Notes CHAPTER 1 THE EARLY PERIOD: BURNS' INTUITIVE USE OF SCOTTISH TRADITION 1. August Angellier in Robert Burns, La Vie, Les Oeuvres, 2 vols (Paris, 1983) pointed to this when he said: 'But underneath this scholarly poetry there existed a popular poetry which was very abundant, very vigorous, very racy and very original'. See especially p. 14 of Jane Burgoyne's selected translation from Angellier in the Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, 1969. Other portions of the translation appeared in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973. 2. J. De Lancey Ferguson (ed.) The Letters of Robert Burns, 2 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931), 1: 106, no. 125. Burns adopted a superior tone here in keeping with the accepted pose of the eighteenth-century man of letters. All references to Burns' letters are to Ferguson's edition. Only letter numbers will be given when the citation appears in the text proper. 3. Most critics and students of Burns take some stance towards his relationship with previous work. Hans Hecht, Robert Burns: The Man and His Work, 2nd rev. ed. (London: William Hodge & Company, 1950), p. 29, suggests that Burns was the culmination of a tradition, but he speaks of a literary rather than a cultural inheritance. 4. See T. S. Eliot, The Sacred Wood (London: Methuen, 1950), pp. 47-59. 5. Angellier earlier suggested this division and I agree with him that Burns' work prior to Edinburgh was dominated by depiction of the world around him. After Edinburgh, Angellier indicates that Burns relied less on the specific incidents and more on general sentiments. I concur again but the significance of this move to generality is in Burns' nationalism. 6. Hecht, Robert Burns, p. 86 discusses the Kilmarnock poems as Heimatkunst. 7. For an example of Hugh MacDiarmid's view of Burns, see Burns Today and Tomorrow (Edinburgh: Castle Wynd Printers, 1959). 8. See John Strawhorn, 'Burns and the Bardie Clan', Scottish Literary Journal, 8 (1981): 5-23 for a discussion of fellow poets. 9. No. 180 'On scaring some Water-Fowl in Loch-Turit, a wild scene among the Hills ofOughtertyre' is said to have been read one evening after supper. See Robert Chambers and William Wallace (eds), The Life and Works of Robert Burns, 4 vols (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1896), 2: 193. W. E. Henley and T. F. Henderson(eds), The Poetry ofRobert Burns, 4vols (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1896-7) mention several additional instances: see, for example, 1:328. 10. All references to Burns' work are to James Kinsley (ed.), The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, 3 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968). Item numbers will be given hereafter in the text. 'The Ordination' is no. 85. 147 148 Burns and Tradition ll. See for example 'The Banks of Nith' (no. 229) and Burns' comment in Ferguson, Letters, no. 265, that it was composed as he jogged along the bank. 12. James Cameron Ewing and Davidson Cook (eds), Robert Burns's Commonplace Book 1783-1785 (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965), p. 39. In describing the inspiration for his fragment 'Altho' my bed were in you muir' (Kinsley, Poems and Songs, no. 22) said to be an imitation of 'a noble old Scottish Piece called McMillan's Peggy', Burns comments: 'I have even tryed to imitate, in this extempore thing, that irregularity in the rhyme which, when judiciously done, has such a fine effect on the ear. -' 13. 'Worth gaun a mile to see' is from 'The Humble Petition ofBruar Water to the Noble Duke of Athole', Kinsley, Poems and Songs, no. 172. 14. See 'For lake o'' from '[Lines written on a Bank-note]', ibid., no. 106. 15. See the general work on this subject by Albert Lord, The Singer of Tales (New York: Atheneum, 1971) and a book which presents specific appli­ cation of this theory to the Scottish scene, David Buchan's The Ballad and the Folk (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972). 16. Ewing and Cook, Commonplace Book, p. 42. 17. See Kinsley, Poems and Songs, no. 208-'Musing on the roaring Ocean'. 18. Ibid., no. 306, 'The White Cockade'. 19. Ibid., no. 391, 'Here's a Health to them that's awa'. 20. It is perhaps interesting to note that this Jacobite verse is written in standard, literary English, indicative of the broad popularity of this theme. 21. For other examples, see Kinsley, Poems and Songs, nos 3 'I dream'd I lay', 10 'Winter, A Dirge', 66 'The Braes o' Ballochmyle', 138 'Again rejoicing Nature sees', 218 'The Winter it is Past', 316 'Lament of Mary Queen of Scots on the Approach of Spring', 336 'Gloomy December'. 