preacher. Page 130. 'Holy Willie' was William Fisher, the leading elder in the Rev. Mr. Auld's session. He was afterwards found guilty of embezzling money from the church offerings, and died in a ditch, into which he had fallen when drunk. Page 132, 1. Written while Burns was on a visit to Sir William Murray, of Ochtertyre. Page 132. Master Tootie was a dealer in cows, who lived in Mauchline It was his practice to disguise the age of his cattle, by polishing away the markings on their horns Page 133. The newspaper contained some strictures on Burns' poetry. Page 134. John Maxwell, Esq. of Terraughty and Munches. He died in 1814. Page 135, 1. It is very doubtful whether Burns is the author of this piece. Page 140. Burns' illegitimate daughter married Mr. John Bishop, overseer at Polkemmet, and died in 1817 She is said to have been strikingly like her father. Page 141. In 1780 Mr. John Goldie, or Goudie, a tradesman in Kilmarnock, published a series of Essays touching the authority of the Scriptures. A second edition of the work appeared in 1785. Burns' epistle to him, although written when Ayrshire was convulsed with the New Light and Auld Light controversies, was not published till 1801. It appeared first in a Glasgow edition of the poems. Page 141, 16, col 2 Dr. Taylor of Norwich, the author of a work entitled The Scripture Doctrine of Original Sin proposed to Free and Candid Examination,' which was extensively read by the New Light party in Ayrshire at the time. Page 141. Mr. James Tait of Glenconnor was an old friend of the Poet, and was consulted by him respecting the taking of the farm of Ellisland. Page 142. "The Esopus of this strange epistle,' says Mr. Allan Cunningham, was Williamson the actor, and the Maria to whom it was addressed was Mrs. Riddel.' Page 144. A person named Glendining. who took away his own life, was the subject of this epigram Mr. Cunningham adds the following particulars: My friend Dr. Copland Hutchison happened to be walking out that way'-to a place called the Old Chapel near Dumfries,' where Glendining had been interred. 'He saw Burns with his foot on the grave, his hat on his knee, and paper laid on his hat, on which he was writing. He then took the paper, thrust it with his finger into the red mould of the grave, and went away. This was the above epigram, and such was the Poet's mode of publishing it.' Page 144, 10. These lines form the conclusion of a letter written by Burns to Mr. John Kennedy, dated August, 1786, while his intention yet held of emigrating to Jamaica. Page 144. "The Farewell' was written in the autumn of 1786, when the idea of emigration was firmly fixed in the Poet's mind. Page 147. 27. These verses were inscribed by Burns on the back of a window-shutter of an inn or toll-house near the scene of the devastations. Page 148 Major Logan, a retired military officer, fond of wit, violin-playing, and conviviality, who lived at Park, near Ayr. Page 149. Gabriel Richardson was a breweri in Dumfries. The epitaph was written on a goblet, which is still preserved in the family. Page 150, 5. Written in reply to the minis ter of Gladsmuir, who had attacked Burns in verse relative to the imprudent lines inscribed on a window-pane in Stirling. Page 150. Written from Ellisland to his friend Mr. Hugh Parker of Kilmarnock. Page 150. These verses were originally headed, To the Right Honourable the Earl of Breadalbane, President of the Right Honourable and Honourable the Highland Society, which met on the 23d of May last, at the Shakspeare, Covent Garden, to concert ways and means to frustrate the designs of five hundred Highlanders, who, as the Society were informed by Mr. Mackenzie of Applecross, were so audacious as to attempt an escape from their lawful lords and masters, whose property they were, by emigrating from the lands of Mr. M'Donald of Glengarry to the wilds of Canada in search of that fantastic thing-LIBERTY.' Page 151, 25. These verses form the conclusion of a letter written to Mr. John Kennedy from Mossgiel, of date 3d March, 1785. Page 152. Lord President Dundas died on the 13th December, 1787, and Burns composed the elegy at the suggestion of Mr. Charles Hay, advocate, afterwards elevated to the bench under the designation of Lord Newton. On a copy of the elegy Burns afterwards wrote: "The foregoing poem has some tolerable lines in it, but the incurable wound of my pride will not suffer me to correct, or even to peruse it. I sent a copy of it, with my best prose letter, to the son of the great man, by the hands of one of the noblest | men in God's world, Alexander Wood, surgeon. | When, behold! his solicitorship took no more notice of my poem or me than if I had been a strolling fiddler, who had made free with his lady's name over a silly new reel. Did the gentleman imagine that I looked for any dirty gra'uity?' Page 153, 5. Written at Castle Kenmure at the request of Mr. Gordon, whose dog had recently died. Page 153. 19. These lines were preserved by Miss Louisa Laurie, and appear to have been written on the same evening with the well-known 'Verses left in the room where he slept.' Page 155, 19 'The Grace' was repeated at St Mary's Isle at the request of the Earl of Selkirk. |