by Robert Burns
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.
I. — TO ELLISON OR ALISON BEGBIE (?)1
II. — TO ELLISON BEGBIE.
III. — TO ELLISON BEGBIE.
IV. — TO ELLISON BEGBIE.
V. — TO ELLISON BEGBOE.
VI. — TO HIS FATHER.
VII. — TO SIR JOHN WHITEFOORD, BART., OF BALLOCHMYLE.3
VIII. — TO MR. JOHN MURDOCH, SCHOOL-MASTER, STAPLES INN BUILDINGS, LONDON.
IX. — TO HIS COUSIN, MR. JAMES BURNESS, WRITER, MONTROSE.
X. — TO MR. JAMES BURNESS, WRITER, MONTROSE.
XI. — TO MR. JAMES BURNESS, WRITER, MONTROSE.
XII. — TO THOMAS ORR, PARK, KIRKOSWALD.
XIII. — TO MISS MARGARET KENNEDY.8
XIV. — TO MISS —— , AYRSHIRE.9
XV. — TO MR. JOHN RICHMOND, LAW CLERK, EDINBURGH.10
XVI. — TO MR. JAMES SMITH12, SHOPKEEPER, MAUCHLINE.
XVII. — TO MR. ROBERT MUIR, WINE MERCHANT, KlLMARNOCK.
XVIII. — TO MR. JOHN BALLANTINE, BANKER, AYR. (?)
XIX. — TO MR. M’WHINNIE, WRITER, AYR.
XX. — TO JOHN ARNOT, ESQUIRE, OF DALQUATSWOOD.
XXI. — TO MR. DAVID BRICE, SHOEMAKER, GLASGOW.
XXII. — TO MR. JOHN RICHMOND, EDINBURGH.
XXIII — TO MR. JOHN RICHMOND.
XXIV. — TO MR. JOHN KENNEDY.
XXV. — TO HIS COUSIN, MR. JAMES BURNESS, WRITER, MONTROSE.
XXVI. — TO MRS. STEWART, OF STAIR.19
XXVII. — TO MR. ROBERT AIKIN, WRITER, AYR.
XXVIII. — TO DR. MACKENZIE, MAUCHLINE; INCLOSING HIM VERSES ON DINING WITH LORD DAER.
XXIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP, OF DUNLOP.
XXX. — TO MISS ALEXANDER.
XXXI. — IN THE NAME OF THE NINE.
XXXII. — TO JAMES DALRYMPLE, ESQ., ORANGEFIELD.
XXXIII. — TO SIR JOHN WHITEFOORD.
XXXIV. — TO MR, GAVIN HAMILTON, MAUCHLINE.
XXXV. — TO MR. JOHN BALLANTINE, BANKER, AT ONE TIME PROVOST OF AYR.
XXXVI. — TO MR. ROBERT MUIR.
XXXVII. — TO MR. WILLIAM CHALMERS, WRITER, AYR.
XXXVIII. — TO THE EARL OF EGLINGTON.
XXXIX. — TO MR. JOHN BALLANTINE.
XL. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
XLI — TO DR. MOORE.31
XLII. — TO THE REV. G. LAWRIE, NEWMILNS, NEAR KILMARNOCK.
XLIII. — TO THE EARL OF BUCHAN.32
XLIV. — TO MR. JAMES CANDLISH,33STUDENT IN PHYSIC, GLASGOW COLLEGE.
XLV. — TO MR. PETER STUART, EDITOR OF “THE STAR,” LONDON.
XLVI — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
XLVII — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
XLVIII. — TO DR. MOORE.
XLIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
L — TO MR. WILLIAM NICOL, CLASSICAL MASTER, HIGH SCHOOL, EDINBURGH.
LI. — TO MR. WILLIAM NICOL.
LII. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE
LIII. — TO MR. JAMES SMITH, LINLITHGOW, FORMERLY OF MAUCHLINE
LIV. — TO MR. JOHN RICHMOND.
LV. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
LVI-To DR. MOORE.
LVIL. — TO MR. ARCHIBALD LAWRIE.44
LVIII. — TO MR. ROBERT MUIR, KILMARNOCK.
LIX. — TO MR. GAVIN HAMILTON.
LX. — TO MR. WALKER, BLAIR OF ATHOLE.49
LXI. — TO His BROTHER, MR. GILBERT BURNS, MOSSGIEL.
LXII. — TO MR. PATRICK MILLER,52DALSWINTON.
LXIII. — TO REV. JOHN SKINNER.
LXIV. — TO Miss MARGARET CHALMERS, HARVIESTON. (AFTERWARDS MRS. HAY, OF EDINBURGH.)
LXV. — TO MRS. DUNLOP OF DUNLOP HOUSE, STEWARTON.
LXVI. — TO MR. JAMES HOY,55GORDON CASTLE.
LXVII. — TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN.
LXVIII — TO Miss CHALMERS.
LXIX. — TO MISS CHALMERS.
LXX. — TO MISS CHALMERS.
LXXI. — TO MR. RICHARD BROWN, IRVINE.
LXXII — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
LXXIII. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
LXXIV. — TO THE REV. JOHN SKINNER.
LXXV. — TO MRS. ROSE, OF KILRAVOCK.
LXXVI-To RICHARD BROWN, GREENOCK.
LXXVII. — TO MR. WILLIAM CRUIKSHANK.59
LXXVIII. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
LXXIX. — TO MR. RICHARD BROWN.
LXXX. — TO MR. ROBERT MUIR.
LXXXI — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
LXXXII — TO MR. WM. NICOL (PERHAPS).