22. Ferguson, Letters, no. 164. 23. Kinsley, Poems and Songs, nos 144 'On Fergusson', 160 'On the death of Sir J. Hunter Blair', 186 'On the death of the late Lord President Dundas', 233 'A Mother's Lament for the loss of her only Son', 238 'Sketch for an Elegy', 334 'Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn', 445 'Sonnet, on the Death of Robert Riddel, Esq.' 24. Ibid., no. 235 'Whistle o'er the lave o't'. 25. Ibid., no. 72 'The Cotter's Saturday Night' and also no. 71 'The Twa Dogs. A Tale'. 26. Ibid., no. 451 'Ode for General Washington's Birthday' and no. 625 'The Tree of Liberty.' 27. Ibid., no. 44-'A fragment-When first I came to Stewart Kyle'. 28. Ibid., no. 11, 'On Cessnock banks a lassie dwells'. 29. Ibid., no. 81, 'The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer, to the Right Honorable and Honorable, the Scotch Representatives in the House of Commons'. 30. Ibid., no. 90, 'Letter to J-s T-t, GL-nc-r'. 31. Ibid., no. 105, 'Epistle to a Young Friend'. 32. Ibid., no. 216, 'Rattlin, roarin Willie'. 33. Ibid., no. 136, 'To a Haggis'. 34. Ibid., no. 119B, 'Robert Burns' Answer' to 'Epistle from a Taylor to Robert Burns'. Notes to Chapter 1 149 35. Ibid., no. 54, 'Epitaph on Holy Willie'. 36. Ibid., no. 55, 'Death and Doctor Hornbook. A True Story'. 37. Ibid., no. 120, 'The Brigs of Ayr, a Poem. Inscribed to J. B.*********, Esq; Ayr'. 38. Ibid., no. 71, 'The Twa Dogs. A Tale'. 39. Hecht, Robert Burns, p. 217 says, 'Bums's lyric poetry ... clings to the clear realism of its chief sources: the Scottish popular and traditional songs'. 40. See as example Marjorie Plant, The Domestic Life of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century (1899; reprint ed., London: Adam & Charles Black, 1969). 41. I include Kinsley, Poems and Songs, nos 40 'The Ronalds of the Bennals', 57 'Epistle to J. L*****k, An Old Scotch Bard', 67 'Third Epistle to J. Lapraik', 70 'The Holy Fair', 71 'The Twa Dogs. A Tale', 72 'The Cotter's Saturday Night', 73 'Halloween', 74 'The Mauchline Wedding', 75 'The Auld Farmer's New-year-morning Salutation to his Auld Mare, Maggie', 76 'Address to the Dei!', 77 'Scotch Drink', 79 'To J. S****', 86 'The Inventory', 102 'To Mr Gavin Hamilton, Mauchline', 136 'To a Haggis', 140 'There was a lad', 236 'Tam Glen', 244 'Versicles on Sign-posts', 321 'Tam o' Shanter. A Tale', 514 'Poem, Addressed to Mr. Mitchell, Collector of Excise'. 42. Ferguson, Letters, no. 13. 43. Ibid., no. 10. 44. Eve Blantyre Simpson, Folk Lore in Lowland Scotland (London: J. M. Dent, 1908), p. 14. 45. William Grant Stewart, The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland (1851: reprinted., Hatboro, Pennsylvania: Norwood Editions, 1974), p. 161. 46. M. Macleod Banks, British Calendar Customs: Scotland, 3 vols (London: William Glaisher, 1937, 1939, 1941), 3: 122-4. 47. Kinsley, Poems and Songs, 1: 153-4. 48. See H. G. Graham, The Social Life ofScotland in the Eighteenth Century, 5th ed. (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1969), p. 336. 49. See Plant, Domestic Life, pp. 97-8. 50. R. H. Cromek, Remains ofNithsdale and Galloway Song (Paisley: Alexander Gardner, 1880), p. 212. 51. James Ballantine (comp. and ed.), Chronicle of the Hundredth Birthday of Robert Burns (Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & Co., 1859), pp. 70-1. 52. John D. Ross, Burnsiana, 5 vols (Paisley: Alexander Gardner, 1892), 1: 23- 4. 53. See also, Kinsley, Poems and Songs, nos 28 'On Ja! Grieve, Laird of Boghead, Tarbolton', 28A 'On an Innkeeper in Tarbolton', 97 'Epigram on said Occasion', 98 'Another', 146 'To M~ E--on his translation of Martial', 158 'At Roslin Inn', 159 'Epigram', 237 'To the beautiful Miss Eliza J--n', 256 'Lines written in the Kirk ofLamington', 323 'Epigram on Capt. Francis Grose, The Celebrated Antiquary', 329 'On Mr. James Gracie', 410 'On being asked why God had made Miss D-- so little and Mrs A-- so big', 411A 'On Maxwell of Cardoness', 411 B 'Extempore -On being shown a beautiful Country seat belonging to the same', 415 'Epigrams on Lord Galloway', 417 'On J-hn M-r-ne, laird of 150 Burns and Tradition L-gg-n', 426 'To Maria- Epigram -On Lord Buchan's assertion', 433 'On Capt~W--R-dd--ck ofC-rb-ton', 440 'On seeing Miss Fontenelle in a Favourite Character', 448 'Pinned to M" R--'s carriage', 449 'In answer to one who affirmed of D: B--, that there was Falsehood in his very looks', 450 'Extempore', 455 'To D' Maxwell, on Miss Jessy Staig's recovery', 463 'On seeing M" Kemble in Yarico', 464 'To the Honbte M: R. M--, of P-nm-re', 473-9 'Dumfries Epigrams', 480 'On Chloris requesting me to give her a spray of a sloe-thorn in full blosson', 487 'On Miss J.