-at-

NOTES, CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL,

TO LAST EDITIONS.

ABBREVIATIONS : c. s. I. p. PAGE ; COLUMN ; STANZA ; LINE.

AFTER the Author's removal to Dumfriesshire, or rather after Thomson's hands, were frankly relinquished by that gentle- his appearance in Edinburgh, three distinct enterprises were man to Dr. Carrie's care, for publication along with the rest of as of the undertaken by him: (1) The writing occasional poems Poet's works in the first posthumous edition : but the ' circumstances or the wishes of his friends suggested, in which Collection' itself, which they were destined to enrich, and in ' miscellaneous work, the lines in Friars- Carse Hermitage,' which they ultimately appeared, continued to be issued at the song of 'The Whistle,' and 'Tarn o' Shanter,' with intervals, and was finally completed by a supplementary sixth three of his most exquisite lyrics are to be included : (2) A volume so late as 1841. series of songs, or revision of songs, adapted to Scottish In addition to the above, Burns was earnestly entreated by melodies for 'Johnson's Musical Museum,' including several many of his most admiring friends to devote himself to the already written or published, but by far the greater number composition of some more elaborate work than he had hitherto a to he attached the utmost or dramatic original ; work which importance, undertaken some epic composition and seems and in which he laboured at intervals with enthusiastic, almost to have entertained transitory, half-serious thoughts of this, devotional, assiduity, till the end of his life: (3) A similar from time to time. But love and music, with him as with for 'Thomson's to series, including some repetitions, Collection;' Anacreon, were paramount absorbing powers ; say nothing an occupation like the former, of intense interest, cut short of the distracting influences, in his case, of pain and poverty. like it by the hand of Death. In editions of his works which For these reasons ostensibly, the grand projected work was appeared in 1793 and 1794, and in a reprint of these after his never accomplished, perhaps never in reality begun fortu- death, in 1797, the new poems and some of the songs above nately, in our humble opinion, for his own poetical reputation referred to were introduced. These were professedly under for no such work, epic or dramatic, from his hands could possibly if from the tenor successful. No 'Tarn o' Shanter' the his own editorial care ; but we may judge have been epic beyond in a few of nor more than the ' of his letter to Lord Woodhouselee, December, 1795, work a day ; comedy complicated Jolly ' months before his own death, already referred to, and from Beggars the effusion most probably of an evening or two, other circumstances, the text seems scarcely ever to have was likely to proceed from him : and as for regular tragedy, enjoyed the advantage of his revision. 'Johnson's Museum,' with its unities, its developments, &c., we believe that by mere in which his most important series of songs, original and instinct alone the man would be prevented from attempting it. indebted almost his revised, appeared, and which was in fact His genius was essentially lyrical, constitution impulsive, for its articulation In virtue of these entirely to himself, in one way or another, contents, and his poetical irrepressible. be in or he became the and certainly for its popularity, began to published characteristics endowments, indisputably of of but the same conditions he 1787. It consisted of six volumes, the last which, however, highest master song ; by very ' from the did not appear until 1808. Thomson's Collection,' which was was naturally excluded quiet laborious interweaving a more ambitious and perhaps a selecter work, more fashion- of dramatic plots, or the construction of effective dialogues. himself or human nature individualised in able, and in that sense more important, was not, however, It was always, In this work Burns' s name him not human nature in detailed him, that more comprehensive or original. ; variety beyond and for its success his or his muse. was also the same tower of strength ; occupied inspired a critical of the and several of labours were indefatigable and exhausting. It consisted In merely point view, poems the first half-volume the now referred to, as marked a contrast in originally of four volumes, but only songs present contri- details to the of his earlier as works appeared during our Author's lifetime. Manuscript certain style compositions, in the same Author in the same could afford. It is butions by him intended for its pages, and then Mr. by language 2 242 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

Scottish still in the Scottish language he writes, but the our Author's work in that way : all Scotch phraseology there- ' language of another world or region. The tone itself, acquired fore, such as the chimney-neuk,' which sometimes appears ' in Edinburgh, and cultivated in Dumfriesshire, is to a certain instead of chimney-nook,' should be avoided in typography. extent another tone than that which prevailed in Ayrshire : Friars-Carse, a beautiful rural retreat on the Nith, lies a little old to the and it is only towards the close of his life that the rich north-west of Ellisland : and it is by no means an un- accents of the West perceptibly return in his lips and writings. suggestive circumstance that, shortly after all this philosophy, The English form, the English idiom, the English style, is not it was the scene of that celebrated contest for the Whistle, unfrequently adopted, where the native corresponding form where morals, or at least habits, of a strangely different for him would have been infinitely preferable : in is now character were illustrated and immortalised. and from 'Tarn o' generally superseded by -ing, Shanter,' p. 113, c. 2, I. 1. Dangers, eagle-pinioned, bold, of the in Soar around each hold the most conspicuous poem epoch, except two solitary cliffy ; While chearful with linnet banished that it Peace, song, instances, is absolutely ; poem, however, must Chants the lowly dells among : be remembered, in an : appeared originally English publication ' Quoted almost literally Elizabeth to Leicester, in Kenil- also becomes and with its still softer by now bonny ; bonie, ' bony worth insinuating tenderness, is abbreviated into bonnie: changes "He that would climb the eagle's nest, my lord, cares not who are catching which are all perceptible and suggestive, and perhaps inevi- linnets at the foot of the precipice." Kenilworth : Chap. xvi. but not the less of table in the circumstances ; worthy remark, p. 114, c. 1, I. 1. Thus resign'd and quiet, creep as we shall hereafter see, in the retrospective history of his the of To bed lasting sleep ; whence thou shalt ne'er literary experience. Whether such changes were made in Sleep, awake, shall Night, where dawn never break ; every case by the Author himself, however, or only by his ' ' well be doubted in as much as the old forms also in of the Lake : editors, may ; Compare song Lady are almost invariably found in the 'Museum,' copied un- Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er,

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking ; doubtedly from his own manuscript, and more particularly in those which were written either in or pieces Ayrshire, Morn of toil, nor night of waking. immediately after his settlement at Ellisland. In some of Can. I. xxxi. these, his most exquisite compositions, which depend for one p. 114. ODE, SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. [OSWALD] half of their effect on the simplicity of their sounds, 'Of a' OF [ATJCHENCRTJIVE] was written, as we are informed by the ' the airts the wind can blaw,' for example, and Were I on Author in a letter to Dr. Moore, in the month of January, Parnassus Hill ' and in several others of in on his to ; equal beauty, 1789, at an inn New Cumnock, way Ayrshire; " although not of the same personal interest, we rejoice to see he having been turned out of the inn at Sanquhar, in all the ' discarded a of them retained in the Museum,' although elsewhere : terrors of a tempestuous night," with ride twelve miles

' ' so little do those who read or print the Scottish language at more before him, to make room for the funeral pageantry of random understand the value of its syllables, or the source the late great Mrs. Oswald," who "was detested with the of its fascination ! most manifest cordiality," as the Author affirms, among "her p. 113. LINES WRITTEN IN FRIARS-CARSE HERMITAGE, ON servants and tenants." A character of this kind could not NITHSIDE are understood to be the earliest poetical effusion fail at any time to inspire him with aversion and contempt, of our Author's after settling in Dumfriesshire. The original and the circumstances of his expulsion from a comfortable outline of the poem was inscribed with a diamond on a pane of shelter at midnight for her unconscious sake would aggravate " glass in the window of the Hermitage which, on removal at a such sentiments into passionate fury. The powers of poesy subsequent date, was unfortunately broken. The poem itself and prose," he says, "sink under me, when I would describe " seems to have been one to which the Author attached the what I felt." Mr. Carlyle characterises this as a piece that highest importance, having distributed many manuscript copies might have been chaunted by the Furies of ^Eschylus." Its of it among his friends. Among these several considerable coherence, which is fitful and dramatic, not continuous or be found an additional careless variations may proof how difficult it prosaic, has been much injured by punctuation in sometimes is to determine which of his own editions the Author many editions: 'Death and Dr. Hornbook,' the 'Epistle to himself and in one not hitherto ' this ' preferred ; published, which, Graham of Fintra which immediately follows, and Ode' the by possessor's polite permission, we have had the privilege afford perhaps the strongest instances of injury done to the certain of examining, minor variations, besides those already sense, by neglect in this important particular. The to known, appear. original draft, according Cunningham, p. 114. ELEGY ON CAPT. M[ATTHEW] H[ENDERSON] is one we reserve for a the Author's of or place among posthumous works ; of the most exquisite pathetic compositions by Burns, by ' ' the minor variations may be found by the reader, at the con- any author. Not the Lycidas of Milton, with its elaborate clusion of this Part. The is poem characterised by much allegories and fictitious invocations, can compete with it in and quiet beautiful, although by no means profound, philo- true tenderness and dignity. For brief poetic word-pictures, sophic reflection, partly Horatian and partly Addisonian in its for the selection of the most felicitous terms, for volumes of and not of the Author in style, -unworthy some of his highest sense and beauty in single phrases, it is scarcely possible less moods ; but has and a deal than for similar to it and for its depth pathos great many indeed any composition surpass ; of his earlier and simpler compositions. It is written entirely truth to nature, in such a multitude of references, so happily in the English language, and is a very favourable specimen of combined, it is unrivalled: Thus 'harebells,' 'foxgloves,' AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 243

' ' 'woodbines,' 'roses,' 'beans,' and flowering clover gay,' may anticipated in Beranger's ' Adieux by the unnecessary vision ' all be seen in blossom at the same date, with. heather- buds,' of a scaffold not whilst the numerous varieties of blooms, intermingled; ,1'ai cru voir, dans un songe horrible, 1 Un 6chafaud dresse : birds mentioned, the 'cushat,' the 'curlews,' and the 'clam'ring pour moi craiks' especially, are visible or audible at the same season of is here, with far higher sentiment and taste, most beautifully, the year. It is a calendar of rural life, in fact, as well as a yet pathetically, veiled as an event only possible in nature, convocation of sympathetic rural mourners. The strange and not even then in prison to be dreamt of, as a possible allusion also to the Devil, in the first stanza, as having power deed of violence by a jealous rival. over Death, is characteristic and significant; not orthodox by p. 1 17. THE EPISTLE TO E[OBERT] G[RAHAM], OF F[INTRA], any means, yet not unscriptural. Of the gentleman to whose ESQ., which follows,. but without an exact date in the summer of memory it is dedicated, very little with certainty seems to be the same year, is the third epistle in reality addressed by

' ' known. The designation of Captain was only some social the Author to that friend and patron. It cannot be main- or honorary title conferred upon him by his friends, or assumed tained that either this, or certain others of these epistles to in connection with some convivial society. He was an Edin- that gentleman, are of the highest poetical excellence. Of the burgh man, and seems to have been once named for Master of rest, we shall speak in detail, as they occur hereafter. In the Ceremonies at the Assemblies there. Mr. Chambers, in whose present instance, the Author seems to have been excited by edition the above hints concerning him are found, appears to some critical assaults to unusual vehemence of style, and have exerted his usual diligence in vain to trace the personal accumulates denunciations, possibly not unjust although very history of this gentleman farther. The date of the poem seems severe, but by no means dignified, against all offenders. To to have been at Ellisland, in the middle of July, or the begin- such an extent, indeed, does he suffer himself to be so trans- ning of August, 1790. ported, that the coherence of the epistle itself is interrupted, and certain in it rendered obscure their p. 114, c. 2, s. 3. Ye cliffs, the haunts of sailing yearns, passages positively by

Where ! Echo slumbers own vehemence : a remarkable contrast indeed to the ease and

' ' ' Yearns,' otherwise and more properly spelt earns,' signifies grandeur of the Dedication to Gavin Hamilton.' A consider- It is to notice this for in able of the is but an unconscious in eagles. necessary ; Currie's glossary, part poem amplification quoted, inadvertently no doubt, in some of our best editions wrath of Anacreon's Ode in praise of beauty, as that gift from

' since, it is interpreted as a verb, to long much,' without any the Universal Mother which surpasses all others, hoofs, horns, addition to show its totally different signification as a noun. and teeth, in Nature.

' Compare Note on Scaring Water-Fowl in Loch-Turit.' p. 117, c. 2, 1. 17. In naked feeling, and in aching pride, 116. OF p. LAMENT MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, ON THE incorrectly printed in some editions, APPROACH OF SPRING was enclosed the Author in a letter by In naked feelings, &c. to Mrs. Graham of Fintra, February, 1791, with expressions The true idea is, that the Poet, in contradistinction to of satisfaction on his part with the poetical success of this Mammon's trusty cur, distinct his effusion, and conviction that "poetry would con- Clad in rich Dulness' comfortable fur, outlive his The same as a siderably poverty." poem appears has been exposed by Nature without any covering, an organ- ' in the fifth volume of Johnson's which was ' ' song Museum,' ism of naked feeling all over, to the visitations of adversity not until the after the Author's death but in published year ; intensely expressive and painful. Other changes, by which ' ' which it is distinctly stated to have been written for this has been also be out but the sense injured, might pointed ; work K. Burns." It is manifest from and by this, many it is unnecessary, the text in this edition being correct. other similar indications, that Burns felt the deepest interest p. 118, c. 1, 1. 1. Thy sons ne'er madden in the fierce extremes in this national undertaking of Johnson's, and dedicated the Of Fortune's polar frost, or torrid beams. best efforts of his muse to enrich it. On the itself veiy poem Thus Shelley afterwards find occasion for critical we no remark, farther than to observe, And let alternate frost and fire Eat into and &c. that a very beautiful counterpart to it may be found in me, be thine ire, Prometh. Unbound. Beranger's Adieux de Marie Stuart, beginning I 15. Not so the idle Muses' mad-cap train, &c. Adieu, charmant pays de France,

Que doit tant cherir ! je Compare passages in Epistles, especially to Smith and Lapraik, Berceau de mon heurcuse enfance, The followers o' the &c. 67. Adieu ! te quitter, c'est mourir. ragged Nine, ; p. Stranger (Ed. 1851), Vol. 125. 1., p. and with passage immediately preceding compare also certain in which, as might perhaps be expected, the Frenchman most stanzas in ' Address to the Unco Guid ' more than the widowed Queen eloquently, herself, speaks; Your minds are just a standing pool,

it is the a ! whereas in Burns woman, the mother, and the queen Your lives dyke p. 36. that is to be alone the mother above all, heard. There is a The sentiment of contempt implied in these contrasts seems to climax also in the 'Lament' of beautiful Burns, rising in have been one of the strongest in the Poet's mind through life. from the common of every successive stanza, charms nature p. 118. THE LAMENT FOR JAMES, EARL OF GLENCAIRN of all animate creation and the corresponding joys up to the whose untimely death, "like sun eclipsed at noon," occurred of rational and social highest pleasures life, her own case at the beginning of this year, January, 1791, on his return from alone excepted : yet the idea of death itself, which is painfully the south of Europe, in the forty-second year of his age is an 244 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

of effusion of genuine sorrow, love and gratitude, although in an Sabbath evening, at Dumfries, was to pace about the room, with allegorical strain. Glencairn, as we have already said, was his face and eyes cast upwards, repeating aloud the well- the Augustus or Maecenas of the Poet's fortunes; and his known hymn in the Scottish collection beginning sense of to that esteemed nobleman for his kindness, obligation The spacious firmament on high, as well as his admiration of his character, were among the With all the blue etherial sky, &c. Addison : sincerest and most honourable of his life. In a literary point a pleasant enough contrast certainly to supposed, or real, but of view, it is no means of merit, and is remarkable ' ' ' ' ' ' by equal exaggerated orgies at the Globe. The scene of the Lament for a rather of Scotch and English unpleasant intermingling is on Lugar Water, and apparently in the neighbourhood of is in the idioms ; but there much beautiful and elegy plaintive the old Tower of Auchinleck, but at no great distance from with references to the shortness and uncertainty composition, Ochiltree House, formerly the property and residence of the Job. of life, which remind us indirectly of the complaint of Stewarts, Lords of Ochiltree but which had recently been In more than one instance the coincidence of in phraseology acquired by purchase for the of Glencairn. The reader ' family this ' Lament with the well-known Paraphrases of Scripture may compare at leisure the attitude of Allan-Bane, the in our Scottish Psalmody, particularly the ym. and xv., is so ancient minstrel of the banished Douglas, and his strain of accused of striking, that the Author might have been plagiarism ' lamentation, in Lady of the Lake,' Can. II. iv. vii. in this as in some other cases, if the Collection in which they p. 119. LINES TO SIR JOHN WHITEFORD, BARONET, ac- in circulation at the time. appear had not been so universally ' companying the foregoing Lament,' are remarkable chiefly It must have been more familiarly known to the people even as being referred to specially by the Author, in his letter to than his own poems, and could not therefore be quoted from Lord Woodhouselee, December 6, 1795, directing his Lordship by him without discovery. It must be remembered also, that to correct an erroneous expression in the concluding line. this is one of the poems which appeared under the editorship "I am much indebted to you," he says, "for taking the of a third party, who might not be so well acquainted with the trouble to correct the press-work. One instance, indeed, may psalmody of the people as Burns certainly was, and by whom be rather unlucky. If the lines to Sir John Whiteford are therefore the inverted commas necessary to distinguish the printed, they ought to read- most conspicuous line might easily be omitted. The instance And tread the shadowy path to that dark world unknown. of correspondence to which we refer is as follows : ' ' ' Shadowy instead of dreary,' as I believe it stands at present. p. 118, c. 2, s. 5. I've seen sae mony changefu' years, I a I wish this could be noticed in the Errata. On earth am stranger grown ; This comes of I wander in the ways of men, writing, as I generally do, from memory." This letter, which Alike unknowing and unknown. seems to refer directly in the first place to the Edition of 1794, die The living know that they must ; or 1793, has been given for the first time to the world But all the dead forgotten lie : very Their mem'ry and their name is gone, recently (1866) by the Inverness Courier. The error it refers to Alike unknowing and unknown. Par. xv. 4. seems not to have been attended to by his Lordship, since it Another in stanza line, ill., has appeared in every edition of the Poet's works up to the Ye woods that shed on a' the winds present hour. Two things are sufficiently manifest from this The honours of the aged year ! circumstance (1) That Burns certainly did not revise either reminds us with distinctness of the celebrated verse in equal his own manuscript or the latest editions of his own works Sternhold and Hopkins's translation of Psalm xvm. with much care; (2) That those to whom he entrusted this And on the of all the winds wings important office do not seem to have burdened themselves with Came flying all abroad : ver. x. much anxiety in the matter. No further commentary on the But Burns intended no concealment. In writing to Lady subject is required. Glencairn, his Lordship's mother, on the subject of this sad p. 119. TAM o' SHANTER: A Tale one of the most cele- bereavement, he quotes, as being most expressive of his own brated, and by many esteemed the very finest, of our Author's a of Psalm cxxxvil. it feelings, portion eulogising devoutly ; productions, being that which immediately follows, requires If thee, Jerus'lem, I forget, in this some critical notice, here- Skill part from my right hand, &c. place lengthened although after it may again be referred to. It was written, or at To which and the succeeding lines, the concluding stanza of least composed, at Ellisland, on a broomy ridge the river- the 'Lament' has some resemblance: with which also the by side, a much-frequented haunt of the Author's, in one con- reader may compare Isaiah XLIX. 15, 16, as translated in tinuous fit of inspiration during an autumnal day, in 1790. Paraphrase xxrv. 4, 5, 6, which seems to be in fact the It is affirmed by Mr. M'Diarmid to have been com- of it : actually foundation and if heathen parallels are required, of mitted to on the " on which Burns had no writing spot the top of a sod-dike over knowledge, let him turn to Virgil, Eclog. the water," and read by the Poet immediately afterwards to I., where, with a little more exaggeration, he will find them his wife, "in great triumph at the fireside." It is at least an Tttyr. Ante leves in ergo pascentur aethere cervi ; &c. ascertained fact (on Mr. Lockhart's authority) that he was dis- Sooner fleet stags shall feed in ambient air &c. ; his covered by wife in an agony of laughter, reciting aloud On this in conclusion, it not be subject, may inappropriate to certain lines of the poem which he had just conceived, the tears mention here, on the of that a authority relatives, favourite in the meantime rolling down his cheeks : and that she with- of Burns in the dusk of the occupation evening, particularly drew from the neighbourhood for a moment, along with her

children, that they might not interrupt his ecstasy. The lines celebrated character. From these instances alone, it is evident referred to were those beginning how much the Poet's imagination has altered of time and place in the narrative, and out of what slight materials, Now Tarn, O Tarn ! had thae been queans, &c. as to character and personnel, he has built up the principal The to his brother was written poem, itself, according Gilbert, figures. A third remaining instance demonstrates this. in of a consequence friendly agreement with Captain Grose, (3) "A solitary-living woman, named Katie Steven, who then on a visit at the who was Carse House in neighbourhood. dwelt at Laighpark, in the parish of Kirkoswald, and died The as the world a in Captain, knows, was devout antiquary there early in the present century, is thought to have been the materials ' difficulties, and at that time engaged in collecting personage represented under the character of Cutty Sark.' for a on Scottish He at the . . . work Antiquities. promised Carse, Neither her name nor her figure being appropriate on to delineate in his Burns's request, Kirk-Alloway collection, (for she was a little woman), we confess we have doubts of if Burns himself would a witch or in con- supply ghost story this parallel." Chambers. The parallel, notwithstanding, ' nection with the ' Tarn o' Shanter was in to subject. imagined appears be true ; as we learn from a minute account care- in and consequence, at first in prose but afterwards verse, fully drawn up by the Eev. Mr. Hogg, of Kirkmahoe, who appeared for the first time in Grose's work, April, 1791. It obtained his information from a respectable authority in the contained originally four additional lines of an unpleasant neighbourhood; and to whose courteous assistance, in this character, which were subsequently obliterated by the Author's and other kindred researches, we are much indebted. Poor authority and request. It occasioned immediately much com- Kate, or Catherine Steen or Steven, it appears, was an plimentary criticism from the highest authorities, and from that inoffensive but peculiar woman; of diminutive stature and to this it has been a theme of world-wide interest and sometimes of of day strange attire, vagrant but industrious habits ; admiration. As a literary production, it has been variously who carried her "rock and spindle" with her from house to estimated on the one hand as the crowning effusion of our house to spin, and was kindly, or at least civilly, received Author's muse, and on the other, by equally competent and everywhere, from fear, perhaps, of her reputed supernatural equally distinguished critics, as by no means entitled to such gifts, as much as from affection. By such occasional bene- a rank. makes it the text of a devout ficence from her she obtained a livelihood which Wordsworth philosophic neighbours ; admiration of its external she amassed in an outhouse or at eulogy ; Carlyle, with much beauty, shielling Laighpark Kiln, decrees for it little higher than a third-rate place, founding the farm of her friendly patron, Mr. Murdoch. She be- his depreciation on its want of genuine poetic vitality and co- queathed to Mr. Murdoch, on her deathbed, "her meal- herence as a work of art of which, more, immediately here- barrel, her baking-brod, and her bread-roller;" with a " after. As one sustained and continuous flight of imagination, whisky bottle in the cupboard, to make themselves comfort- effort but it wants at her funeral. 'meal-barrel' a it is unquestionably our Author's highest ; able" The was twenty-pint ' the intensity, the profundity, and the pathos of many of his cask, originally used for very different purposes; the baking- smaller pieces. Its most dramatic elements are surrounded brod,' a few staves of a similar vessel rudely nailed together; or suffused with humour, which destroys their tragic influence, the 'bread-roller,' a long-necked brandy bottle; but the

' it at least from too far but this we with its On the of or prevents encroaching ; whisky bottle,' contents, genuine. night ' the hearth-stone at the consider an instance of consummate skill : whilst its descriptive her lyke-wake,' which neighbours and the fled in and suggestive elements, uncontrolled, transport and electrify were assembled mysteriously sank, company Its is its sen- The it had been an old the reader. groundwork superstition ; agency dismay. house, seems, smuggler's one of which had suality and drink; its crisis natural and inevitable; and its howff with underground chambers, given termination, as it should be, a dramatic relief. Humanity way. The stone was duly replaced before the funeral; but earth corn a which soon and wisdom pervade it; and mirth suppressed, or "Laughter with containing from new-sown field, confirmed after death Kate's holding both her sides," is glancing incontinent through filled the hovel with verdure, and in district as a 'no cannie woman.' every line. The chief personages represented were respect- reputation the during life, near all these scenes and Burns in his ively (1) Douglas Graham, of Shanter farm, Turnberry With characters, youth, a his brief residence at was Point on the Carrick Shore ; very small, commonplace hero, during Kirkoswald, familiarly one of his rambles on the indeed incorrectly represented by some editors as 'stalwart;' acquainted; and during fishing in Shanter farm a whose old scratch-wig, looking-glass, and pocket-Bibles we shore, taking refuge during passing storm, a have more than once inspected in the museum of a deceased is said to have listened with curiosity and amusement to not no means from Helen antiquarian in Ayrshire. His wife, Helen M'Taggart, was conjugal lecture, by sparing, M'Taggart The scenes without excuse, perhaps, in the occasional use of her tongue to her delinquent spouse. themselves, Shanter, are all obliterated Shanter for his edification, however ineffectual such domestic eloquence Glenfoot, and Laighpark now; all a humble shoe- alone marked a monumental mound ; and might be. (2) John Davidson, journeyman being by grassy inmates are in Kirkoswald maker, an acquaintance of Graham's, resident not in Ayr, their former quietly sleeping a but at Glenfoot, in the neighbourhood of Shanter farm; churchyard Mr. Graham, of course, with decorous memorial on his head-stone and the witch in who was the veritable 'Souter.' One John Laughlan, a inscribed ; undistinguish- cease from and leather merchant in Ayr, afterwards of Cunning Park in that able verdure, "where the wicked troubling, at the are at rest." 'Kirkton of whom sub- neighbourhood, and whose remains are interred Alloway weary (4) Jean,' this mention a Kirk, has been erroneously identified by some with ordinate occurs, kept respectable public-house 246 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

' time. Her in it taken in In the entrance the public' of the village of Kirkoswald at that baptism having place 1756. name, we learn from Mr. Chambers, was Kennedy, the wide- of the churchyard repose the ashes of the Poet's father; of the and here it his his bones spread patronymic of the district. The supposed scene was original intention that own should be carousal in Ayr is 'still indicated, in the High Street of that entombed, having, with other neighbours, engaged in renowned Burgh. repairing the walls of the burying ground to entitle his in As to the text of the poem, it is remarkable, as has already family asserting that right. The original tombstone erected the Poet over his father's has since been been observed, for presenting the English termination ing by grave long "carried and is now in almost every instance in which the Scottish in would away piecemeal," says Mr. Chambers: a have been otherwise employed. The two exceptions are where replaced by much larger and more enduring slab, bearing ' ' ' the well-known before the reader. The the syllable ends a line, to rhyme with herrin and woman,' epitaph already demonstrate is now one of the most aristocratic and coveted in which cases in appears : and these exceptions churchyard of in the old of Burns's preference for the old form in such situations, which places sepulture district. The Bridge Boon, may be understood to be almost a rule with him. a little beyond, is a fine semicircular arch of great antiquity, to be of Eoman architecture. A similar p. 120, c. 2, I. 5. Or like the snow-falls in the river, supposed structure, A moment white then melts for ever ; but neither so large nor so firm, remains still in use over 'Snow-falls,' sometimes incorrectly printed' snowfall,' which a mountain stream above Inverkip in Eenfrewshire, about ' ' signifies the entire fall of snow : whereas snow-falls denotes thirty miles to the north, manifestly of the same date and the separate individual flakes as they descend, and separately workmanship, and on the same old west-coast line of traffic

' melt on touching the river. It is true that the verb melts,' or defence, which is still marked by military station-mounds ' in the does not harmonise with ' snow-falls called ' ' and on the route at this moment singular, exactly Danish-camps ; very in the plural; but a pause in the line takes place, and the traversed by modern railways. Whilst these notes were being verb seems then to be applied to the separate snow-flakes, as taken (1866), the celebrated venerable fabric was being sub- each of in its is seen to melt. Mr. Chambers to a its in them, own turn, jected thorough repair, in order to ensure stability ; quotes from Ovid a very fine parallel to this figure, in which which process, however, the ivy, which used to hang in such

Burns certainly could never be accused of plagiarism : graceful luxuriant festoons from its highest parapets, had Candidior nivibus, tune, cum cecidere recentes, been all shorn away. This loss, it is to be hoped, for Burns's In nondum mora vertit liquidas quas aquas. sake, time and the good taste of the trustees will by-and-by Ovid, Amor. HI. v. 11. also repair. Fairer than snows, when newly they have fallen, c. I. 11. Their instead o' creeshie Which time hath not yet turned to watery waste. p. 121, 2, sarks, flannen, Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linnen ! intentional on the Poet's Even if such parallel had been part, " The manufacturer's term for a fine linen, woven in a reed the change of the original by the introduction of a river, to of 1700 divisions." Cr&mek. For the use of double n in word melt the snow-flake in an instant, gives it an entirely new linen, see remarks on Author's language, in Appendix. aspect in every way adapted to his own theme, where the very I- 24. For mony a beast to dead she shot, idea of time, or of delay even for a moment, is excluded. And perish'd mony a bonnie boat, &e. Otherwise, and with another but not less object, beautifully, ' ' ' The shot o' dead '- that either the shot of evil for death Petrarch is, at the beast, or death by lapse of the bowels in the beast, Qualor tenera neve per li colli Dal sol di or 'schuten' a percossa veggio lontano ; through fatality Scottice, 'schotten,' was Come '1 sol neve, mi governa &c. Amore, crime in witchcraft of the worst malignity and the deepest Parte Prima : Camon xv. dye; and consisted of an imprecation for disease and death Sometimes, far off, on mountain ranges green, on creature, man or beast. In the of our The tender snow smit by the sun I've seen : any living days ' As melts that snow the sun, so Love melts me, &c. forefathers, and even so recently as the date of Tarn o'

I. 33. this time he was cross By the ford, Shanter,' it was firmly believed in by the rural population. in the snaw the Whare chapman smoor'd ; &c. To our esteemed friend Eev. Mr. Hogg's paper on the The various scenes here enumerated lie on the old road from subject, above quoted, we are indebted for the following to which behind the in Ayr Maybole, passed cottage which the illustration in solemn religious form, from the Kirk-Session Poet was and is now obliterated in the born, process of culti- records of the parish of Tinwald, Dumfriesshire, August, other vation and improvements. Kirk-Alloway, a small but 1699. It appears, that "John Carruthers and Jean Wilson ancient edifice on the of the religious margin Boon, about two were scolding together, and the said Jean did imprecate him miles from similar but Ayr, to, much smaller than, other and his beast. . . . John being summoned, declared it of a era buildings corresponding at Kirkoswald and Old was not Jean Wilson (who was brought up by another party farther to the has been Dailly, west, carefully restored since on a like charge), but Bessie Kennedy who, upon a certain the Poet's fame attracted universal attention to the spot. Sabbath, did wish that his horse might shoot to dead where- these it was marked with an During repairs imaginary date upon it fell sick, and he bringing it home and sitting at his on the lintel of its southern one of door, by the workmen em- house reading, the said Bessie Kennedy came by; and he on which, therefore, no reliance should be ployed; placed. telling her that his horse had not thriven since she cursed it, The itself was disused as a of building probably place public she wished that the shoot of dead might light on him and it before the Poet's birth, the last administration of worship both." [That is, that he and it might perish by some fatal m AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 247

denied ' internal lapse, or 'schute,' of the system..] Bessie being represented first as a child in Paisley harn,' then as a to behaved demi-witch in or explained, but was nevertheless "found have the reliques of her earthly finery, and lastly as after the of unchristianly, and rebuked for the same and dismissed, spirit evil in another human form, promising greater watchfulness for the future." This, the Lang after kenn'd on Carrick shore. reader will took in solemn earnest half a observe, place only Having thus three distinct states of existence the natural, or before the Poet's birth. Mr. century thereby Carlyle in which she was known to her grand-mother; the semi- complains that "the strange chasm which yawns in our in which she natural, appears to Tarn ; and the supernatural, credulous between the and imaginations Ayr public-house in which she was known by reputation through another of is nowhere over the idea of the gate Tophet bridged ; nay, to the world she in herself " personality altogether represents : for a such such a bridge is laughed at but man with three of earth air hell and her separate spheres, and and ; by notions of the world in his brain as those now spiritual solitary presence there, on that understanding (fascinating illustrated, no of the kind was the Kirk- mortals bridge required; and bewitching devils), bridges the whole intervening Session of Tinwald themselves have been might imposed upon abyss, both of space and time, between the earthly and even in a night like that, when wzearthly extremes. The reference to her subsequent and A child understand might final state of transformation, in the likeness of a decrepit old The Deil had business on his hand. woman, is entirely consistent with her progress in witchcraft Mr. should also have remembered, that there is as Carlyle just and the physical changes that might be expected in conse- between the realities on the river where little bridging side, quence. She was in the full splendour of her attractions as a the Devil first to Faust like a black dog, among the demi-witch at better to look appears Alloway-Kirk ; but she was no on a afternoon ' innocent pleasure-seekers Sunday at afterwards than poor Kate Steen' about the date of the Then auld snick-drawin you, ye dog, poem. Burns, in this respect, was not the inexperienced Ye cam to Paradise incog. artist that Mr. and in other for An' play'd on Man a cursed brogue, Carlyle imagines; respects, (Black be your fa' !) graphic ease and suggestiveness, this brief sketch of his at An' the infant warld a gied shog, Alloway-Kirk will bear advantageous comparison with the 'Maist ruined a' ! Address to the Deil. most elaborate details of the Walpurgis Night revelry. Between these, we on the one hand, and the supernatural say, Indeed, if it were not that we seriously protest against in the of Faust on the other, where his phenomena study all such insinuations on one side or the other, it might be ' revelation as in the shape of a towsie tyke, Mephistopheles affirmed with plausibility that Gcethe had adopted, in some and occurs : ' black, grim, large,' unknown way, hints from Tarn o' Shanter,' for his own Devil's How long and broad the poodle's growing ! ride on the Hartz mountains, and the rendezvous of Witches himself He fearfully uprears, ' in the Brocken. The of ' Faust was not published No dog-like form the form he wears ; tragedy Some monster of the Nile appears ! till 1808, and copies of Burns were by that time doubtless What phantom have I brought within 1 well circulated in Europe. Professor Wilson, we are aware, Tire-eyed, with teeth that horrid grin ! has touched on this the idea of Ah, now I know thee and I see, briefly point ; although obliga- Thou of half hellish being brood, tion to Burns on Goethe's part is not suggested by him. That to o'ermaster such as thce, The Author's brief and solitary annotation follows : The key of Solomon is good ! Faust : Filmore's Trans.

p. 122, c. 1, I. 21. Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg, and the he like a ruffian or between that street, where fights ; of And win the key-stane* the brig ; or the tavern where he turns on the of flame for wine or * tap It is a well-known fact that witches, or any evil spirits, have no power to beer, and then follow a poor wight any farther than the middle of the next running stream. It Upon a cask astride may be proper likewise to mention to the benighted traveller, that when he falls Does from the cellar ride in is more swiftly ; in with bogles, whatever danger may be going forward, there much hazard in turning back. or the Witches' dance on Walpurgis Night, in many points of Burns where p. 122. ON SEEING A WOUNDED HARE: These lines, in the very counterpart ; their form, were submitted the Poet to Dr. Young witches I can yonder see, original by Gregory show their and bare and Who beauty stripped ; for revision. Dr. Gregory, who was "a good man" And witches old, who, prudently, faithful, criticised and suggested with considerable freedom, A veiling mantle round them wear; Faust: Filmore's Trans. and with less delicacy, perhaps, than most other men would with some Mntranslateable ideas not to be found in Burns. have observed. Burns acquiesced, not without pain, in this All these, what were they but "phantasmagoria and many- process, and produced the verses as they now stand. The coloured as little connected with real or even spectra," life, on this will be found elsewhere. The ' correspondence subject with the as anything in ' Tarn o' Shanter ? The over- stage, overflowing humanity of the Author's heart in this, as in strained intellect of Faust, in short, and the muddled brain several other pieces in which the fears and sufferings of the of the Carrick farmer supply, on the same easy and natural lower animals are referred to, must be a theme of delight and all the for such terms, engineering necessary bridging gulfs. admiration to all who sympathise with animated nature, and the chasm of has in been But complained reality bridged, reverence the law of love which the Universal Father has the most delicate artistic stroke imaginable : to which no by registered everywhere in Creation. can be found in Goethe. The date of the story is parallel c. 2, . 1. May never pity soothe thee with a sigh, indefinitely retrospective the chief supernatural performer Nor never pleasure glad thy cruel heart ! 248 LIFE AND WORKS [ NOTES CRITICAL

In some modern editions the force of the last line here has quities of Scotland,' to which Eobert Burns has thus, and by

' ' been considerably weakened by editorial misprints : his own contribution of Tarn o' Shanter to its pages, com- municated an immortal interest. These works of Grose's are Nor ever pleasure glad thy cruel heart ! handsome and valuable productions, and still realise a premium a variation which may be more in harmony with syntax, but in the catalogues of select libraries. He died suddenly of an is by no means so expressive of vehemence as the original apoplectic attack, in Dublin, in the summer of 1791. unusual form of double negative. Two annotations by the Author are subjoined p. 122. ADDRESS TO THE SHADE OF THOMSON: Eemark- p. 123, c. 1, s. 3. By some auld, howlet-haunted biggin,* able for its concise and beautiful epitome of the immortal Or kirk deserted by its riggin. to whose Author's honour it is dedicated. There seem poems * Vide his Antiquities of Scotland : [a reference no doubt to Kirk-Alloway as to have been two of this the first of which will be copies poem, therein described.] found among Author's posthumous works. The ' Address,' as c. 2, . 2. He has a fouth o' auld nick-nackets : it here stands, was enclosed in a letter to the Earl of Buchan, Rusty aim caps and jinglin jackets .+ at whose solicitation it was written, and by whom Burns, with t Vide his treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons. some pomp, was invited to be present at the ceremonial a 124. TO MlSS A VERY YOUNG LADY sort of compliment, however, which he properly declined to p. C[RT7ICKSHANKS], to whose the of the 'Eosebud' has been accept. [See Literary Correspondence.] Mr. Chambers sug- honour, also, song dedicated is a tribute of almost gests that the arrangement of the 'Address' occurred to Burns affectionate, parental, regard for the child of an intimate and esteemed friend of the after glancing at Collins's corresponding Ode to Evening; Author's, Mr. William of the which is not impossible : but it is easier to suppose that it was Cruickshanks, High School, Edinburgh. It was in this house the Poet accom- suggested directly by Thomson's own works. In the verse gentleman's was kindly modated and attended when from a bruised describing Winter, for example, an indirect quotation from to, suffering and it was this then a the original appears, which might be challenged in other cir- limb; "very young lady" girl of cumstances as a but which in is twelve, who entertained and him with her plagiarism ; reality no more delighted perform- ances on the of than a graceful compliment to the author of the 'Seasons,' piano, those exquisite old Scotch airs, to which he was where it stands. Thomson says then adapting his verses for the 'Musical Museum.' Mr. Cruickshanks' s The Winter keen house, we learn from Mr. Chambers, over-

Shook forth his waste of snows : I. 317. looked the behind the Spring, green Eegister House ; and the window of the Poet's room looked in that direction. Mr. Cruickshanks which Burns sympathetically and beautifully expands for the died in 1795, a before the Poet's death. The ' occasion thus : year Eosebud,' who married Mr. Henderson, writer, in Jedburgh, has still p. 123, c. 1, . 2. While maniac Winter rages o'er The hills whence classic Yarrow flows, representatives surviving. the turbid Rousing torrent's roar, p. 124. SONG ANNA, THY CHARMS: Appears also in Or a waste of snows : sweeping, wild, ' " Johnson's Museum.' It is adapted to a very beautiful and On other Collins as well be any supposition, might accused of plaintive air composed by Oswald, and published in the first borrowed that Ode of his to ' having very Evening from the volume of his Caledonian Pocket Companion,' under the title same source the of that Ode ' ' ' ' (although superior beauty we of Bonny Mary . Stenhouse. The song itself, although brief cannot perceive) : so that Thomson would, in be the and is in Burns's reality, epigrammatic, happiest vein ; and embalms a author of inspiration for them both. compliment to female beauty in the richest aroma of devotion. c. *. 1. While f. 122, 2, virgin Spring, by Eden's flood, p. 124. ON EEADING, IN A NEWSPAPER, THE DEATH OF That the J[OHN] M'L[EOD], ESQ. This effusion of sympathy was occa- is, river Eden, on which the village Edenham or sioned by the death of the son of the Laird of Ednam, birth-place of the Poet Thomson, is situated, on the youngest Eaasay, which took in the month of 1787. The confines of Eoxburghshire and Berwickshire. place July, lady to are 123. ON THE LATE whom the lines addressed had many family bereavements p. CAPTAIN GROSE'S PEREGRINATION : of a distressing nature to sustain, and the Poet's affectionate We have already, in our Notes on 'Tarn o' Shanter,' referred to the of our Author's condolence in such circumstances has been recorded in more origin acquaintance with this gentleman, than one form. Note on winds around her which took place in Captain Eiddel's at Friars-Carse. The [See song 'Eaving blowing.'] The present is remarkable for the antiquary's fortunes, as well as his personal appearance, are composition of the first as with the corres- humorously glanced at in the poem. He was an Englishman unequal length line, compared of of third line, in most of the a unusual respectable birth, good talents, liberal education, and ponding stanzas; style with our and intended to some additional admirable wit ; a and of militia Author, possibly give captain paymaster ; extrava- and distinctive force to the sentiment. In the gant, convivial, immensely stout; and ultimately reduced original manuscript, of between fourth and fifth the lines by his habits self-indulgence to poverty. He was driven stanzas, following appear, as well as induced which have been introduced in the text of Mr. Chambers' s by necessity, by taste, to adopt antiquarian literature as a edition, we think omitted the Poet himself: profession; and had already, between 1773 and although wisely by 1788, produced important works in this department, with Were it in the Poet's power as he shares the artistic illustrations by his own pencil, in England and Wales. Strong grief, That pierces Isabella's heart, His concluding work in this peculiar walk was the 'Anti- To give that heart relief ! AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 249

