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Burns at Brow 1 57 Burns at Brow 1 Let the sun shine in upon us, my dear young lady; he has not long to shine upon me 2 I wish this evening to discuss with you a period of about fifteen days towards the end of the life of Robert Burns. It is of course too late a period to have influenced his writing, and probably for this reason little is written about it, but I find the period to be helpful in developing my personal view of Burns the man. The talk then will be partly a factual account of the days, how he came to be at Brow and what happened on his return; and part speculation. Burns' early death has been the cause of much discussion. At first it was common to use his early death as a cautionary tale to warn us: When e'er to drink you are inclin'd, Or cutty-sarks run in your mind, Tam o' Shanter, lines 221-223 From an obituary entitled, 'Robert Burns the Scotch Poet', that appeared in a newspaper shortly after his death I would like to cite the following passages:4 On the 21st inst [July 1796] died at Dumfries, after a lingering illness (as we before mentioned) Robert Burns who has excited so much interest by the peculiarity of the circumstances under which he came forward to public notice and the genius discovered in his poetical compositions ... His early days were occupied in procuring bread by the labour of his own hands, in the honourable task of cultivating the earth, but his nights were devoted to books and the muse, except when they were wasted in the haunts of village festivity and in the indulgences of the 1 In September 1996, following an extensive tour of Scotland, this paper was presented to the Sydney Society for Scottish History in honour of the 200th anniversary of the death of Robert Bums on 21 July 1796. It is very much a personal essay and I make no claim to original research. 2 See Infra, Appendix A, p. 8 and n. 32. 3 J. Kinsley, The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, 3 Vols (Oxford, 1968), Yo. II, p. 564; cutty-sark: a short chemise or undergarment. 4 A full transcription of the obituary appears in, 'Appendix B', at the end of this article. Unfortunately, the date, place and name of the publication in which the obituary appears was not preserved by the then owner of the 1790 edition of, Robert Bums, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (William Gilbert, Great George's Street, Dublin, 1790), which I purchased a number of years ago. I am grateful toMs Pat Fenech, Fisher Library, University of Sydney, for her research regarding the identification of the precise publication. It must be assumed that the obituary appeared in a local newspaper as it did not appear in The Times between 21st July and 2nd August, 1796. Hereafter passages cited from the obituary will be referenced simply as 'Appendix B'. 58 social bowl, to which the poet was but too immodemtely attached in every period of his life ... Such we believe is the character of a man who in his compositions, has discovered the force of native humour, the warmth and tenderness of passion, and the glowing touches of a descriptive pencil - a man who was the pupil of nature, the poet of inspiration, and who possessed in an extraordinary degree the powers and failings of genius. Of the former his works will remain a lasting monument; of the latter, we are afmid that his conduct and his fate afford but too melancholy proofs.5 One of his earliest biographers, James Currie, perpetuated this attitude when he wrote that 'he who suffers the pollution of inebriation, how shall he escape other pollution, ... but let us refmin from the mention of errors over which delicacy and humanity draw the veil'.6 This gratuitous and unctuous remark has been widely interpreted as suggesting venereal disease as a possible cause of death. In the 1920s there was reconsideration of the view that he had died from the scourges of dissipation. In 1925 Sir James Crichton-Browne published a view that he had been a life long invalid and had eventually died from rheumatic endocarditis. 