Chapter II: Preface (1)

I cannot give to my country this edition of one of its favourite poets, without stating that I have deliberately omitted several pieces of verse ascribed to Burns by other editors, who too hastily, and I think on insufficient testimony, admitted them among his works. If I am unable to share in the hesitation expressed by one of them on the authorship of the stanzas on "Pastoral Poetry," I can as little share in the feelings with which they have intruded into the charmed circle of his poetry such compositions as "Lines on the Ruins of Lincluden College," "Verses on the Destruction of the Woods of Drumlanrig," "Verses written on a Marble Slab in the Woods of Aberfeldy," and those entitled "The Tree of Liberty." These productions, with the exception of the last, were never seen by any one even in the handwriting of Burns, and are one and all wanting in that original vigour of language and manliness of sentiment which distinguish his poetry. With respect to "The Tree of Liberty" in particular, a subject dear to the heart of the Bard, can any one conversant with his genius imagine that he welcomed its growth or celebrated its fruit with such "capon craws" as these?

"Upo' this tree there grows sic fruit,
Its virtues a' can tell, man;
It raises man aboon the brute,
It mak's him ken himsel', man.
Gif ance the peasant taste a bit,
He's greater than a lord, man,
An' wi' a beggar shares a mite
O' a' he can afford, man."

There are eleven stanzas, of which the best, compared with the "A man's a man for a' that" of Burns, sounds like a cracked pipkin against the "heroic clang" of a Damascus blade. That it is extant in the handwriting of the poet cannot be taken as a proof that it is his own composition, against the internal testimony of utter want of all the marks by which we know him--the Burns-stamp, so to speak, which is visible on all that ever came from his pen. Misled by his handwriting, I inserted in my former edition of his works an epitaph, beginning

"Here lies a rose, a budding rose,"

the composition of Shenstone, and which is to be found in the church-yard of Hales-Owen: as it is not included in every edition of that poet's acknowledged works, Burns, who was an admirer of his genius, had, it seems, copied it with his own hand, and hence my error. If I hesitated about the exclusion of "The Tree of Liberty," and its three false brethren, I could have no scruples regarding the fine song of "Evan Banks," claimed and justly for Miss Williams by Sir Walter Scott, or the humorous song called "Shelah O'Neal," composed by the late Sir Alexander Boswell. When I have stated that I have arranged the Poems, the Songs, and the Letters of Burns, as nearly as possible in the order in which they were written; that I have omitted no piece of either verse or prose which bore the impress of his hand, nor included any by which his high reputation would likely be impaired, I have said all that seems necessary to be said, save that the following letter came too late for insertion in its proper place: it is characteristic and worth a place anywhere.

ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

* * * * *

TO DR. ARCHIBALD LAURIE.

_Mossgiel, 13th Nov. 1786._

DEAR SIR,

I have along with this sent the two volumes of Ossian, with the remaining volume of the Songs. Ossian I am not in such a hurry about; but I wish the Songs, with the volume of the Scotch Poets, returned as soon as they can conveniently be dispatched. If they are left at Mr. Wilson, the bookseller's shop, Kilmarnock, they will easily reach me.

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

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

I am, dear Sir, yours sincerely,

ROBERT BURNS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

THE LIFE OF ROBERT BURNS

Preface to the Kilmarnock Edition of 1786

Dedication to the Edinburgh Edition of 1787

* * * * *

POEMS.

Winter. A Dirge

The Death and dying Words of poor Mailie

Poor Mailie's Elegy

First Epistle to Davie, a brother Poet

Second

Address to the Deil

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

To a Haggis

A Prayer under the pressure of violent Anguish

A Prayer in the prospect of Death

Stanzas on the same occasion

A Winter Night

Remorse. A Fragment

The Jolly Beggars. A Cantata

Death and Dr. Hornbook. A True Story

The Twa Herds; or, the Holy Tulzie

Holy Willie's Prayer

Epitaph to Holy Willie

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

The Holy Fair

The Ordination

The Calf

To James Smith

The Vision

Halloween

Man was made to Mourn. A Dirge

To Ruin

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

To J. Lapraik, an old Scottish Bard. First Epistle

To J. Lapraik. Second Epistle

To J. Lapraik. Third Epistle

To William Simpson, Ochiltree

Address to an illegitimate Child

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

To the Rev. John M'Math

To a Mouse

Scotch Drink

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

Address to the unco Guid, or the rigidly Righteous

Tam Samson's Elegy

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

Despondency. An Ode

The Cotter's Saturday Night

The first Psalm

The first six Verses of the ninetieth Psalm

To a Mountain Daisy

Epistle to a young Friend

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

Epistle to J. Rankine, enclosing some Poems

On a Scotch Bard, gone to the West Indies

The Farewell

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

A Dedication to Gavin Hamilton, Esq.

Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux

Letter to James Tennant of Glenconner

On the Birth of a posthumous Child

To Miss Cruikshank

Willie Chalmers

Verses left in the room where he slept

To Gavin Hamilton, Esq., recommending a boy

To Mr. M'Adam, of Craigen-gillan

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

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

Lines written on a Bank-note

A Dream

A Bard's Epitaph

The Twa Dogs. A Tale

Lines on meeting with Lord Daer

Address to Edinburgh

Epistle to Major Logan

The Brigs of Ayr

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

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

To Miss Logan, with Beattie's Poems

The American War, A fragment

The Dean of Faculty. A new Ballad

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

To Clarinda

Verses written under the Portrait of the Poet Fergusson

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

Sketch. A Character

To Mr. Scott, of Wauchope

Epistle to William Creech

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

On scaring some Water-fowl in Loch Turit

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

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

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

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

The same. December, 1788. Second Copy

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

A Mother's Lament for the Death of her Son

First Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray

On the Death of Sir James Hunter Blair

Epistle to Hugh Parker

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

Elegy on the year 1788. A Sketch

Address to the Toothache

Ode. Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Oswald, of Auchencruive

Fragment inscribed to the Right Hon. C.J. Fox

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

To Dr. Blacklock. In answer to a Letter

Delia. An Ode

To John M'Murdo, Esq.

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

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

Sketch. New-year's Day. To Mrs. Dunlop

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

The Kirk's Alarm. A Satire. First Version

The Kirk's Alarm. A Ballad. Second Version

Peg Nicholson

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

The Five Carlins. A Scots Ballad

The Laddies by the Banks o' Nith

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

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

Written in a wrapper, enclosing a letter to Captain Grose

Tam O' Shanter. A Tale

Address of Beelzebub to the President of the Highland Society

To John Taylor

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

The Whistle

Elegy on Miss Burnet of Monboddo

Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn

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

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

To Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray

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

A Vision

To John Maxwell, of Terraughty, on his birthday

The Rights of Women, an occasional Address spoken by Miss Fontenelle, on her benefit-night, Nov. 26, 1792

Monody on a Lady famed for her caprice

Epistle from Esopus to Maria

Poem on Pastoral Poetry

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

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

Impromptu on Mrs. Riddel's birthday

Liberty. A Fragment

Verses to a young Lady

The Vowels. A Tale

Verses to John Rankine

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

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

On seeing Miss Fontenelle in a favourite character

To Chloris

Poetical Inscription for an Altar to Independence

The Heron Ballads. Balled First

The Heron Ballads. Ballad Second

The Heron Ballads. Ballad Third

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

To Miss Jessy Lewars, Dumfries, with Johnson's

Musical Museum

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

* * * * *

EPITAPHS, EPIGRAMS, FRAGMENTS, &c.

On the Author's Father

On R.A., Esq.

On a Friend

For Gavin Hamilton

On wee Johnny

On John Dove, Innkeeper, Mauchline

On a Wag in Mauchline

On a celebrated ruling Elder

On a noisy Polemic

On Miss Jean Scott

On a henpecked Country Squire

On the same

On the same

The Highland Welcome

On William Smellie

Written on a window of the Inn at Carron

The Book-worms

Lines on Stirling

The Reproof

The Reply

Lines written under the Picture of the celebrated Miss Burns

Extempore in the Court of Session

The henpecked Husband

Written at Inverary

On Elphinston's Translation of Martial's Epigrams

Inscription on the Head-stone of Fergusson

On a Schoolmaster

A Grace before Dinner

A Grace before Meat

On Wat

On Captain Francis Grose

Impromptu to Miss Ainslie

The Kirk of Lamington

The League and Covenant

Written on a pane of glass in the Inn at Moffat

Spoken on being appointed to the Excise

Lines on Mrs. Kemble

To Mr. Syme

To Mr. Syme, with a present of a dozen of porter

A Grace

Inscription on a goblet

The Invitation

The Creed of Poverty

Written in a Lady's pocket-book

The Parson's Looks

The Toad-eater

On Robert Riddel

The Toast

On a Person nicknamed the Marquis

Lines written on a window

Lines written on a window of the Globe Tavern, Dumfries

The Selkirk Grace

To Dr. Maxwell, on Jessie Staig's Recovery

Epitaph

Epitaph on William Nicol

On the Death of a Lapdog, named Echo

On a noted Coxcomb

On seeing the beautiful Seat of Lord Galloway

On the same

On the same

To the same, on the Author being threatened with his resentment

On a Country Laird

On John Bushby

The true loyal Natives

On a Suicide

Extempore, pinned on a Lady's coach

Lines to John Rankine

Jessy Lewars

The Toast

On Miss Jessy Lewars

On the recovery of Jessy Lewars

Tam the Chapman

"Here's a bottle and an honest friend"

"Tho' fickle fortune has deceived me"

To John Kennedy

To the same

"There's naethin' like the honest nappy"

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

To the Men and Brethren of the Masonic Lodge at Tarbolton

Impromptu

Prayer for Adam Armour

* * * * *

SONGS AND BALLADS.