* 125. THE HUMBLE PETITION OF BRUAR- : sees the p. WATER [one future classical Professor there;] the driver * in are beautiful but their was Bruar Falls, Athole, exceedingly picturesque and ; incorruptible" effect is much impaired by the want of trees and shrubs. R. B. p. 126, c. 1, s. 2. So may, old Scotia's darling hope, ' Your The deficiency here noticed, and complained of in Petition,' little angel band, &c. "The 'little band' was generously and abundantly supplied by the plantation of angel consisted of Lady Charlotte Murray, aged twelve, after- wards the wife of Sir John Men/ies of Castle-Menxies in accordance with the Poet's the ; Lady Amelia, aged seven, woods, suggestion, along afterwards Viscountess Strathallan ; and Lady Elizabeth, an infant of five months, rocky chasm. It was during his tour with Nicol to the north afterwards Lady Macgrcgor Murray of Lanrick." Chambers, that this visit to Bruar-Water occurred; and as we learn 126. p. ON SCARING SOME WATER-FOWL, IN LOCH TURIT : to Professor from his letter Walker [see Literary Correspon- Loch Turit lies in a wild of the same the " glen name, among the verses now before us were the effusion of dence], mostly mountains beyond Oughtertyre in Strathearn, which the Poet half-an-hour," on the a "little brushed subse- spot up" examined during his visit to Sir William Murray there, in as he rode on in the The which is quently, carriage. scene, whose family at the same time was resident also Miss Euphe- admired, and has often been described tourists, universally by mia Murray of Lintrose heroine of his well-known song, is about three or four miles west of in on the ' Blair, Athole, Blythe, blythe and merry was she.' The date of the poem road between Perth and Inverness. Dr. Garnet thus describes must therefore have been about the middle of October, 1787, the as it existed in Burns' s : scene, day on his return from the north to Edinburgh. According to "'We wont up the left bank of this river, whose channel is the most rugged that Mr. Chambers, Miss Murray remembered the first rehearsal can be conceived. The rocks which form it have been worn into the most gro- of it by the Poet himself, at table in Oughtertyre House, with tesque shapes by the fury of the water. A foot-path has lately been made by vehement on the lines. In the whole the Duke of Athole, which conducts the stranger in safety along the side of the emphasis concluding chasm, where he has an opportunity of seeing, in a very short time, several very piece, one recognises with infinite satisfaction the prevailing fine cascades one over which a has been thrown forms a ; bridge very picturesque of the Poet's nature his of humanity ; inherent love liberty, object. This is called the lower fall. The water here rushes under the bridge and falls in a full broad sheet over the rocky steep, and descends impetuously and commingled detestation of oppression and cruelty. It is a natural arch into a dark black as if to take before it through pool, breath, the same hand discernible here, which inscribed monologues resumes its course, and rushes down to the Garry. Proceeding up the same side of to field and the of the river, we came in sight of another rustic bridge and a noble cascade of sympathy helpless mice, protested against three falls or breaks, one immediately above another, but the lowest is equal in barbarities of sport at the expense of any animated, much height to both the others taken together. This is called the upper Fall of more of any sensitive or timid being. Bruar," &c. c. 1, 1. 5. Why disturb your social joys, The itself, of which the above must here passage abridgment Parent, filial, kindred ties ? ' suffice, may be found at greater length in Tour through is but a repetition, for example, of the Highlands,' by Thomas Garnet, M.D. The feather'd field-mates, bound by Nature's tie, The Poet's visit to His Grace at Blair-Athole on this occasion Sires, mothers, children, in one carnage lie ! Brigs of Ayr. has been rehearsed by Professor Walker in his usual guarded, In another direction, we find indications of the strictly accurate, half-patronising, circumstantial style, not without geniality as well as poetical, character of all his observations. Let the either, as interesting and instructive. Josiah Walker was reader compare the following passages then tutor to His Grace's family at Blair-Athole, and was I. 19. The eagle, from the cliffy brow, appointed, through that influence it may be subsequently his Marking you prey below ; conjectured, to the Chair of Humanity in the University of recollect his Dangers, eagle-pinioned, bold, ; where we can well magisterial deport- Glasgow Soar each hold Lines in : around cliffy ; Hermitage ment, and occasional solemn comments on the classic text of Ye cliffs, the haunts of sailing yearns, Cicero or of Ovid. Peace be to his and the reflected memory, Where Echo slumbers ! Elegy on Henderson : glory of ducal prestige in his attention to Robert Bums. and ho will be satisfied of this. Such references to the " eagle, " I had like the the often others," says worthy Professor, experienced pleasures which in a sense are but of one occur but I never saw those repetitions another, only which arise from the sublime or elegant landscape ; feelings a river it or the Poet's tour to the and are the so intense as in Burns. When we reached rustic hut on the Tilt, where during, after Highlands ; is with a from which there is a noble he overhung woody precipice, water-fall, clearest proofs of the fidelity to nature by which his writings threw himself on the heathy seat, and gave himself up to a tender, abstracted, and are characterised. No false or fanciful is admitted rapturous enthusiasm of imagination It was with much difficulty I imagery on him to this and to be introduced in time to and takes its for his prevailed quit spot ; proper supper. by him, nothing place immortality on Much attention was paid to Bums, both before and after the Duke's pages, until he himself has seen or heard it. From actual return, of which he was perfectly sensible, without being vain; and at his departure, I recommended to him, as the most appropriate return he could make, observation, therefore, we may certainly affirm, and not from to write some verses on of the scenes with which he had been descriptive any any other source, are such allusions drawn; although a so much delighted. After leaving Blair he, by the Duke's advice, visited the similar reference to the habits of the of Falls of Bruar, and in a few days I received a letter from Inverness, with the descriptive eagle, on the occasion verses inclosed." [Burns's "rapturous enthusiasm" above equal, if not even of greater, beauty, may also be found in referred to was not quite so unalloyed as the worthy narrator innocently imagined. Thomson : The ducal taste in fancy-gardening among such scenes, as we elsewhere learn Invited from the cliff; to whose dark brow from himself, was not entirely to his mind.] He clings, the steep-ascending eagle soars We are further informed by the Professor, that the ladies in With upward pinions thro' the flood of day : Summer : 1. C07. the Duke's family, in their anxiety to prolong the Poet's stay, They shall mount up with wings as eagles : they shall run and not be weary, shall walk and not faint. Isaiah: xl. 31. sent a bribe to the driver to take a shoe off one of the post- they " ' ' horses in his chaise But the ambush failed. Proh mirum ! Compare also Note on Lines in Hermitage, where the same 2R 250 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

As deep recoiling surges foam below, idea will bo found quoted apparently from our Author, and Prone down the rock the whitening sheet descends, in the mouth of Fall : without any acknowledgment, by Scott, And viewless Echo's ear, astonished, rends. At of Fyers Elizabeth. the of such there- Queen Let burden obligation, in seem to contain two very plain quotations from Thomson if it be attended to at round for this is fore, must all, go ; by in the the one case, from his description of a waterfall, other, no means the instance in which the illustrious author of only of a and both within a few hundred lines of uncon- thunderstorm, Waverley seems to be very clearly, although perhaps each other. We produce the lines in question : sciously, indebted to Eobert Burns. At an azure sheet, it rushes broad ; Of the two unfinished sketches which follow the one, first, Then whitening by degrees, as prone it falls, p. 126, IN THE INN AT KENMORE, TAYMOUTH: and the other, And from the loud-resounding rocks below not Bashed in a cloud of foam, &c. Summer : I. 594. p. 127, AT THE FALL OF FYEES, NEAR LOCH-NESS: Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail, much, in the of critical exposition, requires to be said. way Or prone-descending rain. Wide-rent, the clouds Their for itself, and the circum- Pour a whole &c. Summer: 1. 11-44. high poetical beauty speaks flood, ; stances of their composition, apparently on the spot, are with It is possible our Poet may have been ruminating sufficient to attest the Author's power of description and like Thomson on such scenes, and that an expressive phrase of word-work on such subjects : But a question pictorial this may have adhered insensibly to his imagination. But to connected with one of them, will require investiga- quotation, have used that phrase twice at so short an interval, without tion. The scenes themselves are now familiar to most tourists, acknowledgment, if he did it consciously, would have been that has the remotest associa- as every other spot has become Thomson of which to repeat himself, as well as to quote from ; but of are both tion with his name ; independently this, they a person, so occupied as he was at the moment, can with no remarkable for the greatest natural beauty and sublimity shadow of reason be suspected. If otherwise, and he was the Fall of indeed, for more than sublimity, inspiring Fyers, conscious of adopting such language as his own, being in actual terror, and overawing such a man as Johnson, by the reality another's, how little he cared for the credit of it, may and dread of the chasm into which it launches. depth gloom be concluded from the fact already stated, that such scenes It has been admirably described by Mr. Eobert Chambers, are referred to in his diary with comparative indifference, who also the of Dr. Clarke, that it was "a quotes opinion as "described in rhyme." finer water than that of Tivoli, and of all he had ever seen These p. 127. ON THE BIRTH OF A POSTHUMOUS CHILD: inferior only to Terni." Johnson saw it to disadvantage, in stanzas, emanating from the purest affection and most disin- drought; but was sufficiently impressed by its giddy grandeur terested feelings of love, are entitled to rank in the category to turn his eyes away. Although the pieces appear together of eloquent prayer. They are, in fact, but a beautiful poetical as were written in at a short fragments, they reality interval, elaboration of the divine sentiment ' the one before, and the other after, the Petition of Bruar- I will them alive and let widows Leave thy fatherless children, preserve ; thy Water.' On 30, 1787, Burns seems to Wednesday, August trust in me. Jeremiah, xlix. 11 : have visited which he enters in his as Taymouth, diary, and in a most remarkable manner was this prayer of faith "described in no particular importance, it rhyme," attaching and love responded to. The child here interceded for was weuld to his inscription on "the chimney-piece" there. appear, the grandson of Mrs. Dunlop. His mother was her daughter Similar brief terms he with reference to his beautiful employs Susan, and his father was a Frenchman of birth and fortune, 'The Birks of On Tuesday, September 5, song, Aberfeldy.' Henri by name. Mons. Henri died soon after his marriage he was at the Fall of Fyers. His occupation there was two- to Miss Dunlop, at Loudon Castle, Ayrshire : which bereave- fold the with his his on the one, recording pencil impressions ment occurred June 22, 1790; and the child was born in the the with affectionate and ; other, remembering prayerful spot November following. Receipt of this intelligence transported "the little band" whom he had left behind gratitude angel the Poet to an absolute of with his " ecstasy sympathetic joy at Blair-Athole : I declare," says he to Professor Walker, beloved friends, intense and devotional as any religious senti- " I for them sincerely to-day at the Fall of prayed very Fyers." ment could be. [See Letter on the occasion to Mrs. Dunlop.] all needs no Beautiful this, and commentary of ours. "In the of this was the " The poetical expression transport prayer as we learn from other after evening," sources, returning before us. Madame Henri and her son subsequently retired from his drive, Burns dined appointment with Mr. by Inglis, to France; where she unfortunately died. The child was the provost [of Inverness], who had a party to meet with him. elder then confided to the care of his grandfather, the Henri ; He was enraptured with the Highland but rather scenery, and, after a series of romantic vicissitudes connected with and silent than otherwise the thoughtful during evening." the Revolution, came finally into possession of his patrimonial Such details of fact, and reverential preoccupation of mind, of estates in peace. The particulars this interesting account think it to accumulate for both in ' we right here, the Petition Vol. are prettily detailed by Mr. Chambers III., p. 154, of Bruar-Water' and in the lines at the 'Fall of an Fyers,' of his Edition. expression, characteristic and beautiful enough, occurs, which, p. 127. THE WHISTLE: Before entering on details, we by misconception of the man's nature, might be easily inter- quote the Author's own introductory remarks to this much preted to his disadvantage as an author. celebrated poem. " Or find a shelt'ring, safe retreat, As the authentic prose history of the Whistle is curious, I shall here give it. From prone-descending show'rs. In the train of Anne of Denmark, when she came to Scotland with our James

Petition f>f Bruar Water : Stanza vn. the Sixth, there came over also a Danish gentleman of gigantic stature and great (& AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 251

prowess, and a matchless champion of Bacchus. He had a little ebony Whistlei social dignity would prevent their admitting, or even inviting, which at the commencement of the orgies he laid on the table ; and whoever was a witness or two to be on the occasion, to assist in last able to blow it, every body else being disabled by the potency of the bottle, present was to carry off the Whistle as a trophy of victory. The Dane produced creden- determining the issue, is a supposition on the Professor's part tials of his victories, without a single at the courts of Copenhagen, Stockholm, defeat, entirely gratuitous and unfounded. The Professor and several of the courts in and throughout Moscow, Warsaw, petty Germany ; challenged been to the Scots Bacchanalians to the alternative of trying his prowess, or else acknow- may have replying indirectly Allan Cunningham's " ledging their inferiority. After many overthrows on the part of the Scots, the ridiculous story that the Poet drunk bottle for bottle in this Dane was encountered by Sir Robert Lawrie of Maxwelton, ancestor of the present arduous dis- 7 contest, and, when came, seemed much baronet of that name : after three and hard left daylight worth} who, days nights contest, " the Scandinavian under the table, posed to take up the conqueror; but his own assertions are, And blew on the Whistle his Requiem shrill. if possible, more ridiculous than the story itself. The facts Sir Walter, son to Sir Robert before-mentioned, afterwards lost the Whistle to of the case, as ascertained from documents of unquestionable Walter Riddel of Glenriddel, who had married a sister of Sir Walter's. On reliability, are as follows. Friday, the 16th of October, 1790, at Friars-Carse, the Whistle was once more contended for, as related in the ballad, by the present Sir Robert Lawrie; Preparatory to the contest itself, the subjoined memo- Robert Riddel, Esq., of Glenriddel, lineal descendant and representative of Walter randum of preliminaries was executed : Riddel, who won the Whistle, and in whose family it had continued; and MEMORANDUM FOR THE WHISTLE. Alexander Ferguson, Esq., of Craigdarroch, likewise descended of the great Sir (1) Robert which last carried off the hard-won honours of the field." Sir in of Mr. Riddell ; gentleman The Whistle gained by Robert Lawrie, (now) possession of Glenriddell, is to be ascertained to the heirs of the said Sir Robert, now The reader will and that the date here by by perceive given existing, being Sir R. L., Mr. R. of G., and A. F. of C. and to be settled under (1790) must certainly be. a mistake on the Poet's part. the arbitration of Mr. Jno. M'Murdo : the business to be decided at Carse, the 16th of October, 1789. On the much controverted subject of the contest and Burns' s (Signed) ALEX. FERGUSOX. presence on the occasion, we have the means at command, R. LAWRIE. ROBT. RIDDELL. through the courtesy of Sir James Stuart Menteath, Bart., of COWHILL, 10th October, 1789. Mansefield, of presenting to our readers the fullest infor- Jno. M'Murdo accepts as Judge mation. With to some of the not Burns, respect parties, Geo. Johnston witness to be present additional particulars might be given, but it is unnecessary Patrick Miller witness to be pret. if possible. here. The chief authority against Burns's personal connection Minute of Bet between Sir Robt. Lawrie and Craigdarroch. 1789. with the affair is the late Professor Wilson, in his celebrated The above information seems to have been supplied by Mr. founds assertions Essay ; who some very strong dogmatic on M'Murdo, on request, to Captain Miller, then of Dalswinton, the a letter written Burns to Eiddel subject upon by Captain with Note as follows : on the morning of the day on which the contest took place, (2) The original Bett between Sir Robt. Lawrie and Craigdarroch, for the noted but which has evidently been misinterpreted or misapplied by Whistle, which is so much celebrated by Robt. Burns's Poem for which Bett I was named 1789. the Professor. In this passage, which seems to us, from Judge The Bett decided at Carse 16th Oct. 1789. beginning to end, extremely unworthy of the Professor's own Won by Craigdarroch he drank upds. of 5 Bottles of Claret. reputation as a gentleman and scholar, for taste and manli- To Capt. Miller, 1793. ness, after some uncalled-for remarks on Dr. Ourrie and late The originals of above were in possession of Thomas H. Professor Walker, we find the following words in conclusion : Cromek, Esq., Wakefield, Yorkshire, August 27, 1864 : Fac- "Why, you see that this 'Letter' and 'The Whistle' perhaps an improper poem simile furnished him to Sir J. S. Menteath of same date in priggish eyes, but in the eyes of Bacchus the best of triumphal odes make up by ; of Burns's share in this transaction. He was not at the Carse. The the whole from which the above, by kind permission, has been printed. 'three potent heroes' were too thoroughly gentlemen to have asked a fourth to Whatever be thought of such an now, it is sit by with an empty bottle before him, as umpire of that debate. Burns that may arrangement evening was sitting with his eldest child on his knee, teaching it to say 'Dad' manifest from the signatures of parties attached, as principals, that he was in his own bed, with bonnie Jean by his side and ' night lying yon witnesses, and umpires, including no less a personage than bright god of day' saluted him at morning on the Scaur above the glittering Nith." Mr. Miller of Dalswinton, the accomplished country gentle- It is to remind the reader that these assertions unnecessary man, the enthusiastic patron of scientific enterprise, and actual are at variance with the Poet's own declarations in entirely nursing-father of steam navigation, that the challenge was the itself: but it is of remark, that Professor song worthy looked upon as no serious immorality, or breach of Christian Wilson should have been so with a as to prejudiced theory decorum at the time; and there ia less need, therefore, for any that it was to Robert Burns's forget entirely contrary very apology on Burns's account for being present, still less to nature to make statements about himself of the imaginary deny, in the face of facts, that he was there at all. Whether kind here : supposed the witnesses and umpires did actually all assemble, wo have " I winna come what will o' me." lie, not the means of attesting. That M'Murdo, who specifies the other than Although, therefore, we had no evidence that of the quantity of wine drunk by Craigdarroch on the occasion, was with almost as song itself, we might affirm, much certainty, there, may be taken for granted, although the omission of his that Burns was present at the contest for the Whistle, as that name in the affidavit below may occasion some doubt on that celebration of the Fair. he was present at the Holy As to the point; but that Eobert Burns was present, that document

of the three on : gentlemanly character principal actors, which beyond the possibility of dispute determines so have not a to in the Professor rests much, we word say (3) Closeburn Hall, Deer. 2, 1841. in of was for three or that would be stinted in their I, Wm. Hunter, Blacksmith, Lake-head, parish Closeburn, controversion ; they hospi-' years and a half previous to my being apprenticed to John Kilpatrick, blacksmith, to witness of their convivial contest, need never be tality any in Burnland, parish of Dunscore, servant to Captain Robt. Riddell, of Friars- in I remember well the when the Whistle was drunk supposed. The fact was otherwise. But that their ideas -of Carse, Dumfriesshire. night 252 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

Mr. of for at Friars-Carse by the three gentlemen, Sir Robt. Lawrie, Ferguson hand or in his pocket, can seriously doubt it. Hiddleston, it and lliddell. Burns the poet was present on the occasion. Craigdarroch, Captain appears, declared, on universally accepted rumour at the time, Mrs. Riddell and Mrs. Ferguson of Craigdarroch dined with the above gentlemen. left that that as sober as a As soon as the cloth was removed, the 2 ladies retired. When the ladies had "Burns night was judge:" in which and sat down in the window, the room, Burns withdrew from the dining-table, case, there must have been some exaggeration in Hunter's table was before him. the evening, down the river Nith ; a small During looking affidavit as to the of or one of and the other of quantity spirits, rum brandy, drunk Bums nearly emptied two bottles of spirits, the Brandy to him Hum, mixing them in tumblers with warm water, which I often brought by him if indeed it was a physical possibility for a man to ink before him and continued the whole evening hot. He had paper, pen, and ; drink such a two and retain his the to have little quantity (nearly bottles) to write upon the paper. He seemed, while I was in room, what I could senses at all. Hunter's narrative in that conversation with the three gentlemen at their wine. I think, from respect, therefore, the ' as he sat with his back to the gentle- observe, he was composing Whistle,' we are much inclined to question : not that we doubt the old of the wine were all men but he occasionally turned towards them. The corks ; man's far as I can by any means ; but that on such an occasion, and it was claret the three drank. As memory drawn by me ; gentlemen bottles of claret. It was about sunrise we believe the bottles "in the been recollect, I did not draw more than fifteen window" had tampered the when the two were carried to bed. Craigdarroch never, during gentlemen with "the other servants, now dead," after Burns left the often fell and by course of the fell from his chair. The other two gentlemen ; night, room. or" other to their chairs. After also interesting statement Mrs. Burns on I had to help, with the assistance of Burns, one [See by now had carried stairs Sir Robt. Burns, myself, and the other servants, dead, up these, and some collateral topics of importance : M'Diarmid walked himself stairs without any help. Lawrie and Capt. Riddell, Craigdarroch up in Robt. Lawrie and Memoranda, Appendix.] Craigdarroch then went into one bedroom, where Sir was, Riddell's and blew the on the of Burns's blew stoutly the Whistle next he entered Capt. bedroom, Further, subject presence, we have the Burns after he had seen and Whistle as stoutly there being present. Bums, conclusive testimony of Sir Charles G. S. Menteath of Close- assisted the two above-named gentlemen to bed, walked home to his own farm- a little the worse burn, Bart., and narrated to us his house of Ellisland, about a mile from Friars-Carse. He seemed minutely courteously by and himself. Burns often afterwards of drink, but was quite able to walk manage son, Sir James Menteath of Mansefield, the present Baronet, was at when the Whistle was talked to me of the evening that passed Friars-Carse, to his father the the whom had communicated facts, and to whose drunk for and he told me again and again, that he wrote the whole poem of 'Whistle' that evening at Friars-Carse. Indeed he filled that evening, I well affectionate care in many ways the reputation of the Poet has than the one with recollect, four sheets of paper, larger present (large post) been indebted for no slight protection. To Sir Charles, the writing, all of which he took home with him. As I was apprentice to Kilpatrick, Poet himself a of the ballad, with a full account of the blacksmith, who always shod Burns's horses, when he was at Ellisland, I gave copy often saw Bums while I was shoeing his horses. All the above particulars I am the circumstances of its composition, from which Sir Charles's to on oath. willing verify acquaintance with the facts was derived. This copy was pre- WILLIAM HUNTER. (Signed) sented by the then Lady Menteath, Sir James's mother, to Deer. 2d, 1841. Cutlar Ferguson, Esq., of Craigdarroch, one day at dinner, after his return to this from India. In the above conclusive deposition, it will be observed, the country Mr. Ferguson, then Member for carried the facts chiefly deponed to are Burns's presence at the contest, his Galloway, manuscript with him to and it occupation during the evening, and the comparative sobriety Parliament, having opened to a friend in the House, and self-command he maintained to the end. In all other the excitement of Hon. Members became so great, that the circumstances mentioned, however, there is perfect agreement Speaker was under the necessity of calling the House to order. between the deposition and the poem, both as to time, sunrise, Pitt ! that the mere echo of the Exciseman's voice should at which the contest concluded, and the approximate quantity supersede the eloquence of most gifted statesmen, and stop the of wine drunk, as divided between the three. There is still very progress of legislation for the empire ! Other original nearer agreement on this point between the Deposition and copies of 'The Whistle' besides this are extant one in pos- the Memorandum of Bett by M'Murdo, which seems abso- session of Dr. Grierson, Thornhill, a gift from Gilbert Burns lutely conclusive on the subject. Burns, therefore, may have to the late William Grierson, Esq., Dumfries; and another,

' ' employed round numbers in his narrative, when he said carefully written out by the Poet on Government Excise "Six bottles a-piece" an exaggeration, or a mistake, very paper, and in beautiful preservation, handsomely framed, at excusable, indeed, in such ' totals.' So much for the social the Crichton Institution in that town. This copy, wo learn habits of our forefathers knights, squires, and high ruling- from a paragraph in Dumfries Courier, November 11, 1862, is elders included. The deposition above quoted was sent by supposed to be the original commemorative copy, when first Sir J. S. Menteath to Professor Wilson, with a, request that extended by the Poet from his own rough draft, and is " the Professor would correct the statement on this subject in believed never to have been out of Friars-Carse House until his essay; which, we regret to say, was rather ungraciously it went to be framed." It was removed at date of the above refused. The deposition, we believe, was afterwards pub- paragraph, by the trustees of the late Mrs. Crichton, to the lished in the in Scotsman, July 30, 1864, a letter from Sir J. Museum of the Crichton Institution, Dumfries, for preser- Menteath, dated the 27th day of that month. vation there. It presents a few orthographical and other As for Burns's presence on the occasion, and his comparative variations of the text, which will be found among ' Various the of ' sobriety, notwithstanding amount spirits he is said by Headings at the conclusion of this part. The Whistle itself, Hunter to there have drunk, can be no doubt. Both facts for a while supposed to have been irrecoverably lost, has have been verified by another witness, named Hiddleston, been recently discovered, and is now (1867) in possession of in conversation with Dr. Grierson of Thornhill, August, 1864 : the then champion's representative and descendant. We and no one who has seen the path from the river side to the think it right to mention, in conclusion, that the late Mr. at Ellisland, which Burns must have ascended alone C. a in cottage ; Kirkpatrick Sharpe, veiy high authority such matters, or who reflects for a moment that he had loose the manuscript after examining the family records and searching in vain of a sheets such poem, written during that very night, in his for some trace of the original Sir Robert, expresses serious AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

doubts about the truth of the Wo do not par- also in the comedies of old as of this legend. chanting ; but songs, we much in these doubts. There be late ticipate antiquarian may epoch understand them, seem to be awanting. Sappho some or omission as to dates and which and discrepancy names, Alcaeus, who used the lyre, may have come nearer to what some accidental will and account for. But discovery by by we call songs in their passionate effusions; but the nearest

the Whistle itself is there ; and the contest for its on possession, perhaps record, dedicated, however, exclusively to religious as a valuable heirloom, actually took place. The legend purposes, are the psalms of the Hebrews. These, notwithstand- connected with be as it, therefore, may accepted substantially ing, are more chaunts than songs, and require certain external correct. A tradition of that kind could not have been fabri- concomitants, now unknown to us, for their own perfection.

cated without detection ; and such stories are ever do scarcely We not now read or rehearse as David sang, and never without some foundation in fact. will. That art, with the inspiration that appertained to it, for propitiating Deity or confounding Devils, is gone. Upon the whole, the song, as contra-distinguished from the poem on the NOTES ON SONGS. one hand, and from the ballad or metrical recitation on the " " WE might write," says Mr. Carlyle truly, a long essay on other, seems to be a distinctive articulate utterance of our the songs of Burns; which we reckon by far the best that own that is, of the modern world, and chiefly of the races " Britain has yet produced but not quite so truly, when he inhabiting the central, western, and northern regions of in the same breath of this of as from the of speaks very gift song-writing Europe ; which, by medium the very atmosphere, a mere chink or "small aperture;" unless he were prepared it has been diffused and appropriated among mankind. In to describe by some corresponding term the corresponding gift this species of composition, vulgarly debased and capable of of psalmody, which has been an aperture in heaven indeed, abuse to any conceivable extent, also vulgarly misunderstood, for the refreshment and illumination of the world. Song- various intellectual and moral qualifications of the highest writing in one form or another, and it has had many forms, is order are required to produce perfection. First, morally, the in fact a permanent sphere of intellectual action of the highest profoundest passion, sensibility, sympathy, and tenderness of order; an exhaustless fountain of delight, and universal individual mental constitution; realising in self the various ecstasies of all channel of sympathy for mankind; where the richest soul other men for the moment : second, intellectually, may revel and expend itself without limitation or reproach. the power of regulating and sub-dividing these into brief limited In the form in which we are most acquainted with it, and as periods, and of embodying their expression, and of compared with the more elaborate style of the epic, or descrip- harmonising such subordinate periods of ecstasy into one tive, or dramatic poem, in which continuous labour on exalted whole burst of measured passion, pain, pity, lore, grief, mirth, themes must be bestowed, it has, doubtless, a narrower, or joy, as the case may be : third, artistically, the gift of almost an inferior, look, as if incapable of occupying or de- accommodating all this to the spirit of music, to the notes of this an to the of a so that the words and the veloping the loftiest powers. But is true only in relation air, rhythm melody ; shall to float of to its occasional topics, and not in relation to the gifts which sounds seem together out the soul, and to

the into of : it implies, or the effects it is capable of producing. The float together from lips the ears men and finally, mountain of ore, when cut or cast into a palace or a pyramid, the commingled gift of poetry and painting, so to embellish may be a grand monument of art, but it is thenceforth fixed, and enrich the whole with pictorial touches of description, or and as to dispensing only rays : the same mountain, drawn out into a sentiment humour, discriminating when where, and the and it the of mere sameness or in the thread, will compass electrify world ; requires prevent possibility fatigue of ideas that it thus echo and re-echo for ever. more skill and labour, by many degrees, to draw out that repetition ; may thread and wind it round the planet, than to build or sculpture To produce one such work in perfection, would secure lasting the most elaborate monument. The entire fusion of the soul, fame for its author; to produce any considerable number, a is and if the of would set him the foremost benefactors and rulers of in such process, indispensable ; gate Song among nation with one in its through which it flows be of necessity contracted, and the his race or kin. A great song lips for it still to is free with a code of or moral outpouring brief the time, must be intensely pure, dedicated liberty, ; religious of the soul is with a collection of miscellaneous and in its very current carry a portion away with songs, self-governed ; social is self-sufficient in The it, never to return. If the process be uninterrupted for a amatory and songs, happiness. season, or continued for a lifetime, the soul itself will be found 'Marseillaise Hymn' revolutionised France; 'Luther's Hymn' and ' When Israel went out of ' at last diffused through every link, departing articulate enfranchised Germany ; Egypt in the latest line. will yet be the gathering cry of a dispersed nationality, the existence: 'Yankee with its Song-writing, as among ourselves, may be said to be an oldest in Doodle,' contemptuous and of the latter drove British arms out of America and ' Old institution of the western world, days. iteration, ; There seems to be no sort of composition, in ancient classic John Brown,' with a deeper pathos in its simple melody than literature at least, that can be set precisely on a footing with any modern national chaunt we know, promises fair to reunite ' more a and dismembered : Scots it. Callimachus indited hymns, and Tyrtaeus war-songs; once bleeding Eepublic wha Anacreon and Horace musical odes; Catullus and his brethren hae,' among ourselves, is more potent than any Magna ' Pindar loose rein to in Charta and ' Auld will be a epithalamic chaunts; gave syllables ; Langsyne perpetual guarantee mere unmeasured rhapsody, and the choruses of the tragedians for the moral rejuvenescence in love and truth of the whole declamations we have of choral western world. were but explanatory ; scraps

%- 254 [NOTES CRITICAL

In all the above conditions of song-writing, Burns was not phetic instinct, the sympathy, the geniality, the humour, and in the number and of seem to be or to be or ab- only gifted, but supreme ; and variety breadth, awanting; extinguished sorbed in his compositions, beyond comparison, the greatest master who insatiable sorrow or fruitless desires, issuing, it may ever thus adapted the highest intellect, or devoted the most almost be said, in transcendental selfishness. Of humour, passionate and susceptible nature to the requirements and de- indeed, there is the melancholy pensive shadow, which mocks of itself and studied contradiction the light his fellow-men. Other men have also written songs, by quaint ; pensicrosa ombra that saddens in of and other nations besides Scotland have their codes of songs ; the very heart the author, that sickens and dies in but to judge by their effect on the world at large, and by every effort at articulation, or takes refuge in the their acceptability to mankind, it should seem as if it would bitterness of despair, and impossible yearnings that overreach require all the songs of any one nation put together to equal the stars. This, apparently, and not much more, is in him. But the in in beauty, in variety, and power the songs of Robert Burns profoundest grief Burns's soul was tempered and soothed alone. In addition to which, they are almost all characterised with the grandest sympathy, and was never suffered the that the to tarnish or to bronze a in which love for by highest dramatic perfection ; is, by expression permanently sky, his of or delineation in speech of the passion and position of the fellow-creatures, every condition and of every caste, was the azure singer, and frequently by the embodyment, in a single verse, perpetual background. Whilst at such of what might be expanded into whole acts or scenes in a lyric glancing conspicuous parallels, we cannot omit reference to the of drama. There is scarcely one song of his, indeed, that does name Branger, from whose pages we have and not include many attributes of beauty, and the whole together already quoted, may hereafter occasionally quote, and may be left without fear beside the finest and most varied whose reputation as the lyrist of France is now at least creations of the intellect. To conclude an estimate like this European. By critics and biographers in his native country he is with comparisons between him and his fellow-countryman spoken of enthusiastically as another Horace; and by Ramsay, or the English Dibdin and Walcot, or the Irish many among ourselves he has been accepted as a second Burns. The French Horace or the French Sheridan and others, with all their special gifts and powers, Burns he may as in indeed be called, for want of better but competitors song, would be unseasonable. They are analogies ; certainly he is neither Horace nor not to be compared. The only sort of parallels at all to his Burns. With Horace, except in finest effusions are to be found in the occasional scattered esprit and as a satirical lyrist, he cannot correctly be compared at all individual fragments of song, that have been strewn in the memory of ; although pieces, such as La double Ivresse, are the people for generations, by solitary and often nameless highly Horatian or Anacreontic in their polished sensu- hands and if collected and He was a chansonnier Horace was a writer ; which, systematically arranged, ality. essentially ; of might bear some analogy in pith, in pathos, or in music to epistles and odes, and never used a chorus, or looped on what he alone has produced many of these, sympathetically a refrain, in his life. With Burns, on the other hand, as a rescued and transformed by him, being actually in possession song-writer, some distant parallels might more reasonably be for if of the world : and a similar comparison might be made for established him, his chansons were songs, at least as Burns the same sort of fragmentary reliques in the sister language, understood and wrote them. In other respects he has but purified and preserved by Shakspear; and for Shakspear's little resemblance to Burns, who was much else as well as a to of all similar writer but the of own songs, which, next Bums's, compositions song- ; between songs Burns and the chan- are the finest. But none of these, nor all of them together sons of Beranger there are several most remarkable points of have ever exercised the same influence, or spread with the distinction. (1) The songs of Burns are natural musical works same or settled with the of and rapidity among mankind, same ease, commingled fancy, thought, passion ; the chansons of and indissoluble hold upon their lips, as the outpourings of Beranger are for the most part artificial, rather prolix recita- Robert Burns's heart and voice. With one writer, however, tions, where neither fancy nor passion predominates, and of a remoter date and of another in the is country, not province thought chiefly satirical and observant. (2) In the songs of Song, but in the adjoining region of Canzonette and of Burns, where choruses accidentally occur, these are to a Sonnet, from whom we shall have occasion hereafter, as we certain extent independent of the songs to which they are have to coincidences of in and in cases the already had, produce language attached ; many songs themselves would be illustration of Burns, a brief at this so far as sentiment is without them in very parallel point may complete, concerned, ; be In are the same justified. Petrarch, intense vehemence the chansons, the chorus, the burden, the refrain, the repetition of expression, the same eloquent passionate appeals to Nature, pervades everything, and is so looped on to every verse, that the same identification of the soul with her, and with the no verse whatever would be perfect without it, and the that she one beloved object everywhere represents or hides; chanson itself would collapse in the very utterance, if such the same artistic use of words, but with more, much more invariable supplements were removed. In many of the chan- artistic more antithesis; involution, and therefore less per- sons, such repetitions constitute at least one half of several the same command of spicuity; exquisite figures, and the pages, and can scarcely be less than a third part of the whole the same transitions from happiest rhymes; lyrical form to together. (3) In the songs of Burns, distinct individuality, and from situation to in a form, situation; word, the same which is the very soul of all true lyric effusion, is the con- transcendentalism and of and lan- characteristic in the poetic perfection thought spicuous ; chansons there is no such indi- But the intellectual the guage. comprehensiveness, varied viduality at all, no living present of life in words. There may human the and the wisdom the talk of 1 experience, versatility ; pro- be much love L Amour for example, but there is m AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 255

not love and here and there the reflected should ever be heard of in itself; only image Scotland ; or the future of manhood of love, as if the author knew nothing of it in reality. and womanhood in truth and love, among ourselves or in for was Concentrated passion like Petrarch's, any one object, society at large, be postponed with such levity as in the to this like Kobert Ainsi Soit-il utterly foreign man; conflicting passion of Beranger, whilst Christ lives ! Let any one, Burns's, for several objects together or in succession, would who scruples to accept this judgment, compare for himself at in have destroyed him before his twentieth year. His lyrics, leisure the Ma Grand'mere of Beranger with that picture of are bacchanalian and licentious in which life in ' ' short, essentially ; domestic the Twa Dogs,' in the Cotter's Saturday he resembles Horace. Le bon Vin and La belle or in ' John Jo ' his Ainsi Soit-il ! certainly Night,' Anderson, my ; his ' Fillette are invariable concomitants in the triumphs of concluding stanza and all, with the prayer in A man's a man- ' ' ' muse. He could not have written ain kind dearie for a' that his dull licentious of La Descente aux My ; burlesque ' without a or ' Willie brewed a o' maut without the ' to the ' Sceurs de cask, peck Enfers with Address Deil ; and his Deux an actress, in the background. 'My Nanie, O!' in its sweet Charite, if there does not seem to be a sort of profanity in the ' transporting purity, was absolutely beyond his imagination. very idea of such comparison, with Mary in Heaven,' that he (4) Which is most observable, the chansons of Beranger are may be satisfied on the subject. For such scandals in type either mere political chaunts in the style of the demi-monde, as Ami Robin, Ces Demoiselles, Le Soir des Noces, and a few in which the vicissitudes of harlotry are identified with the others that might be named, we seek for no comparisons any- fortunes of or of licentious amours where. Alas for the in lines like those are not France ; they are recitations country which from salons and cabarets, too gross to be translated, and too indignantly resented by women, or can be chanted with shouts shamelessly flagrant in their allusions to be openly printed and eulogies in the mouths or in the hearing of men ! or sung anywhere, perhaps, in the modern world but in We ought not, perhaps, to conclude this brief comparative Paris. Among the exploded indecencies of Eamsay, they review without mention, at least, of the most eloquent and might be paralleled; but scarcely a trace of such ideas is accomplished, and for a while the most popular, song-writer to be found in the pages of Burns : nowhere indeed, we of more recent times in our own country we refer to Thomas

' may say, but among the Jolly Beggars,' where alone, being Moore, author of the 'Irish Melodies.' Without entering into dramatic, they are appropriate. At the best, these chansons elaborate parallel, however, in this case, we must content of Beranger are but echoes from the theatre and the casino, ourselves with observing that, although Moore was unquestion- or the boulevard at midnight, and want the clear tinkle of ably the most elegant sentimental versifier of modern times, the morning stream, and the rustle of the leaves, and the and as a song-writer entitled to no mean rank, there is a music of the atmosphere, and the melody of the birds, which certain gulf between him and Burns which no mere senti- everywhere accompany the footsteps of our own national ment, no mere elegance of diction, no mere refinement of poet. Yet there are many magnificent pieces intermingled. language or idea, could ever enable him to pass over. His

for has true heroic in it words and verses not himself as Burns's were : that Charles Sept,, example, love devotion ; were Les Oueux reminds us forcibly of 'A man's a man for a' made the grand distinction. In mere critical respects, this ' Gaulois et les is like occasional other difference is also most between them : Moore that ; whilst Les Francs an perceptible distant revival of ' Scots wha hae.' requires in general a verse, a stanza, or sometimes more, to In their circumstances in their poverty, in their afflictions, elaborate an idea; which may be harmonious and beautiful and above all in their intense patriotic devotion, even to the enough when entirely wrought out, but would be prosaic

of the resembled each other otherwise : Burns a or a sometimes use language, men greatly ; living requires only line, word, at a mere for the most which need both the one disappearing and the other advancing an syllable, suggestive thoughts ; ominous crisis, and sharing enthusiastically in the new-born no elaboration, which are musical and beautiful separately, as sentiments of liberty, they had both much to endure from they stand; and would have been poetical, semi-perfect in and the of the Frenchman had as themselves like and semi-colon of sense political suspicions ; courage comma, colon, periods severe a trial to undergo at Paris in the days of the Eestoration, and melody, although they had never been united as they are. as the constancy of his elder brother at Dumfries under the Moore, in fact, was a most successful artistic litterateur in discipline of the Excise. But otherwise, their morale was song-writing, or in writing what might and did pass, for entirely different. Beranger seems to describe nothing with many years, as songs: Burns was no litterateur at all, but a interest or effect but what is questionable in life, in religion, vital artist in impassioned rhythmic sense, in all that apper- or in morals because everything around him possibly was tained to lyric speech and music, who never in his life wrote but without the relief of as a which was not a in and will questionable enough ; brighter pro- anything song song reality, spects for purity or truth, nay, with absolute cynical mirth remain a song for ever. To quote examples in verification of

social : and gaite at the dismal realities of corruption, and this is unnecessary any two pages of the respective authors, domestic, as they stood. The higher nature of Burns, which on comparison, will satisfy a critic on the subject. raised himself above this, and his prophetic faith in Humanity It is here, perhaps, the proper place to advert to Burns's which looked joyfully beyond it, are both totally awanting. method of song-writing as a cultivated art. Although incom- God forbid that any grandmother should have spoken in the parably the finest song-writer of his own or any age, he knew as hearing of her grandchildren through him, Grand'mere too well the difficulty of such art to engage in it carelessly. that such a on he has stated on the and what does through Beranger ; premium prostitution, From all that subject himself, as that offered by St. Peter at the gate of Beranger's Paradise, we have since learned otherwise, the essential conditions ;< 256 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

of success with, him in such, to been composition seem have finishing process was afterwards conducted in the parlour of An air to suit his with (1) fancy, and intimate acquaintance the other house, where he subsequently lived and died. Very the air which he took means of before sacred are such itself, every acquiring, regions, and modest quadrangular chambers ! to write beginning or 'croon' that the words might naturally During some part of this process, also, the composition was themselves to or to a certain invisible adjust it, extent, by brought to the touchstone of music itself, by actual singing or out of it like a of and relationships, grow ; (2) Something key-note playing; any slight alteration that might then appear sentiment in words or ideas, original or suggested, to start advisable to himself was made. Although by no means a the mood of mind it composition ; (3) A congenial although performer, he occasionally guided himself, in this work of the should be at different intervals to produce or perfect practical revision or preparation, by 'stepping a tune' on the And if to these were added the or that he more composition ; (4) presence fiddle, might perfectly ascertain the modulations the recollection of as or of some of the air. chief some living heroine, muse ; His assistant at home, however, was Mrs. genuine and not imaginary theme, as subject one, at least, Burns herself, whose 'wood-note wild' had always fascina- that roused by sympathetic association or personal interest tion for him; and elsewhere, as occasion might determine his conditions said to if whole passionate nature, the might be (especially the use of the spinnet or piano were required), be complete. If the mood sufficed for the occasion, the work any musician in his numerous circle of such friends, from the be finished in a few hours if the mood failed or was child of might ; twelve years old, like Miss Jenny Cruickshanks, to interrupted, the work must also be abandoned until inspiration the young lady of twenty, like Miss Lewars; and by no means returned for like in form or in artist again ; nothing constraint, any unfrequently some of the ruder sex, -with hautboy, flute, any circumstances, was endurable by bis constitution. Many or violin. But notably among all natural and unsophisticated of his finest were on the songs undoubtedly composed spot assistants in such process of musical testing, was old Kirsty he or or as almost where stood sat, by the road-side he Flint Christina Kirkpatrick, by maiden name of whose or were laid aside and resumed journeyed along ; they again, invaluable service in this department we have received an when the current of his ideas, or the strain of music, revisited interesting account from Sir James S. Menteath, Bart., on his imagination : but all were equally, at the moment or by whose patrimonial estate, then of Closeburn, in the neigh- the of an snatches, offspring untrammelled fancy. The season bourhood of Thornhill, this singular vocalist was a resident. most for such apparently favourable compositions with him, Although neither a beauty nor otherwise attractive, except by from his the cool of even youth, was the evening or of the intelligence, her powers of song and her intimate acquaintance morning Sabbath morning itself not excepted [for beautiful with the finest old airs then remembered in the country had illustration of which, in his earliest life, see Original Kemi- irresistible interest for Burns; and whilst he could afford niscences in and the the of Appendix] ; scene, depth some time, he allowed no song to pass as finished from his hands

secluded or the brink of : grove, lonely some river-side until he had first heard it chaunted, or literally 'piped,' in and to more than one air, this wonder- Adown some trotting burn's meander, every key, perhaps by An' no think lang : ful performer. His custom was to sit in an old arm-chair by O sweet to stray, and pensive ponder her cottage fireside, and listen mute, noting the harmony of A heartfelt sang ! syllables and sounds, as she thus rehearsed his own composi- At he had the richest choice of Ellisland, such retreats ; and tions and it is ; receiving, said, with affability and gratitude, not selected them his unfrequently during professional rides, hints of other airs which seemed to her own ear, or in her own the hills and in the At Dum- among valleys neighbourhood. lips, more suitable for the several effusions. The late Professor fries, he seems to have preferred the woods Lincluden by Gillespie, of St. Andrews (as quoted by Mr. Chambers), de- Abbey scribes an occasion on which he, as a school-boy, was once I roofless As stood hy yon tower ; attracted to the cottage door by the startling beauty of such or the nearer, although only partial seclusion of the ' Dock rehearsals "Burns's horse being tied to the sneck by the Green,' a pleasant enough suburban promenade on the north bridle." The Poet's mother, as we also learn from Sir James side of the Nith. When the draft of rough the composition Menteath, was on terms of friendly intercourse with Kirsty, so his had been achieved, practice was to retire to his room, and, on leaving that neighbourhood, bequeathed to her, in in and to seat himself, pen hand, on a simple hardwood chair, memorial of their friendship and of her services in such which he swayed to and fro, balanced on its back legs, and manner to the Poet, the "low-seated deal-chair" on which " " so, in attitude, to finish his work as he was nursed and which soothing swinging he was ; was obligingly presented to Sir it to These drafts committing paper. rough were frequently James by Kirsty, on her death-bed.* From such spontaneous before were with as revised, they parted perfect. "He had inspiration, then, by music, and after such elaborate care in of Excise Mrs. "and he plenty paper," says Burns, scrawled composition, were these inimitable lyrics provided for the away." The room so consecrated at first was the little ' mid- and never but on similar world ; possibly else, conditions, will room' between the two and large rooms, communicating, we anything hereafter be produced to equal them. believe, with both, in the of a old-fashioned upper storey long POSTSCRIPT. Although both in the writing and singing of house, where his family was domiciled in Dumfries originally ; certain songs, the chorus is of essential importance, and was at the foot of Bank Street, close by the river-side, and about * This interesting relique is still in the worthy Baronet's possession and we half-way between the town's steeple in High Street on the one ; hope to he able, hy his kind pel-mission, to present an engraving of it to our hand, and Dame Devorgoila's bridge on the other. The same readers. CHAIR IN WHICH BURNS WAS NURSED,

FROM PHOTOGRAPH OBLIGINGLY SUPPLIED BY SIR JAMES S. MENTEATH, BARONET, OF MANSFIELD.