7 Since then there has been further speculation and conditions which 'could not be excluded' have been suggested are polyarteritis nodosa, or Kussmaul's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, carcinomatosis, hepatitis, leukaetnia and tuberculosis. Additionally, quite a convincing case has been made out for brucellosis or undulant fever, a condition unrecognised in the late eighteenth century. Robert Hindle Fowler made a contribution to the discussion from Australia. A past senior vice­ president of the Melbourne Burns Club and a former Director of the Melbourne Science Museum, he supported the brucellosis theory saying that it would account for many of the symptoms displayed by Bums during the last two years of his life. Hindle describes brucellosis as 'a feverish disease that can persist for years, sometimes in phases of remission. It can cause depression, lassitude, loss of appetite, headache and enlargement of the liver. '8 The manner of Bums' death Fowler asserts, 'attmcts a strong presumption of terminal pneumonia'. He goes on to suggest that Bums' condition may have been aggravated by lead poisoning, pointing to the pmctice of using metallic lead,9 or its oxide litharge, in the making and subsequent improvement of wine. Robert T Fitzhugh in his book, Robert Burns the Man and the Poet, cites in his Appendix B an opinion by a Dr Stanley Bardwell which quotes 5 Appendix B. 6 J. Curry, The Works of Robert Burns, 4 Vols (Edinburgh, 1819), p. 215. 7J. Mcintyre, Dirt and Deity: A Life ofRobert Burns, (London, 1995), p. 431. 8 Ibid, p. 432. 9 Lead reduced acidity and helped to dispel cloudiness. 59 ninety-three contemporary references to Burns' health. He generally supports the diagnosis of rheumatic fever leading to endocarditis, the inflamation of the lining of the heart, probably brought about by his hard work and exposure to the elements as a boy and a young man. In most cases it appears where the heart has previously been damaged by rheumatic fever, and the symptoms of Burns' recurrent illnesses were often consistent with the symptoms of rheumatic fever: prostration, feverishness, malaise and loss of appetite. These symptoms and his later skin hemorrhages weight loss and occasional joint pains could well be attributed to endocarditis. Dr Bardwell concludes that in his opinion: There is nothing in the record to suggest either venereal disease or the usual stigma of alcoholism. Almost certainly Burns had recurrent attacks of rheumatic fever; bacterial endocarditis may have been present terminally, but not necessarily. If rheumatic heart disease is not granted, then endocarditis as a diagnosis is not justified. Prompt recognition of symptoms, and assessment of the clinical situation would today lead to appropriate treatment with penicillin, or other suitable antibiotics, and probably cortisone or one of its derivatives.IO Robert Burns had a long history of illness. His job as an Exciseman kept him out in all weathers riding thirty to forty miles a day. In January of 1796 he had a bout of illness which prevented him from working and he was reduced to half pay. As a result he appears to have struggled back to work, but had to give up. Whatever the eventual verdict by the retro-diagnosticians, his own physician and close personal friend, James Maxwell, diagnosed floating gout, and prescribed sea bathing, and riding and, according to James Barke, mercury and laudanum washed down with port wine to take away the taste.l1 Burns had great faith in Maxwell who had studied medicine in France where he developed republican sentiments and joined the National Guard. In this capacity he attended the execution of Louis XVI, dipping his handkerchief in the executed monarch's blood. On his return to Scotland, Maxwell recommended that Burns should take the waters at Brow Well which is about ten miles south-east of Dumfries, standing on the Solway shore. Burns went to Brow on horseback on 4 July 1796. According to Fitzhugh, Sir James Crichton Browne described Brow Well as being, 'the meanest, shabbiest little spa in all the world'. He continues that, it consists of three whitewashed cottages; a tank the size of a dining table and lined with red stone, into which through an iron pipe, the 10 R.G. Fitzhugh, Robert Burns: the Man and the Poet (London and New York, 1971), p. 415. 11 J. Barke, Bonnie Jean, (London, 1959), p. 289; see also his, Well of the Silent Harp (London, 1954). 60 mineral water trickles; an esplanade a score of yards long, of coarse tufted grass; and the pump room, a dilapidated wooden shed, the walls and benches of which are graven over and over again with the initials of those who have sought healing at the well. The country immediately around is flat and uninteresting. Inland there are a few stunted plantations of gnarled oaks and shaggy Scotch firs, which by their bent backs bear witness to the rough usage of the western winds, while in front there is a broad flat, hillocky expanse, studded with bent grass and furze, and ending in the sea- beach, consisting of a mixture of sand and clay known locally as sleetch. This uninviting substance extends for several miles into the Solway, with so slight a declination that the tide at low water slides entirely out of sight and leaves to the eye a barren and cheerless waste.
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