Handsome Nell

Luckless Fortune

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

Tibbie, I hae seen the day

"My father was a farmer upon the Carrick border"

John Barleycorn. A Ballad

The Rigs o' Barley

Montgomery's Peggy

The Mauchline Lady

The Highland Lassie

Peggy

The rantin' Dog the Daddie o't

"My heart was ance as blithe and free"

My Nannie O

A Fragment. "One night as I did wander"

Bonnie Peggy Alison

Green grow the Rashes, O

My Jean

Robin

"Her flowing locks, the raven's wing"

"O leave novels, ye Mauchline belles"

Young Peggy

The Cure for all Care

Eliza

The Sons of Old Killie

And maun I still on Menie doat

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

On Cessnock Banks

Mary

The Lass of Ballochmyle

"The gloomy night is gathering fast"

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

The Joyful Widower

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

"I am my mammy's ae bairn"

The Birks of Aberfeldy

Macpherson's Farewell

Braw, braw Lads of Galla Water

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

Strathallan's Lament

My Hoggie

Her Daddie forbad, her Minnie forbad

Up in the Morning early

The young Highland Rover

Hey the dusty Miller

Duncan Davison

Theniel Menzies' bonnie Mary

The Banks of the Devon

Weary fa' you, Duncan Gray

The Ploughman

Landlady, count the Lawin

"Raving winds around her blowing"

"How long and dreary is the night"

Musing on the roaring Ocean

Blithe, blithe and merry was she

The blude red rose at Yule may blaw

O'er the Water to Charlie

A Rose-bud by my early walk

Rattlin', roarin' Willie

Where braving angry Winter's Storms

Tibbie Dunbar

Bonnie Castle Gordon

My Harry was a gallant gay

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

Ay Waukin O!

Beware o' Bonnie Ann

The Gardener wi' his paidle

Blooming Nelly

The day returns, my bosom burns

My Love she's but a lassie yet

Jamie, come try me

Go fetch to me a Pint O' Wine

The Lazy Mist

O mount and go

Of a' the airts the wind can blaw

Whistle o'er the lave o't

O were I on Parnassus' Hill

"There's a youth in this city"

My heart's in the Highlands

John Anderson, my Jo

Awa, Whigs, awa

Ca' the Ewes to the Knowes

Merry hae I been teethin' a heckle

The Braes of Ballochmyle

To Mary in Heaven

Eppie Adair

The Battle of Sherriff-muir

Young Jockey was the blithest lad

O Willie brewed a peck o' maut

The braes o' Killiecrankie, O

I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen

The Banks of Nith

Tam Glen

Frae the friends and land I love

Craigie-burn Wood

Cock up your Beaver

O meikle thinks my luve o' my beauty

Gudewife, count the Lawin

There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame

The bonnie lad that's far awa

I do confess thou art sae fair

Yon wild mossy mountains sae lofty and wide

It is na, Jean, thy bonnie face

When I think on the happy days

Whan I sleep I dream

"I murder hate by field or flood"

O gude ale comes and gude ale goes

Robin shure in hairst

Bonnie Peg

Gudeen to you, Kimmer

Ah, Chloris, since it may na be

Eppie M'Nab

Wha is that at my bower-door

What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man

Bonnie wee thing, cannie wee thing

The tither morn when I forlorn

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever

Lovely Davies

The weary Pond o' Tow

Naebody

An O for ane and twenty, Tam

O Kenmure's on and awa, Willie

The Collier Laddie

Nithsdale's Welcome Hame

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

Bessy and her Spinning-wheel

The Posie

The Country Lass

Turn again, thou fair Eliza

Ye Jacobites by name

Ye flowery banks o'bonnie Doon

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon

Willie Wastle

O Lady Mary Ann

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation

The Carle of Kellyburn braes

Jockey's ta'en the parting kiss

Lady Onlie

The Chevalier's Lament

Song of Death

Flow gently, sweet Afton

Bonnie Bell

Hey ca' thro', ca' thro'