.

Besides the original inscription above delineated, the Chair at present, on an additional plate, exhibits the following : "Ihts (Ehair

came into the possession of SIR JAS. STUART MENTETH in the following manner. When Gilbert Burns, the brother of the immortal Poet Eobert Burns, quitted the farm of Mossgiel, Ayrshire, for that of Dinning on the estate of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire, belonging to Sir Charles Granville Stuart Menteth, his mother went with him. Afterwards, Gilbert became Factor to Lord Blantyre over his estate in East Lothian. His mother also went with him. When Mrs. Burns removed from Mossgiel to Dinning, she took with her this chair, on which she had nursed Robert and all her children. . . . Mrs. Burns, while living at Dinning, became intimate with Christy Flint, the wife of a blacksmith, a native of that parish. Before going to East Lothian, Mrs. Burns gave this chair to Christy Flint, who afterwards presented it to Sir Jas. S. Menteth."

MEMORANDUM BY SIR JAMES.

Christy Flint was an excellent singer; and had a great memory, stored with all the old songs and ballads of Scotland. These she often sung to Eobert Burns; and he applied to her to sing over to him any song he had composed while living at Ellisland and Dumfries. This proves the great care Burns took in the composition of his songs, that they the should please the ear, as well as rouse the heart and feelings. It is said that, while testing his songs through fine voice of Christy Flint, Burns would now and then stop her singing, and substitute a more mellifluous word for any one that was displeasing and grated on his ear. JAS. STUART MENTETH.

Oct. 29, 1868. [Compare Note on Songs Poetical Works, p. 256.] AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 257

carefully attended to by Burns; yet Burns' s songs, as we much more than double the number originally communicated of have already said, are in a great measure independent mere by him to Thomson's undertaking; (2) That Johnson, as an choruses. Choruses to him were but key-notes or finishes, editor, was not only a well-meaning, conscientious man, but with which, when the current of his own ideas began to flow, scrupulously exact in his adherence to the Author's manu- he could dispense at discretion. The printing and arrange- script before him; (3) That although a few typographical ment of these, therefore, seem to have been left a good deal at inaccuracies do occur, they are such as may easily be cor- first to the judgment of the musical composers to whose rected, or have already been corrected by commentators on of the airs intnisted and find his Thomson from as hands the harmonising was ; we work; (4) That where quotes Johnson,

' accordingly considerable variations of method, in the Museum' he did by the Poet's authority in not fewer than fifty instances ' ' and in Thomson,' in this particular. In an edition of the at least, he either quotes verbatim from the Museum,' or Poet's works where no musical notation appears, the continual where he quotes otherwise, it is by mistake or presumption in reprinting of choruses would be improper; and therefore, the alteration of the text, and to the manifest injury of the we have had some in how to Author's That since Johnson's innumerable although difficulty determining meaning ; (5) day dispose of them, we have adopted in general a certain com- minor variations have been introduced by Currie and by sub- promise of arrangement, which we trust will be satisfactory. sequent editors, for which no sufficient authority can be pro- (1) Where the chorus is distinct and separate, yet essential, duced, and which, on comparison with this fine original, it is it in at of has been printed smaller type, beginning and end impossible to justify or sanction; (6) and finally, That five- the where the chorus forms an of the song ; (2) integral part sixths at least of the entire contents were examined, revised, song, and could not be disunited without injury to the sense, and corrected by the Poet himself, of which corrections the it has been printed as a portion of the song, in uniformity proofs are still distinctly manifest on the plates themselves, with the text and where as once or twice in wishes ; (3) choruses, occurs, having been made compliance with the Author's are different and distinct as first and second or absolutely after the original engraving was done; and, from a comparison require to be repeated from time to time, as the song pro- of his manuscript with the text, there is eveiy reason to believe gresses, they have been so distinguished and printed in their that the remaining sixth part has been more correctly repro- respective places. Lines quoted by Burns from older songs, duced on the whole than the majority of such editions are in as choruses to his own, will be found enclosed in brackets similar circumstances. There were indeed ' ' two or three and verses added at later that been as the Poet himself [thus] ; occasionally by himself, things might have mended," are likewise so dates than the original, marked: but the acknowledges, if the work had been to begin again : but these authorship of such verses will be duly distinguished in Notes. things did not lie in the letter of the text. They lay in certain verses of doubtful moral tendency, or at least of doubtful JOHNSON'S SCOTS MUSICAL MUSEUM.* the Author afterwards and wher- meaning, which regretted ; In assigning to Johnson's Museum the highest place as an ever they could be identified (there are but three or four alto- authority in the republication of Burns' s songs, we have been gether) they have been, in compliance with this expressed desire guided by the following important considerations: (1) The of his, omitted in the present edition. On this point, however, Poet's undisguised preference for Johnson's work, indicated in it is right to observe that, in comparison with the old offensive many ways, but chiefly by the fact that this celebrated col- rubbish they were originally intended to supersede, even such lection, besides numerous valuable contributions in words and objectionable words can hardly be called immoral at all.

' music, "begged, borrowed, or stolen," as he says himself, by The truth, in fact, seems to be, that Johnson's Museum.' is our Author, to enrich it, contains not fewer than two hundred the only standard authority the world now has for above one or revised his own of Burns' s best that ' Thomson's and twenty-two original pieces, by hand, hundred and fifty songs ; the most beautiful and important of all its contents; being Collection,' in like manner, is the sole standard authority for sixty or sixty-three: that Dr. Currie in the meantime, and after him Mr. in to arbitrate between them, * James Johnson, engraver, musicseller, and copperplate printer, Edinburgh, Cromek, steps was the first who to music from pewter, which effected a great either hand and that in attempted print incorrectly, perhaps, on ; finally, ' in the of that article at the time. The Museum,' which was his reduction price editions indefinite license in in the subsequent orthography, ptinctu- great work, consisted of six volumes, which appeared successively years the last thus. not and has been used in re- 1787, 1788, 1790, 1792, 1797, and 1803; two volumes appearing ation, sense, words, arrangement, Burns and Johnson did not until after the Poet's death. originally contemplate the text. So far as Johnson is concerned, it is from the and number of contri- producing more than four volumes ; but great unexpected indeed as well as to see with what cool- butions by Burns himself, the undertaking was thus enlarged. Each volume provoking, amusing, contained one hundred songs. Burns was practical editor as well as chief contri- ness his edition has been corrected by gentlemen who ought to and revised all proof-sheets from the end of the first up to the middle of the butor, have known better, but who manifestly in such instances have fifth volume, at which date in the progress of the work his death took place. " before that event--" work looked at his at all and thus Your work," says he to Johnson, a few days sad Your scarcely work ; who not only do a one and now that it is near finished, I see, if we were to begin again, is great ; damage to the author he there represents, but expose their be I will venture to that two or three things that might mended ; yet prophesy, own casual or of facts. to future ages your publication will be the text book and standard of Scottish song ignorance neglect important literary " and music an estimate which time will verify. It is with considerable astonishment we observe one distin- Johnson died on the 26th of February, 1811, in circumstances so reduced, that " editorial name connected with this system of mis- his widow was dependent for subsistence on the occasional donations of a few guished ' friends and and after for some are satisfied that Johnson's of her husband's old acquaintances ; remaining quotation. Upon the whole, we as an she at found shelter as an inmate of the Edinburgh time out-pensioner, length Museum' is not only a high, but incomparably the highest, Charity Workhouse." These sad facts we learn, through Stcnhouse, from docu- in this of Burns' s works; and that it ments published at the time. authority department

-2 s ir

Vpi ! 258 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

occupies, in originality and simplicity, the same position as the supposition that a soul like this, so indifferent to its own to the songs, which the Kilmarnock and first Edinburgh greatest triumphs, could be guilty of appropriating, without Editions hold as to the earlier poetry of our Author. In acknowledgment, the thoughts or the words of others. The pemsing its old-fashioned pages, the reader perceives at once whole of this, indeed, is an additional indisputable proof, if a simple uniformity of speech and spelling in every passage such a thing were required, that anything approaching to by Robert Burns, most characteristic of the man; and in plagiarism was an offence absolutely foreign to his nature. innumerable instances, so many distinct as well as delicate It is in this view we have adopted the arrangement now letter or transitions of sense and figure, conveyed by a single detailed, that the reader may have before his eyes, in the most word, that the passages in which they occur seem to be almost authentic form, the fullest evidence on the subject: which All seems to be new productions, as compared with the ordinary text. the more required, in as much as in most recent editions such these peculiarities, to the best of our ability, we have repro- pieces are either printed indiscriminately, with- out full duced, as being of incalculable importance to the purity and explanation of their authorship, or with an intimation that authenticity of the Poet's authorship. they are only partially the workmanship of Burns, or the Poet seems to have attributed to him as if he himself had In contributing these exquisite lyrics, doubtfully ; originally acted, either from caprice or from some sufficient reason un- claimed them, and the falsehood of his claim had been dis- known, as he did also in contributing to 'Thomson's Collec- covered: whereas the fact of the case is the very reverse in his that he never nor cared for at tion,' partly by open avowal and partly by disguise claimed, claiming them all; these contribu- that in authorship : and in arranging or classifying nay, many instances he absolutely denied their tions, we have, for various reasons (among others, that the authorship, and that it has only been by most careful critical Author's own modesty and self-denial, when immense addi- inquiries since his death that his real relationship to most tional fame might have been so easily acquired by another of them, as their undoubted author, has been established. course, may appear), adopted the same sort of principle. These observations, we trust, will be accepted as final; and in The reader, therefore, will find (1) those songs which were any future instance in which a parallel passage may be publicly acknowledged by the Author, and to which his name quoted by us from previous authors, our readers will under- or initials were authoritatively attached in the 'Museum' stand that it is for the sake of illustration only, and in no not always in the order of their composition, but in the way whatever either to justify or renew discussion on this in that those which exhausted order of their publication work ; (2) songs topic. he did not thus avow, but which are sufficiently well known, In proceeding now to review the whole of these wonderful his by his own private admission or otherwise, to have been lyrical productions, classified as above, we do not propose in the 'Museum' most to criticise individual shall content productions, distinguished frequently minutely every song ; but by the letter X; (3) those songs which he only altered or ourselves with affording all the information accessible con- enlarged, and which have either no signature at all, or are cerning them, where it seems to be of importance, with such or distinguished in the 'Museum' by letters X Z; (4) those additional remarks as the history or character of the com- alone omitted in the subdivision of our songs being present positions themselves may suggest. It is not an essay, our in work, which appeared originally the earlier editions of the readers must remember, but only a commentary at discretion, Author's and have therefore been to in can here on these beautiful poems, already presented which we indulge productions ; reader. In this the arrangement, we have departed slightly but we may observe, once for all, that the more carefully we from our original intention as to detail in the order to be have studied and the more frequently we have perused them, adopted, but the reasons now assigned, on which a now classifi- we are the more convinced that both in variety and beauty, cation has been founded, will, we presume, be accepted as and in artistic perfection, they are incomparably the finest sufficient. Of two hundred and twenty-two songs contributed works of their sort that could be imagined emanating, in an ' by our Author to the Museum,' there seem to be one hundred uninterrupted series, from the hand of a single author. We or and eight, including six eight from previous editions, have seen nothing finer, and will not easily believe that there publicly acknowledged by him; fifty-nine entirely his, but can be anything much finer, in the world. not acknowledged; and fifty-five at least of fragments, re- SONGS ORIGINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED. visions, and translations by him, of which no acknowledg- ment was ever made, or deemed necessaiy by himself at his In the first volume of 'Museum' only two songs avowedly hands. When the reader learns, in addition to this fact, that by Burns appear, and these at the very conclusion of that hundred and fourteen among these anonymous works, more volume. It was not until the work had been considerably than one half of which were some of his that absolutely original, advanced our Author became acquainted with Johnson ; own most beautiful compositions are to be found; and that and his first contribution to its pages was one of his own he to ' the revisions which supplied, purify the public taste and earliest and best productions Green Grow the Rashes, 0' to redeem the of his were little less reputation country, than which, whatever may be thought of its morale by some, super- so done on rude new productions, being admirably and some- seded an old Scottish original unfit for publication, and from times unreadable materials, that the mere revision in most that hour to this has banished it this being only one among cases reads like a transformation he will be able not magical ; innumerable instances in which Burns's genius and exquisite only more fully to appreciate both the genius and the modesty taste combined have rendered incalculable service to the com- of the man, but to estimate aright the folly and injustice of munity. The other AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 259

of p. 129. YOUNG PEGGY : Is a beautiful pastoral chaunt, Aberfeldy, in Perthshire, during his tour through the the attractions of Miss K to whom with his friend Nicol suggested by Peggy ; Highlands of the High School, Edin- it was originally enclosed in a letter by the Poet, in the burgh. The same contempt for Fortune in comparison with autumn of 1785. It was the first compliment apparently to Love, and the same admiration of Nature in wood and wild, which that unfortunate lady, whose calamity was afterwards im- characterise all his works, are beautifully indicated here ' in mortalised in the Banks o' Doon.' Mr. Chambers, by some the simplest but most effective language. oversight (into which he seems to have been betrayed by p. 130. MY JEAN: One of the many tributes by our following Cromek a little too closely, who sometimes printed Author, in the same strain, to Jean Armour, seems to have from duplicate copies, as new, pieces which were already been written before their marriage. before the world), remarks that "this song was published c. 2, s. 1. Her dear idea round my heart ' " Should entwine. after the Poet's death, under the title of Young Peggy.' tenderly

' It was, indeed, so published by Cromek in his Eeliques,' Thus Thomas Moore afterwards, in one of his melodies but had already been published by the Poet himself, without And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart Should entwine itself still. The any title, in Yol. I., p. 79, of the 'Museum,' May, 1787 verdantly Sunflower. having been communicated for that purpose, in November, p. 131. STAY, MY CHARMER, CAN YOU LEAVE ME? 1786, or one year exactly after it was written; the date of Adapted to an old simple, pathetic Highland air; but whether the song being undoubtedly during Miss K.'s visit to her merely sentimental or real in its application, does not appear. friends at Mauchline. In the third stanza It has some resemblance to other verses addressed, at parting to Were Fortune lovely Peggy's foe, &c. Clarinda, and may possibly have been intended for her. 131. THICKEST SURROUND MY there is a considerable resemblance to the well-known song p. NIGHT, DWELLING! to ' Strathallan's Lament.' Of this by Sheridan % Adapted song, Burns himself ' ' Had I a heart for falsehood framed, &c., gives the following account in his Eeliques: "This

' air is the of one of the worthiest and best men which had already been assigned a place in the Museum,' composition Allan Masterton, schoolmaster in As he and which Burns may possibly ere that have seen; but the living Edinburgh. and I were both of we to dedicate song itself, written at Mossgiel, being already a twelvemonth sprouts Jacobitism, agreed the words and air to that cause. But to tell the matter of in existence, cannot be supposed to have had any relation fact, when were heated some accidental to it. It is sad enough to reflect, that both prayer and prog- except my passions by cause, Jacobitism was of vive la nostication in 'Lovely Peggy's' case were alike unavailing. my merely by way bagatelle." It be noticed in connection with this and with In the second volume, a much larger number of our Author's may avowal, Allan Masterton' s name, that Allan was one of the three contributions appears beginning with the first song in the ' ' whose symposium has been immortalised in the Peck o' volume, When Guilford good our pilot stood,' already pub- ' Maut;' and that the Poet, in a letter to Captain Eiddel, on lished; and ending with Clarinda, mistress of my soul,' the on which the drinking for the 'Whistle' took the last but two in the volume including altogether not day place, ' requests the favour of a frank' in to Allan, whom he fewer than thirty-three pieces from our Author's hand, of writing there also characterises in the same terms of eulogy and which, however, only eighteen were publicly acknowledged It is therefore, that the idea of this by him; the remainder being either alterations, additions, friendship. just possible, song may have been suggested over the 'Peck o' Maut' or anonymous compositions. which might perhaps stimulate the Jacobitism of the company; : 73 also Notes to Part WHEN GUILFORD GOOD [See p. ; L, and if that be so, then we have at least two admirable lyrics p. 107.] This song appears in 'Museum' to the tune of 'M. planned or written at the very moment, when the Author is Friecedan,' incorrectly so spelt; 'An Friecedan Dubh,' or supposed by to have been lost in 'The Black Watch,' otherwise more popularly known as many speechless inebriety. ' In support of this idea, we have italicised a word in Burns' s The 42d Eoyal Highlanders,' being the true title. own account, as quoted above, referring to such an agreement. p. 130. WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD: There seems to be some unexplained misunderstanding about Originally in two stanzas only, written by Burns in 1787, to the noble personage here represented. Some, including Mr. an air which was a great favourite of his own, and believed by Chambers, understand the imaginary speaker to be William, him to have been the composition of an excellent musician, by fell " fourth Yiscount Strathallan, who and at Culloden ; name John Bruce an honest man, though a red-wtid High- fought and that Burns, him to be an exile or lander" in Dumfries. In August, 1793, he composed the incorrectly believing in has such of lamentation second edition of four stanzas, with some verbal alterations surviving jeopardy, put language by mistake into his mouth. Others, to avoid this difficulty, on the first which will be found in its place. In some maintain that it was not this William at all, but his son, the manuscripts, the two first stanzas are slightly varied, thus disinherited Viscount, who survived him as an exile in France. O whistle, and I'll come to you, my jo, The facts are these : William, fourth Viscount of Strathallan, Tho' father and mother and a' should say, no, &c. fought, and was reported slain at Culloden : "I myself," says p. 130. BONNY LASSIE, WILL YE GO? This song, begin- an eye witness, whose affirmation we recollect somewhere to ning 'Now Simmer blinks,' &c., was entirely composed by have read, "saw Viscount Strathallan dead on the field of Burns, the chorus alone, 'Bonny lassie, will ye go?' being Culloden, and thrust this spontoon (military halbert) into his ancient. It was written in September, 1787, under the Falls body." The fact of his death, however, was good-naturedly 200 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

disputed even in London at the time. This dead body was not He was accompanied during this tour by Dr. Adam, afterwards universally believed to have been Strathallan's body; on the of Harrowgate; who, in consequence of this introduction, contrary, his reported death was affirmed to be either a mistake obtained the heroine's sister for his wife. The song itself is or a ruse, invented by his friends to deceive the Government, slightly Shenstonian in its character, but with intermingled of and to facilitate his escape. Lords Kilmarnock and Balmerino touches tenderness beyond Shenstone. were both taken and suffered but prisoners, decapitation; p. 132, s. 2, I. 3. And far be thou distant, thou reptile that seizest Strathallan, according to this theory, escaped and fled. It is sometimes incorrectly printed . . . seizes by no mistake, therefore, but on popular rumour, as being the Had the been ' seizes ' would have been most romantic supposition of the two then apparently enter- song entirely Scotch, the form but Burns was most in such tained concerning the lost Viscount, that Burns has ascribed proper ; scrupulous the matters, and the almost all the second this soliloquy to him : a circumstance which renders song being English, stanza the correct form is and soliloquy itself, as his, most affecting and beautiful. He, entirely so, English employed, so stands in ' Museum.' Nor does the supposed to be dead, is yet alive; and in obscurest exile, at distinctly printed in suffer such in as as the home or in a foreign land, laments the fate of his brother rhyme any way by accuracy, much ' chiefs-in-arms. Why else should a lament be in his mouth final t' is lost in the first syllable of the succeeding line. A so minute would be worth if it were at all? With reference to Note in our Text, p. 131, c. 2, point scarcely observing, not to illustrate the care with which Burns in such we think proper to quote from Mr. Chambers, Edition 1856, himself, discriminated the and adhered to the Vol. II., p. 214, as follows instances, varieties, " proprieties of language. Variation in MS. in possession of Mr. B. Nightingale, Priory Road, London :

132. RAVING WINDS AROUND HER BLOWING : This ' p. song, Thickest night, surround my dwelling ! we are informed the was in Howling tempests, o'er me rave ! by Author, composed sympathetic Turbid torrents, wintry swelling, reference to Miss Isabella M'Leod of Raasay, with whose deep ' " Roaring by my lonely cave ! afflictions, first in the death of her brother, John M'Leod, Esq. Mr. Chambers here calls a from a What variation, private [see p. 124], then in the death of her sister, and subsequently is in fact edition in ' John- manuscript in London, the original in the still more melancholy death of her sister's husband, the and the Author's " son's Museum,' printed published during Earl of Loudon, which occurred, 1786, by his own hand, out and now us. Mr. Chambers has own lifetime, reproduced by of sheer heart-break at some mortifications he suffered, owing in instance as a adopted Dr. Currie's edition this standard, to the deranged state of his finances," the Poet seems to have beginning had the profoundest commiseration. In this, and all similar Thickest night, o'erhang my dwelling! pieces by Burns, the reader will observe a dramatic suggestive and, without adverting to the 'Museum,' seems to have con- pause at the very point where an inferior poet, bent on ampli- cluded that the manuscript in London was a variation, which fication, would have gone on, adding stanza after stanza, till in truth is, or at least agrees with, the actual original Currie's the theme was exhausted. edition being the variation. We are thus explicit as to facts, p. 132. MUSING ON THE ROARING OCEAN: "Composed," for this is by no means the only instance in which Johnson says Burns, "out of compliment to a Mrs. M'Lachlan, whose has been set aside, and imaginary discoveries to his disadvan- husband is an officer in the East Indies;" and in which, we tage announced; nor the only instance in which various may observe, the poetical idea of maiden-love, and not of

is made the : a fact readings (as in Currie's edition), without adequate authority, marriage relationship, theme which ex- have found circulation as the genuine text of Burns. plains many other cases, in which ignorant misconception of p. 131. THE YOUNG HIGHLAND ROVER: Is one of the the Poet's language has led to most injurious imputations three songs written by Burns to his most favourite Highland on his own morality. air of 'Morag' a plaintive and beautiful, but complicated p. 133. BLYTHE WAS SHE : The heroine of this song, as

' ' melody. It was written in 1787, expressly for the 'Museum; already stated [see Note on Scaring Wild-Fowl,' p. 249], and the hero is understood to be Prince Charles Edward, was Miss Euphemia Murray of Lintrose, afterwards Mrs. whose unfortunate destiny gives a degree of pathos to the Smythe of Methven, who had already been designated for her could words, which certainly not well, in any other case, be beauty 'The Flower of Strathmore.' Mr. Chambers asserts attached to them. that the lamb-like expression referred to in the third verse p. 132. THE BANKS OF THE DEVON: A much admired was remarkably characteristic of this lady's countenance. song, was written in August, 1787, during one of the Author's The date of the song was August, 1787, as we have seen; but in that northern tours year. The verses, he himself informs in the early part of the same year Burns had accomplished his on a us, "were composed charming girl, Miss Charlotte Border tour. Mr. Chambers says, "It is evident that Burns Hamilton, who is now married to James M'Kittrick Adair, was disappointed of his intended visit to the Vale of Yarrow" Esq., physician. She is sister to my worthy friend, Gavin on that occasion; and there may be a blank in his diary at of Hamilton Mauchline, and was born on the banks of that date : but it is from the first verse of this Ayr ; manifest, very at the time I wrote these ' ' but was, lines, residing at Harvey- song, that Yarrow braes were present to his imagination ston, in Clackmannanshire, on the romantic banks of the little at the moment, as in vivid contrast with the hills of Oughter- I first heard the air river Devon. from a lady in Inverness, tyre. He must either have visited the Yarrow, therefore, or the notes taken and got down for this work [the Museum]." have heard it most exactly described. The former we conclude AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

to have been the for he seems to ' ' case; never have borrowed mother in the evening, she leugh, and spier'd if he kent wha a description. The two first lines of the chorus, we ought to it was on?" The child, of course, did not know; but was to an older ballad. mention, belong duly informed, with a mixture of pride and laughter, that the

133. A KosE-Bui) BY : p. MY EARLY WALK The second Tibbie of the ballad our friend had chosen "was just his ain thus our compliment paid by Author, with paternal affection, mither." "Mr. Burns," it appears, "had been a genuine to Miss Cruickshanks, "a admirer of Tibbie's but one Jenny very young lady" [p. 124]. ; night when he came to the door, Stanza in reference to her in., voice and musical performance, our informant's father had been 'afore him;' and syne Mr. is a founded on fact her the compliment ; occupation, during Burns took the huff, and wrote that sang." The heroine's Poet's residence of in her father's (end October, 1787) house, maiden name was Isabella Steven ; Scottice, Tibbie Steen. to or for his being sing play, gratification and assistance, the We have only farther to note, that the concluding verse, within Scotch airs ' favourite required by him in adapting his verses brackets in our edition, does not appear in the Museum,' and for the 'Museum.' Lucky little songstress! unconscious seems to have been added at some later date by the Author, assistant-musician ' to Apollo; to be repaid for such dutiful when revising the song for Thomson's Collection,' where that childlike service with unlooked-for immortality. verse is found. It is also printed with a variation in the p. 133. BRAVING ANGRY WINTER'S STORMS: Dedicated second line of that verse, thus to the of Miss to praise Margaret Chalmers, whom also an- I wad na gie her, under sark, other similar tribute of admiration occurs afterwards, entitled which is surely a vulgar inaccuracy ? ' Face.' This who with My Peggy's young lady, together p. 134. CLARINDA: Which is the last song by Burns in Miss Charlotte Hamilton ' Banks of the Devon ' seems to volume second of the 'Museum,' seems to be also the first have exerted influence on Burns's to great imagination, say avowed reference by him to his passion for that lady. We the least of was honoured with much and it, gallant respectful have only to observe farther, that it is absolutely Petrarchan admiration by the Poet, founded more upon her moral excel- both in its and in its of illustra- style devotion ; which many lence, however, it would than on other attractions appear, any tions might be adduced. We content ourselves by referring of which she could and was the to probably boast; person the reader at his leisure to the entire sonnet beginning whom a considerable number of his most letters interesting Pommi, ove '1 sol occide i fieri e 1' erba, were addressed. [See Special Correspondence.] With refer- O dove vince lui '1 ghiaccio, e la neve,

' ' Parte Prima ; Son. cxiii. ence to this particular song, he says it was composed on one where the forms of attestation are no doubt more of the most accomplished of women, Miss Peggy Chalmers numerous, and the antitheses more studied but the extremes of and that was, now Mrs. Lewis Hay, of Forbes & Co.'s Bank, ; trial, of are the same. A more Edinburgh." Date of song, 1787. protestations constancy, precisely perfect parallel, however, to this beautiful sonnet (of which, p 134, c. 1 s. 1. Astonished, doubly marks it beam With art's most polish'd blaze. hereafter, we shall endeavour to present a translation) is to be found in the ' O were I on Parnassus often incorrectly printed . . marks its beam, song commencing Hill,' to Jean and as Petrarch in dedicated ; was indubitably always which changes and weakens the sense entirely. In stanza n., earnest, if there is a greater resemblance between this song it is of remark, also, that we have a double alternate worthy ' ' and his sonnet, than between the song to Clarinda and the construction, an elegant peculiarity of syntax, common enough same there is a in favour in sonnet, corresponding presumption Hebrew psalmody, but rare in Burns or elsewhere : of Burns's love for Jean, as compared with his devotion to Blest be the wild sequester'd shade, Clarinda : a fact which is worth And blest the day and hour, incidentally noting. Where Peggy's charms I first survey'd, all her p. 135, c. 1, s. 2. She, the fair sun of sex, When first I felt their pow'r ! Has blest my glorious day ; In the above from that the quotation stanza, reader will Compare Campbell observe that the first and third lines, and the second and Without the smile from partial beauty won, fourth, correspond, both in sense and sound. O what were man 1 a world without a sun ! Pleasures of Hope : Part II., I. 23. p. 134. TIBBIE, I HAE SEEN THE DAY: One of Burns's earliest and most spirited youthful productions, originating in In volume third of the 'Museum' we find seventeen acknow- of our a bona-fide disappointment at the moment. The date assigned ledged productions Author's, and fourteen apparently by some is 1776, when the Author would be only about seven- unacknowledged, besides numerous revisions and fragments. is for a so Of the with which alone at teen years old, which early work perfect ; by others, acknowledged pieces, we have 1785, age twenty-three, more likely perhaps. Be this, however, present to do, the first is at as it the was the of a lover's 135. TIBBIE DUNBAR : A little of written may, song genuine product spleen ; p. gem lyric fancy, for ' in and connected with the composition of it, we have the follow- expressly the Museum' 1789, and adapted to a sort of ing pleasant anecdote from the lips of the heroine's own son, jig, composed by, and named for, one 'Johnny M'Gill,' at that of Tarbolton. time a musician in Girvan where the a respectable farmer in the neighbourhood Our ; name, and somewhat informant remembered well, when a boy, of asking his mother of the gift also, among the inhabitants, is still common. " for "a bawbee to buy a ballat frae a chapman at the door; p. 135. BLOOMING NELLY: Which immediately follows, and he "waled out a for was also one of our Author's it which favour was granted, ballat a special productions ; written,

' ' bawbee, to please himsel." On reading over this ballad to his appears, at the request of Mr. Johnson, in place of a very LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

' When to time and indelicate one inserted in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, my fancy place appear, tie Where I was all undone ; and that dear with the same title and to the same tune." Stenhouse. The Wherewith Love's magic-hand had bound me so, song itself is one of the most magnificent of all Burns's That pain was sweet, and grief perplexing joy; Brimstone and tinder, I am all a-glow : amatory compositions. My heart a furnace, kindled through me quite By those sweet sparks of speech which still I hear, p. 135, c. 2, s. 1. When Willie wand'ring thro* the wood, I So blazes, that in burning delight ; Who for her favour oft had sued ; And now I live with hope, and now I die with fear ! of seems to be an incomplete sentence. In Stewart Glasgow's p. 136. THE LAZY MIST: "This song," says Burns, in from fragmentary edition, 1801, in which the poem, apparently his annotations oil the 'Museum,' "is mine;" a simple thus another manuscript, occurs, the lines are inserted enough recognition. It was written in 1789, towards close of

that Let the reader with stanza II., Thomas When Willie, wander*d thro' the wood, year. compare for her favour oft had sued Moore's Who ; Ode on his own Birthday, more particularly the passage beginning in which the sense seems to be improved by the change of Vain was the man, and false as vain, tense, but is in the The " reality destroyed by punctuation. Who said, were he ordained to run truth of the is, that there should be a slight pause in His long career of life again, difficulty " ' ' He would do all that he Add done reading, after sued expressive of Willie's indecision and Ah, 'tis not thus the voice that dwells before his will allow him bewilderment, conflicting feelings In sober birthdays speaks to me ; to move. The words which follow, and which constitute, Far otherwise of time it tells, Lavished unwisely, carelessly ; with some variations, the burden of the exquisite succeeding Of counsel mock'd, &c. stanzas, are an almost literal translation of Petrarch's burn- and after quiet perusal of the four last lines of said stanza, ing embarrassment. let him turn sympathetically to Poet's miniature of 1795, and Ond' io non pote' mai formar parola, study the expression of it. One other passage yet, among

Ch' altro, che da me stesso fosse intesa ; our Author's effusions of this date, besides that to which he Cosl m' ha fatto Amor tremante, e fioco : E veggi' 'or ben, che caritate accesa himself refers, where the secret of his vital consciousness la invola. Lega lingua altrui, gli spirti escapes him, we shall have occasion to quote, as an illus- Chi pu6 dir com' egli arde, 6'n picciol foco. on that Parts Prima: Son. cxxxvii. trative commentary portrait.

s. 2, l. 7. Life is not worth having with all it can give Thus could I not a single word bestow, Which other better than would know myself ; sometimes printed thus So love had made me shake and quiver with desire ! This life's not worth having with all it can give Too well, at last, I saw how that sweet glow Can bind the tongue, and check the vital flow : which may be a variation in some manuscript, but has no ' ' Who still can he hath felt the fire ! ' ' say burns,' scarcely authority either in Museum or in Thomson's Collection.'

136. OF A' THE AIRTS THE WIND CAN BLAW : one p. 136. THE DAY RETURNS : In a letter to Miss Chalmers, p. This, of the most beautiful and of our Author's was in the autumn of 1788, the Poet says with respect to this popular songs, "one of the most tolerable I composed "out of compliment to Mrs. Burns. N.B. It was exquisite composition, things " the : which he or was at have done in that way [Song-writing for 'Museum'] is two during honey-moon spent, spending the in blessedness at the a stanzas I made to an air a musical gentleman of my acquaint- moment, solitary Isle, preparing house at Ellisland for the of his bride. We have ance composed for the anniversary of his wedding day, which reception in our text that this is the not happens on the 17th November." The gentleman referred to specified original edition, that was of Glenriddel of there was ever another true edition, but because Captain Riddel, ; whom and his accom- very strange liberties have been taken with the and because plished wife, he says elsewhere, "At their fireside I have original, additions other hands have sometimes been enjoyed more pleasant evenings, than at all the houses of by published with it. The unwarrantable variations to which we fashionable people in this country put together and to their along allude occur in second four lines of stanza i. kindness and hospitality I am indebted for many of the c. 2, s. 1. There's wild woods grow, and rivers happiest hours of my life." Reliques. Such hospitality and row, a hill between And mony ; kindness were a thousand times this most beautiful repaid by But day and night my fancy's flight of epithalamiums, in which love and constancy together strive Is ever wi' my Jean. for mastery with music. A parallel, in many respects almost Thus the verse stands verbatim in the ' Museum,' Vol. III. beyond expectation, may be found in Petrarch, although No. 235, where it was first seen by the world, under the but the of nothing transports disappointment returned with Author's own editorship. With respect to variations, we think the for him. revolving year proper in the first place to quote Mr. Chambers :

" of this stanza is in Johnson's Muteum Quando mi viene innanzi il tempo e'l loco, The commencement given Ov 'io me stesso e'l There wild woods &c. perdei ; caro nodo, grow, Ond' Amor di sua man m' avvinse in modo, as implying the nature of the scenery in the west. In Wood's Songs of Scotland, Che 1'amar fe the is mi dolce, e'l pianger gioco : reading Solfo cd esca son tutto, e'l cor un foco Though wild woods grow, ana rivers row, Da quei soavi spirti, i quai sempr' odo, Wi' monie a hill between, Acceso dentro si, ch' ardendo godo, Baith day and night, &c., E' di cid e d' altro mi cal vivo, poco. evidently an alteration designed to improve the logic of the verse. It appears that Parte Prima : Son. cxlii. both readings are wrong, for in the original manuscript of Burns's contribution AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 263

' to Johnson, in possession of Archibald Ilastie, Esq., the line is written There's What sighs and vows amang the knowes wild woods as in our text. It is an of a kind of grow,' &e., example syllogism Hae passed atween us twa ! occasionally employed by Burns, in which the major proposition seems to be How fond to meet, how wae to part, will serve to this of com- merely expletive. [Another example bring peculiarity That night she gaed awa ! position more distinctly before the mind of the reader : The powers aboon can only ken, To whom the heart is seen, By Auchtertyre grows the aik, That nane can be sae dear to me, On Yarrow banks the birken shaw : As sweet Jean ! But Phemie was a bonnier lass my lovely " Than braes o' Yarrow ever Vol. 270. saw.] II., p. These stanzas, although by no means of inferior merit, could Mr. Chambers further quotes a passage from Homer, Iliad, I. never have been written by Burns in connection with ' Of a' I. in of 156, which idea intervening woods and waters occurs, the airts the wind can blaw,' for several reasons: (1) The but does not of the which otherwise bear upon the argument style is not uniform, as the reader will observe by the double text at all. On Mr. note remark Chambers's we have to : ideas and (1) rhymes which occur in many of the lines (2) The That in Johnson's Museum the words are as sentiments are not real are not natural in the printed exactly they embody ; stand in the as himself they original manuscript, quoted by circumstances, nor agreeable to the facts of case : for example from the document in the late Mr. Hastie's ; from Jean did not left behind no of wind possession go away, but was ; gale conclude that with all his which we Mr. Chambers, anxiety, was required to bring her back, that were preposterous; cannot consulted the 'Museum' with sufficient care: have Burns, on the contrary, "sailed up the wind" over woods, hills, but in as in a former instance Strathallan's this, (' Lament'), and rivers, in his imagination, to Mauchline, and revelled is That " Johnson's fidelity confirmed on due examination; (2) there; there were neither sighs nor vows amang the knowes" Wood's alteration in his Songs of Scotland is a presumptuous at their parting, but a hasty marriage ceremony, with a good interference with the text, founded upon ignorance of its true deal of affectionate domestic concern in anticipation of their That Mr. Chambers's of the for- meaning ; (3) own interpretation settlement at Ellisland all most artistically veiled and " in a of : passage question, as kind syllogism occasionally em- gotten in Burns's own effusion of love and melody (3) Such ployed by Burns, in which the major proposition seems to be an expression as merely expletive," is incorrect; the verse no being syllogism That's aye sae neat and clean, at all, but a compound disjunctive proposition, natural and in the same sense in which it here stands, would never have perfect, as far as poetry permits, in both parts. Translated been permitted by Burns to take its place for an instant in into prose, the lines would stand thus : such an overture as the original. We have been thus minute There are wild woods growing, and there are rivers rowing, and there is mony of a hill between but and all is ever wi' in such in order to show that the writer the ; day night, [over these] my fancy's flight particulars, Jean. far my supplementary verses, although a man of poetic gifts, was Neither logic, nor grammar, nor poetry in the case, could be from being a perfect artist, and did not even fully understand ' more ' instead of There is most the and that it is if not indeed perfect. There's,' are,' original ; difficult, impossible, properly employed by the Author here, because it is not the so perfect is our Author's own workmanship, for any artificer woods, the rivers, or the hills but the growing of the woods, to imitate or supplement his finer productions, without the the rolling of the rivers, and the existence of many a hill, certainty of detection. ' ' the which, successively and separately, are nominatives in turn The song itself, which appears in the Museum under ' in the or more to one verb 'is,' in the singular. Numerous other instances title of I love my Jean,' was written spring, of similar construction, the only legitimate construction in probably in the summer, of 1788 : and the music was composed to his Grace the the circumstances, might be quoted from his songs through- in part by Mr. William Marshall, butler of air an old Scotch out. (4) In conclusion of this argument, we have only further Duke of Gordon, the foundation the being

' ' to remark, that the other verse quoted by Mr. Chambers By melody, entitled The Lowlands of Holland.'

