But the earliest Scots specimen of this singular stanza, according to Dr. Guest, is to be found in a poem, belonging to the middle of the sixteenth century, say 1550, entitled The Banks of Hellicone. In the Bannatyne MS., compiled in 1568 and printed for the Hunterian club in 1873, occurs a poem 'maid to the tone of The Banks of Hellicone,' and entitled 'Ane Ballat of the Creation of the World, Man, his Fall and Redemption—an earlier Paradise Lost and Regained. It is easily accessible in Ramsay's Evergreen. The Banks of Hellicone will be found in Pinkerton's Ancient Scot. Poems, ii, 237. 1. 24. 'Haill' or 'hale and fier' is an old Scots expression, found in Dunbar's Dream, and in Lichtoun's Quha Douttis Dremis (in the Bannatyne MS.). 1. 25. Burns gives this line to Ramsay, but I cannot find it. It seems to be an incorrect recollection from Ramsay's Vision: Rest but a while content, Not fearful, but cheerful, And wait the will of Fate, 11. 46-48. Cf. Goldsmith (The Traveller): Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine! 11. 63-66. Cf. The Traveller : Vain, very vain, my weary search to find 1. 116. Cf. Gray (The Bard): Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart. 11. 119-122. The original version (with recollections of Goldsmith: In all my griefs, and God has given my share), was as follows: In all my share of care and grief, My hope and comfort and relief Are thoughts of her and heaven. 1. 138. Tenebrific was got from Young's mint. Burns was a close student of The Night Thoughts. Young's coinage is commonly pedantic, e.g. 'ichor of Bacchus' (for wine), 'a brow solute,' 'antemundane father,' 'extramundane head,' 'terræ-filial,' 'conglobe,' 'irrefragable smile,' 'grand climacterical absurdities,' &c. Lapraik's P. 161. Epistle to John Lapraik. Dated April 1, 1785. farm was about fourteen miles to the east of Burns's. The song referred to at 1. 13 begins: When I upon thy bosom lean, And fondly clasp thee a' my ain, I glory in the sacred ties That made us ane wha ance were twain. 1. 45. Crambo is a game in which one gives a word to which another finds a rhyme. In Congreve's Love for Love (the opening scene) we read: Valentine. You are witty, you rogue. I shall want your help; I'll have you learn to make couplets, to tag the ends of Acts; d'ye hear? get the maids to crambo in an evening, and learn the knack of rhyming. 11. 79, 80. Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), author of The Gentle Shepherd, &c.; Robert Fergusson (1750-1774), author of The Farmer's Ingle, &c. P. 165. To the Same (Lapraik). This reply bears date April 21, 1785. 1. 20. The poet's remonstrance with his muse recalls Lancelot's debate with his conscience before he ran away from the service of Shylock. (See The Merchant of Venice.) 1. 92. Not the ragged followers of the Nine,' as some editors give it. Cf. Congreve's Love for Love-concluding lines of Scene 1, Act i.: As ragged as one of the Muses.' 11. 104-106. Cf. Milton's Comus : Where bright aërial spirits live ensphered In regions mild. P. 168. To William Simson. This epistle was written in May, 1785. Simson was schoolmaster of Ochiltree, a village on the Lugar, some eight miles south of the farm of Mossgiel. 1. 15. Allan Ramsay and his rhyming correspondent, Lieut. William Hamilton of Gilbertfield. (See Note on Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie, p. 569.) 1. 17. Robert Fergusson, author of The Farmer's Ingle, &c., had been an engrossing clerk in a lawyer's office in Edinburgh. To such drudgery he was compelled through domestic poverty, for he had been well educated at St. Andrews. He died in a madhouse in his 24th year. Il. 31, 32. Coila, the protective goddess of Kyle, the middle division of Ayrshire, in which Burns was born. 'There was a lad was born in Kyle.' Coila's poets were such as Davie Sillar, William Simson, John Lapraik, &c 1. 58. Ayr, Turnberry, Irvine, Leglen Wood, &c., are all associated with the patriotic efforts of Sir William Wallace. (See the rude epic on Wallace by Harry the Minstrel.) 1. 65. For red-wat-shod,' cf. Arthur (E. E. T. Society's publications for 1864): There men were wet-schoede All of brayn and of blode. 11. 85-87. So Milton (Il Penseroso): Youthful poets dream On summer eves by haunted stream. 1. 88. And not weary. The idiom is not uncommon, not only in Scottish verse, but in current speech. Burns uses it several times. 1. 108. Previously the poet had signed his name Burness. His father's signature was Burnes. Pronounce Bur'nes. 11. III-114. The reference is to The Holy Tulzie, q.v. (p. 124). 'New Light,' says Burns, in a note, ' is a cant phrase in the West of Scotland for those religious opinions which Dr. Taylor of Norwich has defended so strenuously.' 1. 140. The ministers and their congregations. form of hirsel,' a herd or a flock. 