The Gallant weaver

The deuks dang o'er my Daddie

She's fair and fause

The Deil cam' fiddling thro' the town

The lovely Lass of Inverness

O my luve's like a red, red rose

Louis, what reck I by thee

Had I the wyte she bade me

Coming through the rye

Young Jamie, pride of a' the plain

Out over the Forth I look to the north

The Lass of Ecclefechan

The Cooper o' Cuddie

For the sake of somebody

I coft a stane o' haslock woo

The lass that made the bed for me

Sae far awa

I'll ay ca' in by yon town

O wat ye wha's in yon town

O May, thy morn

Lovely Polly Stewart

Bonnie laddie, Highland laddie

Anna, thy charms my bosom fire

Cassilis' Banks

To thee, lov'd Nith

Bannocks o' Barley

Hee Balou! my sweet wee Donald

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

Here's his health in water

My Peggy's face, my Peggy's form

Gloomy December

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

Amang the trees, where humming bees

The gowden locks of Anna

My ain kind dearie, O

Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary

She is a winsome wee thing

Bonny Leslie

Highland Mary

Auld Rob Morris

Duncan Gray

O poortith cauld, and restless love

Galla Water

Lord Gregory

Mary Morison

Wandering Willie. First Version

Wandering Willie. Last Version

Oh, open the door to me, oh!

Jessie

The poor and honest sodger

Meg o' the Mill

Blithe hae I been on yon hill

Logan Water

"O were my love yon lilac fair"

Bonnie Jean

Phillis the fair

Had I a cave on some wild distant shore

By Allan stream

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

Adown winding Nith I did wander

Come, let me take thee to my breast

Daintie Davie

Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled. First Version

Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled. Second Version

Behold the hour, the boat arrives

Thou hast left me ever, Jamie

Auld lang syne

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

"Deluded swain, the pleasure"

Nancy

Husband, husband, cease your strife

Wilt thou be my dearie?

But lately seen in gladsome green

"Could aught of song declare my pains"

Here's to thy health, my bonnie lass

It was a' for our rightfu' king

O steer her up and haud her gaun

O ay my wife she dang me

O wert thou in the cauld blast

The Banks of Cree

On the seas and far away

Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes

Sae flaxen were her ringlets

O saw ye my dear, my Phely?

How lang and dreary is the night

Let not woman e'er complain

The Lover's Morning Salute to his Mistress

My Chloris, mark how green the groves

Youthful Chloe, charming Chloe

Lassie wi' the lint-white locks

Farewell, thou stream, that winding flows

O Philly, happy be the day

Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair

Canst thou leave me thus, my Katy

My Nannie's awa

O wha is she that lo'es me

Caledonia

O lay thy loof in mine, lass

The Fete Champetre

Here's a health to them that's awa

For a' that, and a' that

Craigieburn Wood

O lassie, art thou sleeping yet

O tell na me o' wind and rain

The Dumfries Volunteers

Address to the Wood-lark

On Chloris being ill

Their groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon

'Twas na her bonnie blue een was my ruin

How cruel are the parents

Mark yonder pomp of costly fashion

O this is no my ain lassie

Now Spring has clad the grove in green

O bonnie was yon rosy brier

Forlorn my love, no comfort near

Last May a braw wooer cam down the lang glen

Chloris

The Highland Widow's Lament

To General Dumourier

Peg-a-Ramsey

There was a bonnie lass

O Mally's meek, Mally's sweet

Hey for a lass wi' a tocher

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

Fairest Maid on Devon banks

* * * * *

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.

1781.

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

1783.

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

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

IV. To Miss E. Love

V. To Miss E. Love

VI. To Miss E. Love

VII. To Miss E. On her refusal of his hand

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

1784.

IX. To Mr. James Burness. On the death of his father

X. To Mr. James Burness. Account of the Buchanites

XI. To Miss ----. With a book

1786.

XII. To Mr. John Richmond. His progress in poetic composition

XIII. To Mr. John Kennedy. The Cotter's Saturday Night

XIV. To Mr. Robert Muir. Enclosing his "Scotch Drink"

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

XVI. To Mr. M'Whinnie, Subscriptions

XVII. To Mr. John Kennedy. Enclosing "The Gowan"

XVIII. To Mon. James Smith. His voyage to the West Indies

XIX. To Mr. John Kennedy. His poems in the press. Subscriptions

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

XXI. To Mr. Robert Aiken. Distress of mind

XXII. To Mr. John Richmond. Jean Armour

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

XXIV. To Mr. David Brice. Jean Armour. West Indies

XXV. To Mr. John Richmond. West Indies The Armours

XXVI. To Mr. Robert Muir. Enclosing "The Calf"

XXVII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Thanks for her notice. Sir William Wallace

XXVIII. To Mr. John Kennedy. Jamaica

XXIX. To Mr. James Burness. His departure uncertain

XXX. To Miss Alexander. "The Lass of Ballochmyle"

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

XXXII. Proclamation in the name of the Muses

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

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

XXXV. To Gavin Hamilton, Esq. Rising fame. Patronage

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

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

XXXVIII. To Mr. William Chalmers. A humorous sally

1787.