: Written Aughtertyre grows the aik,' &c., does not exactly illustrate p. 137. WERE I ON PARNASSUS HILL shortly still detained at the same sort of construction, and implies a much greater after the foregoing, and whilst Jean was than the before us. is one of the and most effusions ellipsis passage Mauchline ; purest passionate no The woods and the rivers between Ellisland and Mauchline ever poured forth at the shrine of conjugal love, and was (where Jean still was) were those of the Nith, the Lugar, and less real in its devotion, than exquisitely beautiful in its con- their tributaries and the hill in its a letter hitherto un- the Ayr, with various ; principal ception and rich inspiration. By of from in our [see Song following] was the ridge and top Corsincon, which published, but already partially quoted Biography, and the of his can demonstrate that the of the lay nearly half-way between him object love \_p. xxxvi] we easily passion and admiration. The verses commonly attached to those of "day and night, a-field and at hame," of his waking soul, and Burns were the production, we believe, of Mr. John Hamilton, during these very autumnal months and hours (August

: identical the sentiment of this musicseller, Edinburgh : they are as follows September, 1788), was with and it is to remind the O blaw, ye westlin winds, blaw saft magnificent song; only necessary Amang the leafy trees, reader, that such letters and such songs as these were devoted Wi' frae hill and dale balmy gale, moment when a half-fictitious love-cor- the laden bees to Jean, at the very Bring hame ; to enable him to And bring the lassie back to me, respondence was going on with Clarinda, judge clean That's aye sae neat and ; more justly of the man's moral nature, and to sympathise Ac smile o' her wad banish care, in this Sae charming is my Jean. with him more truly, extraordinary unparalleled LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

distraction. It was all the husband here; it was but the Pone sub curru nimium propinqui and both Solis, in terra domibus negata : poetical devotee elsewhere ; and both loves, yet Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, as confessions have equally captivated the world. Corsincon, Dulce loquentem. Car. I. Ode. xxii. we have lies between Ellisland and already said, half-way So place me where no sun appears, Or in clouds or drowned in tears Mauchline, in a direct line to Westward near New Cumnock, wrapt ; Where woods with whirling tempests tost, and Mansefield House, present seat of Sir J. S. over-looking Where no relieving Summer's breeze inter- Menteath, Bart. On this hill the only conspicuous Does murmur thro' the trees, But all lies bound and ftxt in frost. vening object in the distance the Poet looks as if he should its pierce it with his eyes, or strike streams of inspiration from Or place me where the scorching sun, With beams too near, doth burn the Zone ; side with a glance, as from another Helicon. It shall be the Yet fearless there I'll gladly rove, at of and of henceforth, Parnassus, least, Ayrshire Scotland, Let frowning or let smiling fate the horizon Or or bless from which he vaults beyond Mauchline beyond curse, my state, Sweet smiling LalagtS I'll always love. Creech's Trans. and the sun. In seeking for parallels to this wonderful lyric, For Creech's we turn first to himself as a matter of course, and then to diffuseness and want of pith we must apologise to Petrarch. In Burns we find the very same devotion, and in Horace, when setting him thus in comparison with Petrarch and Burns. very similar language, at least in part, bestowed either on the In Petrarch's own case, there may be equal hon- same object of idolatry direct, or on some other dramatically esty of love, but not a tithe of the same ease and boldness, in her room. Jean' and 'I'll ca' in nor half the concentration of as in 'My [jp. 130], ay by rapturous passion, Burns ; and yon town' [p. 182], two of the sweetest brief love snatches whatever credit may be due to him for his eloquent elabor- are illustrations of this as if her and ation of Horace's of imaginable, ; praise image, idea, with such multiplicity antitheses, in his lips and heart, were inexhaustible and ineffaceable. he was but an imitator after all. Burns, on this common O all ye who would be poets, or eloquent, or immortal, learn theme, after two such world-famous attempts unknown to him, has first what it is to love ! To these, that exquisite series of the glory of being absolutely original; and outvies all ' in ' is like rose or protestations My luve a red, red \_p. 153] may previous possible subsequent competition, by one superb In on ' Clarinda there is at remove from the field be added. Petrarch [see Note '], harvest and the cottage door to beyond least one coincidence to stanza sea and as if it were his own so to soar grand concluding sun, peculiar privilege ; all other By night, by day, a-field, at home, &c. lovers, poets, men and gods themselves, being left behind in mute astonishment. Yet little of the present song. The sonnet in question, there referred how Burns really knew or cared for such classic or is to, we now quote in full : mythological exemplars from the that he ' ' '1 sol i fiori 1' apparent fact, the term Helicon Pommi, ove occide e erba ; misemploys

dove vince lui '1 e la : O ghiaccio, neve in the first verse, or overstrains its signification in a most ov' 6 '1 carro Pommi, suo temprato, e leve ; unusual manner ; for Helicon was not the well of the Muses Ed ov' 6 chi eel rende, o chi eel serba : in umil in at all which he seems to understand or but the hill Pomm' fortuna, od superba ; imply

Al dolce aere al fosco e : sereno, greve from which it sprung; Hippocrene being the name of the a la al dl al Pommi notte, lungo od breve ; fountain. Before this we mention that A la matura etate, od a 1' acerba : quitting topic, may Pomm' in od in od in abisso there is a cielo, terra, ; veiy singular parallel, in words at least, to the In alto in valle e poggio, ima, palustre ; celebrated line Libcro spirto, od a suoi membri afflsso : the the sun Pommi con fama oscura, o con illustre : Beyond sea, beyond Sard vivro com' io son visso qual fui, ; to be met with in a second-rate Latin of the Continuando il mio sospir trilustre. poet Empire.

Parte Prima : Son. cxiii. ; Ibis, quo vagus Hercules et Evan, Ultra sidera, flammeumque solem, and here venture to subjoin as literal a translation as our Et Nili caput et nives Atlantis.

command of the will : own language allow Statius : Sylv. iii. 3. 155. Set me where Sol the flowers and herbs destroys ; Great conqueror, thou thy course shalt run, ice and his Where snow melting rage defy : Where Hercules and Bacchus wandering sped ; Where no extreme his course temperate annoys ; Beyond the stars, beyond the flaming sun,

Where or shuts the : morning opes, evening sky And source of Nile, and Atlas' siiowy head. Set in me lowly cottage or in court ; In sweet these which describe the serene, or dull and lifeless air : In lines, however, supposed un- Set me in in or or night, day long short ; limited range of Domitian's conquests, the reader will perceive In ripened age, or yet in green despair : is Set me in on or in the that the idea entirely different from that of our Author. heaven, earth, deep ;

On low or mere : lofty crag, vale, marshy The sun, in Statius, is simply equivalent to the tropics, and is With soul at large, or thro' its limbs asleep ; to be nearer than In supposed by him the sources of the Nile fame obscure, or as the noon-tide clear : I'll live as I have lived be what I seem the no doubt or than Mount Atlas ; ; (which tropics included), Without cessation of life's my dream ! bright itself was to Eome. He thus not only localises the centre of The foundation of Petrarch's sonnet, as many of our readers the universe, but produces a manifest anti-climax. Burns's are no doubt aware, is to be met with in Horace flight of love, on the contrary, is first beyond the land, and Pone me ubi nulla pigris campis then beyond the sea, and then beyond the sun wherever Arbor aestiva recreatur aura : that was in endless aerial progression, of time and and Quod latus mundi nebulae, malusque space Jupiter urget. stedfastness. It is only further necessary to note, that the AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 265

use of the indefinite instead of the peculiar present future Kirkpatrick Sharpe, affirms that the one "is a counterpart" tense, as in line to the other concluding implying that they were both inspired by the

Till then and then I ! same love thee object. Miss Whitefoord in the present case, and Miss Alexander in the other the one leaving, and the other is a style of his own, which frequently occurs in his lyrics, arriving at, Ballochmyle are the respective heroines. seat of with the obvious purpose of intensifying and prolonging the Catrine, the late Professor Dugald Stewart Notes on 'Vision,' present action of love into futurity : and ought, therefore, to [see p. 97], is in the of be carefully observed in the reproduction of his text. neighbourhood Ballochmyle. 138. p. To MARY IN HEAVEN : With respect to the date of Till then and then I'll love thee ! this most sublime of all pathetic lyrics, there has been a good is not what he nor what he means but otherwise. It deal says, ; of conjecture and discussion. Mr. Lockhart, on Mrs. is a and an. wherever or devotion is misprint error, passion Burns's own reported authority, states as follows "He spent him so that by implied. day, though labouring under cold, in the usual work of 137. On JOHN MY Jo which the the p. ANDERSON, follows, harvest, and apparently in excellent spirits. But as the world has and commented in ' long lovingly enough, every twilight deepened, he appeared to grow very sad about household and at to render additional com- every hearth, any something,' and at length wandered out into the barn-yard, ment here It to be that to unnecessary. requires only stated, which his wife, in her anxiety, followed him, entreating the beautiful stanzas now before us were written Burns by him to observe that frost had set in, and to return to the fire- to a old immoral since and side. supersede gross rhyme, forgotten ; On being again and again requested to do so, he that all other variations or additions still whatsoever, purporting promised compliance ; but remained where he was, strid- to be are which we do not think it neces- by Burns, spurious, ing up and down slowly, and contemplating the sky, which here to Some of these are sary reproduce. avowed imitations, was singularly clear and starry. At length Mrs. Burns one Mr. Eeid late Brash and of by (of Eeid), Glasgow, being found him stretched on a mass of straw, with his eyes fixed superior merit and of great length, published, it is said, with on a beautiful planet 'that shone like another moon,' and Burns's consent or the knowledge. But original, pure and prevailed on him to come in. He immediately, on entering it the simple, as stands in word and letter, is that which the house, called for his desk, and wrote exactly as they now reader has now before him in the text. stand, with all the ease of one copying from memory, these p. 137. A MOTHEE'S LAMENT: Was "composed to com- sublime and poetic verses." This, according to Mrs. Burns's memorate the much lamented and premature death of James statement, would be in September, 1789. So far as regards " Ferguson, Esq., younger of Craigdarroch November 19th, the manuscript, the following confirmatory statement from 1789. It contains, in the compass of sixteen lines, no fewer Stenhouse's Notes on the 'Museum' may be here quoted: than five distinct and perfect similes, most truly Homeric in "Upon comparing the original manuscript of the ode, now

before . their style, and of the greatest tenderness, pathos, and beauty. lying me, in Burns's own hand-writing, with the From Mr. Chambers we learn, and the information is con- printed copy in the 'Museum,' I do not observe one word, firmed to us from other quarters, that a duplicate copy of this or even a letter changed. He must, therefore, have conceived

' ' beautiful Lament was enclosed by the Poet to Mrs. Stewart the whole of it perfectly in his mind before he put it to paper. ' of Stair, his early patroness, as a tribute of sympathy with It would however appear, from Dr. Carrie's Life of Burns,' ' her also, on the death of her only son, Alexander Gordon that he afterwards altered the title as it stands in Museum,' ' " died but a after and called it An Address to in Heaven.' About the Stewart, Esq., who few days young Ferguson ; Mary both being students of the highest promise one, Ferguson, year, 1789, and the season of the year, the end of autumn, at Glasgow; the other, Stewart, at Strasbourg. These two there can be no doubt : but the month of the year, as above bereavements so close together, in circumstances so similar, indicated from Mrs. Burns's account, has been seriously dis- of his Mr. an and affecting so nearly two most valued friends, seem puted by Chambers ; who, with amount of care and for it astronomical and to have inspired a common elegy both ; and would not anxiety, by barometrical calculations, which have been possible perhaps, even for Burns, to have written endears the learned gentleman to our hearts, has detennined twice with equal beauty and pathos, on such a topic at one that the song was composed and written "on Tuesday, the and the same moment. To share his sorrow, therefore, so 20th of October, and that this was consequently the date of ' ' eloquently with both sufferers, implied no impropriety. [See the death of the heroine : and that Mrs. Burns's feeling of ' " " also Note on Afton Water,' p. 271.] frost setting in was probably a mistake, if not a womanly p. 138. THE BRAES o' BALLOCHMYLE: "Composed on the device to persuade her husband to return to the house. Burns amiable and excellent family of Whitefoord's leaving Balloch- himself, in one of his notes to another song on the same be- myle, when Sir John's misfortunes obliged him to sell the loved object, 'Highland Mary,' says distinctly that, "at the estate." It is dated by Chambers as far back as 1785, but close of the autumn following [their engagement], she crossed ' the first time in the under date 1788. the sea to meet me at Greenock where she had scarce appeared for Museum,' ; landed, It may possibly have been retouched for publication then by when she was seized with a malignant fever, which hurried the Author. It must not, however, be confounded with the my dear girl to the grave in a few days, before I could even ' Lass o' Ballochmyle,' written at another date, and on another hear of her ilness." This was in 1786, and the sad event heroine. This remark is the more necessary, as even so care- referred to must have taken place at the very close of the ful a commentator as Stenhouse, without contradiction by autumn, for the period of her sickness after her arrival in 2 T sea* LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

Greenock must also bo taken into account. If the harvest Shakspear, and Burns. In Job's case, the thought of it was in operations of that year in Ayrshire could be ascertained, the sin; David's, it was the purest religion; in Dante's soul, ' such stellar date might be more definitely fixed. From Halloween,' we worship was akin to revelation; in Petrarch's learn that a very late harvest was sometimes prolonged into case, it overflowed on a single object, to painful and fatiguing, if November : beautiful, excess; and in Burns's, it strayed and rose to The Simmer had been cauld and wat, varied and incessant adoration: but in every case, .by such And stuff was unco green : passionate apostrophes, the singers have associated their re- And ay a rantan kirn we gat, And just on Halloween ligion or identified their loves and longings with the constel-

fell that : ' It night lations. Above all others has this morning or evening Star of Love ' attracted and them. not which, according to our present stylo, would be on the 10th or inspired Dante only dates of are also relief of his from its in the season 12th of that month ; and as a matter fact, we aware despair appearing spring, of that the seasons about Mossgiel, during these very years, were love, as with other stars it did, shouting for joy at the creation unpropitious, cold, and late. Making allowance, however, era dal del mattino for an average close of harvest operations, the middle or end Temp' principio ; E'l sol montava 'n su con quelle stelle of October be assumed as the date of return to may Mary's Ch' eran con lui, quando I'Arnor divino

of her Mosse da cose belle : Can. i : Greenock, and near the end of that month certainly prima quelle ; Inferno death. With the above additional confirmation of Mr. Cham- but makes it also one of the habitations of the Blessed, and do not bers's theory we content ourselves, although we pre- allows himself to be conducted thither by the spirit of his sume by any means to determine the very day. It might immortal mistress to witness their happiness a strange and have been a little later in the month, perhaps, than he sup- beautiful correspondence with this association of Mary's in- poses, after all; which would harmonise better with every- visible life by Burns with the same star.

: of of the thing and from the brilliancy the stars, and evening E da costei, ond' io principio piglio, '1 vocabol della star in particular that night, we incline to accept Mrs. Burns's Pigliavano Stella, Che '1 sol vaheggia, or da coppa or da ciglio. own statement that "frost had or was in. set," setting Nor, Io non m' accorsi del salire in ella : on the other hand, do we suppose that any "poetical liberty," Ma d' esserv' entro mi fece assai fede La donna mia, ch' io vidi far piu bclla. as Mr. Chambers seems inclined to think, was used by Burns Paradise: Can. viii. in converting the 'evening' into the 'morning' star. On the which we may thus freely render- contrary, we believe that, in the utter abstraction of the hour, And from her whom first I sung, the Poet the to be much farther than it imagined night gone Borrowed they that star's address really was, and that to his eyes the last rays of the evening Which courts the sun with longing IOOK, Before him after him doth star were already heralding the dawn a function which it fades, yet press. I wist not I so high had swung : and was to as if its latest loved, hasting do, long-protracted But that my step the orb did brook ' ' beams, with fading splendour, could possibly greet the My Lady proved, whose beauty took ' ' From that bright sphere new loveliness. advancing morn : or, that it did actually sometimes shine In Petrarch we find numerous to various on until it became the morning star, and might then be so exquisite parallels individual lines or sentiments thus in second stanza, shining, was perhaps, without reflection at the moment, closely kissed his imagined by Burns. To him it was all real, this rapid Ayr, gurgling, pebbled shore, wild O'erhung with woods thickening green ; motion of time towards the date of and the grief; morning The fragrant birch, and hawthorn hoar, of the day had already by anticipation dawned, that was so Twined amorous round the raptured scene : The flowers sprang wanton to be burdened with sorrow for his soul. Not on the night, there- prest, The birds sang love on every spray : &c. fore, of this painful anniversary (whatever day it was), but Ne 1' eta sua pid bella e piu fiorita, the was this sublime address or to the night before, hymn Quand' aver suol Amor in noi piu forza invisible spirit of the departed written. It is worth while Lasciando in terra la terrena scorza, to remark that on the 16th of this October farther, very the in connection with preceding line contest for the ' Whistle ' had at which our Poet occurred, My Mary from my soul was torn ! was present, and seemed to be much otherwise occupied almost literally morally than now, within so short a period; which has been E L'aura mia vital da me partita, a of to some of his to subject surprise biographers ourselves, E viva, e bella, e nuda al ciel salita ! of none. Burns's true life was always within, his passions Parte Seconda: Son. x. In that sweet of so rich in bloom and his sympathies deeper than the tide on any convivial spring her's, ; When love is wont to sway us all with power, table : and his and blameable con- notwithstanding frequent And slacks on earth the bonds of wintry gloom, nection with scenes of liberates convivial excess, he had but to look And alike both man and flower ; or upward inward to regain his true home in the universe. My vital L'aura from my soul was torn, And unclothed to heaven was borne ! For parallels to this transcendent monologue, in ideas or living, fair, in words, we need look only to the very highest regions of Scarcely any accidental conjunction of circumstances and poetry. True poets have never been without worship of the ideas, of words almost, at an interval of four hundred and stars, or their counterparts the eyes of love in women from forty years, on such a topic, could be imagined finer. But as the days of Job and David to those of Dante, Petrarch, the finest parallel to the whole, with figures and allusions AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 267

to sufficient constitute resemblance within AND A' : throughout, though THAT taken as it would appear, with the addition of smaller we select the the dis- a few ' bounds, may following only lines, from the Jolly Beggars,' at a time when the tinction in this case that the sonnet refers to Laura Author had being forgotten all else about that wonderful composi- alive. and yet tion, even doubted its existence : from which fact we may Quando '1 sol in mar 1'aurato infer that the bagna carro, celebrated cantata itself had been originally E 1'aer e la mia mcnte nostro, imbruna ; made up from fragments in the Poet's desk, and the now Col cielo, e con le stelle, e con la luna song before us was a Un' angosciosa, e dura notte inarro : surviving copy of one of these, the others

lasso ! a che non m' narro Poi, tal, ascolta, having been destroyed after they were once embodied in the Tutte le mie fatiche ad una ad una ; piece. ' ' in Posthumous E col mondo, e con mia cieca fortuna, [Compare Jolly Beggars Works.] Con con e con 140. amor, madonna, meco garro. p. WILLIE BREWED A PECK o' MAUT : The circum-

II sonno 6 in e del : bando ; riposo e nulla stances by which this wonderful convivial song, the most Ma sospiri, e lament! in fin a 1' alba, of its E lagrime, che 1' alma a gliocchi invia. perfect kind ever written, was suggested, are thus Vien poi 1' e 1' aura fosca inalba aurora, ; briefly narrated by the Poet himself: "This air is Master- Me no ma' 1 sol che '1 cor m' et trastulla ; arde, ; ton's ; the is mine. The occasion of it was this : Mr. Quel pud solo addolcir la doglia mia. song Parte Prima : Son. clxxxvi. William Nicol, of the High School, Edinburgh, during the autumn vacation, being at Moffat, honest Allan [Masterton] which wo endeavour thus to interpret as faithfully as we may : who was at that time on a visit to Dalswinton and I went When Sol in sea his golden car doth steep, to pay Nicol a visit. We had such a joyous meeting, that And dims our air and darkens all my soul, Masterton and I each in our should With sky and moon and stars, in grief that roll, agreed, own way, that we

A of torment and of toil I ! night keep celebrate the business." Currie makes the scene at a place Alas to her, who hears me not, I weep called a moorland as All distresses Laggan farm, subsequently acquired my over one by one ; And with the world, and my dark lot undone, a property by Nicol, where he by-and-by went to reside and With with and I ! Love, Laura, myself threep Cunningham, in his usual adds some unauthorised is itself is style, story Sleep forbid, repose gone ; " " about Burns his celebrated ! But sighs and groans till morning light appears, carrying punch-bowl with him And sad relief of soul, a flood of tears ! All which Mr. Chambers has demonstrated to be incorrect. Then comes all the dawn, and brightens the gloom ; The was doubtless spent, as the Poet himself declares, To me comes not : that sun alone returns, evening Which mocks soul or burns at my with light, fiercely ; Moffat, and seems to have been about the middle or end of Which yet alone hath power to mitigate my doom ! September, 1789, that is, a month or three weeks before the to either it to contest for the Whistle the No indignity were say, that such complaint by ; although song itself, possibly, was the one was inimitable till the other, at the distance of cen- not written till a few days after the event to which it refers turies, was born. The air to which this sublime address may say, the beginning of October. On the much disputed moral be sung, and to which it was expressly adapted by Burns's tendency of this famous lyric we have only further to remark, ' has particular request, is a plaintive melody entitled Death of in addition to what already been said in our Biography on ' Captain Cook.' [See further details in Notes to Highland the subject, that whereas in the celebrated contest for the thus associated Lassie, O,' and 'Ye banks and braes and streams,' &c.] Whistle, closely with it, the very terms of all the to be p. 139. THE BATTLE OF SHERIFF-MUIR : Is a sort of the engagement required competitors helplessly drunk but in the case before the parody by our Author, on an original poem of much greater one, now us, very opposite this the condition the fell length and considerable merit on the subject, by the late of was implied jocular first who Eev. Mr. Barclay, of the Berean Church, Edinburgh, a man of being victor. This, of course, might imply harder drinking and besides there were other on his but we have no reason whatever to believe, or originality genius ; which, songs part; to that one of the three was that in of similar spirit composed on the same topic, which seems to even suppose, any night a condition. from all that the have excited both interest and ridicule among the people. such Indeed, appears, reverse The battle was fought on a sloping moorland-ridge of the seems to have been the case, for both the music and the song Ochils, to the north-east of Dunblane, on the 13th of Novem- were agreed upon at the conclusion of the revel. ber, 1715; between John, Duke of Argyll, for the House of On the celebrated line, Wha first beside his chair shall Hanover, and the Earl of Mar, for the Chevalier de St. George, fa', the first Pretender. Both sides claimed the victory. Bob Mr. Chambers has the following note "Evidently a mistake," Roy was present with some followers, but did not interfere. and prints it accordingly in his own edition, as Cunningham The poem, as it stands in our text, was written by Burns for also does ' Wha last beside his chair shall &c. the Museum,' and appeared in the third volume of that work. fa', Dr. Currie found among the Poet's papers another version Mr. Chambers admits that the line stands in 'Johnson's ' it his with some alterations, which he conjectured to have been Museum as we have printed ; but indirectly supports written in 1788, and, apparently without consulting the own version by introducing immediately afterwards a letter ' Museum,' published it as the true edition. It will be found from Burns to Captain Eiddel, in which part of the song hereafter among Posthumous Works of our Author. already written (and which seems already to have been known ' has p. 140. At this point in the Museum,' one of the older to Eiddel) is quoted, and wherein the word in question ' songs, The Gloomy Night,' appears [see Notes to Kilmar- been emphasised thus

A' last beside his chair shall &c. nock and Edinburgh Editions, p. 108] ; and then FOE THAT Wha fa', m^=tmSfi 268 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

But such quotation referred to the contest for the Whistle, In present edition, 'bounding hawthorns' is a phrase which that very day impending; and unless the original word had indicates the luxuriant hedgerows of thorn, which bound the been so changed, the quotation would have been entirely fruitful vales; and is therefore more strictly appropriate in inapplicable. That very change, therefore, in reference to the circumstances, as characteristic of the scene described. another subject in some respects similar, but in that respect p. 141. TAM GLEN: Of which we present here a faithful different, is sufficient proof what the original word must have edition, is one of the finest of our Author's humorous effu- been. ' ' in as in other sions in Johnson's Museum this, many respects, finest, in the sense of most delicate and true ; which is the best and truest, as well as only legitimate authority. feminine love and logic are so admirably never were they We have only to add, that the interpretation of stanza in., more admirably combined, and the moral elevated for ever reader It is the moon I ken her horn, &c., above the base commercial idea of matrimony. The

' may compare Country Lassie' [p. 147], and at his leisure, to the effect, that it was the sun mistaken for the moon by the with reference to the peculiar sentiment of both, consider the three bewildered inebriates ! founded, we presume, on Cun- " fine parallel of La Mere aveugle," of Beranger. ningham's story that "the sun rose on their carousal," is a c. s. 3. There's Lowrie the laird o' died in in or 2, Dumeller, pitiable stupidity. Nicol 1797 ; Masterton about " " Gude day to you, brute ! he comes ben : 1800. were both and men of They teachers, great ability. ' printed faithfully from Museum,' although there are varia- p. 141. THE BLUE-EYED LASSIE: The heroine of this tions, on what authority we know not, elsewhere. Whether beautiful as learn from from lyric, we partly Stenhouse, partly ' ' brute ! in the salutation is to be included among the very Motherwell, was Miss Jean Jeffrey, daughter of the minister words of the laird, or is an epithet only added by the imagi- of Lochmaben. The lady, subsequently Mrs. Eenwick, after nation of the lady, as a sotto voce accompaniment of her own, residing some time in Liverpool, ultimately settled with her most characteristic of the boorish suitor, and sometimes per- husband in New York. Eiddel of Glenriddel composed the haps employed by him, we do not presume to determine : but air. [For further interesting particulars concerning this lady, it stands within the inverted commas of as his own ' quotation, see Appendix Heroines of Burns.'] The mysterious con- address, in the original; and we prefer, by all means, to let nection between love and the light of the eyes has been a it so stand. theme with poets everywhere, and with others than mere p. 142. CRAIGIE-BURN WOOD : First sketch of this beauti- poets, as witness the confessions of Swedenborg "He can ful song; for finished edition, see 'Thomson's Collection.' never doubt the mystery of revelation who hath looked into a " It was intended to represent the unavailing passion of the woman's eyes." I have made a covenant with mine eyes,'' Poet's particular friend, Mr. Gillespie, for Miss Lorimer of saith Job, "wherefore should I look upon a maid?" But of Kingshall, afterwards Mrs. Whelpdale, one of the most beauti- poets, of lyric poets at least, none have been devouter students ful and unfortunate of all his heroines. Craigie-burn Wood, at that shrine than Burns and Petrarch. With Petrarch the where the lady was born, was a scene of much sylvan beauty study amounted to desperate and disastrous fascination; of in the of Moffat, and a favourite resort of the which almost sonnet contains and neighbourhood every abundant, painful, ' ' ' Poet's. [See Appendix Heroines of Burns : Chloris.'] In beautiful We can afford to but two proof. quote illustrations, ' ' the Museum a single chorus is introduced, which belongs to as directly in point, from him an old, and apparently second-rate ballad : but according to occhi 'io fui I begli ; ond percosso in ' ' guisa, Mr. Clarke, there is no need to mention the chorus. The Ch'i medesmi saldar la porrian piaga ; &c. Parte Prima, Son. Iv. man that would attempt to sing a chorus to this beautiful air, should have his throat cut to prevent him it Those lovely eyes, from which I had my wound, doing again." Themselves alone can heal the deadly stound : According to Mr. Chambers, the lady at the date of this song, summer of was sixteen of and again, with less, however, of bitterness in the complaint: presumably 1792, only years age. p. 142. MY -TOCHER'S THE JEWEL: Another admirable Io temo si de begli occhi Passalto, Ne' e la mia morte of humorous feminine banter. "This the quali amore, alberga ; piece song," says Ch' i come fanciul la fuggo lor, verga, Author in a note, "is to be sung to the air called 'Lord Parte Prima : Son. xxxi. ' but do not the name ' Lord Elchd's Elcho's Favourite ; put I dread the assault of those sweet eyes ' Favourite above it : let it just pass for the tune of the song, Where love and death together lurk, As much as the poor child that flies and a beautiful tune it is"' a pardonable enough desire on The rod that punishes his naughty work. his part, to associate the words and the air together in all it is in both The ladies, said, cases, retained this captivatin time coming.

of to : beauty expression the end. p. 143. GUIDWIFE COUNT THE LAWIN Both words and p. 141. THE BANKS OF NITH : A homesick song supposed air of this song were furnished by Burns. The chorus is part to be dated from London with as a ; two slight variations in the of an older song, from which the poet himself, specimen, text. The edition we prefer is in the 'Museum,' as our quotes the following the readers are aware; second stanza commences elsewhere Every day my wife tells me

That ale and will ruin me : thus : brandy But if gude liquor will be my dead, How lovely, Nith, thy fruitful vales, Where This shall be written on my head spreading hawthorns gaily bloom ! gudewife, count the lawin, &c. How sweetly wind thy sloping dales, Where lambkins wanton through the broom ! The present is not to be confounded with another song of AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

similar character, count the lawin' of the must have been in the beginning 'Landlady, song long Author's mind ; but this in of the the it [p. 188]. At point progress 'Museum' was expressly written, or finished and adapted, for the ' celebrated song of ' The Whistle was introduced at full 'Museum,' somewhere about 1790. length, with music; said to have been composed by Riddel p. 145. THE BONIE WEE THING: One of our Author's of most of Glenriddel, one of the competitors, and a man great exquisite compliments to "his little idol, the charming, musical taste and abilities. lovely Davies." ? 145. p. 143. WHAT CAN A YOUNG LASSIE Another piece of p. AE FOND Kiss : A devotional, passionate outburst further of a womanly perplexity, and safe policy, perhaps, on which very different kind, and differing also most distinctly comment is unnecessary. It was written in 1790, and had the from the quiet transports of his apostrophes to Jean, and the " following note by the Author attached Set the tune to deep melodious sorrow of his hymns to Mary. Clarinda s set of the tune is bad I here stirred some fountain of in these words. Dr. B[lacklock]' ; always turbulence and madness enclose a better. You may put Dr. B.'s song after these his soul, from which the waters of love flowed, mingled with

or ! verses, or you may leave it out, as you please. It has some rage anguish About the strange dramatic, almost tragic, merit, but it is miserably long." The worthy Doctor's song beauty of these lines, there is no occasion for a word by us. was accordingly omitted. The reader will observe with Lord Byron, by his deliberate selection of a motto from them ' what authority Burns here speaks as practical editor of the for his Bride of Abydos,' has settled their place in the canon ' ' in the fourth of that of Museum ; and as this occurs volume lyrics; and Scott declares that the same lines work, we can have little hesitation about its claims to be Had we never loved sae kindly Had we never loved sae received as a standard edition of his so far as they blindly, writings, Never met or never ' parted, in its title of the is What shall We had ne'er been broken-hearted appear pages. English song ; ' a young woman do with an old man ? 1703. "contain the essence of a thousand love tales." Other com- 144. SENSIBILITY HOW CHARMING: "This it is p. song," petent critics, male and female, say the same. The song, ' ' was written Burns for the Museum in ' expressly stated, by although prepared for the Museum,' was no doubt in reality

1790 : as it there has reference to and, stands, unquestionable a farewell to Clarinda; although Burns, writing to Clarinda the trials and of Mrs. M'Lehose the unfortunate sufferings (December 27, 1794) in prospect of her departure to the West ' Clarinda.' But at a later date we find it altered in slightly Indies, and enclosing this very song among others, finished the second line and unfinished, expressly dedicated to her and containing her canst tell Thou, my friend, truly ; name, does not any further declare his sentiments. It needed not. ' morn' reference to dedicated 'To my dear and much honoured friend, Mrs. Compare May, thy [p. 158], with ' same Dunlop of Dunlop : to whom, in her then circumstances, separation. it might be equally applicable; but the transference affords For the concentrated passion of this song, we seek no exact one several other to the same that the similar to an unattainable among proofs effect, parallel ; although devotion, object, Poet did occasionally renew and re-dedicate some of his best is everywhere to be met with in Petrarch. The only near effusions, when the feelings of the hour required it. As dedi- approach, though with more studied formality of iteration, cated to Mrs. Dunlop, the song appeared afterwards in appears in a very exquisite sonnet of his, beginning o e 'Thomson's Collection.' O passi sparsi ; pensier vaghi, pronte ;

O tenace memoria ; o fero ardore ; 144. IT is THY BONIE FACE : NA, JEAN, Acknowledged 1 p. o debil core O possente desire ; ; Burns to have been a remodelled by him from the occhi miei occhi non ma fonti by song O ; gia, ; &c., Parte Prima : Son. cxxviii. English of an older edition : yet we can hardly help believing that it had, in his own mind, a retrospective reference to the than which, we suspect, nothing much finer could have been days of his alienation from Jean at Mauchline, and the sad written by any one but Burns. As to the peculiar moral circumstances of that painful separation. sentiments of secret self-reproach, with which this passion in both cases was attended, the c. 2, s. 2. And as wi' thee I'd wish to live, equally following singular For thee I'd bear to die : coincidence must also be noted

c. 1, s. 2. I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy, may be traced, most probably through the English edition, as Naething could resist my Nancy : it occurs in the mouth far back as Horace ; where, however, to see to But her, was love her ; Love but and love for ever. not of a man, but of a woman : her,

Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens. Car. III., ix. as if it had been literally embodied by way of confession from Petrarch Still with thyself I'd wish to live ; thee I'd die. I' With gladly mi soglio accusare ; ed or mi scuso ; Anzi mi pregio, e tengo assai piu caro is THAT AT MY BOWER DOOR ? A of p. 144. WHA piece De P honesta prigion, del dolce amaro to Gilbert ch' io portai gia molt' anni chiuso. highly characteristic repartee, suggested, according Colpo, ' ' Parte Seconda : Son. xxviii. Burns, by the ' Auld Man's Address to the Widow in Kam- I I'll ' Long have blamed, blame myself no more; his brother first Tea-Table ; but which heard say's Miscellany But prize me ever dearer for my woe, in Tar- sung by Jean Wilson, an old widow woman resident At honour's price, and that sweet bitter blow Which year on year my patient soul hath bore. bolton in those early days, and remarkable for her singing is that avowals so much alike of old Scotch songs with energy and effect. If so, the idea Not unimportant surely it, 270 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

should so have come spontaneously from men themselves reminds us very distinctly of the same figure elsewhere em- much alike, and so similarly situated, on the same subject. ployed, on a similar but much higher occasion The Dedi- cation We cannot, therefore, yet take farewell of Clarinda, whose of the House of David : influence on moral and For his our Author's in endureth but a in : nature, pain passion, anger moment ; Ms favour is life weeping may endure for a but has so manifestly asserted and inwrought itself in much of night, joy cometh in the morning. Psalms, xxs. : nor his finest workmanship. does the present application of the words seem to us a ' ' whit Here is interposed in Museum another of the old songs, more inappropriate than it would have done in the 'Now Westlin Winds, and Slaught'ring Guns.' mouth of the devoutest chaplain in a patron's household; with On the two which immediately follow, this difference in favour of the Poet, that it was spon- taneous and p. 145. I HAE A WIFE o' MY AIN: Written shortly after unbeneficed. It may be proper here to inform the ' his own marriage, although commencing with two lines of English reader, that the word so,' at beginning of third an old line in above stanza, has the of ' since.' song ; and, signification 147. ' p. 146. O FOB ANE-AND-TWENTY, TAM! Founded on a p. COUNTRY LASSIE : [See Note on Tarn Glen,' &c.] matter of fact within the Poet's knowledge, scarcely any com- p. 147. FAIR ELIZA : On this exquisite expostulation, the mentary is required, after what has already been said on Author himself, in writing to Johnson in reference to the air and similar subjects. But in connection with the sweet little original title, 'Fair Eabina,' says, "So much for your Eabina. idyl, so rich in natural grace, which succeeds How do you like the verses ? I assure you I have tasked to the of p. 146. BESS AND HER SPINNING-WHEEL : We must be my muse top her performing. However, the allowed once more to insist here on our Author's absolute song will not sing to your tune; but there is a Perthshire tune in M'Donald's Collection of sympathy with, and appreciation of, such scenes of moral Highland Airs, which is tranquillity, purity, and peace. It reminds us, but with an much admired in this country. I intend the verses to be sung enlarged and more genial catholic sense, of Cowper's much- to that air." In consequence of the above considerations, the of a similar scene title was to ' Fair Eliza ' but the herself a admired picture and character, although changed ; lady was manifestly independent of his suggestion- lonafide heroine, to whom Mr. Hunter {of Barjarg, we pre- Yon cottager who weaves at her own door, sume], a friend of the Poet's, was much attached. This Pillow and bobbins all her little store ; gentleman, it appears, went subsequently to Jamaica, where tho" mean and if Content, ; cheerful, not gay : he, after his died. Shuffling her threads about the live-long day, shortly arrival, Stenhouse. The verses Just earns a and at scanty pittance ; night themselves suggest another, in addition to the numerous Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light : parallels already quoted from Petrarch, to which we may at Just knows and knows no more, her Bible true least refer

A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew : Dolci ire, dolci sdegni, e dolci paci, And in that charter with reads, sparkling eyes, Dolce dolce e dolce mal, affanno, peso ; &c. Her title to a treasure in the skies ! Parte Prima : Son. clxxii. Oh, happy peasant ! Oh, unhappy bard ! &c. Truth: whilst the concluding lines, if not remind us at It is with satisfaction also we here remind our readers, that suggested by, least not of Cowper himself, to whom the Edinburgh Edition of Burns's remotely The in a fine Poems had been presented in 1787, was an enthusiastic ad- poet's eye, frenzy rolling, Midsummer mirer of our Author's Night's Dream, V., i. ; placing him, notwithstanding the ' ' are barbarism of his northern language, second only to Shak- although they spoken undoubtedly by Burns, dramatically, of his own self. spear and Prior of all poets who had appeared in the lower very 148. THE POSIE : Is a to Jean ranks of the people. The letters referring to this subject we p. genuine love-compliment Armour; if we mistake as a shall quote at large, hereafter. Although Cowper survived designed, not, peace-offering after some for a few it is lover's-feud ; revised and Burns years, by no means at all likely that although perhaps adapted ' ' for the 'Museum' "the music a volume of the Scots Musical Museum ever reached his afterwards, having been taken

' down from Mrs. Burns's own voice." hands. Otherwise, with so sweet a picture as Bess and her [See Thomson Corre- ' Scottish in both spinning-wheel before him, he might have changed his ideas spondence.] Although truly enough language ' ' and it reminds one a little style, here and there of Shenstone : even about the barbarism of the Scottish language, without c. s. 5. The hawthorn I will wi' its losing any admiration for the genius or the moral sentiment 2, pu' locks o' siller gray, Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o' of his illustrious contemporary. day ; But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak away 146. p. NITHSDALL'S WELCOME HAME: With its broad And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. in honour of orthography, Lady Winifred I have found out a for fair Maxwell, represen- gift my ; I have found where the tative of the forfeited Earl of Nithsdale, on her return to wood-pigeons Dreed : But let me the plunder forbear Scotland, and of the seat of the ; rebuilding hereditary family, She will say 'twas a barbarous deed.