'Hissel' is a local P. 174. Letter to John Goudie. Written August, 1785. Goldie (or Goudie) was a self-taught genius, successful in trade, and widely known for his scientific knowledge and philosophical ability. At first he was a cabinet-maker, and afterwards he became a wine and spirit merchant, in Kilmarnock. His essays, in three volumes, bore Burns describes him as 'Author the popular name of Goudie's Bible.' of the Gospel recovered.' 1. 9. Rev. John Russel, Kilmarnock. 11. 13-18. Another version of this stanza is given : Auld Orthodoxy lang did grapple For every hole to get a stapple; But noo she fetches at the thrapple Haste! gie her name up i' the chapel'— Near unto death! 1. 25. Dr. Taylor of Norwich. P. 175. Third Epistle to Lapraik. Bears date Sept. 13, 1785. 1. 37. Horse and bridle. 1. 38. The herd' (or herdboy)'s duty was to keep the cows from the growing or ripening corn. When the corn was shorn, and 'led,' or carted, to the cornyard, where it was built into stacks, the cows were allowed to graze freely on the stubble fields, and the herd-laddie was 1 Mr. Russel's Church. R. B. dispensed with. The use of fences on modern farms has abolished the office of herd boy. 1. 51. Along with the shearers to raise the overturned sheaves. 1. 52. Leave my bagpipe. 1. 54. See the old Scottish song Maggy Lauder.' P. 177. To Rev. John M'Math. Written Sept. 17, 1785. M'Math was assistant to the minister of Tarbolton. 1. 25. Gavin Hamilton. P. 180. To James Smith. Shopkeeper in Mauchline. He afterwards went to the West Indies, where he died before Burns. This Epistle belongs to 1786, and was written about the time Burns contemplated publishing (see 11. 37, 38). 1. 133. George Dempster, M.P., a patriotic Scotsman. P. 185. To Gavin Hamilton. Dated Mossgaville, May 3, 1786.' 'Master Tootie, alias Laird M'Gaun' seems to have been a dishonest dealer in cattle. One of his evil practices was to scrape off the natural rings from the horns of cattle, in order that he might disguise their age (11. 9, 10, and 1. 35). 1. 30. John Dow's Tavern. 1. 31. To meet the worldly or greedy reptile-Master Tootie. P. 186. Epistle to Mr. M'Adam. Craigen-Gillan is in Carrick. P. 187. Epistle to Major Logan. Major William Logan, a retired military officer, a musician and wit of some repute, lived in Park Villa, Ayr, with his mother, and 'sentimental sister, Susie' (11. 74, 75). This epistle bears date, 'Mossgiel, October 30, 1786.' 1. 51. The ministers blame Eve and her daughters, &c. 1. 55. Alas for poor poets! P. 190. To a Tailor. This is Burns's reply to a 'trimming epistle' from Tammy Walker, a country tailor, who stitched and wrote doggerel in or near the village of Ochiltree, P. 192. To the Guidwife of Wauchope-House. Written in answer to a rhyming letter sent to Burns by Mrs. Elizabeth Scott, wife of the laird of Wauchope, Roxburghshire. The answer is dated March, 1787. 1. 65. Than ever was any person robed in ermine. The 'boon' re P. 195. Epistle to Robert Graham of Fintry. quested in this letter (written at Ellisland, 1788) was an appointment in the excise in the neighbourhood of his farm. It was granted about a year later. The opening lines of this poem may have been sug gested by Garrick's lines on Goldsmith. Written at Ellisland, Oct. P. 198. To the Rev. Dr. Blacklock. 21, 1789. The Rev. Thomas Blacklock, D.D., a retired clergyman of the Kirk of Scotland, blind from his birth, and a poet in a small way, was one of the literati of Edinburgh, and one of the first to discover the merits of Burns. 1. 43. Cf. Young (Night Thoughts, Bk. I): On reason build resolve, That pillar of true majesty in man. P. 200. Letter to James Tennant, Glenconner. the parish of Ochiltree. Glenconner is in 11. 9, 10. Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, and A Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)—in which he bases virtue on sympathy; Thomas Reid, Professor of Moral Philosophy in Glasgow, commonly regarded as the father of Scottish or common-sense philosophy: he accepted Shaftesbury's theory of 'a moral sense.' 6 1. 22. 'Brown' is probably the English philosopher and theologian Dr. John Brown (1715-1766), author of Essays on the Characteristics' of the Earl of Shaftesbury; 'Boston' is Thomas Boston (1676-1732), minister of Ettrick, author of Sermons and Fourfold State. 1. 31. Auld Glen' is the father of the poet's correspondent. P. 202. Epistle to Robert Graham. 1. 31. William, Duke of Queensberry. 1. 52. The Whig colours. 1. 53. 'Westerha'' is Sir James Johnstone, the Tory candidate. 1. 61. A huge piece of ancient artillery in Edinburgh Castle. 1. 67. M'Murdo was the Duke's chamberlain. 1. 85. 'Miller' is the father of Captain Miller, the Whig candidate ; he had been a banker. Captain Miller was returned. 1. 157. Borrowed from Ps. cxxii, metrical version. P. 206. Epistle to Robert Graham. The date is Oct. 5, 1791. Part of this poem sometimes bears title The Poet's Progress.' There are several unimportant variations. 1. 1. The poet broke his arm by a fall from (or rather along with) his horse in March, and in the following September a similar misfortune befell him by which he severely injured his leg. 1. 7. Job's curse. 1. 22. Variation- Her tongue, her eyes and other nameless parts.' |