XXXIX. To the Earl of Eglinton. Thanks for his patronage

XL. To Gavin Hamilton, Esq. Love

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

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

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

XLIV. To Dr. Moore. Acknowledgments for his notice

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

XLVI. To Dr. Moore. Miss Williams

XLVII. To John Ballantyne, Esq. His portrait engraving

XLVIII. To the Earl of Glencairn. Enclosing "Lines intended to be written under a noble Earl's picture"

XLIX. To the Earl of Buchan. In reply to a letter of advice

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

LI. To ----. On Fergusson's headstone

LII. To Mrs. Dunlop. His prospects on leaving Edinburgh 341

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

LIV. To Mr. Sibbald. Thanks for his notice in the magazine

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

LVI. To Mr. Dunlop. Reply to criticisms

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

LVIII. To the Earl of Glencairn. On leaving Edinburgh

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

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

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

LXII. To Mr. Patison. Business

LXIII. To Mr. W. Nicol. A ride described in broad Scotch

LXIV. To Mr. James Smith. Unsettled in life. Jamaica

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

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

LXVII. To Robert Ainslie, Esq. His tour

LXVIII. To Mr. W. Nicol. Auchtertyre

LXIX. To Mr. Wm. Cruikshank. Auchtertyre

LXX. To Mr. James Smith. An adventure

LXXI. To Mr. John Richmond. His rambles

LXXII. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Sets high value on his friendship

LXXIII. To the same. Nithsdale and Edinburgh

LXXIV. To Dr. Moore. Account of his own life

LXXV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. A humorous letter

LXXVI. To Mr. Robert Muir. Stirling, Bannockburn

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

LXXVIII. To Mr. Walker. Bruar Water. The Athole family

LXXIX. To Mr. Gilbert Burns. Account of his Highland tour

LXXX. To Miss Margaret Chalmers. Charlotte Hamilton. Skinner. Nithsdale

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

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

LXXXIII. To Rev. John Skinner. Thanking him for his poetic compliment

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

LXXXV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His friendship for him

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

LXXXVII. To James Dalrymple, Esq. Rhyme. Lord Glencairn

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

LXXXIX. To Miss M----n. Compliments

XC. To Miss Chalmers. Charlotte Hamilton

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

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

XCIII. To Sir John Whitefoord. Thanks for his friendship. Of poets

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

XCV. To Mr. Richard Brown. Recollections of early life. Clarinda

XCVI. To Gavin Hamilton, Esq. Prayer for his health

XCVII. To Miss Chalmers. Complimentary poems. Creech

1788.

XCVIII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Lowness of spirits. Leaving Edinburgh

XCIX. To the same. Religion

C. To the Rev. John Skinner. Tullochgorum. Skinner's Latin

CI. To Mr. Richard Brown. His arrival in Glasgow

CII. To Mrs. Rose of Kilravock. Recollections of Kilravock

CIII. To Mr. Richard Brown. Friendship. The pleasures of the present

CIV. To Mr. William Cruikshank. Ellisland. Plans in life

CV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Ellisland. Edinburgh. Clarinda

CVI. To Mr. Richard Brown. Idleness. Farming

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

CVIII. To Miss Chalmers. Taken Ellisland. Miss Kennedy

CIX. To Mrs. Dunlop. Coila's robe

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

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

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

CXIII. To Miss Chalmers. Miss Kennedy. Jean Armour

CXIV. To the same. Creech's rumoured bankruptcy

CXV. To the same. His entering the Excise

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

CXVII. To Mr. James Smith. Jocularity. Jean Armour

CXVIII. To Professor Dugald Stewart. Enclosing some poetic trifles

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

CXX. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His marriage.

CXXI. To Mrs. Dunlop. On the treatment of servants

CXXII. To the same. The merits of Mrs. Burns

CXXIII. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. The warfare of life. Books. Religion

CXXIV. To the same. Miers' profiles

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

CXXVI. To Mr. George Lockhart. The Miss Baillies. Bruar Water

CXXVII. To Mr. Peter Hill. With the present of a cheese

CXXVIII. To Robert Graham Esq., of Fintray. The Excise

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

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

CXXXI. To the same. Mrs. Burns. Of accomplished young ladies

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

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

CXXXIV. To Miss Chalmers. Recollections. Mrs. Burns. Poetry

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

CXXXVI. To Mrs. Dunlop. Mr. Graham. Her criticisms

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

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

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

CXL. To Mr. James Johnson. Scots Musical Museum

CXLI. To Dr. Blacklock. Poetical progress. His marriage

CXLII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Enclosing "Auld Lang Syne"

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

CXLIV. To Mr. John Tennant. Praise of his whiskey

1789.