is an Shenstone: Pastoral Ballad : Teregles House, Kirkcudbright, affectionate tribute of Part II. , v. respect for an ancient in whose fortunes the family Poet had p. 149. THE BANKS o' DOON: This most beautiful and a natural sympathetic interest. The stanza concluding popular pathetic song, one of the most popular of our Author's The o' care and weary night grief not connected with hae a writings specially himself or the May joyfu' morrow ; people, So has commemorates the sad issue of the dawning day brought relief, lady's love, whose beauty Fareweel our night o' sorrow ! and innocence, and happier prospects had already been cele- AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

brated in The details connected in stanzas of as air itself 'Young Peggy' \_p. 129]. arranged two, the requires ; and ' with this melancholy affair, as well as the names of the dis- the SCENE,' which is slightly theatrical, is entirely omitted tinguished parties immediately concerned, were sufficiently which, having been done by the Author, or by his authority, well known at the time, and may be found in the records has been adhered to by us. of the Court of Session, where a plea, originating in the event, p. 151. AFTON WATER: The beautiful scene to which this was at last decided against the lady but with some compen- song undoubtedly refers, we have had the gratification of sation to her child. Burns, who at first judged severely in visiting under a most agreeable escort, and receiving on the the matter, came at last, as we see, to sympathise affection- spot many interesting details of history associated with it ately; and has thrown such a bloom of sorrow and pathos from a most accomplished guide. The vale of Afton, which over the painful facts, that it would be a sort of sacrilege stretches from the broader valley of the Nith, southward, here to unveil them. The present, which is the first author- among lofty but picturesque and verdant hills, at a remoter ised, and now universally accepted edition of the song, was date almost covered with wood, is in the neighbourhood of the first draft of the in another not, however, poem ; which, New Cumnock, and not far distant from Mansefield House, and communicated to Mr. Bal- the residence of S. and to his simpler form, was originally Sir James Menteath ; to whom, of of date 1787 but was confined to lantyne, Ayr, supposed ; accomplished lady, for their courteous and valuable assistance, private circulation. [See Posthumous Works.] To the music in exploring many interesting scenes in that and other locali- and of the song, which is extremely beautiful and plaintive, ties, our most respectful acknowledgments are due. Afton characteristically Scotch, there is a curious history attached, Lodge, with its surrounding estate the chief, or rather the in of his which will be found narrated by Burns himself, one only mansion in this vale or glen, was the patrimonial inheri- to and which is to letters Thomson, November, 1794; confirmed, tance of Mrs. Stewart, of Stair, the Poet's earliest patron ; the black as to the principle it involves of adhering to keys whom he presented not only this, but many other pieces in on of the harpsichord or piano, by Mr. Eitson in his Essay manuscript, which have since proved, in a certain sense, of Scottish 102 who examines and to her and the common Song, p. ; elaborately supports priceless value representatives ; per- the theory in question. suasion, since Dr. Currie's day, has been, that it was in p. 149. Sic A WIFE AS WILLIE HAD: Written expressly honour of Mrs. Stewart herself the song was written. Gilbert ' ' in to Thomson certain me- for the Museum ; and, Burns, however, communicating

: re- his brother's thus annotates p. 149. THE CARL OF KELLYBTJRN BRAES Being the moranda of the subjects of songs, ' vision of an older and ruder song, with sufficient pith and on Afton Water,' "the Poet's Highland Mary." Mr. Cham- "Dr. Currie had un- freedom certainly, and no unnecessary squeamishness on our bers, on this evidence, concludes that " and further Gilbert's Author's own. part, but with infinite humour, requires scarcely doubtedly been misinformed; supports any comment. According to Cunningham, Mrs. Burns, in statement by quoting an assertion of Mrs. Dunlop's daughter, to the affirms that she remembers Burns it was turning over her husband's papers, and in reference "who hearing say As between these 'Carl,' said "Eobert gae this ane an unco brushing up." written upon the Coilsfield dairy-maid." claims to That Brushing up, no doubt, it required : but the exuberant mirth, conflicting we have simply observe, (1) although with which our Author invariably handles the topic of un- there is an Afton Lodge, there is no Glen Afton in the neigh- is the best of nor or stream at all to which pleasant matrimonial relationship, perhaps proof bourhood Coilsfield, any glen satisfaction in this can That there we can have of his own personal happiness and the description song possibly apply ; (2) in the married state. is a Glen Afton, or Vale of Afton as above described, and a reference to this of in to which it does most p. 150. SONG OF DEATH: With magni- Water Afton, Nithsdale, apply a union of with of it is a manifest ficent martial hymn, in which pathos courage, accurately ; which, indeed, poetical picture, and in in detail That this and of self-devotion with ambition, is so rarely wonder- true to nature both outline and ; (3) was extorted admiration from the but occasional residence of fully accomplished as to have every not only personal property, the Author's own in and That Burns his critic, we content ourselves with quoting the lady question ; (4) himself, during words. In a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, dated Ellisland, 17th own residence in the district, had frequent opportunities, if December, 1791, he says "I have just finished the following not immediate cause, to visit and explore it, and must have of and its traditions one of which at song, which to a lady the descendant Wallace, many been familiar with all least, heroes of his truly illustrious line, and herself the mother Queen Mary's halt there on her flight to England would of several soldiers, needs neither preface nor apology : have a deep poetical interest for him. But how he should from with Scene A field of battle Time of the day, evening the wounded and dying of have transferred a song Mary Campbell, alterations, ' " the victorious army are supposed to join in the following Song of Death,' &c. to Mrs. Stewart of Stair and Glen Afton, remains still to be which be as we on "The circumstance that gave rise to the foregoing verses was accounted for; may done, however, believe, the On a second looking over, with a musical friend, M'Donald's Collection simplest principle imaginable. looking time, the distance then of some on the of Highland Airs, I was struck with one, an Isle of Skye tune, at years, original manuscript such were in his own moral instinct must entitled 'Oran an Aoig,' or 'The Song of Death,' to the (if really existence), Burns at once that it wanted all the character- measure of which I have adapted my stanzas." We have have informed istic elements and of a true tribute only to observe further, that in writing to Mrs. Dunlop the passion, pathos, rapture to with whose therefore, in the verses appear to have been set down separately, as they are Mary Campbell ; name, painful of her he could no allow, if he ever most frequently also printed; in -the 'Museum' they are circumstances case, longer 272 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

c. . 2. O woman fair ! intended it to be associated. But with a very slight revision p. 152, 2, woman, lovely and to in the of Mrs. adaptation scenery neighbourhood We have heard a proposal to print this line otherwise thus : Stewart's occasional residence, it might be most appropriate O woman lovely, woman fair! as a poetical compliment to her; and accordingly might be for which, however, there is no in the text; nor so transferred, without any moral inconsistency on his part authority would real be the altera- at all. To which considerations the reader, if he chooses, any poetical advantage gained by tion. The as we have is as the Author may add the by-no-means improbable conjecture, that the line, it, undoubtedly intended it; and the double of and Poet had also in view the interesting tradition of Queen epithets 'lovely' 'fair,' together in a breath, are in with himself, Mary's flight from the battle of Langside through this very entirely conformity and with the where occur. glen, and her brief repose in fear and sorrow, for portion of passage they 153. THE DEIL'S AWA wi' TH' EXCISEMAN : Is a a night, by the margin of its murmuring waters. The name p. piece of humour most of national on the sub- of Mary at least, in this view, is as applicable to the Queen expressive feeling of inland and the doubtful estima- as to either of the others, and gives a new significance to what ject revenue, by-no-means tion in which its collectors were held. to Stenhouse at best is but a doubtful reference. That the song could ever According "The is written on a of excise ruled on permanently remain dedicated to Mary Campbell, we do not, original slip paper, the back with red lines. It is said that at a of his from its mere pastoral Shenstonian character, believe; and meeting brother excisemen in our on called on that the Poet did occasionally so transfer effusions of his from Dumfries, Poet, being for a handed these verses to the one individual to another, we already know to have been the song, extempore president the back of a letter." to Lockhart case, from his correspondence with this very lady. [See Note upon According they were on the shore of the in a fit of im- on 'A Mother's Lament,' p. 265.] Dr. Currie, therefore, composed Solway, at the which had the slowness we cannot help concluding, in this instance at least, has the patience delay occurred, by of his friend Lewars, in assistance to board an most feasible version of the story. procuring armed of which he in the p. 151. BONIE BELL: Both words and air, in this as in smuggling ship ; (Burns) meantime, with a had been left in observation. many other cases, were supplied by Burns. From whom the very inadequate force, The accounts are and most are both music in this instance whether Kirsty Flint or some other quite reconcilable, likely true in local authority was obtained by him, we know not. Com- quite ; except only that, copying out the verses on the back of a the work was not pare 'Let not woman e'er complain" [p. 206], letter, entirely extemporaneous in the p. 152. THE GALLANT WEAVER: This song, in 'Thomson's although gentlemen company might suppose so. [See : Burns as an Collection,' is dedicated to the 'Gallant Sailor;' which may Appendix Exciseman.] to We reach at this in review of seem sound a little more poetical : but those who know point, Acknowledged Songs, ' ' the fifth volume of Museum the first in which is at the locality to which it refers Paisley, to wit will require song 153. THE LOVELY LASS o' INVERNESS: no argument to assure them that some gallant master of p. A piece of The two first lines are old and to the shuttle in those days, a man of as much importance exquisite pathos. seem have served as a to our Author the rest is his as any sailor was the original hero. key-note ; own, and in his finest of brief dramatic c. I, s. 2. While corn grows green in simmer showers, style imagery.

I love weaver : my gallant p. 153. A BED, BED BOSE : The foundation of this beauti- This instance of what we designate the present -future, ful song was an old street-ballad, with much simplicity and denoting intensity and continuance of affection, is a form of tenderness; but the style in which Burns has treated it

' expression peculiar to Burns. [See Note on song O Were renders it an entirely new thing. The air itself also, to which " I on Parnassus Hill : p. 265.] it is written, had two 'sets' or forms an old and new to 152. THE DEUKS his p. DANG O'ER MY DADDIE: Written by which our Author adapted words by adding or subtracting, to an old indecent where a Burns, supersede ditty ; of which a few required, single syllable. words still remain, his revision for the in- notwithstanding c. 2, s. 3. Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, trusion of in the he is And the rocks melt wi' the sun : which, circumstances, therefore scarcely I will luve thee still, my dear, to be held responsible. While the sands o' life shall run. p. 152. SHE'S FAIR AND FAUSE: The air to which this Life and to this of the beautiful objurgatory chant was written, was another of those love, according exquisite rendering fine old melodies which our doctrine of immortality, shall outlast both sea and land. Poet here and there picked up, as " he in his rounds about the But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the in the which the journeyed country. No complaint, night ; heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with in which music, love, and vexation were to be combined, was fervent heat the earth the ; also, and works that are therein, shall be burnt up. ever more indited : as successfully yet strange it may seem, of Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought all in the ye to be in all holy conversation and ?" 2 iii. 11. places world, we find a very exact parallel to it in godliness Peter, 10, Petrarch almost word for word with concluding stanza : Thus Petrarch also, in the same vein of passionate devotion, Femina & cosa mobil per natura : but with the sense of hopeless pain superadded, exclaims Ond' io so ben, ch' un' amoroso stato In cor di donna Senz' acqua il mare, e senza stelle il cielo picciol tempo dura! Parte Prima : Son. cl. Fia innanzi, ch' io non sempre tema e brami Woman nature is a fickle by thing ! La sua bell' ombra e ch' io ; non odi ed ami, As I well know love's constant throe L'a ta piaga aniorosa che mal celo. Not a long woman's heart will wring 1 AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 273

Esser pud in prima ogn' impossibil cosa, Small birdis flokand thro' ilk ronnys thrang, [bramble bushes] Ch' altri che morte od clla sani '1 colpo, In chirinynge and with chcping changit thare sang, Ch' Amor co' suoi begli occhi al cor m' impresse. Sekand hidlis and hirnys thame to hyde, [hiding places and corners] clxii. Fra fearfull Parte Prima, Son. thuddis of the tempestuous tyde : &c. And Sooner the sea shall without -water bide, The and thare little Sooner the all starless shall cilly schepe, hird-gromes, sky appear ; Lurkis under of and bromes &c. Than I shall cease to wish Tor and yet fear lye bankis, woddis, ; Her shade than I shall cease to hear lovely ; correspond, even in detail, with the very finest passages in And cherish Love's deep wound I scarce can hide. 'A Winter Night' Qp. 47]. But it is certain that Gavin Beyond all things impossible it is, Douglas's work was not at that date in Burns' s possession; That ought but Death or She that wound can heal, and, from its mere commercial value, was far beyond tho Which Love through her sweet eyes hath made my bosom feel. reach of his neighbours. There is to be found, however, in a ' The Lament of Queen of Scots,' which we have ' ' Mary, already Note to Croma of Ossian, which Burns may have seen, a ' seen and commented on, is here introduced in Museum,' to five-fold description of Night an October night in which an ancient air of the same name communicated by Burns. a still greater resemblance to Douglas's description appears. 154. A LASSIE ALL ALONE : Is the edition of p. original It is a curious fact, also, that M'Pherson attributes this five- what was subsequently altered and enlarged under another fold description to five Celtic Bards about a thousand years later title. It will be found as 'A Vision' among our Author's than Ossian; that is, just as nearly as possible at Gavin Posthumous Works where we prefer to place it, rather than Douglas's own time. Are we to suppose, then, that the gifted introduce it a second time as a song; although it does so translator of Ossian, accused of so many forgeries, made an appear, but not with a very good arrangement, as it seems to additional forgery in this very Note, and manufactured the ' us, in Thomson's Collection.' There are few songs by Burns five-fold description in question from the pages of Douglas? on this dangerous topic of liberty, so offensive at the time, in "and that thus, through him, the description of a winter night which finer imagery, more pathos and vehemence are com- has travelled on to Burns ? Or are we to give credit to each bined. Let the reader with this the well-known compare and all of these various authors to Douglas, to the Five beautiful verses Thomas Moore by Bards respectively, or in their name to M'Pherson, and finally The that once Tara's Halls harp through to Burns for the various independent descriptions which are The soul of music shed, &c., associated with their respective names ? We see no good of national at a on the same subject repressed aspirations, argument against this conclusion. It is certain that there is later under the same and he will date, political influences, in Eobert Burns's, at least, a minuteness, and variety of become sensible an incarnation of immediately with what detail, a dramatic interpellation more akin to Shakspear's, as well as of he has here to do. passion, sympathy, and a pathetic tenderness not to be found in any of the others to . 1. As I stood by yon roofless tower, &c. which, indeed, even

like a naked new-born babe The ruins of Lincluden Abbey, a favourite haunt of the Poet's, Pity, Striding the blast, of the sea- are intended here ; from which much landscape is not superior. wards, beyond Dumfries, would be visible; and to this ex- In some editions Thomson's, Currie's, and others quoting tended view the lines in from them the beautiful stanza on which we are now com-

s. 5. Now over firth and ' looking fauld, menting is spoken of as a variation.' It is in fact the very Her horn the pale-faced Cynthia rear'd, original, and must speak for itself with authority to any are expressly dedicated. Our readers, however, must beware one who ever looked at the scene, or can comprehend the ' firth ' to the ' Firth of imagining that applies Solway. and adaptation of words to the features of a landscape. field or and fauld' mean respectively the open forest, the In wonderful contrast to this patriotic passion half expressed enclosed field or fold. [See Glossary.] The expression some- comes the exquisite contemptuous love-snatch, in which times varies thus Kings, and all that appertain to them, are dismissed from his Over firth and fell : imagination, as not worth a moment's care. but the identical phrase, employed by our Author here, may p. 154. Lotris, WHAT EECK I BY THEE! of in be found in Gavin Douglas's description Winter, his Or Geordie on his ocean ! translation of the ^neid in which Burns, who seems to have 8.2. Kings and Nations swith, awa ! been in of the book at this date, have seen it: possession may Reif Randies, I disown ye ! Quhen frostis dois overflete baith firth and fauld. as if the scorn, which dared not all be otherwise expressed, Prologue, B. vii. found vent with comparative safety in a love song. This seems it the more to observe this coincidence We think necessary to have been written on the eve of the French Eevolution, for in the same are certain most admirable now, Prologue and was a strange enough prophecy of its kind, incidentally touches, such as descriptive spoken, so far as one King at least, and one Nation at the Eyveris ran rede on spate with wattir broun, time, were concerned. And burnis harlis all thare bankis down, &c. p. 155. COMIN THRO' THE EYE : Of this quaint ditty there

which may be compared with corresponding description in are two sets : the first and original by Burns, as in present

' ' Brigs of Ayr [p. 20]. More closely still the following edition, and "which was published as a single sheet song. 2 u 274 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

' " ' ' ' a before it was copied into the Museum; the second, with Ance mair I hail thee, thou gloomy December ! [p. 160] ' ' on the and ! few additional lines, and altered music, was a parody Behold the hour, the boat arrive \_p. 223] would make first. Some recent annotator, we observe, is of opinion that the whole apparent mystery very plain. But the mystery

' ' the rye is here the name of a river. The details of the itself, affected in the one case, and unconsciously explained song are completely at variance with such an idea; and thp in the other, affords a curious indication of the state of the Aiithor's simple fact that the word, in original, is invariably printed mind distracted and painful undoubtedly on this it without a capital letter which Burns never omitted where subject at the time; passionate, sympathetic, regretful, and was required is conclusive on the subject. full of self-reproach alternately, perhaps together and at once.

p. 155. SOMEBODY : Of this most beautiful and suggestive p. 158. WILT THOU BE MY DEARIE? A gem of purest song, two lines the third and fourth of the first stanza were lyrical litany, that requires no commentary. It was set the rest is Burns. the Author's to the 'first of adopted from Eamsay ; by by special request part only'

A' : in p. 155. SHE SAYS SHE LO'ES ME BEST OF This song, the tune to which it was nominally written. unfortunate honour of one of the Author's most favourite and p. 158. LOVELY POLLY STEWART: A slight performance, heroines, is an instance, among many others, in which his which replaced some old Jacobite verses to the same air; love of music and of the higher moralities were united. The with which, however, we need not trouble the reader. indecent: music was beautiful, but the original words were p. 159. THE WINTER, OF LIFE : In a different tone, and in his genius and his moral delicacy rectified that. figurative outline, is nevertheless all too true and sad an

p. 156. THE BONIE LASS MADE THE BED TO ME : Is a ballad illustration of the Poet's own experience in these concluding so far as and not the less in which may seem scarcely entitled to the same praise, years ; true, that age him was premature moral character is concerned; and its extreme warmth and as well as painful. The last four lines, indeed, we can never richness are undoubtedly of questionable effect. The Author read, without recalling that look of latent anguish which is himself subsequently remodelled and reduced it : we retain it, traceable in the likeness recently discovered, and which has however, in its full original form, for two reasons first, already been conspicuously referred to in the conclusion of because he actually did so write and publish it; second, our Biography. Let the reader compare the lines and the because in this form it is incomparably the finest ballad of its picture. The air to which this song is set was communicated kind written. It after the the Poet and is a so ever does, indeed, Oriental fashion, by himself, plaintive melody ; that both on but redeems itself at the close one and The reader verge impropriety ; by music, words, shadow correspond. may of those inimitable turns, which none but the truest heart compare, also, with same lines, the well-known complaint could dictate, and no other than the hand of the most of Job accomplished artist would dare to introduce. The song itself But man forsakes this earthly scene,

Ah ! never to return : is founded on an older ballad, recounting an amour of Charles Shall any following spring revive II. with a of in the north of young lady respectable family ; The ashes of the urn 1 Par. viii. 9. which a corrupted version of great indelicacy may still be

159. : found. The second version, in a subdued tone, by Burns p. COULD AUGHT OF SONG In perfect English style, himself, will be found elsewhere. was written by our Author (as we learn from Stenhouse) p. 157. SAE FAB AWA: Was printed by Johnson with a to an English air, composed originally by Dr. Samuel How- slight typographical inaccuracy in one of the lines which ard, for one of Eamsay's songs in the 'Gentle Shepherd,' the sense this and which that medium destroyed ; has, however, been rectified in through became very popular. reproducing it. p. 159. HERE'S TO THY HEALTH, MY BONIE LASS : A piece p. 157. WAT YE WHA'S IN YON TOWN ? The first edition of pleasant banter, slightly careless, perhaps, or indifferent, of this well-known beautiful song, and dedicated manifestly as the theme implied. The last stanza is sometimes other- of Mrs. to the honour Burns. It was subsequently slightly wise, but erroneously, punctuated in first four lines, to the modified, and by the introduction of another name transferred destruction of the sense. in ' to another heroine; whom the Author, however, had no p. 160. GLOOMY DECEMBER : Compare May, thy Morn,'

more than the interest common to all could also Letters to Clarinda : in who appreciate \_p. 158] ; The song, short, is an the greatest beauty and goodness combined in the same person. eloquent pathetic commemoration of his parting farewell with edition will in ' This second be found Thomson's Collection.' that lady, on her departure for the West Indies : the two first The original edition here given was accompanied by another verses were, in fact, communicated to herself, along with

' song to the same air, in praise also of Mrs. Burns I'll ay other songs, in a letter dated Dumfries, 27th December, 1791. ' ca' in town but to by yon ; strange say, although they appeal- It was afterwards completed for the 'Museum,' and is the together on the same page, the one is acknowledged, and the last song by him in Volume V. of that collection. The song

' other not. The unacknowledged song, one of the most perfect which follows in that volume, Evan Banks,' was erroneously of all our Author's lyrical compositions, will be found in its attributed to him at the time, and has since been discovered own department. to be the work of Helen Maria Williams, a native of the p. 158. MAY, THY MORN: The nameless heroine of this north of England, for whose poetical effusions our Author song, the reader needs scarcely to be informed, was Clarinda. entertained, as was natural for him, a gallant admiration. If we had no other evidence in his correspondence with that p. 160. MY PEGGY'S FACE : Accompanied by the following a of the lady, simple comparison song now before us with note : AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 275

DKAK MB. PUBLISHER, ' ' title Jolly Good Ale and Old rehearses similar effects of I hope against I return, you will be able to tell from Mr. Clarke if these words will suit the tune. If in the they don't suit, I must think on some other indulgence following style : air as I have a ; very strong private reason for wishing them in the 2d volume Both head and foot bare Don't to transcribe the list of go ; forget me the Antiquarian Music. Farewell ! Both back and side go cold K. BURNS. ; But the man, he needs never better fare, Who hath ale and &o. The it jolly good old, song, appears, had been accidentally mislaid, and ' ' 162. therefore did not find a place in the Museum till the sixth p. THE DUMFRIES VOLUNTEERS: The regiment to volume in which this is inscribed was was preparation. It is the second song in that song embodied during the political division. excitement of 1795 and was under of The heroine was Miss Chalmers, to whom at the ; command the venerable same time Colonel de a of Canadian but (November, 1787) he dedicated another effusion, Peyster, gentleman extract, connected with and already before the reader [p. 133], 'Where Braving Angry long resident at Dumfries. The staff ' included other of Winter's Storms.' The present song was reprinted in Thom- gentlemen local name and influence. As a son's Collection,' with another name 'Mary' for 'Peggy' supplementary contingent, its object at that crisis was the and with different, perhaps not so appropriate, music. patriotic enough, and song dedicated to its honour was a national p. 161. O STEER HER UP: Written to supersede an indecent genuine enough war song; and besides appearing as such in the local it also in a song of Eamsay's; the first four lines of which, in brackets, papers, was published single and are however retained. Of the great moral service rendered sheet, distributed in considerable numbers among the Burns in these has said Author's compatriots in the It was nevertheless by revisions, something already been ; corps. written more will be said hereafter. at a period (1795) when his own political sentiments were for that p. 161. AE DAY A BRAW WOOER: Of this fine ballad suspected ; and, reason alone, might not receive in all the credit to which it was entitled as a there are two distinct editions one in the 'Museum,' the quarters patriotic effusion. That Burns could for in con- other in 'Thomson's Collection.' The first, which is now hope any promotion need not be his admission to the before the reader, is incomparably the best. It was written sequence, imagined ; very ranks of the to in 1787, and should have appeared in the second volume of regiment, according Cunningham, was objected the to from political and whatever he or do 'Museum;' but Mr. Johnson, who had some scruples prejudice might say about the of certain at that date, would have been loss of labour, if he had propriety expressions in it, declined at simple in view. the moment to insert it. Our Author afterwards revised and any personal advantage 163. LADY'S THERE'S GAIRS UPON'T: altered it, and in its altered form transmitted it to Thomson p. MY GOWN, Written in but to Johnson for moral ; in whose second volume it 1788, objected (1795) ultimately appeared (1799). by reasons. It at last in his sixth volume when Johnson could then easily see that the very alterations he had appeared (1803) desired were no questions about the Author's were to be improvements; and accordingly produced morality beginning to the universal admiration of his The the original edition, still in his own hands, in the sixth postponed genius. reader will find a similar in connection with the volume of his work (1803) : too late, of course, for the Author relationship himself to same family, or one at least in the same know anything about its appearance. This little neighbourhood, an Sir Walter Scott in his incident has its own moral import. Who but a man of the assigned important place by tragedy ' of Auchendrane,' where no immorality was dreamt of, and utmost generosity, and childlike indifference to his own rights, where not impossibly he had this very ballad in view. would so have altered for one what he had originally written 163. TAEN THE Kiss: for p. JOCKEY'S PARTING A truly another, and still allow the rejected original to lie tossing in which the antithesis of a line unclaimed for the remainder of his life in the hands of the exquisite lyric, single heart is still at hame friend who had rejected it ? This admirable ballad, although Jockey's thus kindly, almost humbly, rewritten to oblige fastidious balances a whole accumulation of prayers, of anxieties, and editors, lay in one case four, and in the other sixteen years, of love. it able before was to see the light; .its Author's ear, in either p. 163. O LEAVE NOVELS : The reader will easily perceive, case, being long insensible to either compliment or criticism. is of an older date. It was written at Mossgielin 1785, before

p. 162. AY MY WIFE SHE DANG ME : A jocular refrain, the Poet had yet appeared as an author, but when local gossip very often incorrectly printed. We have adhered accurately had attached unfavourable rumours to his name; and when to the original. the style of novel-writing then most popular was not by any p. 162. O GITDE ALE COMES: The chorus of this song is means most conducive to morality. old; the song itself is by Burns, and has probably some p. 164. O LAY THY LOOF IN MINE, LASS : Needs no further indirect significance beyond its external purport as a song. commentary, than that it is Burns's, and most characteristic Being partly but a revision, no very high place can be claimed both of his moral and passionate poetical nature..

' for it. In all circumstances of the case, indeed, it is a little At this point, in volume sixth of the Museum,' should ' strange that Burns should have cared to acknowledge it at have appeared the original edition of Scots wha hae.' all, having capriciously declined to acknowledge so many Strange to say, however, the tune to which the Author wrote ' ' ' ' other songs that were infinitely more beautiful. But so it is. it Hey now the day dawis, or Hey tuttie taitie had To say the least, it does not look as if he were guilty. The already been published with other words in Volume II., and burden reminds us of an English ditty, which we cannot at could not with propriety be reintroduced. In these circum- the our hands but " the moment lay upon ; which, under a similar stances, Johnson requested Mr. William Clarke, organist, ir-

276 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

to set Burns' s song to a simple ballad tune which he sent him the palm of absolute perfection in that difficult and him." This was a wrong tune, however, and necessitated the dangerous field. same lengthening of certain lines as in Thomson's altered SONGS NOT ORIGINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED. edition so it in both this sublime ; and happened that, cases, We come now to this and class of national chaunt was at first impaired in the one case by strange interesting finest of our in the other and never at all, compositions, including some of the very works accident, by caprice ; appeared Author, also a few that cannot be so highly nor had the prospect of appearing, during his own life, as the including perhaps which he did not choose on their first in Author himself desired it a trial of patience which few but classed, appearance the world to for his own and if himself could endure. He had not even the most distant acknowledge ; very few, any, of which he was ever to at all. assurance given him that it would ever appear perfect. In spared acknowledge publicly The reason for this when the fact of his this also, as in a former case, the invaluable original documents public reticence, to seem to have been left to their fate, without reclaim, in the authorship must have been well enough known friends, it is difficult to That some of the included hands of both parties. The two editions will be found, side conjecture. pieces were is not a sufficient reason for several by side, in our extracts from Thomson [p. 213], with additional partially revisions, ; other revisions were as such notes on their history. frankly acknowledged by him, and so his Nor is there in p. 164. THERE WAS A BONIE LASS : A pretty little fragment, published by authority. anything the of these of which he had more containing an idea elaborated more perfectly elsewhere, in morality particular lyrics ' ' reason to be than in that of others which he never My Bonie Mary \_p. 172]; and, ashamed, hesitated to avow. If a on the p. 164. O MALLY'S MEEK, MALLY'S SWEET: Which we may venture theory subject ' at it be this that as ' was immediately follows, conclude the list of acknowledged all, would the Museum supplied ' ' with contributions to the Museum that is, of contributions almost entirely by himself in one way or another, both words a of his own acknowledged by the Author when they originally appeared and music, including great proportion too a in that collection, in addition to those which had already been original writings, he modestly avoided frequent with the published in former editions of his poems. Two of these old repetition of his own name, in connection even very that most his and the songs 'My Nanie, 0,' and 'No Churchman am I' are productions were certainly own ; pieces ' ' to be or not would be inserted among others at this point. Mally's Meek is one acknowledged, acknowledged, selected, or of the innumerable illustrations of Burns' s exquisite taste in in a great measure, either by caprice at the moment, to their accidental in the that too relating or suggesting the oft-told tale, of temptation or of according position volumes actual misfortune, which in almost any other hands would many might not appear together, and that the world might his. That become offensive vulgarity. What were likely to be sweet have no reason to say that the work was entirely Mally's fate in certain circumstances we are left to conjecture, he retained his own rights as an author, however, is manifest or to fear it in as from the fact, that in an interleaved ; what actually was Beranger's hands, poet subsequently annotating of as far it his life- of the demi-monde and of the empire, in which political im- copy the 'Museum,' as had gone during morality had its counterpart in prevailing social degradation, time [see hereafter], he specified his connection with some of we are not left to conjecture at all, but are distinctly informed. these pieces, by which, and by other evidence, we are able to Let the reader at his leisure compare the history of 'Lisette,' determine their authorship. That such annotations, made at of his friend also in her successful career of selfish and unblushing profligacy, the request Captain Riddel, were made with as he will find it detailed and moralised the of future is no means upon by Beranger prospect publicity, by improbable ; his hint of in [Vol. I., p. 196, 1851] under above title, with this mere glance which, together with dying faith coming fame

' ' of prophetic apprehension and sympathy by Burns for some that a hundred years afterwards he would be more thought possible victim of temptation, and he will fully appreciate the of" affords some glimpse into the inner life and consciousness of realised it difference. The mere terms, in some respects, are so exactly of the man. Such prospects immortality was can refrain from him to "I have caused said the alike, we hardly quoting a few verses : not allowed enjoy. thee," it thine but thou shalt not Ce n'est plus Liscttc. Lord, "to see with eyes, go over instincts of his Vos pieds dans le satin Maitresse d' un Seigneur thither." What the prophetic nature were, N' oscnt fouler 1' herbette. Qui paya sa defaite, thus conclude and what the the modest we may ; self-denial, De fleurs de votre teint De 1' ombre du bonlieur reticence, the childlike and exalted Od faites-vous emplette? Vous etes satisfaitns. lifelong humility, patienco of his spirit were the best of us may profitably consider. Dans un lieu decore Si 1' Amour est un dieu, Not less instructive seems this, than the meek resignation De tout ce qui s' achette, C' est pres d' une fillette. L" a dore" of Milton in his blindness opulence Adieu, madame, adieu : Jusqu' a votre couchette. En Duchesse on vous traitc. They also serve who only stand and wait. Those who of Burns as complain lacking moral taste in In both cases the inheritance was sure. "But go thou thy such matters should all means look by beyond him; and if way till the end be : for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot can out in the most they point anything polished compositions at the end of the days." That this should be the destiny of a of the most of or of polished authors, previous subsequent song-writer, as well as of a prophet, who shall complain if and of in dates, any nation, superior delicacy or tenderness, the soul of the song-writer was imbued, as it was, with the in or in to his own suggestiveness truth, simple handling of spirit of love and prophecy ? such doubtful we shall cease themes, any longer to claim for Of these unacknowledged songs fifty-nine in all only one, AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

p. 165. O WHAR DID YE GET? Appeared in first volume On this tradition a much older ballad than Burns's was of 'Museum.' The first four lines of this song are old, and founded, "but it is too long for insertion, as well as greatly are enclosed in brackets the verses inferior." Burns's own ballad is indeed a of accordingly ; remaining masterpiece are by Burns and most exquisite verses they are on a lyrical fury, and the only one that will ever more be thought painful subject. There was an English travesty of the old of in connection with the gloomy subject. To say, on his ballad (London, 1703 see Stenhouse), too weak to be here own authority, that it has at once transported and soothed quoted. Our English friends, from the time of Shakspear the spirit of Thomas Carlyle, is enough. himself downwards, do not seem to be aware that mere p. 167. THE HIGHLAND LASSIE, O : Composed, according imitations of the Scottish language are not necessarily Scots. to the Author's own declaration, at a very early period of his It is not in broad syllables only, or in mis-spelt words, the life. It could not, however, be any earlier than his betrothal

: to peculiarities of that language are to be found an imitation Mary Campbell, to which it manifestly refers, and his own consisting of these is no more like Scots, than schoolboy projected exile to the West Indies, which give the earliest Latin would be like the text of Caesar. Burns accompanied possible as in spring or summer of 1786. The song implies the first draft of this song with a very characteristic letter, the devoutest attachment to this beloved object of his affection. which, as it is also brief, we may here quote. In second line of concluding stanza DEAR CLEGHOEN, You will see by the above that I have added a stanza to By sacred truth and honor's band ! ' Bonnie Dundee.' If you think it will do, you may set it agoing which we in with of editions, Upon a ten-string'd instrument, print conformity majority And on a psaltery. R. B. believing it to be the correct reading; there is, notwith-

' To Mr. Cleghorn, Farmer. God bless the trade. standing, a deviation from the text of the Museum,' where the line stands thus Whether the Poet had any special instance of misfortune and

dramatic secret truth and honor's band ! desertion in view, we cannot affirm ; but the pathos By of the last stanza on our mind the idea of leaves always In this line there is no doubt as clear, if not a clearer distinct mixed with in connection personal sorrow, lofty love, reference to the private betrothal of the parties; but there in the ranks of life. with some painful misadventure highest is a mistake in the language. Our conjecture on the subject third of the first the old verse ' The line is that the words might be originally secret troth,' for ' I gat it frae a brisk sodger laddie, ' young, which sacred truth were finally substituted ; and on

' is often vulgarly misprinted looking very narrowly at the Museum,' this supposition ' ' I gat it frae a brisk young sodger laddie, we seem to find confirmed for below the word truth there is an erasure on the where the letters which is but a sort of slang in comparison. evidently plate, ' tro ' are discernible. The : faintly engraver has, however, p. 165. To THE WEAVER'S GIN YE GO Another theme of allowed the word ' secret ' to remain untouched, either the same character, but with a different moral aspect on the because he did not see that it was incongruous, or because speaker's part. In reference to this song, the Author after- ' he could not so easily accomplish an erasure on it. This wards apologises for what he calls its silliness,' on the curious accident is extremely interesting and instructive in ground that many pretty airs in the 'Museum' wanted as it seems to indicate two our ; inasmuch distinctly words, which he supplied on the instant as they were needed. eyes and associated sentiments in the Poet's mind For our own we do not think such was separate yet part, any apology ' with reference to this solemn interview. The ' secret troth The chorus is old ; and the title is often required. strangely ' and the ' sacred truth are both involved, although which misprinted To the Weavers uncertain in gin ye go ; of them should be made public was which

' ' blended in the as if to many. To the Weaver's means simply to the house pause of uncertainty, they got accidentally ' ' text. It is a further curious that this of one person, the 'customary' or customer weaver of the original coincidence, entitled ' The and the beautiful verses district; who wrought always in his own dwelling the webs song Highland Lassie,' of a date to 'Jean' entitled in which were brought in to him from the neighbourhood, long corresponding [p. 130], ' ' The Northern should stand each before working in loomshops or in factories was thought of. Museum,' Lass,' facing Nos. 117 and 118 and it is This circumstance, when considered, gives an entirely different other, being respectively; yet more curious and that the verses to Jean should aspect to the conduct or situation of the speaker. suggestive, have been and the verses to not. p. 166. I AM MY MAMMY'S AE BAIRN: Title and chorus, publicly acknowledged, Mary to affected a itself Burns. Burns, in fact, seems have good deal of mystery old ; the song by on this delicate and painful subject, by carrying dates and p. 166. MACI-HERSON'S FAREWELL: Written entirely by other references far back. In the Burns, to a celebrated air said to have been composed by a indefinitely present instance, afford an and sufficient noted freebooter about Inverness, where he was condemned domestic considerations obvious apology " and executed. Mr. Cromek narrates a tradition that, when for silence or obscurity. at the fatal tree, he played this air upon a favourite violin, Chnrus Within the glen sae bushy, O, Aboon the plain sae rashy, O, &c., and holding up the instrument, offered it to any one of his clan who would undertake to play the tune over his body at corresponds very truly to the actual scene of betrothal, at of the rivers Fail and more his lykewake. As no one answered, he dashed it to pieces the junction Ayr, particularly There is a on the executioner's head, and flung himself from the ladder." described in other songs on this interesting topic. LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

beautiful and not to this of very -unworthy parallel song topic of the present song is one very frequently treated by in its sentiment of wealth and early devotion, accumulating Burns, and was too frequently suggested, not only by the old fame to enrich or the of which we glorify object love, may songs which (as in this case) he remodelled, but by the morals

from : of the partially quote Beranger people themselves at the time. To embody such a topic

1 so Beaucoup D Amour. frequently in song, with alternate humour and pathos, but Malgrc' la voix de la sagesse, always with admirable taste and often with inimitable delicacy, Je voudrais amasser de 1'or, is, as we have already said, an achievement of which no other Soudain aux pieds de ma maltresse but J' irais ddposer mon trdsor. poet himself was capable, and implies both the finest taste, and the truest masculine sympathy. Pour immortaliser Addle, p. 169, c. 2, s. 2. I tint curch and baith shoon Si des chants m' gtaient inspires, my my ; And, Duncan, &c., Mes vers, ou je ne picndrais qu' elle, A scraient admires. jamais incorrectly printed in most editions (Ed. 1851), Vol. 1., p. 101. Ah, Duncan, &c., p. 167. MY HOGGIE : Composed in a quaint humour, both which completely destroys both the underlying sense and as to versification and style, to suit a fine old air rescued spirit of the original. The music is said to have been the from oblivion Mr. Clark, Edinburgh, by Stephen Organist, composition of a Glasgow carter, whose name it still bears. who took it down from the of an old woman in singing The title and some of the words are old. ' Liddesdale. [See Author's Annotations on Museum.'] p. 170. How LONG AND DREARY is THE NIGHT: Written

168. UP IN THE MORNING EARLY : to a p. By Burns, in 1787, on what theme is not said; was remodelled in 1794 old air, which "had even been a favourite in very England for 'Thomson's Collection,' on which occasion the serious for several some of their old ' ' generations, songs being adapted illness of Jean Lorimer the Chloris of his later songs to it." Stenhouse. On the same we learn that, authority suggested the repetition and adaptation of it. The two com- under another name ' Cold and Raw' it was a mighty positions, therefore, may be considered entirely distinct. A of favourite with ; and was adopted by Purcel, Mary Orange fine parallel from Petrarch may be quoted hereafter. in order to Her but without her please Majesty, knowledge, p. 170. THE BLUDE BED ROSE AT YULE: Another piece as bass to her 1692. in such birth-day song, Burns, complaint of feminine banter, was written in 1787. A line or two in of the birds. winter, cannot forget chorus be old the rest Burns. may ; wholly by p. 168. I DREAM'D I LAY : Declared to have been written p. 170. BONY PEGGY ALISON : Is another of the songs our Author at the of seventeen, and is one by age certainly never acknowledged by its Author. It consisted originally of his earliest contrasts are compositions. The extremely of two the two last stanzas. At what date the first was characteristic of his moral and constitutional temperament added, or whether in original manuscript, although not at that In a similar strain, but with the use of other ' age. printed in Museum,' we are not aware. It is among the and with somewhat less Thomas Moore figures, elasticity, many gems of our Author's purest and most impassioned concludes one of his beautiful thus songs fancies. Compare with this tender and rapturous effusion,

Give me back, give me back the wild freshness of morning : the licentious heathenism of Catullus :

Her clouds and her tears are worth evening's best light ! Quserig quot mihi basiationes sint satis ? Not always, however, did Burns retain his own youthful Tuse, Lesbia, superque as the ' Winter of Life ' where the con- elasticity, witness ; Tarn te basia multa basiare this Vesano et Catullo est cluding stanza corresponds much more to complaint of satis, super ; QUOD nee pemumerare curiosi Moore's, with the addition of melancholy earnest. Possint, nee mala fascinare lingua ! p. 168. DUNCAN DAVISON : This song, in which more imitated, as far as circumstances would allow, by Byron : humour, dramatic force, tenderness, and beauty are combined

Oh ! I kiss those of than in almost any other composition of the same character might eyes fire, A million scarce would quench desire : and is one of those to was never extent, which, strange say, Still would I steep my lips in bliss,

And dwell an on kiss : acknowledged by the Author. Such caprice is altogether age every then soul sated be Nor my would ; unaccountable. That it was his own, however, there can be Still would I kiss and cling to thee : no doubt. Stenhouse, who recovered the original manuscript, Nought should my kiss from thine dissever, Still should we kiss and kiss for ever : declares that it corresponds exactly to edition in 'Museum,' E'en 'though the numbers should exceed and intimates that it had been written to ' ' an old supersede The yellow harvest's countless seed : but very inferior song, both in wit and delicacy." To part would be a vain endeavour Could I desist 1 Oh never, never ! p. 169. TIIENIEL MENZIES' BONIE MARY: and on same page, LADY ONUE : Are dated by Stenhouse about end of We leave Burns in his simplicity, without much foar, between the year 1787, and seem to bring traces with them of our two such competitors. enter on third Author's tours in the north. p. 171. BEWARE o' BONIE ANN: We now FA' ' in the of these unacknow- p. 169. WEARY YOTJ, DUNCAN GRAY : A distinct song, volume of the Museum,' histoiy and with a different sentiment, from that which was after- ledged contributions. The present song, written in 1788, our Author to same air a to Miss of the Poet's wards adapted by well-known ; and was compliment Masterton, daughter one beautiful which, for various reasons, has become more popular. The musical friend, the author of more than air, by AND HISTOKICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 279

The " agreement, as a vehicle of melody for the Poet's words. p. 172. WHISTLE O'ER THE LAVE O'T : Written by and the in as a air, in the present case, was of his composition ; song Burns, 1789, substitute for the old verses." Stenhouse. itself is remarkable for a strange interweaving of unfinished It is like several others, a piece of genuine Scotch, in which sentences, with an ellipsis or two in almost every verse (the not only an act or two, but an entire drama of domestic life first in are full of so linked and is included shrouded two verses, fact, them), yet past, present, prospective ; together in a fashion peculiar to himself, that, in chanting, throughout in suggestive obscurity, the most laughable and the syntactical imperfection is scarcely perceptible. provoking, which may be interpreted in a thousand ways, p. 171. THE GARDENER wi' HIS PAIDLE: "Written as the imagination or experience of the reader inclines him. after- purposely for the 'Museum,'" but remodelled for, and p. 173. THE CAPTIVE BIBBAND : On the distinct authority wards reproduced under another title 'Dainty Davie' in of Stenhouse, to whose statement Mr. Kirkpatrick Sharpe

' Thomson's Collection.' makes no objection, this song obtains a place in our text, as p. 171. MY LOVE, SHE'S BUT A LASSIE YET: This brief, "another unclaimed production of Burns." We do not find it beautiful, and exquisite burst so entirely Scottish, and so in the ordinary editions of his works, nor any reason assigned admirably adapted to the music that every syllable seems for its omission. We shall be glad to receive information on to be inspired by its corresponding note, contains the three the subject. The song has all the internal marks of his first acts of a whole pastoral drama the untimely asking, authorship in one of his peculiar courtly moods; and we the mortifying refusal, the independent, consolatory, drouthy should almost regret to learn that it was not his in reality, stanzas of of resolve, ending with an old refrain all in two for it affords another perfect parallel to Petrarch, in a sort eight lines each ! The two last lines of region where it might be supposed they had no affinity.

-- s. 2. The minister kiss't the fiddler's wife Candido, leggiadretto, e caro guartto, He couldna preach for thinkin o't ! Che copria netto avorio, e fresche rose, Chi vide al mondo mai si dolci spoglie ? often velo altrettanto. so full of quiet, elliptical humour, have been spoiled by Cosi avess io del bel ' O inconstancia de 1'humane cose ! incorrect There should be no connecting And,' typography. chi ne ? Pur d furto ; e vien me spoglie between them. questo but a mere blank of speechless astonishment Parte Prima : Son. clxvi. "We have printed the whole song with much care, and it O thou bright, beautiful, and dearest glove, edition The and last stands in the present perfect. title, Fit shield for ivory and freshest rose ! half stanza that now commented upon are old. When saw the world so sweet a spoil of love 1 Had I but ransom for this scrap of gauze ! 172. JAMIE, COME TRY ME : A sweet little lyrical love- p. Ah ! sad inconstant lot of human thrall

none more than Burns could The was theft he comes who claims it all ! challenge, which gracefully put prize ; ' into a woman's mouth; written for the Museum' in 1789. In Burns there is more natural levity than in the above, the 172. MY BONIE MARY: "The first half stanza of this p. occasion, in his case, most probably of a more transient, In and being song is old; the rest mine," says the Author. Hogg or altogether of an imaginary character; but the correspon- Motherwell's edition, the supposed original, "as preserved by dence otherwise, on so similar and curious a topic, seems that the ballad Mr. Peter Buchan ; who farther communicates worthy of commemoration. of on was composed, in 1636, by Alexander Lesly, Edinburgh, Founded our p. 173. THERE'S A YOUTH IN THIS CITY: by Doveranside, to the celebrated Archbishop Sharp," grandfather Author on four lines of an old ballad, with which the song is from which the verse in is reproduced; question quoted by and selfish begins is a humorous satire on the self-conceit and after him It is Mr. Chambers, by Kirkpatrick Sharpe. buck of whom let gallantry of some money-hunting ; Nancy as follows : beware, if she looks for happiness in matrimony. Ye'll me here a pint of wine, bring 173. MY HEART'S IN THE HIGHLANDS: Founded, as tassie p. A server, and a silver ; the That I may drink, before I gang, the above, on four lines of an older ballad, which Author, A health to ain bonie lassie. is other resemblance my before adopting, has retouched. There no note for Burns whatever between the two pieces. In this, as in many other These lines have no doubt been the key ; but the characteristic excellence of Burns's revisions the lines themselves, as the reader will observe, have been similar cases, before so that the or lies in their condensation and dramatic force. altered and improved by him, beginning ; reproductions In two sometimes in a few lines, he reproduces, in. its whole song may really be called his own, and as such, we verses, the most form, all the essential poetry that had been have printed it without brackets. Notwithstanding this, perfect or scattered over a whole After this man's own modesty induced him originally to deny it. He weakly profusely song. of transformation, the original is forgotten, and like enclosed it in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop (17th December, 1788), process husk be buried without delay. Our readers as two old stanzas, and it was so introduced by Dr. Currie, in an empty may be reminded that this ballad was a favourite his edition of the Poet's works. Let the critic, at his leisure, need hardly great Sir Walter who introduces another version of it in examine this song by the severest rules of his art, and say of Scott's, ' whether he finds a flaw in it. "We pronounce it, in the mean- Wavcrley.'

a : of the first verse had 174. MERRY HAE I BEEN TEETIIIN HECKLE One time, a perfect lyrical drama. Although p. our Author. our Author's earliest compositions, and supposed by some to been quoted entire, without any improvement by as a no other man but himself could contain an allusion to his own unfortunate experience it may be safely affirmed that There seems to be no for this have written what follows. flax-dresser at Irvine. ground LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

' ' idea. The song itself, most perfectly dramatic, is entirely of Highland Mary had no connection with the region here ' a piece with, the Jolly Beggars,' and was not improbably specified. This is one of the few songs, the only song, omitted by oversight in making up that celebrated cantata, indeed, so far as we can remember in which any distinct ' and laid aside like the duplicate copy of For a' that and a' allusion is made to the river Clyde; and more particularly, that,' till accident again restored it to the Author's hands. the 'youth of the Clyde' is here indicated. On his first visit On these two suppositions, the history of that wonderful to Edinburgh, Burns passed through this identical region, and performance may be said to be complete. [See Note on sojourned for a night and part of a day at Covington Mains, ' Jolly Beggars.'] in the neighbourhood of Tintock. Death had by this time p. 174. THE KANTIN DOG, THE DADBIE o'x: "I composed dissolved the bond between him and Mary, and circumstances this song," says our Author, "pretty early in life, and sent it for the moment had alienated his affections from Jean. Some of to a young girl, a very particular acquaintance mine, who country beauty in the moors of Tintock must have attracted was at that time under a cloud" to which farther reference his attention for the moment when he rested there, and he has of the is now unnecessary. It is the most perfect specimen immortalised the nameless heroine accordingly. He could Scots tongue ever written by Burns, and details the circum- travel in no part of the world without finding some such stances of such a painful situation with absolute pictorial occasion of inspiration, and he seems to have been compelled, fidelity. The language and sentiments, although, bold and by the requirements of the great work in which he was now plain, yet, dramatically and by substitution, are entirely engaged, to recall, and to chronicle in music, every one of so far as is con- feminine. Thus almost exactly, language them. The circumstance in his 'private history,' in which less cerned, but not dramatically, and with infinitely taste as the world had no interest, seems to be made thus sufficiently addressing the woman; and with no idea of marriage to clear, without further mystery or conjecture. repair the wrong, but of licence and immorality only, and p. 177. EPPIE M'NAB: Has its own unpleasant, but in-

' superfluity of naughtiness,' Catullus says structive moral. It was written by our Author expressly to a of under the title of ' Quis nunc te adibit ? quoi videberis bella I supersede piece vulgar indecency Appie ' nunc amabis ? esse dicebis ? Quern cujus M'Nab : and it has superseded it accordingly. Quern basiabis ? quoi labella mordebis 1 p. 177. LOVELY DAVIES : This seems to have been the At tu Catulle destinatus obdura ! viii. first poetical effusion dedicated by our Author to this lady p. 174. EPPIE ADAIR: Sweet words to a pretty air, for and was enclosed by him in a letter (October, 1791) full of which we do not find a parallel in Catullus, and of which his ' the most gorgeous gallantry, addressed to herself. The licentious Koinan nature was incapable. bonie wee thing' was written shortly after, although preceding p. 175. YOUNG JOCKEY : A perfect picture of rural life, of the present song, in 'Museum' the one being No. 341, the rural of of of at love ; simplicity, ecstasy, constancy once other No. 349, of same volume the former publicly acknow- lyric and idyllic, in a single breath. A line or two of it may ledged, the latter not. Stenhouse (who had the advantage of old in all true sense of the is en- be ; but authorship, song consulting all the original manuscripts in connection with Eobert Burns's. tirely ' Museum,' and to whom subsequent editors, ourselves in- 175. WHARE HAE YE BEEN SAE BRAW, LAD ? A p. slight cluded, have been much indebted in this respect) informs us of less but with our " historico-political revision, moment, that the 9th line began Author's humour infused : and, on the same theme, but in a Ilk eye she chears, &c. more mournful strain, 175. THERE'LL NEVER BE PEACE: Written p. probably which he [the Author] afterwards altered to the one at about the same date, 1789 ; although appears close Each eye it chears, &c. of the third, and the other at beginning of the fourth volume. p. 176. THE BONIE LAD THAT'S FAR AWA: Never ac- and in the twenty- second line, the word humble is struck out, knowledged by our Author, although manifestly embodying and willing is substituted." We remark these, corrections a minute dramatic reference to the circumstances of his future more particularly, because they are both attended to in ' wife his own absence for that reason most ' at once the of Johnson's during very pro- Museum ; which proves fidelity bably, not acknowledged. The 'gloves' and 'silken snoods,' care as a printer, and the supervision which Burns himself

' ' referred to in stanza IV., were actual gifts to her at that date; exercised as editor, in conducting the Museum these altera- and his own northern tour, dramatically adapted, the occasion tions being both so far forward as Volume IV. of her or The o' : the despondency suffering. song seems to have p. 178. THE WEARY FUND Tow Perhaps only song been suggested by an older ballad, of which he has adopted a by Burns in which a chorus in conclusion does not harmonise line but he has life and to the of the stanza to which it is attached. The final single ; given pathos composi- with the sense tion the recollections of his that the wife is still but the itself, by interweaving own earlier chorus in this song implies living ; lifetime. stanza, in a most unmistakable manner, affirms that she is to the this p. 176. YON WILD MOSSY MOUNTAINS : Our Author states dead. A laughable correspondence theme of song

' ' in his annotations to Museum,' that this song alludes to part occurs in Don Quixote' (Part II., chap, xxv.) where Sancho, of his "private history, which it is of no consequence to the having desired information respecting his affairs at home, world to know" on which Stenhouse founds the unauthor- receives from fortune-telling showman the following shrewd ised conclusion, that it must refer to 'Highland Mary.' guess at the facts of the case : AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 281

" ' Thy good spouse, Teresa, is a good housewife, and is at this instant dressing 180. p. HAD I THE WYTE : Is a revision Burns of a a of flax the she has by pound ; by same token, standing hy her, on her left hand, a licentious old to " large broken-mouthed jug, which holds a pretty scantling of wine, to cheer up song, render it capable of admission into the ' " her spirits.' 'By yea and nay,' Sancho seems to have had no by quoth [who Museum.' In this revision he has removed as far as pos- on the ' that's a true ungenerous misgivings subject], likely enough ; for she's soul, " sible the actual and has otherwise for and a jolly soul.' license, atoned impro- p. 178, c. 2, s. 4. At last her feet I sang to see't prieties by the infusion of natural pathos. In his hands, in Gaed foremost o'er the knowe ; it short, contains, on a painful and disgraceful topic, a defence alludes to invariable practice of carrying the dead feet fore- or exculpation of sin or error, by a narrative of facts not worse most to sepulture. than we see recorded and minutely detailed every day in the p. 178. YE JACOBITES BY NAME: A allusion significant public proceedings of the Divorce Court. More need not be to state of in reference to exiled not political parties dynasty ; said on such a subject. our Author. The remark here acknowledged by only required p. 181. YOUNG JAMIE, PRIDE OP A' THE PLAIN: This ' ' ' ' is, that the words and should be beautiful Eight Wrang invariably song, which vies in perfection of dramatic retri- with a initial letter to note sense printed capital their ; bution specific with the richest alternations of fate under the despotic which does not or as or but imply right wrong, just unjust; sway of love in Shakspear, and to have written which alone Title, or the Want of it, in relation to the Throne. would have made a reputation, was never acknowledged by 179. LADY MARY ANN : .R but in p. Nominally revision, its Author ! an of our Author's. His reality original production model was p. 181. OUT OVER THE FORTH: Seems to have manifest " the of an ancient ballad entitled ' fragment Craigton's grow- reference, by dramatic substitution, to Jean's distress during ing' still preserved in Collection of Ancient her first manuscript separation from her husband, and his projected exile Scottish Ballads, in of Eev. Eobert minister possession Scott, to West Indies. In second stanza, of the Parish of Glenbucket." Stenhouse. The ballad itself The man that is dear to my babie and me. has since been reproduced in various editions. It appears, is sometimes (incorrectly) printed however, that Burns himself noted down both the words and The lad that is dear, &c. music of the original from the recitation of a lady in the north, which is neither so during his tour there in 1787. The lady, we must presume, dignified nor so true. On a 'lad' she could no claim did not recite the whole of it. We cannot occupy space by have without dishonour; but on 'the man,' the ballad but if one is who was still her she still quoting ; any desirous to know how husband, might have such claim, far, in mere delicacy and taste, the hand of Eobert Burns notwithstanding the attempt of her friends to disown him. excels that of the ordinary ballad writer, let him take an p. 181. WANTONNESS POR EVER MAIR: Written simply to opportunity of comparing the respective pieces. If, after supply words for music at the moment, and left, as it was such comparison, the reader shall retain any serious doubt better perhaps to leave it, unfinished. as to the high inherent moral sense of beauty and propriety p. 181. THE LASS or ECCLEPECHAN: On the contrary, in Burns, when handling the most difficult and painful themes, although not of the highest order, is dramatically perfect, we shall despair by any argument or farther illustration to both in style and humour. The majority of readers, however, convince him. We believe simply that no man but Eobert we are inclined to believe, do not quite appreciate the dia- Burns himself, out of the original tradition, could have con- logue. In the first stanza, 'Lucky Laing,' who boasts to her structed a song so beautiful as this, or a story so inoffensive. husband scornfully of her wealth and personal attractions, is

p. 179. SUCH A PARCEL op EOGUES IN A NATION : Eeflect- the speaker. In the second stanza, the disconsolate husband ing, apparently, on the history of the political arrangements on replies, and intimates that her desired demise would enable which the Union had been effected, and on the principles of him to marry again more according to his own inclination. selfish interest affairs on which the of Scotland were still p. 182. THE COOPER o' CUDDIE : Another theme of scandal, attended or rather needs further in and ' to, betrayed ; scarcely com- which contempt not pity, as in Had I the Wyte,' ia than that it ment breathes the same patriotic spirit by which the principle of treatment. It reminds one forcibly of the our Author's earliest political effusions were distinguished, as 'Merry Wives of Windsor' with this difference, of course, ' our readers may find illustrated in the Earnest Cry and that the husband in the present instance had just cause of Prayer,' &c. complaint, which the scorn of his neighbours did not assist p, 180. AULD LANG SYNE : Printed by us here from Steii- him to avenge; whereas Master Eord, of the Eoyal Burgh house's revised edition which is distinguished from the final of Windsor, had none. in ' Thomson's Collection ' the edition by arrangement of the p. 182. THE CARDIN O'T: On a very different theme, verses but differs in more from only ; important respects the illustrates after the fashion of 'John Anderson, my Jo' actual edition as it stands in ' and original Museum,' which the tenderness and enduring vitality of pure conjugal love. our readers will find ' carefully reproduced among Various p. 182. I'LL AY CA' IN BY YON TOWN : Dedicated to Jean, On this most Eeadings' [j>. 240]. interesting unacknowledged yet, most strangely, not acknowledged. One of the most of our we abstain from all critical production Author's, com- perfectly beautiful love lyrics anywhere extant. It does not until we have before us the final edition in Thomson to the of or mentary ; rise highest tones passion devotion; but, as to be of the when we hope able, by comparison three editions, indicating the circumstances and growing warmth of for- to determine the extent of our exactly Author's interest in bidden love, with the new kindling of the flame at every relation to it. stolen interview, the most careful and elaborate combination 2 x 282 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

of language could not surpass it. The tune must have been beautiful little drama. The scene, the love, the discovery, a great favourite with our Author, for this is one of three the retreat, the quarrel, the vexation, the pride, and the hope compositions to the same sweet melody. of a better future these all speak for themselves in that p. 183. WHEREFORE SIGHING ART Tnou, PHILLIS? A clear, compact, suggestive lyric perfection, for which every written and word of Burns is remarkable. love-warning to scornful beauties, was specially ;

CELESTIAL: c. s. 1. p. 183. MARY: otherwise entitled POWERS p. 185, 1, He's a bonie, bonie laddie, and yon be he. the of old words for the was communicated to supply place incorrectly printed in most editions of ' Blue which could not be found. The song Bonnets,' song and you be he : to here under notice, seems to have had originally MARY, which is foolish, being impertinent. reference to that lost object of his love, Mary Campbell, on and yon be he. the eve of his own intended exile to the West Indies. Mr. So, distinctly in 'Museum;' but 'and,' as it often does, of it as been "found the Chambers speaks having amongst ' seems here to signify what an' would signify that is, if: Poet's manuscripts after his death," and as "entitled by He's a bonie be he. ' ' " bonie, laddie, if yon himself, A Prayer for Mary : which is very likely to have 185. tne for in their first were p. THE FAREWELL: The authorship, or at least been the case ; such duplicates, forms, of this most beautiful ballad has been much dis- often discovered in his repositories. But the song, neverthe- originality, puted. It is one of those to which Burns himself makes no less, had been already forwarded by him to Johnson, for claim, and lies the unaffiliated of publication in the 'Museum,' where it appears in the fifth among many productions his muse. There an older ballad on the same or volume, No. 460, without any title at all. As a matter of is, indeed, a similar in which one verse occurs that has some more importance, however, it suggests to ourselves another subject, resemblance to stanza in. and it is this opportunity of illustrating the parallel which we have so possible may have been the of our Author's The much pleasure in pursuing, and which it seems to us of great key-note composition. old ballad is in his additions moral consequence to establish, between our Author and quoted by Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Petrarch. to Stenhouse, at full length, fortunately, so that collation L' ch' e sol da Dio fatta alma, gentile ; can be made. We have collated the pieces : but we can see no d" altrui venir tal Che non po gratia ; gia other relation whatever between than that Simile al suo fattor state ritene. them, already Parte Prima : Canson. xxi. hinted; and are quite at a loss to imagine on what grounds

alone so doubt could be to invalidate the of That soul, by God finely framed ; any suggested ascription For from no other could such flow beauty ; the song now before us to Burns. Like its own perfect source appears below. p. 185. THE HIGHLAND WIDOW'S LAMENT: "This pa- 183. BANNOCKS o' BARLEY: A Jacobite war-catch, p. thetic ballad," says Stenhouse, "was wholly composed by written Burns to words for a fine old air ' by expressly supply Burns for the Museum,' unless we except the exclamation, which had hitherto been encumbered with songs too indecent ' ' Och-on, och-on, och-rie ! which appears in the old song on or wearisome for admission. The remark it is only necessary the 'Massacre of Glencoe.'" The same authority further to add is, that the chorus, in some editions of our Author's " adds, that the present ballad, like many others of our great works, is with a variation, thus printed bard, has had the misfortune to be disfigured since its first Bannocks o' bear meal, publication by three additional verses of a modern poetaster," Bannocks o' barley ; " Here's to the lads wi' . . . . which are no more to be compared with the fine The bannocks o' barley. verses of Burns, than the daubings of a sign painter with the " of The fabricated which first p. 183. WAE is MY HEART: The air, Stenhouse informs pictures Raphael." stanzas," in need not us, as well as the words of this fine song, was communicated appeared Cromek, we quote. We have only by Burns. The words, of course, although never acknow- further to add, that our Author's own words, in this most are even in the best ledged, are his own : the air he had picked up, and noted beautiful ballad, commonly misprinted, his as for preservation, at the mouth of some local musician of editions of works by which comparatively much Kirsty Flint, most probably. The sentiment of the song is injury is done to the original as by interpolation. In most for besides other last perfect. editions, example, variations, the verse is a of the first which reduces it to p. 184. HERE'S HIS HEALTH IN WATER : Supposed dra- but repetition tameness it stands in ' as matic monologue by Jean, in the same spirit of reliance on itself. As the Museum,' and we have re- is a last her betrothed husband, and confidence in her power to regain produced it, there change in the verse, which makes him, as is illustrated elsewhere in ' Out over the Forth ' it entirely distinct, and infuses into it a passionate bitterness [p. 181]. of grief, which marks at once the lyrical perfection of the

p. 184. THE TAYLOR : A passing effusion of its own class, original. of earliest of written to suit some music, and occupy the page. p. 186. HANDSOME NELL: One the our 184. THERE A from of 1775. This was p. GROWS BONIE BRIER BUSH : Suggested Author's productions, dating spring an older which seems to of the contained in the Stewart by ballad, have had an underlying one pieces (Stair) Manuscript ; political sense, and from which a single line or two have been of which we possess, by courtesy of its present proprietors, retained by our Author, who by his own workmanship has an accurate certified copy. [See Notes on Various Eeadings.J it of rendered entirely new. In his hands it is, in fact, a With reference to certain portions that manuscript, the AXD HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 283

" Author The were all done at a his says following songs very own original work would be, they constitute still an im- of and are incorrect." The of early period life, consequently portant part the great hitherto unprecedented enterprise, here referred to are ' ' ' Handsome so songs My Nanie, O, Nell,' lovingly and bravely undertaken by him, to revise, rewrite, and ' Euined Farmer. ' ' Nell ' in Of Handsome which manu- and purify the whole SONG LITERATURE of Scotland, or to " has no he farther remarks The is script title, following song substitute new in its place. When the extent of labour valuable to those who would wish to see the Author's in only implied this work, the difficulty and delicacy of the work first in verse. It was he was a productions composed when itself, the taste, the discrimination, and the genius required few months more than his sixteenth year." In manuscript to accomplish it with anything like success, are all taken into verse iv. reads copy, thus- account, it would appear little less than a miracle that it should But Nelly's looks are blythe and sweet, have been done so perfectly by a single hand in so frank and free Good-humor'd, ; short a time. When the immense moral benefit accruing from And still the more I view them o'er, it to the world is farther the few moral defects The more they captive me. considered, observable in the process itself can be accounted little more Verse v. in to be , original copy, seems awanting. The Author than the inevitable inequalities or specks on the surface of subsequently [see Annotations] himself characterises this song some magnificent landscape, or air-spots in the largest solid as " "very puerile and silly but he recalled it, nevertheless, mass of many-tinted echoing crystal. To know, finally, that with of interest for the heroine's to brush it enough sake, up the labour was in the midst of ' ' grand, unequalled performed for the Museum which closes the list of his original Un- pain and poverty rewarded in one case with the sum of five acknowledged Contributions to its pages. pounds, forced on the Author's acceptance, and in the other ' case by two copies of the Museum,' one for himself, and the FRAGMENTS, REVISIONS, ETC. other for a friend is enough surely, in these days of golden Besides those unacknowledged productions of our Author literary enterprise and author-worship, when mechanical which we have just now reviewed, there was a very con- inventions or the competition of trade have carried knowledge siderable number of another class, not so important, but still and amusement to the homes of millions, and identified it of included deserving notice, among his contributions to the with the richest commercial capital, to awaken thoughts 'Museum.' These consisted of Fragments in one or two verses of wonder and love, of veneration almost, towards the man, to eke out old imperfect songs, of Revisions or Renewals by for his heroism and self-denial, in the breasts of the most of him songs not imperfect but inferior, and lastly, of what successful and indifferent. be called or may Corrections, pieces merely retouched that is, Such remarks, at this point in the progress of our review, we examined, and here and there renewed by a word or two, consider the more appropriate, in as much as the Fragments where such alterations were by himself thought necessary. and Revisions themselves, although a necessary part of the Of these three classes in all, we find no fewer than sixty whole, do not otherwise demand so careful a commentary as different compositions fragments, revisions, or corrections the original and more perfect productions of our Author. ' by the hand of Burns in the Museum,' a few acknowledged There are, however, several which require some annotation, by himself, the majority not. In examining this large ad- and the most important of these we shall accordingly illustrate. ditional mass of found it authorship, we necessary (1) to omit p. 188. LANDLADY, COUNT THE LAWIN: Founded on an the from present edition almost all the mere Corrected Pieces, old Jacobite fragment, to the air of 'Hey tuttie, taitie,' is because they were not in reality our Author's own, and it was remarkable chiefly from the accident that it preoccupied the ' ' impossible to determine exactly the very corrections which very air to which the original edition of Scots wha hae was had been made him to omit also several of of that by ; (2) the composed, and so prevented the appearance mag- Revised both because the in some its form at a later date in Pieces, revisions, instances, nificent national hymn in proper ; did not sufficiently remove the grossness of the original songs, as much as the publisher could not, or did not think himself and because his own dying request to this effect was earnest at liberty to introduce the air a second time, even with such and imperative; and (3) among the Fragmentary Pieces, to a wonderful accompaniment.

as as we 188. ROARIN : The last stanza alone distinguish carefully could, by interposing brackets, jp. RATTLIN, WILLIE the words of the original old songs from the words or verses of this admirable song is by our Author, and was added in added by our Author. After this process there remain, compliment to William Dunbar, Esq., Colonel of the 'Croch- worthy of preservation, either because they are the Author's allan corps,' Edinburgh. Hence the reference. [See Author's

' own, or so much his own by renovation as really to belong to Annotations on Museum.'] no one else, thirty-four songs or snatches recognisable in the p. 189. I LOVE MY LOVE IN SECRET : A revision and 'Museum.' These we have accordingly transferred to our exquisite remodelling of an old worthless original, from pages, under a distinct designation, and as a separate class. which indecency has been banished by purity, and vulgarity In the opinion of some of our readers, we might perhaps have by tenderness and truth. omitted a few even of the number we have retained 189. : brief ; but we p. AY WAUKIN, O A beautiful, plaint, partly iu this were scrupulous selection, because wherever Burns's original, the first verse being by our Author, the two last hand was distinctly traceable, it became a question of editorial verses revised by him. fidelity to preserve it; and also, because, although these p. 190. THE CAPTAIN'S LADY : On sufficient evidence, revisions were by no means always so worthy of himself as ascribed wholly to Burns. 284 [NOTES CRITICAL

>. St. in 190. CA' THE EWES : A revision, containing also new George, 1715. Kenmure was commander-in-chief of verses by our Author, which speak for themselves by their the rebel forces in the south-west of Scotland during that own inimitable tenderness. The Author himself gives an insurrection. He surrendered at Preston; was subsequently account in letter to Thomson, September, 1794, of the circum- committed, with much popular indignity, to the Tower in London tried for and stances in which he first heard and secured the air, 1787. ; was and condemned high treason,

p. 191. FRAE THE FRIENDS AND LAND I LOVE : Supposed executed on Tower Hill, February 24th, 1716. The song is to be wholly by Burns, although he acknowledges only "the entirely our Author's, and was transmitted by him in his own the for last four lines, by way of giving a turn to the theme of handwriting publication. Some spurious verses were ' poem, such as it is." afterwards connected with it by Cromek, in his Remains of ' our Author Nithsdale and but the as it stands p. 191. JOHN, COME Kiss ME Now: Altered by Galloway Song ; original, before to make it passable for 'Museum,' from a strange original us here, requires no further attestation than its own ' godly sang or ballat' in Wedderburne's Collection of 1549, spirit-stirring rhythm, which sounds in every syllable like the of for spiritual purposes in the Reformation days of our fore- -clang arms, and from first to last is like the tread of fathers, to which the Revival Hymns of our own afford the horses, and the trill of clarions. 194. closest counterpart. The spiritual adaptation of the godless p. MY COLLIER LADDIE : Supposed to be entirely our

in : he does not it at all original was the following style Author's, although acknowledge ; perhaps that he more what he about it John, come kiss me now, might say freely thought John, come kiss me now; that it was one of the blythest old songs he knew. John, come kiss me by and by, 194. THE POOR THRESHER : not to have And mak nae mair ado. p. Ought strictly been included in this division of our Author's works, for as My prophets call, my preachers cry, much as it is neither a nor a a kiss Fragment Revision, but perfect, John, come me now ; John, come kiss me by and by, original production. But as it is not properly a song, although And mak nae mair &c. ado, set to music, and as there has been a good deal of doubt about its Which is, in fact, but a rhythmical and devout enough invo- authorship, we judged it better to place it where it appears. cation to the people to turn from the idolatrous practices of Burns himself admired it, but did not avow its composition. the Roman Catholic Church to the simpler worship of the In a note accompanying it to Johnson, our Author says, true but a "It is rather too but it is and that 1 God ; and was doubtless not only well-meant, vast long, very pretty, never, improvement, by way of adaptation, on the profane and know of, was printed before." The simple fact, indeed, perhaps blasphemous original. But how little such psalmody that it has never elsewhere been found, is morally conclusive as this could permanently affect the morals or religion of the on the subject. It may be objected, indeed, that although the people for good, must be evident; and how much one great sentiment is fine, the workmanship is inferior, which cannot for be denied but the is of a kind genius has done the nation, first by purifying, and then ; inferiority peculiar and mani- by restoring to their native themes, the songs of the people, festly intentional, to give the air of rude simplicity to the must be plain enough, on reflection, we should think, to the whole. On the other hand, the resemblance of the narrative, most prejudiced understanding. and the moral sense pervading it, to the descriptions and ' ' p. 192. I DO CONFESS THOU ART SAB FAIR: Remodelled moral teaching of the Twa Dogs' and the Cotter's Saturday and much improved lyrically from an old piece by Sir Robert Night' is so obvious; nay, the very repetition of certain Ayton, which consists of four stanzas with a good deal of phrases and ideas, as if quoted from them, is so plain, as to ' elaboration. [See Author's Annotations on Museum.'] render it beyond all doubt certain that the author of them all

p. 192. THE TITHER MORN : A sweet little idyllic sketch, must have been the same man. reasonably ascribed wholly to Burns, both words and music p. 195. THE SLAVE'S LAMENT: "Both words and music ' having been sent by him to the publisher, with neither avowal of this song were communicated by Burns for the Museum.' nor denial on the subject of authorship. The air, it is said, is an original African melody." Stenhouse. p. 193. As I WAS A WAND'RING: "Said to be correct More concerning its authorship is not distinctly known. Scottish metrical version of the Gaelic song, from an English Kirkpatrick Sharpe believes "that Burns took the idea of translation communicated to Burns with the original air." his verses from The Betrayed Maid, a ballad formerly much Stenhouse. Our readers, perhaps, scarcely require to be re- hawked about in Scotland." Chambers would hesitate "to minded, that the "bleeding of the wounds" afresh at sight of assign this song to Burns," but for its "resemblance to the lady's false lover, is a reference to the universal super- another song of his, entitled The Ruined Farmer's Lament. stition among our forefathers, that the approach of a murderer We have no great doubt that it was written by Robert Burns, caused the wounds of his victim to bleed. [For special illus- although it is by no means in his usual style : and we venture tration of this, see Sir Walter Scott's tragedy of 'Auchendrane.'] to hint, that it might just as easily have been suggested to

p. 193. WHEN SHE CAM BEN SHE BOBBED : A revision, but him by his correspondence with Helen Maria Williams, with a on the whose of the 'Slave Trade' he was confessedly very great improvement original ; which, poem acquainted (and such as as indeed, without 'burnishing,' Mr. Stenhouse calls of which, we know, he wrote a very handsome critique), ' it, could not have been admitted to the Museum' at all. as' by any other circumstance.

p. 193. KENMURE'S ON AND AWA: In celebration of p. 196. THE CARLS OF DYSART : Has much the appearance Viscount Kenmure's rising on behalf of the Chevalier de of being a revision; but, according to Stenhouso, has never AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

been seen in any other collection. Both words and music These were not revisions of any old originals that required were communicated by our Author. Whether a revision or amendment or purification, but friendly re-readings and em- ' original, it is at least a most characteristic sketch of fisher- bellishments of more favoured documents. Clarinda,' it is man lii'e on the coast of Fife; where the Scotch highly appears, who enjoyed the poetic gift far enough to attract impregnated with the reckless old Dutch and Norwegian his admiration, had more than once submitted compositions seafaring element. of her own to his partial and indulgent criticism. Two of

p. 196. O GIN YE WERE DEAD, GllDFJiAN : Is a revision, these, retouched by him, were admitted, at his request, to the in their our ' ' did not consider them with omissions, and eight lines original place, by Museum ; and these, although we Author. In 'Museum,' and possibly elsewhere, last chorus entitled to a place among his own works proper, we think it is strangely misprinted right to introduce here. Siny round about the fire, &c., TALK NOT OF LOVE, IT GIVES ME PAIN.

which has no relation to the circumstances ; TALK not of love, it gives me pain, round about the Syne fire, &c., For has been foe love my ; correct being manifestly the reading. He bound me with an iron chain, 196. words and music of this p. THE AULD MAX: "The And plung'd me deep in woe. were communicated as an ancient song by Burns, fragment, But friendship's pure and lasting joys, for the 'Museum.'" Stenhouse. It appears, however, on heart form'd to My was prove ; to same that it is in examination, according authority, reality There, welcome, win and wear the prize, a parody on the old song, from which the title is retained for But never talk of love. the music. "We must observe, for the information of the Your friendship much can make me blest, reader, that the concluding line O, why that bliss destroy ! Wi' his auld beard ne\vlin shaven, Why urge the only, one request is the correct edition. The word newlin or newlins, like You know I will deny ! atownlin or stownlins, is accurate Scotch, and should never Your thought, if love must harbour there, be with the adverb It is a replaced English newly. descrip- it in that Conceal thought ; tive as well as an adverbial and a certain state word, implies Nor cause me from my bosom tear of matters in appearance as well as in time. The very friend I sought. p. 197. WILL YE Go AND MARRY, KATIE? This pretty little pastoral, in which sagacious, half-humorous warnings are mingled with the usual love-entreaties or addresses, was TO A BLACKBIRD. communicated by our Author for publication in 'Museum,' Go on, sweet bird, and soothe my care, and no other author is known. The title of the music, which notes will hush Thy tuneful despair ; is the words further we have identical, may have suggested ; Thy plaintive warblings, void of art, no key to the composition, and are, therefore, justified in Thrill sweetly through my aching heart. accepting it as entirely original. Now chuse thy mate, and fondly love, 198, 199. Of the various short pieces which appear on p. all And the charming transport prove ; these pages, enough is already indicated in the text to inform While I a lovelorn exile live, the reader of their character, as revisions, compilations, or Nor transport, or receive, or give. translations. We have simply, as on many former occasions, is nature to remind the reader that any slight impropriety which may For thee laughing gay ;

she the vernal : appear in some of them, is truly as nothing in comparison For thee pours day in is nature with the original old indecency, which our Author, in such For me vain drest,

breast ! instances, by a touch of his pen, wiped away. While joy's a stranger to my These sweet emotions p. 200. Of the Fragments which remain, SWEETEST MAY all, enjoy;

hours ! is but a pleasant little parody; and THAT I HAD NE'ER Let love and joy thy employ BEEN MARRIED, of which only the concluding verse is by Go on, sweet bird, and soothe my care; hush Burns, has a melancholy interest from the fact that it Thy tuneful notes will despair. occasional sad which over- expresses too truly the forebodings Finally, we may add, under the same category, four lines later and was so him in a letter clouded his years ; quoted by beautiful Miss prefixed by him to a song by Cranstoun, to his friend Mrs. Dunlop, as the reader will hereafter find. afterwards Mrs. Dugald Stewart, that all the stanzas of the The swift, but terribly expressive glance of 'Want and the : original piece might suit music Hunger glowrin by the hallan en',' is such as no one per- of The tears I shed must ever fall, haps but himself, in actual apprehension poverty, could have embodied in a word. I mourn not for an absent swain : Besides the Revisions thus authoritatively communicated For thought may past delights recall, ' And lovers meet by our Author for publication in the Museum,' there were parted again. not for the silent &c. two others, of which he desired no public mention to be made. [I weep dead, LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

This concludes our Author's connection with the celebrated found in them will appear more naturally among his posthu- 'Scots Musical Museum,' whether by editorial assistance or mous writings. Ground for the Editor was therefore, to this by original contribution. And when we consider, as already extent, easily restricted. When the various pieces contained ' intimated, the extent and variety of that work in the in the Collection,' which had already appeared in the amount of music and ancient song recovered and transmitted 'Museum,' or former editions of our Author's works, and ' ' by himself alone, of which we have not told the half; the were quoted from the Museum or elsewhere, by his own number of extant inferior pieces revised and remodelled, or authority, into the 'Collection,' had been deducted and placed of restored to as have been to Johnson's or to Burns's own purified by him ; the number imperfect pieces they account, far more than their own native beauty; and above all, the the remaining songs provided by our Author for Thomson's mass of pure and perfect original compositions superadded by original work were reduced to eighty in all. Three or four of his unwearied hand; and remember how this was done, in these are but variations, or second editions of certain pieces

' the midst of overwhelming care and multitudinous irksome which had already appeared in the Museum,' and have been and that the sole reward of all his was to be so the rest are and avocations, pains specified ; original, appertained exclusively a copy of the Work itself when finished we may well affirm to Thomson, as Editor. The limits of this division of our work, that, either in a moral or artistic point of view, it has scarcely by this process of elimination and redistribution, are there- in a parallel the HISTORY OF LETTERS. fore thus, and have been, clearly defined. But the condition of the text was a most important and difficult subject; where THOMSON'S COLLECTION. so many conflicting authorities interfered, that discrimination the BTJT his labour in this department of National Literature was became perplexing. At so late a date as this, when documents been scattered so not thus concluded. Whilst the 'Museum' was still in pro- original have through many individual or are otherwise all of gress, as we are already aware, he was contributing also, with hands, inaccessible, hope actual examination ourselves was but this the devoutest profusion of gratuitous literary service, to the by adandoned; loss did not so much several delight of the public, and the enrichment of another similar we deplore, having competing ' ' each to be the one, before us: national enterprise the celebrated Collection of George editions, purporting genuine Thomson. * and on this competition of authorities, we cannot refrain from

at least one remark : In reproducing the contents of 'Thomson's Collection,' at making as an has been much which we have now arrived, we have had a much more Thomson, editor, applauded by some,

and much condemned others ; we do not know a difficult task than in editing from the 'Museum,' which was by yet single instance in Thomson's own edition has been an authority simple and sufficient in itself. We have confined which faithfully or at least adhered The titles ourselves, in the present case, as the reader is already aware, consulted, to, throughout. veiy ' as he has have been to the first four volumes of the Collection,' which constituted of the songs, produced them, changed; or some MS. in the original work, and for which actual preparation was made Currie, Cromek, fugitive authority private substituted for him who had the first by our Author. For the two additional volumes, materials hands, has been always to be and endless might possibly also be in store from his hands; but as these right heard; corruptions by succeeding editors have been added, till what was Thomson's did not appear until a much later date (after many editions of originally edition is not now except in himself. He has the Poet, in fact, were already in circulation), what may be recognisable, both the credit of versions which he did not produce, and the discredit of alterations of which he was never and * guilty; George Thomson, Esq., for many years Principal Clerk to the Honourable what was really Burns's in his hands cannot, without the Board of Trustees, Edinburgh, was born at Limekilns, Fifeshire, about the year 1759. His father was a teacher there. After several removals, and the usual minutest scrutiny of the original documents, be determined. hardships of poverty attending the profession, the man at last obtained a young That Thomson sometimes made mistakes, typographical or situation as writer's clerk in Edinburgh; from which he was promoted, by ' in his of is obvious that he interest of John Home, author of Douglas,' to the comparatively affluent and editorial, reading Burns, ; which he with a deal easy post occupied, good of leisure for literary and musical sometimes took liberties with the orthography reducing till the time of his death which took at Leith pursuits, ; place Links, February it as much as he could to the English standard; 18th, 1851. He was a proficient on the violin, and devoutly attached to the study everywhere of the native and collection melodies of Scotland; and ultimately, with the and that he sometimes even intermeddled with the text, assistance of the highest musical and literary talent of the as an day, began, cannot be denied. That he occasionally, with or without amateur, preparations for the celebrated work with which his name is now and Erskine's advice, a line to identified. Although personally unacquainted with Burns, he naturally first permission, by interpolated as applied to him, the unquestioned living master of his art, to undertake but such lines song- accommodate the music, he publicly avows ; where for the ' Collection ' a writing required ; request which was complied with, as printed in italics, with particular specification our readers are aware, in that style of self-sacrificing abandon, which characterised being always our Author in all such transactions. The correspondence which ensued will be as his own, and for the purpose avowed, no injury whatever " found in its own place. The series of the letters and original songs addressed by is done to Burns. And in conclusion, it is manifest Burns to and bound in one thereby Thomson, arranged volume, were exposed to sale, by that estimate of his own editorial and auction, in November, 1852, at the upset price of 210, and fetched Two Hundred Thomson's privileges and Sixty Guineas." Stenhouse. Some particulars connected with the ultimate for all these he abilities was sufficiently high ; but privileges, of this known to disposal correspondence, us, are extremely interesting, although had the Poet's : who with him in we do not feel at liberty to disclose them. express authority disputed the first half volume of the 'Collection' he too and in cases which Only appeared during our Author's life- earnest, only when presumed far, time. It was published in 1793. The remaining portions afterwards at appeared are now distinctly ascertained for the world. On the whole, the intervals : Second first following half, volume, 1798; second volume, 1799; his 'Collection' is entitled to much in so far as its third, 1802; fourth, 1805, fifth, 18181826; sixth, 1841. This edition was in respect, folio other one in handsome ; editions, royal octavo, have since been is and with all its published. editorship of Burns concerned ; imper- BK AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

fections, there can be no doubt that the editions of many this Mr. Erskine therein exquisite song, and Mr. Thomson, who songs contained are preferable to other editions of the had been it some same elsewhere. 'conning' over, suggested improvements. songs Palmam, qui meruit, ferat. Such suggestions, although they were received with But it is with Eobert Burns, and not with patience George Thomson, and were civility by Burns, always painful to him : yet, in we have now to do : and the questions of in the importance any present instance, it cannot be denied that some of the disputed instance are, Which was the version com- actually suggestions were improvements, which his own correct taste municated by Burns for publication? How far did he discovered immediately and confirmed ; the rest without in were, acquiesce any suggestions made to him with that view ? remark, rejected. As the on this of his own or correspondence subject or, accord, in other manuscripts, subsequently occupies 'more than one letter, we refer the reader to the alter the text? So far as the general public is interested, documents themselves. [Literary Correspondence : Burns to and except in a few instances, so far as we ourselves are Thomson, March, 1793, et seq.~] aware, Dr. Currie's edition is the great counter-authority As to the song itself to in Thomson's these respects. Both editors had the fullest p. 201, c. 1, s. 4. But oh, if he's and minds na his access to Author's faithless, Nanie, so far as the Flow still manuscripts, compositions between us thou wide-roaring main ! in I never see I never trow it immediately question are concerned; for, besides the May it, may ; in the But, dying, helieve that my Willie's my ain ! papers Author's own repositories, which were open has been to Dr. sometimes objected to female critics, who should Currie, the whole correspondence in Thomson's hands by was be judges, as conveying a sentiment of false satisfaction at generously surrendered by him to Currie's use, for a variance edition of with their own consciousness. How far this be posthumous the Poet's writings. In these circum- may true, we know not but so stances, must ; great a judge of human, and of therefore, they both be heard : and, as between two such feminine human nature, as Sir Walter Scott, has confirmed privileged authorities, the difference, without at aU the or much the very sentiment here confessed. In one of the grandest affecting Author's sense, is curious in detail; and most elaborate of ' and to the outside where the all his romances, Kenilworth,' sweet world, mysteries of editorship are less Amy Eobsart's death is identified with this faith; is actually known, instructive also. Where we have had oppor- of planned and executed on the supposition that she clings, tunity comparing originals, and taking 'Johnson's Museum' in beyond the very evidence of her senses, to the idea of her evidence as a neutral document in the case, the difference perjured husband's to the last. She dies seems to be decidedly in Thomson's favour. On the other fidelity believing, and because she believes, that Leicester "is the same." hand, Currie edits with discrimination, and there are several instances in It is worth remarking also, that almost the identical words which his reading may even be preferred. On (applied however to a woman, and with different sense either side, the most important variations are such as no slightly in occur in : editor would be application) Petrarch justified, or could be suspected of making, Ma io nol credo nd' '1 conosco in vista without some authority; and that Thomson should have Di quella dolce mia nemica e donna : adhered to his own version after Currie's edition appeared, Ne" di cio lei, ma mia ventura, incolpo. Parte Prima : Son. clxix. in which these very variations were found, is presumptive I'll not I will not see in evidence that he had sufficient authority. The fact seems to believe, her, That sweet fair foe of mine, the slightest wrong : be, that there was actual on both sides. The authority And not to her, hut to my own sad lot, documents generously surrendered by Thomson to Currie The blame of all my suffering else belong ! would be collated by Currie with others in his own pos- p. 201. BRAW LADS ON YARROW BRAES: In this, as in ' session : where these agreed, the text of course would be many other songs in the Collection,' there are considerable uniform where did not verbal ; they agree, the respective editors variations as compared with Currie's edition, and with would exercise their discretion in a choice in Author's the of making which, duplicate copies manuscript ; most which, at in judging between them, we also are entitled now to do. the moment, gave rise to friendly discussion between himself In some special instances, by collation, we have united them; and his publisher. In present instance, the first verse, in others, where a preference has been made, the rejected according to Currie, should read will be found in readings reproduced the Notes ; and where There's braw braw lads on Yarrow braes, That wander the heather. obvious errors occur in either, which is frequently the case through blooming in to which we Thomson's edition the second line in both, they have been carefully corrected. prefer ; above in with the Our readers are, then, so far in possession of all that variation, comparison other, being decidedly weak.