CXLV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Reflections suggested by the day

CXLVI. To Dr. Moore. His situation and prospects

CXLVII. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His favourite quotations. Musical Museum

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

CXLIX. To Bishop Geddes. His situation and prospects

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

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

CLII. To the Rev. Peter Carfrae. Mr. Mylne's poem

CLIII. To Dr. Moore. Introduction. His ode to Mrs. Oswald

CLIV. To Mr. William Burns. Remembrance

CLV. To Mr. Peter Hill. Economy and frugality. Purchase of books

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

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

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

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

CLX. To Mr. Samuel Brown. His farm. Ailsa fowling

CLXI. To Mr. Richard Brown. Kind wishes

CLXII. To Mr. James Hamilton. Sympathy

CLXIII. To William Creech, Esq. Toothache. Good wishes

CLXIV. To Mr. M'Auley. His own welfare

CLXV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Overwhelmed with incessant toil

CLXVI. To Mr. M'Murdo. Enclosing his newest song

CLXVII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Reflections on religion

CLXVIII. To Mr. ----. Fergusson the poet

CLXIX. To Miss Williams. Enclosing criticisms on her poems

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

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

CLXXII. To Captain Riddel. "The Whistle"

CLXXIII. To the same. With some of his MS. poems

CLXXIV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His Excise employment

CLXXV. To Mr. Richard Brown. His Excise duties

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

CLXXVII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Reflections on immortality

CLXXVIII. To Lady M.W. Constable. Jacobitism

CLXXIX. To Provost Maxwell. At a loss for a subject

1790.

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

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

CLXXXII. To Mr. Gilburt Burns. His farm a ruinous affair. Players

CLXXXIII. To Mr. Sutherland. Enclosing a Prologue

CLXXXIV. To Mr. William Dunbar. Excise. His children. Another world

CLXXXV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Falconer the poet. Old Scottish songs

CLXXXVI. To Mr. Peter Hill. Mademoiselle Burns. Hurdis. Smollett and Cowper

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

CLXXXVIII. To Mr. W. Cunningham. What strange beings we are

CLXXXIX. To Mr. Peter Hill. Orders for books. Mankind

CXC. To Mrs. Dunlop. Mackenzie and the Mirror and Lounger

CXCI. To Collector Mitchell. A county meeting

CXCII. To Dr. Moore. "Zeluco." Charlotte Smith

CXCIII. To Mr. Murdoch. William Burns

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

CXCV. To Mrs. Dunlop. His pride wounded

CXCVI. To Mr. Cunningham. Independence

CXCVII. To Dr. Anderson. "The Bee."

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

CXCIX. To Crauford Tait, Esq. Introducing Mr. William Duncan

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

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

1791.

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

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

CCIV. To Mr. Peter Mill. Apostrophe to Poverty

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

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

CCVII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Miss Burnet. Elegy writing

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

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

CCX. To Mr. Cunningham. Songs

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

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

CCXIII. To the same. With his printed Poems

CCXIV. To the Rev. G. Baird. Michael Bruce

CCXV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Birth of a son

CCXVI. To the same. Apology for delay

CCXVII. To the same. Quaint invective on a pedantic critic

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

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

CCXX. To Mr. Thomas Sloan. Apologies. His crop sold well

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

CCXXII. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. State of mind. His income

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

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

CCXXV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Mrs. Henri. The Song of Death

1792.

CCXXVI. To Mrs. Dunlop. The animadversions of the Board of Excise

CCXXVII. To Mr. William Smellie. Introducing Mrs. Riddel

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

CCXXIX. To Francis Grose, Esq. Dugald Stewart

CCXXX. To the same. Witch stories

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

CCXXXII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Love and Lesley Baillie

CCXXXIII. To Mr. Cunningham. Lesley Baillie

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

CCXXXV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Situation of Mrs. Henri

CCXXXVI. To the same. On the death of Mrs. Henri

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

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

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

CCXL. To the same. Thomson's alterations and observations

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

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

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

CCXLIV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Hurry of business. Excise inquiry

1793.

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

CCXLVI. To the same. William Tytler, Peter Pindar

CCXLVII. To Mr. Cunningham. The poet's seal. David Allan

CCXLVIII. To Thomson. With "Mary Morison"

CCCXLIX. To the same. With "Wandering Willie"

CCL. To Miss Benson. Pleasure he had in meeting her

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

CCLII. To Mr. Thomson. Review of Scottish song. Crawfurd and Ramsay

CCLIII. To the same. Criticism. Allan Ramsay

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

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

CCLVI. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Answering letters. Scholar-craft

CCLVII. To Miss Kennedy. A letter of compliment

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

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

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

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

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

CCLXIII. To the same. With "Phillis the fair"

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

CCLXV. To the same. With "Allan Water"

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

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

CCLXVIII. To the same. With "Dainty Davie"

CCLXIX. To Miss Craik. Wretchedness of poets

CCLXX. To Lady Glencairn. Gratitude. Excise. Dramatic composition

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

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

CCLXXIII. To the same. Crawfurd and Scottish song

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

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

CCLXXVI. To the same. With "Deluded swain, the pleasure," and "Raving winds around her blowing"

CCLXXVII. To the same. Erskine and Gavin Turnbull

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

CCLXXIX. To the same. With his printed poems

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

CCLXXXI. To Mrs. Riddel. The Dumfries Theatre

1794.