202. THERE'S AULD BOB MORRIS : Two first lines appertains to ourselves of special information on this subject, p. old; and in first stanza a variation. Currie reads and of the principles on which our editorship in this depart- He has his ment has been conducted. We have only further to add, gowd in coffers, he has owsen and kine, &e. that the Notes which follow are more strictly critical and Stanza iv. reminds us very strongly of more than one passage

or than historical : moral, analytical, the historical details, in Petrarch, but the subject of the song, as compared with his in connection with the various individual songs, being chiefly abiding grief, is so different as to render collation unnecessary. embodied in the Author's own correspondence with Thomson Stanza v. may also be compared with the concluding stanza of himself the first, and most highly favoured, of all his the 'Lass o' Ballochmyle,' where a much greater similarity of numerous editors. circumstances obtains. Mr. Chambers, on the authority of 201. WANDERING WILLIE: On the original copy of the lady's own son, informs us that the heroine of this song LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

was Charlotte Hamilton. This secret was communicated by have so stoutly resisted, or lamented as he did, till the day of Burns to Mrs. Dunlop. his death, the change proposed and, without his authority,

: Is but a effected nor if seen a resemblance p. 202. OPEN THE DOOR TO ME, OH revision, ; would his critics, they had with alterations by our Author, of which he modestly says elsewhere, have dared to make such change on his authorship "I do not know whether this song be really mended." As without respectfully drawing his own attention to the fact. between Currie and Thomson, there are considerable minor The sole reason alleged by them seems, as in the case of ' variations in this song, and it is difficult to know on whose Wandering Willie,' to have had reference to the music. But side the authority lies. The second line originally stood in reality, a counterpart to the lines, and to one of them almost verbatim, occurs in the ' Battle of Harlaw': If love it may na be ! Oh ! There was not sen King Kenneth's days But it is in second verse, where Thomson adopts English Sic strange, intestine, crewel stryfe ' orthography, the chief distinction appears. In his Collection,' In Scotland sene, as ilk man says, Quhair liklie lost their that verse reads mony lyfe ; Quilk maid divorce tween man and wyfe, is blast Oh, cold the upon my pale cheek, And rnony children fatherless, &c. But colder thy love for me, Oh ! Stan. xxx. The frost that freezes the life at my breast, to all the three concerned and which Is nought to my pains from thee, Oh! unknown apparently ; seems to be absolutely conclusive in Burns's favour, in his p. 202. WHEN WILD WAR'S DEADLY BLAST : This beautiful alleged imitation of Bolder authors. As for the rest of the ballad was one of the Author's most favourite compositions. poem, it requires not a single word of comment from any one. Strange to say, both Erskine and Thomson, men otherwise of The scene introduced is on the water of Coil, in the neighbour- good taste, insisted on altering the third and fourth lines of of the scene its hood Coilton, Ayrshire ; but .of composition the first stanza. Burns objected, and for some time, whether was a small roadside inn at a place called Errickstane Brae; for this or other reasons, remained silent. In the meantime, where Burns was commissioned to wait for an hour, or re- the variation proposed by these gentlemen had been sent to quested permission so to wait, whilst Mr. Findlater, his the press, and appeared accordingly without his sanction, and Supervisor, rode on to survey at Auchenscheoch, on road not a little to his displeasure. This, however, Dr. Currie from New Cumnock to Dumfries : and the circumstance assures us, "is the only alteration adopted by Mr. Thomson which suggested the poem was their meeting a poor soldier which Burns did not approve, or at least assent to." If this a few miles before, footsore and shabbily clad, on his return be correct, and Dr. Currie himself had the best means of to native Ayrshire. For these details, we are indebted to ascertaining the facts, having all the manuscripts in his own Mr. Cuthbert of Ochiltree. hands we with more confidence ; may rely on the accuracy of p. 203. STAY, SWEET WARBLING WOOD-LARK: The Thomson's edition in general, even where it differs from the almost and tenderness of this Doctor's. The alteration by Erskine and Thomson now in ecstatic, ineffable, passion effusion are criticism and as a of beyond ; work mere lyric question, and which had not the Poet's sanction, was as beauty, in every line and syllable, it is absolute perfection. follows : The circumstances and the a certain And eyes again with pleasure beam'd appeal, however, have That had been blear'd with mourning, beautiful counterpart in King James (of Scotland) I. : instead of Wi' mony a sweet babe fatherless, An othir quhile the lytill nyghtingale, And mony a widow mourning. That sat upon the twiggis, wold I chide, And say rycht thus, quhare arc thy notis smale, About the of Burns's lines superiority own there can be no That thou of love has sung this morrowe tytle '! thou not air sittis ? hesitation. It is not, however, so much to their mere artistic Seis that thee besyde For Venus' sake, the blissful goddesse clere, superiority we now draw attention, as to their authenticity; Sing on again, and mak my lady chere. and for that two special reasons. First, The lines as they Quair: Stan. xxxv. and originally stood, now universally stand, are not only best, p. 204. HERE is THE GLEN: A complimentary song, it but essentially the Author's in words, in sentiment, in would appear, in honour of Lady Elizabeth Heron. [See sympathy. Love of children ruled paramount as the highest Thomson Correspondence, May, 1794.] law of God in his soul and for ; sympathy all, especially for The village bell has told the hour, women in as the second. distress, He know nothing of phre- not nology which, in his case, abundantly explains the fact. It toll'd the hour, was with him the irresistible simply impulse of nature. The which is a different word, and wants the poetical significance second reason justifying special attention to the original lines of the other. is of another nature his ' quite affecting own integrity as an p. 204. How LANG AND DREARY is THE NIGHT: also Author. The discussion about these two lines, and their SWEET FA'S THE EVE ON CRAIGIE-BURN : Both beautiful which occurred between proposed amendment, him and his songs, but second editions only of his own originals, which publisher, and which in fact offended with his him, per- appeared in the 'Museum.' [See Notes, p. 268.] This second tinacious adherence to the original lines, and refusal to edition of Craigie-Burn, although very sweet and musical, acquiesce in are facts in his any change, simple literary has not the glowing passion of the original. of much If the Poet had been history importance. conscious p. 205. O SAW YE BONIE LESLEY ? For whole history of of imitation on his own any unworthy part, he would never this pretty little chaunt, let the reader refer to Author's own AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 289

letter to Mrs. also Dunlop, August 22nd, 1792; letter to Mr. attentive reader will observe a curious, sly parallel between of same Cunningham, September 10th, year. In the verses ' Maggie's airs and the vagaries of the Auld Farmer's Mare' themselves, he Mr. Thomson to make ' unwillingly permitted of the same name, on market in her that the days, youth ; and choice of a different in one of the lines reading of which that Author this too, by time, had slightly altered in biegJis and gentleman unwisely availed himself, preferring skieghs his vernacular orthography. And ne'er made sic anither ! p. 206, c. 2, s. 1. Shall like a to I, fool, quoth he, For a haughty hizzie die ? And never made anither ! reminds us somewhat of the English ditty as it stood in the original. In concluding stanza Shall I, wasting in The aboon will despair, powers tent thee ; Die because a woman's fair ? Misfortune sha' na steer thee : If she be not fair for me Thou'rt like themsels sae lovely, What care I how fail- she be ! That ill they'll ne'er let near thee. Whether the reader will any other connection between the two than that of recognise, without farther note, a strong mere coincidence resemblance to ' ' exists, we cannot affirm. sentiment in Powers Celestial,' or Prayer p. 206. LET NOT WOMAN E'ER COMPLAIN: One of our for Mary' [p. 183]. This idea of human female loveliness Author's English both in and which he indicating goodness, and resembling the divine nature, or songs, style language, in celestial characterises, his own impatient fashion, as 'deplorably powers"; and by its resemblance propitiating their stupid.' Not deplorably stupid, but not like him. favour, occurs thus at least twice distinctly in Burns, and is altogether 207. traceable p. O POORTITH CAULD : How different ! in every way throughout as a fundamental principle in what may in in and be sentiment, style, ; to called the Eeligion of his Poetry. It grows naturally out language yet objected by ' ' Thomson, as cold and at least for the air. The of his profound devotion to beauty, and enables him to inter- uneasy Poet declined to alter it, because the or as pret, after a most instructive and characteristic fashion, this subject, stuff, he called would not bear Heroine stated attribute of love for loveliness in the Divine Nature. He it, mending. by Gilbert Burns to been Jane this as a law in the have "A Miss Blackstock, after- accepted supreme universe, and could " in wards Mrs. Whiter, of Liverpool. believe no sort of doctrine, moral or theological, that was p. 207. LAST MAY A BRAW WOOER : [See Note on same opposed to it. The very same religious reference of all beauty song as in ' Museum,' In Thomson's own to the Divine Being, and of His supreme love and care for originally p. 275.] edition there are also variations what was thus beautiful, is a distinct moral feature in the

s. 4. He the : poetry of Petrarch, as we have already taken occasion to up lang loan to my black cousin Bess show [see Note on 'Mary,' p. 282]; and constitutes a dis- in original manuscript, this line runs tinctive difference, both in his own case and in our Author's, He up the Gateslack to my black cousin Bess : between their amatory devotion on the one hand, and the Mr. Thomson objected to this word, as well as to the word mere of licentious writers on the other. sensuality in the " Dalgarnock next verse. Mr. Burns replies as follows : p. 205. O MIRK, MIRK is THIS MIDNIGHT HOUR: [See Gateslack is the name of a pai-ticular place, a kind of passage up among the Thomson Correspondence, 26th, 1793.] In Currie's January Lawther hills, on the confines of this county. Dalgarnock is also the name of a edition, last stanza contains two Scottish words fause for romantic spot near the Nith, where are still a ruined church and a burial-ground. ' However, let the first line run, He up the lang loan,' &c. false, and wrangs for wrongs; in Thomson's it stands as printed a in our text, entirely English, and. the change from the one It is always pity to throw out anything that gives locality language to the other at the close, where the climax trans- to our Poet's verses." Currie. There is, however, in both seems to be a ports the speaker out of self, is pre-eminently characteristic Currie and Thomson, what mistake, and which of has been corrected as such. third line of Burns. [See 'Epistle to Davie,' prayer for 'Jean.'] For generally The stanza this reason, therefore, we adhere to Thomson's edition. vii. appears in both editions thus

p. 205. TRUE-HEARTED WAS HE : Commences And how her new shoon fit her auld shauchl't feet undoubtedly ; with a reference to 'The Dowie Dens of Yarrow' that, by which is undoubtedly an error, most probably an oversight in including lovers, maidens, and romantic streams; east, west, the manuscript, as it appears in both, and Author did not sur- and south the in ' ; compliment the present case be com- might vive to correct the press. According to Museum,' and the The referred to is understood to have been Miss plete. lady well-known Scotch proverb which the line itself embodies, it J. a of Mr. then of Staig, daughter Staig's, Provost Dumfries, should be whose name occurs elsewhere in our Author's writings. The And how my auld shoon fitted her shauchl't feet : died at a as wife of of the lady very early age, Major Miller, ' ' auld shoon being the contemptuous vernacular designation Dalswinton family of whom personally, in some respects, the for a discarded lover. It may be noted in conclusion, that Poet seems to have had no very exalted opinion. the expression to which Johnson objected as improper, and p. 206. DUNCAN GRAY CAM HERE TO Woo : Is any com- which prevented earlier insertion in ' Museum,' was mentary on this incomparable medley of love, drink, pride, Gude safe us, how he fell a-swearin, &c. repentance, remorse, pity like a tearful flood, forgiveness, matrimony, and philosophy, in the bewildering atmosphere of To prevent a similar objection on Thomson's part, the Author a ? that of to New- Year's morning, required Criticism, begone ! There in the meantime had changed form exclamation is no picture like it in the whole range of literature. But the But, heavens! &c. 2 y 290 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

at wliich, wo presume, as an amendment, even the strictest together." A very faithful engraving of that portrait, on the precisian among us can hardly help smiling. whole (although no engraving will ever give the strange deep ' p. 208. WAT YE WHA'S IN YON TOWN ? In Thomson's fire of the original), is already before our readers as Kerry ' edition the first line of this song, probably to accommodate Miniature : which hereafter [see Appendix] we shall be the music, is printed able, by satisfactory evidence, to identify as the picture in it O wat ye wha's in yonder town, question; and are contented, in the meantime, to leave without farther that readers The song itself is but a second edition of the original in commentary, requesting only ' ' ' will for line and word Museum dedicated to Jean.' In present instance the hero- carefully compare themselves every of the now before with feature and the whole ine is Mrs. Bichard Oswald of Auchencruive, nee Lucy John- song us, every of that and at rather ston of Hilton, a lady remarkable for combining in her person expression wonderful, first, perhaps, as every attribute of grace and beauty. To the inexpressible painfully impressive portrait. Its own general fidelity, a truthful of sorrow of all admiring friends she died prematurely of decline, representation of the most extraordinary man modern in in having been removed to Lisbon for her health in vain. ages grief, passion, in self-sufficing strength, Encomiums upon her beauty and her accomplishments are and in moral triumph will gradually appear. It is some- to be able to look and at no everywhere to be found. [See Heroines of Burns Appendix.] thing thus at the very man, mere as one On the song before us, Kirkpatrick Sharpe remarks "Burns imaginary 'counterfeit presentment' of him, has celebrated her in a song of less merit than usual," and now reads his works and very words themselves then quotes a formal encomium from Dryden, as if it were Come ease or come travail, come pleasure or pain ; nearer the truth. Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Charles Kirkpatrick " My warst word is "WELCOME, and WELCOME again ! Sharpe ! where was your discrimination then ? But Burns not in idle, half jocular, pococurante style, which we are too may more easily survive the slight, inasmuch as Petrarch much accustomed to in to but in believe with respect him ; himself in Laura's honour could do nothing superior has solemn, high-souled, even sorrowful earnest. The more we in fact anticipated but the very words. learn to look at him in this light, as a man who had made his Lieti fieri e felici, c ben nati crbe with God at the of Che madonna passando premer suole, peace by suffering, and was prepared age Piaggia che ascolti sui dolci parole, thirty-six to meet the solemnest behest of his Creator's hand E del bel piede alcun vestigio serbe. with and the better it will be for our- PartePrima: Son. cxxix. resignation repentance " selves in the study of his works, and the better for his own Now haply down yon gay green show from to end of his career. She wanders by yon spreading tree ; reputation beginning unparalleled How blest yeflotv'rs that round her blaw, In face of such a dark-shaded a little as it it " portrait, is, Ye catch the glances o' her e'e ! will be for man or woman to amuse [Ye plains that hear her dulcet speech, impossible any longer Her both and see footsteps you guard !] or to deceive themselves at the expense of Eobert Burns.

210. WINDING NITH : We cannot help remarking that Thomson's arrangement of p. ADOWN A pretty enough pastoral in honour of Miss this song in stanzas of three verses each, both to suit the compliment, Philadelphia (that is, Phillis)

M'Murdo. Thomson : also Heroines music and to give prominence to the idea of the setting sun [See Correspondence of Burns with which every stanza begins, is decidedly superior to the Appendix.] ' 211. O WHA is SHE THAT LO'ES ME? The first line of arrangement of single verses adopted in the Museum.' p. which was whether with or otherwise we p. 208. THIS is No MY AIN LASSIE : Another indirect altered, permission do not Thomson in whose edition it reads beautiful compliment to 'Jean,' and the quiet fascination of know, by ; O wat wha that lo'es me ? her looks. Mrs. Burns' s eyes were decidedly beautiful, but ye the mouth was not a handsome feature in her face and it is The itself is the third our Author to same the ; song by air; remarkable that, with all his partiality as a lover, the Poet exact date of composition not ascertained. The songs formerly himself never refers to it. written to this difficult air, which was so great a favourite I p. 209. BLYTHE HAE BEEN ON YON HILL : A pretty of his, do not seem to have satisfied Burns ('The Young "not in worst ' pastoral idyl, my manner," according to his Highland Eover being one of them) : but the present song is it did ' ' own judgment. If not please Thomson I will put it one of the most perfect pieces of lyrical composition in any a in 'Johnson's Museum'" remark (to which many similar language. We make this brief comment with much deliber- occur) worth noting, as indicating the editorial authority ation. Let it be tried by all the rules of criticism in such exercised by the Poet, as regarded management of 'Museum.' cases, and we will risk judgment for it against anything of

p. 209. HUSBAND, HUSBAND : A piece of admirable humour the same class that ever was written. In such compositions, on the ' in his best style, favourite topic of matrimonial in- the supreme difficulty is to preserve the passion and the compatibility.' poetry and the music together, without artifice on the one p. 210. CONTENTED wi' LITTLE: Memorable as being hand, or imperfect workmanship on the other. Nothing, in the with which our Author wished song an engraving of his the first place, could be more difficult than to write without own 1795 ("the most remarkable likeness of no artifice can be seen portrait, what I artifice to such a complicated air but ; am at this that I think moment, ever was taken of anybody"), or, in the second place, to preserve and intensify the passion be "in order the to associated; portrait of my face, and with every succeeding stanza but passion is preserved and the of mind down the stream of or to interweave picture my may go time intensified, to a climax of distraction ; finally, \ND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

one stream of where so involutions are im- language, many appearance of rude antiquity, except the last line of the first without confusion or to sense but the lan- verse plied, jeopardy and the chorus, as they originally appeared in the ' guage from beginning to end is so perfectly interwoven that a Museum,' and are reproduced in our Various Eeadings cannot be and could not be syllable wanted, otherwise placed. which are the very lines, and the only lines, that have been In one stanza, indeed, the expression is so abbreviated that an altered by our Author in subsequent editions. If there be any additional word is to the sense but real it really required complete ; fragment of an older date in the song, therefore, must of is so the dexterity with which the want that word is hidden be among these lines; but these lines having been so far that not one reader in a unless dis- fine, thousand, critically remodelled by our Author, the entire song, as it now stands, in posed, would be likely to detect it. The omission occurs may be ascribed wholly to himself. Never surely did any stanza in., 'at end of second line : master, through sheer modesty or indecision, put such a If thou hast heard her talking, triumph, with all its honours, so strangely away from him ! And thy attention's plighted, [so] That there was, however, some old chorus in reality, with

' where adverb is manifestly required to connect the sentence. perhaps a line or an expression or two such as trusty feiro,' The verse, on account of this ellipsis, is often incorrectly or 'willie-waught,' which are simple German, or the very- printed, so as to render it unintelligible. We have presented oldest Scotch floating among the unrecorded minstrelsy of the whole song with as much attention to accuracy, in all the people, is quite probable; for under the same, or a details of punctuation and typography, as possible. We have similar title, we have an older song than Burns's; which, reason to believe, as our readers will hereafter find [see Note however, has nothing else in common with his, and in point ' Mark yonder pomp of costly Fashion], that the nameless of style is not to be compared with it at all. It appears, heroine of this beautiful song was either the Miss M'Murdo without author's name, in Part III., Watson's Collection, above referred to, or Miss Jean Lorimer. 1711; it is divided into two parts First Part containing six 211. SHOULD AULD BE FORGOT? We Second Part four of lines each and is p. ACQUAINTANCE stanzas, stanzas, eight ;

' come now to one of the most important critical problems in devoted to a sort of expostulation on The Flames of Love our Poet's authorship his connection with this wonderful Extinguished' between two old friends a bachelor, appar-

song : a song which he never publicly avowed, which, on the ently, and an old maid, in altered circumstances. The title of he ascribed to some author the is the first line of the whole is Should contrary, indirectly unknown ; piece Old-long-syne ; but which has never hitherto been traced to anyone, beyond old Acquaintance be forgot ; and the last line of every stanza is or before himself. Our own investigation shall be brief, and a mere repetition or adaptation of the title. There is no we hope conclusive. "One song more," says our Author chorus. A stanza or two at this point may be sufficient to [to Thomson, September, 1793], "and I have done: Auld Lang illustrate the whole. The air is but but the the old Syne. mediocre, following song, O!d-long-&yne. First Part. of the olden and has been in song time, which never print, Should old Acquaintance be forgot, nor even in manuscript, until I took it down from an old And never thought upon, The flames of Love extinguished, man's is to recommend air." In writing singing, enough any And freely past and gone ? on same subject to Mrs. Dunlop he uses similar language. Is thy kind heart now grown so cold ' In that breast of He had also said like this about The Poor loving thine, something already That thou canst never more reflect ' once said even half so Thresher ; but having anything strong On Old-long-syne ? about his own workmanship in either case, he could never again unsay it. His own testimony, therefore, except in Second Part. limited reference to some old groundwork of a chorus which My soul is ravished with delight I think When you upon ; he may have heard, may be set aside, and all claims of author- All griefs and sorrows take the flight, that must be determined internal evidence. are ship beyond by And hastily gone ; The fair remembrance of face We have been very careful to produce this. Our readers will your So fills this breast of mine, find three distinct versions of the in edition : song present No fate nor force can it displace, For (1) Stenhouse's revised edition from 'Museum,' where only Old-long-syne. of is edition from order verses different ; (2) present Thomson, called the final edition in Various The only trace of antiquity, as the reader will observe, is in which may be ; (3) Eeadings, ' the first line and in the title ; the latter and the original edition of first verse and chorus from Museum,' ridiculously pain- the same of in which there is considerable difference of words. On com- fully misspelt, but containing exactly number that no words as in the edition in 'Museum' as in parison of these three editions, it appears (1) verbal original where, it constitutes a line. in duo alteration whatever occurs in the song, except on first verse present case, Ramsay, time, old chorus that in order of it seems as if metamorphosed this song after his own fashion, but and ; (2) original verses, in the same strain the assurance of the Author would have concluded the whole song in three, pretty much conveying act of unabated and unaltered love, to of with repetition of chorus to each, but in the very friendship say nothing more that on hospitality, from an old sweetheart to a former lover, writing paused, and added two ; (3) subsequent present whose fortunes have for the worse. It extends revision, he changed the order of these verses to produce may changed hide the and that to five stanzas. But there is no in either of the greater harmony, and to pause ; (4) finally, glimpse has the characteristic said to have been recovered Burns from beginning to end, there is not a line which fragment by 292 LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

and which, it' it had ever existed, would most certainly have probable, that it was a direct poetical appeal to Mrs. Eiddel ' for appeared in both. The cup, or kiss, of kindness,' the mutual forgiveness and reconciliation. But how came Burns, in the 'pint-stowp,' and the implied mutual poverty, the 'trusty circumstances of the case, to forward that appeal to the feire,' the right 'hand' of fellowship, and the 'right gude lady without encouragement ? On this point, Mr. Chambers's ' willie-waught of unexpected reunion, are all awanting in theory seems to be only an assumption. In the earlier part of and this as our readers will Mrs. Eiddel had these, the only two extant editions of the song known ; year, however, find, written to in may be safely affirmed never to have existed together in any Burns the midst of their alienation, demanding the return of song, till the sympathetic inspiration of our Author introduced some song (manifestly her own) then in his them, and so made a new song.* hands. This song, it appears, he had lent to Syme, who seems to p. 212. Now EOSY MAY COMES IN wi' FLOWERS : Second have blundered it with some criticisms of his own; but ' ' an old recovered the edition of The Gardener wi' his Paidle \_p. 171], with having it, Poet does return it, with apologies to the title adopted, and made ground-work of chorus. lady for this accident to the manuscript. The song thus in

p. 212. IT WAS THE CHARMING MONTH OF MAY : Eemodel- question, we have no doubt, was the very song referred to by led from an old English song, which Burns, who disparages our Author in September of 1793, as having been composed ' his own work also, speaks of as "the bombast original." to the tune of Eoy's Wife,' and better than anything on the same that had been What the original might have to boast of in the way of topic yet seen. The recall of this song, do not to but for the therefore, in the would seem to in his then elegance, we happen know ; song itself, circumstances, him, as it now stands, after his remodelling, we venture to affirm unhappy frame of mind, an indication of confirmed hostility that a more charming piece of word-painting with the fresh- on the lady's part; and so the lampoons of 'Esopus'' would ness, beauty, music, and animation of the dawn to be left begin, with all their accompanying ungallant bitterness. A few and he is unfinished, (for what becomes of Chloe ?) was certainly never months, however, elapse, himself called upon to write another to executed by poet's pen. song 'Eoy's Wife,' which naturally revives in his mind the recollection of Mrs. p. 212. CANST THOU LEAVE ME THUS, MY KATY? Sup- Eiddel's original words to posed to be of date November 17th, 1794; and is remarkable that very air. Poetical instinct, with a twinge of remorse, all that is chiefly as being, according to one theory, the first indication suggests then required in the altered circumstances. a of returning friendship on Burns' s part towards Mrs. Walter He writes new song altogether, in anticipation, as it were, of Riddel with whom, since the unfortunate error at Woodley Mrs. Eiddel's own reply already in his mind, and founded on Park, some ten months previous, he had been at public feud. the very style of that reply already known to him as a mere Notwithstanding all that was painful in the meantime, he imaginary expostulation, and boldly transmits a copy forth- with to the is neither seems to have had sufficient reliance on himself and on the lady ; who slow now to perceive, nor to do what is value attached by her to his friendship, to send that lady a unwilling any longer ladylike that is, womanly copy of this song such, at least, is Mr. Chambers' s theory; and generous at the proper moment. She accordingly copies which she reciprocated in a corresponding strain, as was be- out her own song once more, possibly with improvements, and fitting the circumstances of the case. Dr. Currie, on the so returns it to the repentant Poet in token of her forgiveness other the verses first and reconciliation which final it hand, by whom lady's were discovered ; copy must have been that among the Poet's papers and published, seems not to have remained undisturbed in his possession till the day of his been fully aware of the facts, or to have had a different theory death. By this explanation, not only is the bitterness of the on the subject. By him Mrs. Riddel's verses, apparently in quarrel now to some extent accounted for, but a key to its reply to Burns, are identified with certain verses referred to edaircissement afforded; and in addition, which is of some our as to edition of the also in its own an of by Author, "superior any song (' Eoy's importance place, adjustment conflicting Wife') which the public has yet seen." The date of this dates is accomplished. The scandal connected with this alien- reference being September, 1793, carries the composition ation was distressing at the time, and has been a cause of alluded to the of the ever since to all affectionate admirers of the beyond period quarrel altogether ; which regret Poet ; but did not occur till early in the following year. It seems to us, if our investigation be at all correct, there seems to have been on all careful examination of the facts, and of certain others secret pain enough too on both sides where it was very little which have been overlooked, that both theories are so far likely to be confessed. The minute, electric, invisible points correct; but that the true theory, involving some delicate of irritation which conspired to inflame the quarrel, and the in moral phenomena this interesting case, lies beyond them soothing medium of poetry by which they were neutralised, both. (1) It seems almost certain that the verses referred to and in which they finally disappeared, are now, however, for in by Burns 1793 are the very verses which afterwards ap- the first time perhaps, analytically exposed; and it is not

in Currie's edition : peared (2) It is perhaps equally reasonable without considerable personal satisfaction we record these to that the same verses as suppose were, or could have been, a conclusions, affording something like a truthful glimpse on the to the Author's into a that will be reply lady's part song now before us : subject always painful, and has hitherto (3) It is certain that Burns's song was written on the 20th of been perplexing. Of this, more hereafter. 1794 and it is almost The verses which this November, ; certain, or at least highly have suggested inquiry, and which thus receive additional importance as a moral index to the * state of mind of the As objects of curiosity, in comparison with text, we shall endeavour to find parties principally concerned, are as room for both songs above referred to, hereafter. under: AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 293

Willie believe Stay, my yet me ; p. 214. HEBE'S A HEALTH TO ANE I LO'E DEAR : One of Willie believe Stay, my yet me ; the most of For Ah ! thou know'st na' every pang, exquisite pieces lyrical dramatic love-writing Wad should' wring my bosom st thou leave me. ever published, and composed when the Author himself was Tell me that thou yet art true, already the victim of agonising pain, and other still sadder And a' shall be my prangs forgiven ; presages of approaching death. Our readers need hardly be And when this heart proves fause to thee, Yon sun shall cease its course in heaven. informed that the heroine of this passionate effusion was of But to think I was betrayed, Jessy Lewars, the friend his wife, and the affectionate, That falsehood e'er our loves should sunder! tender nurse of his own last earthly moments. To take the flow'ret to my breast, p. 214. BY ALLAN STREAM: A that the And find the guilefu' serpent under. song pleased Author, on which he makes the two following notes : Could I hope thou'dst ne'er deceive, Celestial pleasures, might I choose 'em, s. 2. While Phoebus sank beyond Benleddi.* I'd slight, nor seek in other spheres, * A mountain west of Strath-Allan, 3009 feet high. R. B. That heaven I'd find within thy bosom. O dearly do I love thee, Annie.t Willie Stay, my yet believe me ; ' Willie + Or, O my love Annie's very bonie.' R. B. Stay, my yet believe me ; For Ah! thou know'st na' every pang, p. 214. YE BANKS, AND BRAES, AND STREAMS AROUND: Wad wring my bosom should'st thou leave me. One of our Author's highest-class lyrical and passionate out- p. 213. BRUCE TO HIS MEN AT BANNOCKBURN : The liter- pourings, mingled with grief and pain, as all his songs on ary delays and accidents connected with the appearance of this this heart-rending topic were. The scene here described world -renowned song, or battle-hymn, have already been ex- incidentally by mere apostrophe, is as accurately described ' plained in our Notes on Museum' [p. 275, c. 2]. Commentary as it could be in any words. For the benefit of the general, on the song itself is unnecessary, but a few remarks as to the and more especially of the English reader, we may here date of its are still and circumstances composition required. ' explain that bank' is the level ground on the margin of a These, however, may be very brief. Syme's narrative about river, corresponding to 'bink' or 'bench' Itulice, 'banco;' its composition during a storm among the wilds of Glenken in and 'brae' is the rising ground above and beyond that, Galloway, which Currie adopts, although he must have seen ' ' ' corresponding to brow or brie.' [See Glossary.] The a certain in has been most apparent inaccuracy it, ingeniously scene is characterised by an endless and beautiful variety of criticised Mr. Chambers who convicts Dr. in this ' by ; Carrie, these. The streams' here spoken of may either mean the instance at least, of altered the text of a letter in order having two principal streams of the Fail and Ayr, which form a to rid of the referred to. to .get difficulty According Chambers, junction in the neighbourhood; or the minor artificial streams the must been on the of song have written thirty-first August, into which the Fail itself has been thrown in its circuit round or first of 1793, after an walk the September, evening's by the Castle. It was at the junction of the two principal without immediate circumstances of such Poet, any romance, streams, as we have already stated elsewhere, that the parting as those detailed Dr. connected with it at all. This by Currie, scene occurred, in a sheltered nook overhung with trees and conclusion Mr. Chambers is founded on the terms by entirely strewed with wild flowers. For a description so exactly of the Poet's own letter to Thomson of the above date, which similar, in circumstance and style, that it seems almost to cannot be and with which narrative certainly disputed, Syme's have been reproduced by Burns, who certainly never saw it, cannot be reconciled. Mr. has overlooked Chambers, however, we must refer once more to Petrarch : the fact that Johnson was in of another already possession Chiare, fresche e dolci acque, copy of the same song, in its original form, in connection with Ove le belle membra sola a me Pose colei, che par donna ; Syme's letter; and purporting, or rather therein distinctly Gentil ramo, ove piacque stated to been first have written on the of August, "on our (Con sospir mi rimembra) A lei di fare al bel fianco colonna! ride home [after the thunderstorm] from St. Mary's Isle." Erba e flor che la gonna The music which Burns had chosen for this edition original Leggiadra ricoverse ' in the its 1' scno having already appeared Museum,' publication was Con angelico ; Aer sacro postponed; but the manuscript was not recalled. A month sereno, co' il cor Ov' Amor begli occhi m' aperse ; later exactly, the Poet, anxious for its appearance, seems to Date udien/ia insieme have been ruminating on the subject during an evening walk, A le dolenti mie parole estreme ! Parte-Seconda : Can. xiv. and transcribing the words again in their original form, dis- Ye streams so bright, so fresh, and pure, patched them to Thomson, with no better success. Whatever Where her fair form my goddess set; additional interest, therefore, this magnificent hymn may Thou gentle spray she loved to train

! with I see it derive from having been composed on horseback in a (Alas sighs yet), savage to side Like pillar' d grot screen her beauteous ; a in to tra- wild, during thunderstorm, Galloway, according Each herb and flower her flowing robe O'ershadowed with its swell dition, remains unshaken by any investigation that has yet heavenly ; Thou air all holy, still, and calm, been applied to it. The Author seems to have been fully Whence Love, through those bright eyes as well, aware of the intrinsic value of this and all his soul to mine composition, though Unfolded ;

Hearken to last sad ! he speaks of it in terms of modest depreciation, he did not fail together my plaint IN to distribute several copies of it among his friends the Earl p. 215. Now SPRING HAS CLAD THE GROVE GREEN: of Buchan included. Remarkable as containing stanzas which the Author, in a 294 [NOTES CRITICAL

letter to Mrs. of as about W. Riddel (date unknown), speaks p. 219. THE LASS o' BALLOCHMYLE : This celebrated song to of in be interwoven by him "in some disastrous tale a honour of a lady, whose beauty through its instrumentality shepherd has become celebrated it may be said, immortal also, was Despairing beside a clear stream," &c., first communicated by the Poet in a letter addressed to herself. [See Heroines of Burns.] As no recognition of this com- a plan which he seems to have abandoned. The letter will be pliment was ever vouchsafed, although anxiously expected, found among hitherto unpublished documents in Correspon- the song was laid aside for the time, but again revised, and dence. The verses themselves, for want of this connecting with a few verbal variations at editor's discretion, appeared link, have in editions been sometimes referred to previous ' finally in the Collection.' Thomson preferred the manu- doubtfully as unknown, or unpublished. In manuscript script as it originally stood in lines referred to, which are : here alluded to, of which a correct fac- simile from original s. 2. The lily's hue, the rose's dye in possession of Dr. Thomas Charles S. Corry, Belfast, is now Bespoke the lass o' Ballochmyle. before us, some slight variations from the text occur. The same form occurs in the copy which was included by the p. 216. HAD I A CAVE : The second, and perhaps the only Poet in the manuscript collection of some of his earlier com- successful attempt of our Author's to adapt words, with a " positions, presented as a token of gratitude by him to Mrs. suitable sentiment, to the fine, but as he calls it, crinkum- Stewart of Stair so that a ' " ; although variation was finally crankum tune, Eobin Adair.' His first composition, entitled adopted by him, he seems to have adhered to the first idea 'Phillis the Fair,' to the same tune, does not appear in the ' long. The poem dates from midsummer bean -blossoming 'Collection,' but will be found hereafter among Posthumous time' of 1786; and it is obvious from, the concluding stanza, Works. It is by no means equal to present song. that the young Poet, then busy preparing for the press, had p. 216. COME, LET ME TAKE THEE : The result of what been glancing perhaps with anxious forebodings of his own our Poet beautifully calls "a gloamin-shot at the Muses;" at Beattie's opening complaint in the ' Minstrel' the ideas of last stanza, however, are but a repetition of

' Ah ! who can tell how hard it is to climb himself, as the reader will find, on comparing Bonie Peggy The steep, where Fame's proud temple shines afar; Alison' [p. 170]. In Currie's edition, that stanza begins which he chivalrously for the moment, although on the very Thus in my arms, wi' all thy charms, &c., verge of authorship and immortality together, would be ready which is certainly inferior to Thomson's. to relinquish all hope of attaining, for Miss Alexander's sake.

p. 216. O WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO You : Second and Nor is the idea of her father's fortune, won by enterprise in enlarged edition of the original song, which first appeared in the East, forgotten at the time, although with equal in- ' Johnson's In edition are a difference to be also in with Museum.' present there few resigned comparison her, &c. ; variations of text; that which we have adopted is Author's himself on the very eve of flying in despair from poverty and own, which, also, after some discussion, was finally accepted shame, to the other horizon of the world. Robert ! Mr. by Thomson. [See Correspondence, May, 1795.] Then pride might climb the slipp'ry steep, Where fame and honours shine p. 217. THEIR GROVES OF SWEET MYRTLE : If it did not lofty ; And thirst of gold might tempt the deep, could fail to occur to Lord in his suggest, hardly Byron Or downward seek the Indian mine : ' composition of Lochnagar.' Give me the cot below the pine, &c.

217. THE CHEVALIER'S LAMENT : To a tune which was p. p. 220. THOU HAST LEFT ME EVER, JAMIE : Compare THOU one of the Author's favourites, and written at a much great HAST LEFT ME EVER, TAM [_p. 215]. In present edition, we ' earlier date than the Thomson Correspondence.' The original have collated with Currie's where a variation occurs draft differs from the text considerably ultimately adopted; although, upon second thoughts, we are more than half and will be found, as it first in letter to Mr. stood, Cleghorn, disposed to prefer Thomson's, which reads in concluding March 1788. 31st, [General Correspondence.] stanzas, without contraction, thus

218. MY NANIE'S AWA : Another p. exquisite reference I must see thee never, Jamie,

I never ! (in which there is more than mere dramatic passion) to Mrs. will see thee ' MacLehose's Clarinda' departure to West Indies. Never more to waken, Jamie,

Never more to waken ! p. 218. AWA wi' YOUR WITCHCRAFT: In quite another in Thomson's edition of this strain, must be accepted in its own place. It may be worth The English form, which, song, observing, as a thing that so rarely or almost never occurs in prevails throughout, alone disinclined us to adopt it. our Author, that the grammatical syntax in two last lines of p. 220. LONG, LONG THE NIGHT : An exquisite effusion of stanza II. is imperfect. mingled prayer and terror, dictated unquestionably by the as p. 218. WHERE ARE THE JOYS I HAVE MET ? Is, on the purest affection, and entirely original, we have already a founded on the and to the other hand, truly beautiful pastoral ditty, combining more of said; although idea, adapted air of ' 0.' ' the merely pastoral with more of the purely love-pathetic than beautiful old Ay Waukin, The Lassie wi' the as our readers are no are generally found united in such compositions. It may be Lint-white Locks,' doubt aware, then accepted as a moral certainty, that in such cases, Burns never in dangerous illness, was subject of this earnest supplication.

is allows the fictitious to eclipse the natural, nor the genuine . 2. Ev'ry hope fled, fear is terror Ev'ry ; feelings of the heart to be smothered in mere garlands of Slumber ev'n I dread, poetical roses. Ev'rv dream is horror. AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS.

almost Petrarch : Thus, literally alike, known melancholy application for five pounds, to save him I non hebbi giammai tranquilla notte : from the distress of a summons. It seems to have been the Ma sospirando andai e mattino, sera; last effusion of his and well be read Poi ch' amor femmi un cittadin de boschi. very poetical pen, may for Parte Prima : Son. clxxxviii. again and again that reason alone. The heroine is mani- One tranquil night I never spend, festly Miss Charlotte Hamilton, to whose cherished friendship, But sighing, wander morn and eve ; and the bright interval of her society he enjoyed on the banks For Love hath driven me forth to dwell of the Devon ten he recurs with Where pathless woods my steps receive. scarcely years before, now Tims to similar effect imaginative fondness, when the dim shadows of death and also, " the horrors of a jail" are the horizon. Tutto '1 dl piango; e poi la notte, quando crowding Prendon riposo i miseri mortali, p. 222. THERE WAS A LASS, AND SHE WAS FAIR: Trans- Trovom' in e i mali pianto, raddoppiansi ; ports us again, in the order of publication, to another and a Cosi spendo '1 mio tempo lagrimando. where the at Mauchline seems to be In tristo umor vo gli occhi consumando, brighter scene, courtship E'l cor in doglia, &c. dramatically renewed, although we are expressly informed by Parte Prima: Son. clxxx. the Author that it was to Miss M'Murdo of Drumlanrig this All day I weep, and then the night, also referred. When wretched mortals snatch repose, song Finds me in all woes tears, redoubling my ; . 5. The sun was sinking in the west, Thus time in tears is wasted quite, birds sweet in ilka The sang grove ; with ana heart with My eyes weeping, my grief, His cheek to hers he fondly laid. Are both consumed without an hour's relief, &c. And whisper'd thus his tale o' love. In this latter quotation, however, the resemblance is per- Third line in most editions stands otherwise haps more striking to the other version of song, with which His cheek to hers he fondly prest, the reader it as also may compare [_p. 170] ; with concluding stanza of that ' ' which we suspect has been suggested for the sake of a chance exquisite lament, The Farewell [_p. 185] rhyme, which does not elsewhere occur between the first and When day is gane, and night is come, a' third lines the whole And folk boun to sleep ; throughout piece. I think on him that's far awa, p. 223. BEHOLD THE HOUR, THE BOAT ARRIVE : Another

The lee-lang night, and weep, ' reference to Clarinda,' and enclosed in a letter to My dear, originally The lee-lang night, and weep ! that lady, December 27th, 1791, in anticipation of her in- tended visit to West Indies. [Compare 'Ance mair I hail p.. 220. O BONIE WAS YON EOSY BRIER : Sadly enough for ' thee, thou poor Chloris,' the devotion here attributed to her lover was gloomy December.'] 223. O LASSIE, ART THOU SLEEPING YET ? and O TELL but ill realised. In some manuscripts, we believe, there is a p. NA ME o' WIND AND EAIN : A dangerous love-appeal and variation in fifth line of last stanza ; thus most commendable reply, which need no further commentary. The flowery wild, and prattling burn : ' The reader may compare verse in. of reply with Mountain which was well exchanged by Daisy.' Circumstances precisely reversed in Shakspear's song The pathless wild, and wimpling burn : of the 'Valentine' by Ophelia: In letter this was a of addressed containing song copy verses, Good morrow, 'tis St. Valentine's day, in terms of friendship to same lady, which will be found All in the morning by time, And I a maid at elsewhere. [Posthumous Works.] your window, To be your Valentine. p. 221. LOGAN, SWEETLY DIDST THOU GLIDE: A very Then up he rose and don'd his clothes, beautiful plea in woman's mouth, against the cruelty and And dupp'd the chamber door ; horrors of war whatever diplomatic reasons may be assigned Let in the maid, that out a maid Never more. Hamlet: Act iv. for its continuance. departed

p. 221. LASSIE wf THE LINT-WHITE LOCKS: Another, and p. 223. SLEEP'ST THOU, OR WAK'ST THOU ? As this song, one of the sweetest, of the many dramatic lyrical compliments which is somewhat complicated in its construction, presents to Jean Lorimer. The description of that beautiful but un- the greatest variation of text, as between Thomson and fortunate girl, here given, is confirmed by Mrs. Burns's Currie, we have presented both editions together, for reader's testimony, as our readers will find hereafter [M'Diarmid satisfaction.

Memoranda, in Appendix], Her artlessness was conspicuous, p. 224. FORLORN, MY LOVE, NO COMFORT NEAR : In this and her virtue at that date unimpeachable. The song itself song also there is considerable variation, as between above- reminds us forcibly of our Author's earlier Ayrshire com- named editors. In Thomson's edition, verse ill. is awanting, positions, in its simplicity and adherence to nature. which from Currie's we have introduced within brackets. In p. 222. FAIREST MAID ON DEVON BANKS : Is a more Currie's edition, the words throughout appear in the mouth

' studied composition, to a more difficult melody; and has a of a lady the celebrated Chloris' of the Author's songs of artificial infused into it. It is most is well known to have been unfortunate good deal elegance whose marriage very ; painfully remarkable from having been written, with all this but as the cause of that misfortune was her worthless liable polish, during the Poet's last illness, when he was racked with husband's conduct, who abandoned her, and was justly pain and in terror of bankruptcy. It was enclosed in a letter to the most serious reprobation, it seems more natural to it stands in from Brow, 12th July, 1796: which begins with the well- suppose that, as Thomson's edition, the song was LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

in the It been on or about NEW- originally intended for his mouth, as a sort of plea extenu- age. seems to have composed ation of his cruel conduct, and some apology for his heartless YEAR'S-DAY, 1795; and next to its own intrinsic merits as a desertion. This view of the matter receives confirmation from grand moral manifesto, we think the most remarkable circum- ' or Wak'st stance it is that it so the style of the foregoing song Sleep' st thou, connected with this very fact was 1 thou, fairest Creature?' in which the speaker complains of written and at such a time, as a mere jeu d esprit or bagatelle ' ' of It no being parted from his Jeany' which was Chloris's' proper scorn, ending in prophecy at the moment. was mere name. In looking a little farther back, to the second edition studied, elaborate, overdone effort of composition or philosophy, I'll Lad' in to demand but thrown or rather out of the of 'O Whistle, and come to you, my \_p. 216], satisfy ; off, given which the lines man's own breast, in easy rhythmical bravura style, with the like a Tho' father, and mither, and a' should gae mad, freshness and pith of independent feeling. Beginning

Jeanie will venture wi' lad : Thy ye, my careless chant, and rising and swelling as the verses and the the latter of which the Author insisted should be retained in topics multiply, it comes to be in the end one of the most direct reference IN OUR publication, we seem to have something like a effective, sublime, and genial utterances of FAITH at to that lady's marriage; which took place clandestinely COMMON MANHOOD, and one of the most contagious outpour- Gretna Green, much to the distress of her family, in the spring ings of natural sympathy, on record among men. It is an of the year (1793) in which that song was written. The line essentially Manly song, and, although intended possibly for a a later containing her name, it is true, -was not introduced till Freemason Lodge at first, has become a prophecy of freedom date, but it was so introduced in express compliance with her for the world. It would be impossible for that song any longer if it indited request. On such evidence, although only presumptive, we to be sung the people for whom was originally have not much doubt that all the songs now immediately should ever become slaves : its music would be gall and worm- in under review have some relation, direct or indirect, to Mrs. wood to them then ; its immortal vaticinations their name Whelpdale's marriage. [See Heroines of Burns Appendix.] and for their sakes an everlasting rebuke. But the fact that p. 225. MARK YONDER POMP OF COSTLY FASHION : Dedi- it was written by one of themselves a son of the soil, un- cated again, as our readers will perceive, to Miss M'Murdo's tutored, unfettered, and unrestrained by fear or fashion; the terms most in stanza n. bribes or at the praise ; and from conspicuous unpurchased, and unpurchasable, by favour, O then, the heart alarming, most dangerous crisis is the best security we can have for And all resistless charming, &c., our own perpetual freedom. It is our cradle-song, and will we are rather disposed to believe that this lady, so much and be our death-song, if we ever, as a nation, die. so often celebrated, must have been the heroine of that most Suppose it had been written ' to order,' as so much now is ' perfect lyric already commented on O wha is she that lo'es written, to please a publisher and to 'take' with the trade, it the other in Currie's the me?' [_p. 211.] On hand, edition, could not possibly have been better written, it would very name of 'Phillis' is that of a circum- not been so better or its moral superseded by 'Chloris,' likely have well ; but not, value in the stance which again leaves us doubt on subject, and as a prophecy would have been entirely lost : it would no which indicates not improbably that the Poet himself was a longer have been like life-breath, or a draught of inspiration little undecided in his own choice. for the people. Why are so many songs purporting to be 0.1. But never, never can come near the heart, national (and some of them very excellent songs, as of Dibdin and other of the last so and compare with writers) generation, powerless There's sic parade, sic pomp, an* art, ineffectual now ? Chiefly because they were written to ordei The can reach the heart. The Two. joy scarcely Dogs. perhaps for a meal of meat, perhaps for government pay to

p. 225. O PHELY, HAPPY BE THAT DAY : A pretty little swell the list of volunteers, or reconcile the victims of the ' pastoral dialogue, in similar strain to There was a Lass, and press-gang to the sorrows and shame of the service. Such she was fair,' and most probably in honour of the same lady writers were employed, or found it to be their interest, to sing Miss P. M'Murdo. Our scholarly readers may compare at down the horrors of the lash and cheat men out of their senses their leisure, and with no disadvantage, as they will find, to who had been kidnapped for slaughter, at the command and the credit of this affectionate the emissaries of an exclusive ceased Burns, simple-hearted, colloquy by junto ; and they have by him with Horace's love -repartees with Lydia. to have any permanent interest or value, when the miserable p. 226. How CAN MY POOR HEART BE GLAD ? Another occasion has passed. Burns's song, on the other hand, unpur- womanly protest against war. In Thomson's edition, stanza chased, unpremeditated; above all, unfavourable to the pre- ii. is awanting. We introduce it in brackets from Currie's, judices and principles of the time, being a natural outburst but cannot the as it of in forth in help thinking that, poetically, piece, humanity music ; poured careless, self-reliant, ' originally stood without it in Collection,' was better. almost scornful geniality of soul in contempt of rank,

' 227. A' : p. A MAN'S A MAN, FOR THAT Next to Scots wha privilege, power, fashion, distinction, every accident of time and ' Auld hae,' Lang Syne,' the best known, and most impor- and place, of birth and fortune; and recognising solely the tant national of our song Author's that is, of the language right of man to respect and honour in virtue of his manhood, was written, as he tells us himself, more in the spirit of vive has become a sermon in verse for all time, and will realise la ! than in bagatelle proper earnest. It has, notwithstanding, its own predictions at last, by the very intensity, geniality, proved to be the finest earnest in the world, and in moral and truthfulness of its utterance. influence has superseded all social and political philosophies of One might say without offence, from a higher point of view, -ftp

AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 297

that the two last stanzas resemble petitions in the Lord's printed in some editions Prayer, or most important principles in our Lord's public A king can mak a belted knight, &c., teaching. which, however, is not found either in Thomson or Currie. But Jesus called them unto and him, said, Ye know that the princes of the of this Apropos reference to the royal prerogative, we may Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority it mention that there was a curious in in upon them. But shall not be so among you, &c. Mat., Mar., Luke. plea Parliament 1782, respecting His Majesty's right of Peers of Scotland Does any one seriously doubt it ? To make such comparison, creating Peers of Great Britain. It arose in connection with notwithstanding, may savour slightly of impiety in certain Douglas, Duke of Hamilton's claim, and was decided in favour of His ears. Do we mean to affirm that Robert Burns, in a song pour la Majesty. This in the Crown, after so bagatelle, has ever enunciated anything like the Gospel ? right acknowledged singular a challenge, be known to Burns, and anything for a moment to be compared with divine inspira- might easily seems most probably to have the allusion. tion ? In such questions, it seems to be forgotten that Burns suggested p. 227. WHEN O'ER THE HILL THE EASTERN STAB: One was baptized and educated in the faith of Christianity; that of those pure and beautiful love-reveries in which our Author he was not a heathen ; that he was not even an infidel. Such delighted, and which reminds us forcibly of the old Ayrshire illiberality is indeed amazing in the nineteenth century, ' days of and ecstatic tenderness. There are some almost incredible. The very essence of A Man's a Man for simplicity variations in text of this but not of much : a' that' will be found in St. James's Epistle, and in the Lord's song, importance the doctrinaires 1. Down by the burn, where scented birks, Prayer ; yet and religionists of our day seem is otherwise written birken not to know where it comes from, and are seriously offended buds, if a fellow-christian should hint that it resembles Christ. Do and in original copy in then that this man a Bible ? never they imagine never saw p. 228, c. 1, s. 1. Altho' the night were ne'er sae wild, read the ? or did not its divine ? Gospel approve teaching stood were ne'er sae wet, The truth, on the contrary, seems to be, that he read it more in conformity with ancient chorus, on which the song was distinctly, believed it more sincerely, and applied it more pro- probably founded [see Author's Annotations on Museum], to foundly than most of ourselves. His own heart was his grand which Thomson, however, wisely objected. In same stanza, interpreter ; and the plainest and which we simplest precepts, the first line stands inverted in Currio's edition, thus can only torture into dogmas or make the groundwork of In mirkest glen, at midnight hour, persecution, when looked at in the light of his benevolence in which Thomson's edition and humanity, swelled out into volumes of love or rose up At midnight hour, in mirkest glen, into musical prophecies. as being more directly connected with succeeding line, seems After such comparisons, it may seem almost out of place to much refer to other inform our very preferable. any parallel ; yet we may readers p. 228. O WEEE MY LOVE YON LILAC FAIR : Is but a that there is a resemblance to certain ideas in this song our Author, who was so much affected the although faint and localised in Les Oueux. fragment by by Beranger's ' beauty of the old stanza O gin Love were yon Red Rose,' . my p. 227, c. 1, 2. What tho' on hamely fare we dine, hoddin and a' &c. that he the lines now before as a mere com- Wear gray, that ; prefixed us, Gie fools their and knaves their silks, wine, plement to the original idea. A man's a man for a' that. seems almost to have been : adopted by Beranger These conclude our Author's contributions to the first four D'un palais 1' eclat vous frappe, volumes of Thomson's Collection : the few remaining pieces, Mais 1' ennui vicnt y gemir : bien sans which at a much later date in vol- On peut manger nappe ; appeared supplementary Sur le paille on peut dormir : umes, will be found among his Posthumous Works. As a whilst the concluding stanza receives a sort of Pensioner's echo postscript to these remarks, however, we think it right to from the following if the French does not more exactly observe that an old edition of the BRAW LADS OF GALLA ' ' remind us, perhaps, of the reunion in Auld Lang Syne WATER, which appeared in 'Johnson's Museum' [Vol. II., L' amitiS que Ton regrette, No. 125], and which has been attributed to Burns both in N'a point quitt<5 nos climats : Blackie's edition and in Chambers' s, as a revision at least, if Elle trinque a la guinguette, not as an is a with so far as we can now Assise entre deux soldats. Stranger: Vol. I., 42. original, song which, Burns had whatever to do. It is a of We are reminded by Mr. Chambers that a similar thought to trace, nothing piece from two older one referring to a lad, the The rank is but the guinea's stamp, patchwork songs The man's the gowd for a' that. other to a lass of Galla Water in so confused a style as to be

' ' ' " In the Museum it has not even the occurs in Wycherley's Plain Dealer.' I weigh the man, not hardly intelligible. is the title 'tis the can make the mark of a revision, X or Z, upon it, and certainly not. his ; not king's stamp metal better work of our Author in other We attach it for or heavier. Your lord is a leaden shilling, which you bend any way. examination. every way, and debases the stamp he bears." Mr. Chambers, Braw, Braw Lads of Galla Water. however, is frankly of opinion, in which we concur, that Braw, braw lads of Galla Water ; Barns probably never saw these words. O ! braw lads of Galla Water :

c. 2, . 4. A prince can make a belted knight, I'll kilt my coats aboon my knee, and a" that follow love thro' the water. A marquis, duke, ; And my 2 z LIFE AND WORKS [NOTES CRITICAL

Sae fair her hair, sae hrent her hrow, Second Part. dearie Sae bonny hlue her cen, my ; My Soul is ravished with Delight Sae white her teeth, sae sweet her mou' , I When you think upon ; The mair I kiss, she's ay my dearie. All Griefs and Sorrows take the flight,

And hastily are gone ; O'er and o'er yon bank, yon brae, The fair Resemblance of your Face O'er moss the heather yon amang ; So fills this Breast of mine, I'll kilt coat aboon knee, my my No Fate nor Force can it displace, And follow love thro' the water. my For Old-long-syne.

Down amang the broom, the broom, Since Thoughts of you doth banish Grief, Down amang the broom, my dearie, When I'm from you removed ; The lassie lost a silken snood, And if in them I find Relief, That cost her mony a blirt and bleary. When with sad Cares I'm moved ;

How doth your Presence me aflfect, With Ecstasies Divine, when I reflect Eeferring to Note on ATJLD LANG SYNE, our readers have Especially On Old-long-syne. here afforded them an opportunity of consulting the only two extant editions of the song previous to Burns, known to us, Since thou has rob'd me of my Heart and commented on in the Note now specified [p. 291]. By those resistless Powers, Which Madam Nature doth impart WATSON'S CHOICE COLLECTION those fair of [From 1711.] To Eyes yours ; With Honour it doth not consist Old Long Syne. First Part. To hold a Slave in Pyne, SHOULD old be Acquaintance forgot, Pray let your Rigour then desist, And never thought upon, For Old-long-syne. The Flames of Love extinguished, And freely past and gone 1 'Tis not Freedom I do Is thy kind Heart now grown so cold my crave, Pains In that loving Breast of thine, By deprecating ; That thou canst never once reflect Sure Liberty he would not have

in his chains : On Old-long-syne ? Who glories But this I wish, the Gods would move That noble Soul of thine Where are thy Protestations, To pity, since thou cannot love Thy Vows and Oaths, my Dear, For Old-long-syne. Thou made to me, and I to thee, In Register yet clear I Is Faith and Truth so violate To the Immortal Gods Divine, THE KIND RECEPTION. That thou canst never once reflect To the Tune Auld On Old-long-syne ? of Lang Syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Is't Cupid's fears, or frosty Cares, Tho' they return with scars ? That makes thy Sp'rits decay 1 These are the noblest heroe's lot,

Or is't some Object of more worth, Obtain' d in glorious wars : That's stoll'n thy Heart away ? Welcome, my Varo, to my breast, Or some Desert makes thee neglect Thy arms about me twine, Him, so much once was thine, And make me once again as blest, That thou canst never once reflect As I was lang syne. On Old-long-syne *

Methinks around us on each bough, Is't worldly Cares so desperate, A thousand Cupids play ; That makes thee to despair ? Whilst thro' the groves I walk with you, Is't that makes thee exasperate Each object makes me gay : And makes thee to forbear ? Since your return the Sun and Moon If thou of that were free as I, With brighter beams do shine; Thou should be Mine : surely Streams murmur soft notes as they run, If this were true, we should renew As they did lang syne. Kind Old-long-syne.

Despise the Court and din of State, But since that nothing can prevail, Let that to their share fall, And all Hope is in vain, Who can esteem such slav'ry great, From these rejected Eyes of mine, While bounded like a ball! Still Showers of Tears shall rain : But sunk in love, upon my arms And though thou hast me now forgot, Let your brave head recline, Yet I'll continue Thine, We'll please ourselves with mutual charms And ne'er forget for to reflect As we did lang syne. On Old-long-syne.

and dale with friend If e'er I have a House, my Dear, O'er moor your gay You the chace That truly is call'd mine, may pursue ; a bottle end And can afford but Country Cheer, And after blyth that's therein All cares in my embrace : Or ought good ; vacant Tho' thou were Rebel to the King, And in a rainy day And beat with Wind and Rain, You shall be wholly mine; We'll make the hours run smooth Assure thyself of welcome Love, away, at For Old-long-syne. And laugh lang syne. AND HISTORICAL.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 299

The heroe, pleased with the sweet air inasmuch as the Author himself, in the composition of the And signs of gen'rous love, referred to Which had heen utter'd by the fair, very songs to, was exercising, perhaps unknown

Bow'd to the Pow'rs above : them, the utmost care, and allowed no production to leave his Next day with glad consent and haste hands, until it had been more than once written or was Th' approaoh'd the sacred shrine, over, Where otherwise the good priest the couple blest, entirely satisfactory, and beyond improvement, And them out of put pine. either by himself or others. read Having such specimens, our readers, \ve presume, will The variations of original text illustrated by us in this require no further evidence of the originality and authenticity department of our work, are such as were either made by of the Eobert Burns's own song of AULD LANG SYNE. Author himself with a view to publication during his

own life ; or such as have been found in his own hand of VARIOUS READINGS. early dates, referring to subjects already before the world in slightly different forms. Most of these variations have been NEW NOTES. exhibited or in tabu- explained previous Notes ; but we have To alter his own text much was a to which Eobert thing lated them in their place, uniform with text, that the order, Burns, the whole earlier of his was during period authorship, number, and whole extent of these changes, where they were rather as he and as no man ever had averse, believing did, of sufficient importance, might be visible at once to the reader. better right to do, in the of his first comparative perfection Two of the subjects we have presented in their final form to alterations at ' inspirations ; make the request of others was entire, for several reasons : (1) because both The Holy Fair' a to for various im- thing positively painful him, although, and 'Death and Doctor Hornbook' are poems of much in- he did in such from perative reasons, acquiesce suggestions trinsic importance, and contain variations which could not critical in the latter advisers part of his career; but con- be otherwise than in relation to appreciated the whole; (2) the immense amount and of his sidering variety writings, because 'The Holy Fair' affords the best illustration of the such whether or are alterations, spontaneous suggested, difference in orthography, as between the earlier and later remarkably few in number and of no very great importance referred to and ' Horn- editions, already ; Death and Doctor as the character or of the text. It affecting original beauty book,' even in its final form, exhibits the same difficulties be said that Burns had written "no cannot, perhaps, line, in punctuation by which the first edition of that poem was he could wish to but which, dying, blot;" very few, indeed, characterised, and which we humbly endeavoured in our own even of his most would or could be much questionable lines, text of the first edition to rectify; (3) because the poems alteration. Of this he had a improved by strong, just, themselves require a little further elucidation in some points instinctive and resisted all efforts at serious altera- conviction, of an interesting or curious nature, for which their repro- tions on his finished the most works, even by accomplished duction thus affords us an opportunity. critics and would-be most serviceable friends. One corre- p. 229. THE HOLY FAIR : The reader will observe in the Dr. ' spondent (Mr. Eamsay of Oughtertyre) writing to Currie final edition of the poem before us, and also of Death and I asked him whether the on this subject, observes "When Doctor Hornbook,' the free use of Capital Letters, italics, their criticisms Edinburgh Literati had mended his poems by asterisks, and blanks. This mode of printing, so far as style 'Sir,' said he, 'these gentlemen remind me of some spinsters of letters is concerned, was not confined to one edition, but that it is neither in my country, who spin their thread so fine was adopted by our Author from the first. It was common, fit for weft nor woof.' He said he had not a date but to a changed word, indeed, in most works of that ; seems have been to Dr. Blair."* On which Dr. Ourrie except one, please very favourite style of typography with Burns. His own " of remarks, This incorrigibility Burns extended, however, original early manuscripts, so far as we have seen them, were before he arrived in for this only to his poems printed Edinburgh ; all written out with a view to style, which he seems to in regard to his unpublished poems he was amenable to have rigorously insisted on at the hands of his printer, and in criticism, of which many proofs might be given." Not very Kilmarnock Edition to the uttermost. In recent times the many, we suspect. Among the various readings which do fashion of a simpler uniform type, except in very rare cases occur, only comparatively few are to be regarded as cor- of emphasis, has been more approved; and as so many alterations these for the most as in the earlier editions rections or ; being part slightly different kinds appear throughout different readings from duplicate copies drawn out by him in would only have disfigured our pages, without adding any- haste "from memory," as he expressly informs us; by which thing to his sense, we considered ourselves bound, in this errors of the text, to himself imperceptible at the moment, mere external respect, to conform to the fashion of the day. alterations it be have slipped in : and for the various which were No author, indeed, may truly said, was ever more of for no proposed by Thomson or others, and which he did accept, we independent of any form type; man's words who in than his know distinctly that most of them were acquiesced with a ever wrote indicated more clearly do, by their been amount of that protest or a grudge, and in due time have rejected by mere position, the exact emphasis should be the world to make way for his own original indisputable bestowed on each of which, by and by, both publishers and on the of aware. He seems himself at last to readings. These critical emendations, part pub- readers became fully lishers and their friends, were all the more unnecessary, have been entirely satisfied on this subject, and allowed of printers or engravers to employ whatever sort types they

* ' In 'Johnson's Museum' and in 'Thomson's Col- Word occurs, as our readers are aware, in The Holy Fair.' pleased. 300 LIFE AND WORKS [NEW NOTES ON

lection' such diversities (required only by weakness, or by the otherwise from the perfect unity of the stanza. [See Note on a 'forcible feeUes,' as D'Israeli' the Elder, or De Quincey some- passage -p. 92.] 'A rousing whid' which means startling where says) are scarcely in comparison to be found. On the exaggeration, a sort of sudden half- conscious lie we ought other hand, so far as the use of blanks or asterisks, instead of here perhaps to explain, is not intended so much to denote the the proper names or questionable terms, is concerned, ho adhered boldness of the lie itself, as the special purpose of rousing to that system invariably as long as he lived. Where an attention of the people, which otherwise might be flagging individual is unpleasantly referred to, or some idea in re- under the discourse. the lation to religion or morality that might give offence to In this final edition, however, the reader will find in another scrupulous is introduced, asterisks or blanks are always well-known stanza, where contemptuous reference to an im- substituted; and such blanks, even where the words or portant process of medical diagnosis in certain dangerous - names are quite obvious, should never be filled up without cases occurs, a mere where in the first edition no the use of brackets in an edition of Eobert Burns, inasmuch such decided blank at least is found. To this change in the as plain printing in such cases being without his authority Author's text, readers must therefore reconcile themselves. false of the man who lie us. edition which would convey an entirely impression ; The responsibility does not with The never compromised himself, but never wantonly or unneces- contains the favourite line at the expense of the clergy in sarily offended others. This topic receives fuller illustration one stanza, presents a distinct blank in favour of the medical and confirmation from 'The Fair' than from other in edition of this Holy any profession another ; and no poem containing poem. both the line and even a trace of the word in question has so far as to editorial p. 229, c. 1, s. 1. I walked forth to view the corn, any claim, we know, honesty. An' snuff the caller air, ele- Again : as regards punctuation (that most important although it stands thus in final edition, and has been adopted ment in conveying the sense of every work), we have already by Currie and some others, contains a manifest error in observed that, with two exceptions, the poem now before in punctuation which we regret to find has been repeated by us is more imperfectly printed than perhaps any other typographical oversight in several copies of our own edition. the whole compass of our Author's writings. In one im- the in- The line, as in the Edinburgh Edition, should finish of course portant particular, we have endeavoured to rectify with a full stop accuracy which seems to be apparent on the surface. [See its first the An' snuff the caller air. Note on stanza x. (c. 2, s. 6), p. 92.] After issue,

of this seems never to have been revised ; In the Kilmarnock Edition it reads punctuation poem and it stands now before the reader in its final form, precisely An' snuff the callor air. as it purports, through London publishers under editorship on second we much lament we did not which, thoughts, of Lord Woodhouselee, to have been left by the Author. On retain in its original, beautiful, broad simplicity distending this subject we have only further to observe, that the most as it the the very nostrils, were, and opening mouth wider, fail to read this most perfect elocutionist in the world will the fulness of its by pronunciation. remarkable poem with satisfaction or success, if he conscien- c. s. 2. The auld Guidmen, about the grace, the desired p. 232, 2, tiously adheres to the punctuation. To produce Frae side to side they bother, for either tra- effect, he must study the stanzas himself, and 'bother' so in all editions. In our own we have edition, verse or ignore the punctuation, as it here stands, altogether. this word as ' that to be the correct references printed bather,' believing Since our original annotations on the various ' orthography. The word occurs only (this) once, so far as we which occur in ' Death and Doctor Hornbook to local events in the whole course of our Author's remember, writings, and or characters, our attention has been directed to a different is him with an o. Jamieson refers to the word so consider spelt by interpretation of some of these which we worthy as of doubtful in which we concur spelt origin; [see Glossary]. of notice. In Glasgow Weekly Herald, July 10th, 1867, an Sir Walter Scott and other authorities the word with an the remarks re- spell ingenious annotator presented anonymously a, as in our text. In future edition, however, Burns' s of an Poet.' any ferred to, under the title of 'New Eeadings Old own in this instance shall be restored. orthography disputed Commenting on stanza IV. Burns' s doubtful for [In connection with repute religion, as to p. 233, c. 1, . 4. The rising Moon began glow'r Author of this poem, see pleasant anecdote in M'Diarmid The distant Cumnock hills out-owre : To count her horns, wi' a' my pow'r, Memoranda ] Appendix. set I mysel ; p. 233. DEATH AND DOCTOR HORNBOOK : Our readers will But whether she had three or four, I cou'd na tell. find, in the final edition of this celebrated poem, the line so ' horns' alluded to much admired by many, which was introduced latterly by our he explains that counting the moon's here of " the Author into the first stanza. The earliest trace of its appear- was a practice then common in the country, observing ance we can observe, is in edition of 1794; but as this was serratures and protuberances in the concavity of her disk the but a reprint from the edition of 1793, it is very probable number of which indicated her age, or the number of days the line may be found in that also. The line itself has a since new moon. As the concavity filled up, these indenta- certain sly humorous point which has commended it to most tions and ridges became so close that it was impossible to but in other it them." He further illustrates this of general approval ; respects, presents a slight distinguish practice ' interruption to the original climax, which rather detracts than ' counting by describing the process of looking at the moon VARIOUS READINGS.] OF ROBERT BURNS. 301

the of a silk a harvest ' "through medium handkerchief" on write naturally down Johnny Ged's hole,'' although he possibly of which he himself had been a in his ' night ; participant intended John o' Ged's.' had this youth, and been often a witness. We have to thank 235. SPECIAL p. VARIATIONS TABULATED : We presume, unknown annotator for recalling these facts to our mind. will sufficiently explain themselves. The chief authorities We can ourselves, from very distant recollection when thus for these being already indicated in the text, require little awakened, bear to the curious here de- testimony experiment further mention by us. They are to be found all either in the scribed, as having been tried in our own presence, by natives Author's different editions, or in duplicate manuscript copies not of of it Ayrshire but Stirlingshire ; from which appears of his own, specified and quoted. For some details respecting that the custom had been the Low- pretty general throughout these variations we refer our readers to Gilbert Burns's Me- lands of Scotland. We can doubt, therefore, that this scarcely moranda on his brother's poems [Appendix]. The other is the true of allusion. On the other hand, it must be point documents, which are not public we have been ' property, observed that this is the instance in which the ' horns only privileged by the courtesy of their proprietors or guardians of the moon are so referred to Burns. In other by many personally to inspect, or have been favoured with certified instances and there are four or five 'her 'her trem- ' ' horn,' copies of their contents. The Crichton Manuscript we have bling horn,' indicates distinctly the cusp of the bright new, or already described in Note upon 'The Whistle' [p- 252]. Of of the old moon and it must further be remem- ' very waning ; that which we have denominated the Gladstone (Fasque) ' bered that one of those instances, in Willie Brewed a Peck o' Manuscript,' a document of great interest, which has been Maut,' much to the situation now before corresponds pretty most politely forwarded for inspection, we shall have more to us. to our previous note on this \_p. 92], Turning subject say hereafter. Of the 'Stewart (Stair) Manuscript,' in which the reader will also find that the moon, on the of night so many interesting variations occur, the history is somewhat this encounter, could not be new moon at all but ghostly curious, and may be here briefly detailed. In prospect of or full. No new moon ' over a mountain. full, nearly glow'rs' leaving Scotland (1786) our Author, in acknowledgment of his To this, however, it be on our own may very justly replied obligations to Mrs Stewart of Stair for her early patronage of that where no at all was or principle, counting necessary his muse, enclosed "a parcel of songs, &c.," in an affectionate the idea of ' wi' a' his was so possible, very counting power' valedictory letter to that lady. [See Special Correspondence.] much the more characteristic and ridiculous. That parcel of manuscript consisted of ten leaves, containing ' On stanza xxiii. a copy of ' The Vision with a considerable number of addi-

' ' tional stanzas not a of the Stanzas p. 234, c. 2, *. 6. Waes me for Johnny Iftd's Hole* now,' originally published, copy ' ' if that thae news be true ! in Quoth I, Prospect of Death' entitled by him Misgivings of Despon- His braw coif-ward whare &c. ' gowans grew,' on the of the Monarch of the dency approach gloomy Grave ; * The R. B. gravedigger. and several songs including 'Lass o' Ballochmyle,' 'My ' the annotator in Glasgow Herald remarks, that the name of Name, O,' Handsome Nell,' 'Tho' Cruel Fate,' and 'Euined ' ' Farmer.' This the functionary here referred to should have been printed interesting document came by inheritance to the John o' Ged's hole. Ho lived in a small cottage, built on the lady's grandson, Allason Cunningham, Esq., of Logan; from it margin of a pool in the water of Fail, much frequented by whom was obtained by purchase on behalf of five devout and pike, the Scotch name of which is ged. Hence the name of equally enthusiastic admirers of the Poet, in Ayr or its John o' Ged's hole." This little bit of tradition with respect neighbourhood. These gentlemen, who were repre- sented in the the late in to Johnny's residence and consequent sobriquet, is entirely purchase by Mr. Dick, bookseller new to us, but we have no doubt is accurate enough. We Ayr, did not know how to relinquish with peace of mind each his share of the can only inform our readers that there is no authority what- own coveted treasure to any neutral party, or " to one of their own number for the rest. I ever for the alteration in spelling proposed Johnny Ged's doubt you will think did a " hole being invariable under the Author's own hand, and the we very foolish thing says one of these gentle- ' ' instead of the note attached by him, precisely as now printed. That note, men, when, keeping manuscript intact we to have two we confess, in connection with the name, has always seemed resolved leaves each. Our enthusiasm must be to us a little obscure. In absence of other information, how- our excuse." The repentant adviser of this distribution, whose to and kindness seem to his has ever, we were disposed \_p. 92] explain the reference as courtesy equal enthusiasm, enabled us, his own most to obtain certi- having a double sense (1) to Johnny Ged as gravedigger, or by friendly exertions, fied of the various in of friends representative of Death the pike, or devouring monster : (2) copies portions possession to Ged's or the itself him with the minutest variations in each. These are Johnny hole, grave prepared by ; specified to both of which annihilation was threatened under the new chiefly found in the special fragments which now belong to G. and administration of Doctor Hornbook. Our readers need hardly, Gemmell, Esq., banker, W. M. Dick, Esq., bookseller, ' and Maxwell trustee or perhaps, be reminded that the braw calf- ward, whare gowans Ayr ; Dick, Esq. (the depositary of other of grew,' was the graveyard: where the sexton had the privilege many most valuable manuscripts our Author), book- of grazing his cow, and where possibly any stray beast might seller, Irvine. From these documents we have selected what- be enclosed for a day until its owner was discovered. As to ever was most important in the way of original variations. A considerable of the spelling, it has only further to be observed, in support of very number minor differences, in the spelling the annotator's theory in the Herald, that our Author spelled of a word, &c., are discoverable also, but not of sufficient

' ' John o' Groats' Johnny Groats,' and might therefore very moment to justify their formal reproduction. In those which 302 LIFE AND WORKS [NEW NOTES, ETC.

have been selected there are several peculiarities worth noting. these and other indications of self-culture in composition, we

' ' For example, in Stanzas in Prospect of Death have one or two small notes or prefaces, intended for Mrs.

p. 238, c. 2. Thy rod can make the tempest cease to blow, Stewart's own eye, as apologetic for the then imperfect con- dition of his which we have implies a very manifest reference to the exercise of divine workmanship ; already quoted. Note 'Handsome The reader has al- power by delegation through Moses: [See Nell,' p. 282.] seen all that to be noted in the But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide ready requires specially &c. xiv. ' ' ' it, Exod. 16, 26, 27. Lines in Friars-Carse Hermitage,' The Whistle,' and Auld that in the a circumstance by no means to be forgotten, as indicating the Lang Syne.' We have only farther now to add, Author's state of mind, as well as range of reading, at this 'Lines in Friars-Carse Hermitage,' the reading in our text edition in early period. Again, as to mere accuracy of diction, we find from Author's own edition, as opposed to Currie's absolute clearness of dis- that he had still a little to learn for p. 239, c. 2. That foolish, selfish, faithless ways, tinction in the construction of compound sentences. Thus, in Lead to the wretched, vile, and base. 'Vision,' Duan Second: is undoubtedly superior.

c. 2. the Bard or p. 237, And when hoary Sage Lead to be wretched, vile, and base. Instruct or charm the future age, has a natural as well as a relation to the two ' ' grammatical implies an incorrect distribution of relative terms instruct lines the in which it occurs : ' immediately preceding couplet and ' charm to their nominatives being misplaced relatively ; but a confusion rectified the Author before carefully by publi- Lead to the wretched, vile, and base. cation. The same principle of attentive revision as to the has no and a relation to ' ' natural, scarcely grammatical, any- position of words is illustrated in The Gloomy Night thing preceding at all. Of this poem, a short original draft p. 239, c. 2. Those bleed afresh, these ties I tear; was discovered by Cunningham, which differs very con- My love with these, my peace with those : siderably it may be said almost entirely from the others; where 'these' and 'those' in one instance, and 'peace' and which will be found hereafter in its place among Author's 'love' in the other, were thus originally misplaced. Besides Posthumous Works.

ADDENDA AND EKRATA IN NOTES.

c. 2. TAM o' SHANTEB: p. 93, c. 1. Note on THE BRIGS OP AYR: Add parallel p. 246, from Ovid Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flannen, Been snaw-white seventeen-hunder linnen! Inque fretum credas totum descendere cojluin, To Cromek's note on ' seventeen-hunder we add, Inque plagas cceli tumefactum ascendere pontum ! linnen,' may Metamor: Lib. Fab. x. xi., on practical authority, that such linen is woven in a reed of

Then down ye'll hurl, (deil nor ye never rise!) 1700 divisions to a width of 36 inches two threads in each And dash the gumlie jaups up to the pouring skies ! division. Wider cloth, in same proportions, would still retain Two lines almost literally translated in one. the same denomination.

BESIDES a few slight typographical blemishes, which, notwithstanding the utmost care, have escaped us, the two following imperfect or incorrect quotations must be rectified in the meantime, thus :

: four p. 102, c. 2. Note on WINTER NIGHT Abbreviated quota- Read Finally, we may add, under the same category, tion from Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner' should have been lines prefixed by him to last stanza of a beautiful song, &c., more accurately, in full said lines beginning No cold approach, no alter' d mien, &c. He prayeth well, who loveth well Annotations Both man and bird and beast : [See Author's following.]

He prayeth best, who loveth best All both and small things great ; P./S. POOR MAILIE'S ELEGY : Eeferring to last stanza in For the great God who loveth us, our own text we are to after due He made and loves them all. \_p. 27], disposed believe, consideration, that the two last lines, as in Author's own p. 285, c. 2. Note on Song beginning edition, should be read separate, thus The tears I shed must ever fall : His heart will never get aboon ! For Finally, we may add, under the same category, four His Mailie's dead ! lines prefixed by him to a beautiful song, &c., and shall take first opportunity of restoring them so in text.