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

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

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

CCLXXXV. To Mrs. Riddel. Lobster-coated puppies

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

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

CCLXXXVIII. To Mrs. Riddel. Her caprice

CCLXXXIX. To the same. Her neglect and unkindness

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

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

CCXCII. To Mr. Cunningham. Hypochondria. Requests consolation

CCXCIII. To the Earl of Glencairn. With his printed poems

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1795.

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

CCCXI. To the same. Abuse of Ecclefechan

CCCXII. To the same. With "O stay, sweet warbling woodlark, stay," and "The groves of sweet myrtle"

CCCXIII. To the same. With "How cruel are the parents" and "Mark yonder pomp of costly fashion"

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

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

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

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

CCCXVIII. To Mrs. Riddel. A letter from the grave

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

CCCXX. To Miss Louisa Fontenelle. With a Prologue for her benefit-night

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

CCCXXII. To Mr. Alexander Findlater. Excise schemes

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

CCCXXIV. To Mr. Heron, of Heron. With two political ballads

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

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

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

1796.

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

CCCXXIX. To Mrs. Dunlop. His ill-health.

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

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

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

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

CCCXXXIV. To Mrs. Riddel. His increasing ill-health

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

CCCXXXVI. To Mr. James Johnson. The Scots Musical Museum. Request for a copy of the collection

CCCXXXVII. To Mr. Cunningham. Illness and poverty, anticipation of death

CCCXXXVIII. To Mr. Gilbert Burns. His ill-health and debts

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

CCCXL. To Mrs. Burns. Sea-bathing affords little relief

CCCXLI. To Mrs. Dunlop. Her friendship. A farewell

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

CCCXLIII. To Mr. James Burness. Soliciting the sum of ten pounds

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

Remarks on Scottish Songs and Ballads

The Border Tour

The Highland Tour

Burns's Assignment of his Works

Glossary

LIFE

OF

ROBERT BURNS.

Robert Burns, the chief of the peasant poets of Scotland, was born in a little mud-walled cottage on the banks of Doon, near "Alloway's auld haunted kirk," in the shire of Ayr, on the 25th day of January, 1759. As a natural mark of the event, a sudden storm at the same moment swept the land: the gabel-wall of the frail dwelling gave way, and the babe-bard was hurried through a tempest of wind and sleet to the shelter of a securer hovel. He was the eldest born of three sons and three daughters; his father, William, who in his native Kincardineshire wrote his name Burness, was bred a gardener, and sought for work in the West; but coming from the lands of the noble family of the Keiths, a suspicion accompanied him that he had been out--as rebellion was softly called--in the forty-five: a suspicion fatal to his hopes of rest and bread, in so loyal a district; and it was only when the clergyman of his native parish certified his loyalty that he was permitted to toil. This suspicion of Jacobitism, revived by Burns himself, when he rose into fame, seems not to have influenced either the feelings, or the tastes of Agnes Brown, a young woman on the Doon, whom he wooed and married in December, 1757, when he was thirty-six years old. To support her, he leased a small piece of ground, which he converted into a nursery and garden, and to shelter her, he raised with his own hands that humble abode where she gave birth to her eldest son.

The elder Burns was a well-informed, silent, austere man, who endured no idle gaiety, nor indecorous language: while he relaxed somewhat the hard, stern creed of the Covenanting times, he enforced all the work-day, as well as sabbath-day observances, which the Calvinistic kirk requires, and scrupled at promiscuous dancing, as the staid of our own day scruple at the waltz. His wife was of a milder mood: she was blest with a singular fortitude of temper; was as devout of heart, as she was calm of mind; and loved, while busied in her household concerns, to sweeten the bitterer moments of life, by chanting the songs and ballads of her country, of which her store was great. The garden and nursery prospered so much, that he was induced to widen his views, and by the help of his kind landlord, the laird of Doonholm, and the more questionable aid of borrowed money, he entered upon a neighbouring farm, named Mount Oliphant, extending to an hundred acres. This was in 1765; but the land was hungry and sterile; the seasons proved rainy and rough; the toil was certain, the reward unsure; when to his sorrow, the laird of Doonholm--a generous Ferguson,--died: the strict terms of the lease, as well as the rent, were exacted by a harsh factor, and with his wife and children, he was obliged, after a losing struggle of six years, to relinquish the farm, and seek shelter on the grounds of Lochlea, some ten miles off, in the parish of Tarbolton. When, in after-days, men's characters were in the hands of his eldest son, the scoundrel factor sat for that lasting portrait of insolence and wrong, in the "Twa Dogs."

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

Amid these labours and disputes, the poet's father remembered the worth of religious and moral instruction: he took part of this upon himself. A week-day in Lochlea wore the sober looks of a Sunday: he read the Bible and explained, as intelligent peasants are accustomed to do, the sense, when dark or difficult; he loved to discuss the spiritual meanings, and gaze on the mystical splendours of the Revelations. He was aided in these labours, first, by the schoolmaster of Alloway-mill, near the Doon; secondly, by John Murdoch, student of divinity, who undertook to teach arithmetic, grammar, French, and Latin, to the boys of Lochlea, and the sons of five neighboring farmers. Murdoch, who was an enthusiast in learning, much of a pedant, and such a judge of genius that he thought wit should always be laughing, and poetry wear an eternal smile, performed his task well: he found Robert to be quick in apprehension, and not afraid to study when knowledge was the reward. He taught him to turn verse into its natural prose order; to supply all the ellipses, and not to desist till the sense was clear and plain: he also, in their walks, told him the names of different objects both in Latin and French; and though his knowledge of these languages never amounted to much, he approached the grammar of the English tongue, through the former, which was of material use to him, in his poetic compositions. Burns was, even in those early days, a sort of enthusiast in all that concerned the glory of Scotland; he used to fancy himself a soldier of the days of the Wallace and the Bruce: loved to strut after the bag-pipe and the drum, and read of the bloody struggles of his country for freedom and existence, till "a Scottish prejudice," he says, "was poured into my veins, which will boil there till the flood-gates of life are shut in eternal rest."

In this mood of mind Burns was unconsciously approaching the land of poesie. In addition to the histories of the Wallace and the Bruce, he found, on the shelves of his neighbours, not only whole bodies of divinity, and sermons without limit, but the works of some of the best English, as well as Scottish poets, together with songs and ballads innumerable. On these he loved to pore whenever a moment of leisure came; nor was verse his sole favourite; he desired to drink knowledge at any fountain, and Guthrie's Grammar, Dickson on Agriculture, Addison's Spectator, Locke on the Human Understanding, and Taylor's Scripture Doctrine of Original Sin, were as welcome to his heart as Shakspeare, Milton, Pope, Thomson, and Young. There is a mystery in the workings of genius: with these poets in his head and hand, we see not that he has advanced one step in the way in which he was soon to walk, "Highland Mary" and "Tam O' Shanter" sprang from other inspirations.

Burns lifts up the veil himself, from the studies which made him a poet. "In my boyish days," he says to Moore, "I owed much to an old woman (Jenny Wilson) who resided in the family, remarkable for her credulity and superstition. She had, I suppose, the largest collection in the country of tales and songs, concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, giants, enchanted towers, dragons, and other trumpery. This cultivated the latent seeds of poesie; but had so strong an effect upon my imagination that to this hour, in my nocturnal rambles, I sometimes keep a look-out on suspicious places." Here we have the young poet taking lessons in the classic lore of his native land: in the school of Janet Wilson he profited largely; her tales gave a hue, all their own, to many noble effusions. But her teaching was at the hearth-stone: when he was in the fields, either driving a cart or walking to labour, he had ever in his hand a collection of songs, such as any stall in the land could supply him with; and over these he pored, ballad by ballad, and verse by verse, noting the true, tender, and the natural sublime from affectation and fustian. "To this," he said, "I am convinced that I owe much of my critic craft, such as it is." His mother, too, unconsciously led him in the ways of the muse: she loved to recite or sing to him a strange, but clever ballad, called "the Life and Age of Man:" this strain of piety and imagination was in his mind when he wrote "Man was made to Mourn."

He found other teachers--of a tenderer nature and softer influence. "You know," he says to Moore, "our country custom of coupling a man and woman together as partners in the labours of harvest. In my fifteenth autumn my partner was a bewitching creature, a year younger than myself: she was in truth a bonnie, sweet, sonsie lass, and unwittingly to herself, initiated me in that delicious passion, which, in spite of acid disappointment, gin-horse prudence, and bookworm philosophy, I hold to be the first of human joys. How she caught the contagion I cannot tell; I never expressly said I loved her: indeed I did not know myself why I liked so much to loiter behind with her, when returning in the evenings from our labours; why the tones of her voice made my heart strings thrill like an AEolian harp, and particularly why my pulse beat such a furious ratan, when I looked and fingered over her little hand, to pick out the cruel nettle-stings and thistles. Among other love-inspiring qualities, she sang sweetly, and it was her favourite reel to which I attempted to give an embodied vehicle in rhyme; thus with me began love and verse." This intercourse with the fair part of the creation, was to his slumbering emotions, a voice from heaven to call them into life and poetry.