LXXXIII. — TO MISS CHALMERS.
THE CLARINDA LETTERS.
NOTE PREFATORY TO THE LETTERS TO CLARINDA
LETTERS TO CLARINDA.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE (continued).
LXXXIV. — TO MR. GAVIN HAMILTON.
LXXXV. — TO MR. WILLIAM DUNBAR, W.S., EDINBURGH.
LXXXVI. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
LXXXVII. — TO MR. JAMES SMITH, AVON PRINTFIELD, LINLITHGOW.
LXXXVIII — TO PROFESSOR DUGALD STEWART.
LXXXIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
XC. — TO MR. SAMUEL BROWN, KIRKOSWALD.
XCI. — TO MR. JAMES JOHNSON, ENGRAVER, EDINBURGH.
XCII. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
XCIII. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
XCIV. — TO MRS. DUNLOP, AT MR. DUNLOP’S, HADDINGTON.
XCV. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
XCVI. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
XCVII — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
XCVIII. — TO MR. PETER HILL, BOOKSELLER, EDINBURGH.
XCIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
C. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CI. — TO MR. BEUGO, ENGRAVER, EDINBURGH.
CII. — TO MR. ROBERT GRAHAM, OF FINTRAY.
CII. — TO His WIFE, AT MAUCHLINE.
CIV. — TO Miss CHALMERS, EDINBURGH.
CV. — TO MR. MORISON, WRIGHT, MAUCHLINE.
CVI. — TO MRS. DUNLOP, OF DUNLOP.
CVII — TO MR. PETER HILL.
CVIIL — TO THE EDITOR OF THE “STAR”.
CIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP, AT MOREHAM MAINS.
CX. — TO DR. BLACKLOCK.
CXI. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXII. — TO MR. JOHN TENNANT.
CXIII. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXIV. — TO DR. MOORE, LONDON.
CXV. — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
CXVI. — TO PROFESSOR DUGALD STEWART.
CXVII. — TO MR. ROBERT CLEGHORN, SAUGHTON MILLS.
CXVIII. — TO BISHOP GEDDES, EDINBURGH.
CXIX. — TO MR. JAMES BURNESS.
CXX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXXI. — TO MRS. M’LEHOSE (FORMERLY CLARINDA).
CXXIL — TO DR. MOORE.
CXXIII. — TO HIS BROTHER, MR. WILLIAM BURNS.
CXXIV. — TO MR. HILL, BOOKSELLER, EDINBURGH.
CXXV. — TO MRS. M’MURDO, DRUMLANRIG.
CXXVI. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CXXVIL — TO MR. RICHARD BROWN.
CXXVIIL — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE.
CXXIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXXX. — TO MISS HELEN MARIA WILLIAMS.
CXXXI. — TO MR. ROBERT GRAHAM, OF FINTRY.
CXXXIL — TO DAVID SILLAR, MERCHANT, IRVINE.102
CXXXIII. — TO MR. JOHN LOGAN, OF KNOCK SHINNOCK.
CXXXIV. — TO MR. PETER STUART, EDITOR, LONDON.
CXXXV. — TO HIS BROTHER,
WILLIAM BURNS, SADDLER, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
CXXXVL — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXXXVIL — TO CAPTAIN RIDDEL, FRIARS CARSE.
CXXXVIII — TO MR. ROBERT AINSLIE, W.S.
CXXXIX. — TO MR. RICHARD BROWN, PORT-GLASGOW.
CXL. — TO MR. R. GRAHAM, OF FINTRY.
CXLL — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXLII. — TO LADY WINIFRED M. CONSTABLE.
CXLIII. — TO MR. CHARLES K. SHARPE, OF HODDAM.
CXLIV. — TO HIS BROTHER, GILBERT BURNS, MOSSGIEL.
CXLV. — TO MR. WILLIAM DUNBAR, W.S.
CXLVL. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXLVII. — TO MR. PETER HILL, BOOKSELLER, EDINBURGH.
CXLVIIL. — TO MR. W. NICOL.
CXLIX. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM, WRITER, EDINBURGH.
CL. — TO MR. HILL, BOOKSELLER, EDINBURGH.
CLI. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLII. — TO DR. JOHN MOORE, LONDON.
CLIII. — TO MR. MURDOCH,113 TEACHER OF FRENCH, LONDON.
CLIV. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CLV. — TO MR. CRAUFORD TAIT,114 W.S., EDINBURGH.
CLVL. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLVIL. — TO MR. WILLIAM DUNBAR, W.S.
CLVIIL. — TO MR. PETER HILL.
CLIX. — TO DR. MOORE.
CLX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXI. — TO THE REV. ARCH. ALISON.
CLXII. — TO THE REV. G. BAIRD.
CLXIII. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM, WRITER, EDINBURGH.
CLXIV. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXV. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CLXVL — TO MR. THOMAS SLOAN
CLXVII — TO MR. AINSLIE.
CLXVIII. — TO MISS DAVIES.
CLXIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXX. — TO MR. WILLIAM SMELLIE, PRINTER.
CLXXL — TO MR. WILLIAM NICOL.
CLXXIL. — TO MR. FRANCIS GROSE, F.S A.
CLXXIIL. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXXIV. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CLXXV. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXXVI. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXXVII. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXXVIII. — TO MR. R. GRAHAM, FINTRY.
CLXXIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CLXXX. — TO MR. ROBERT GRAHAM OF FINTRY.
CLXXXI. — TO MR. ALEX. CUNNINGHAM, W.S., EDINBURGH.
CLXXXIL — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CLXXXIII. — TO Miss BENSON, YORK, AFTERWARDS MRS. BASIL MONTAGU.
CLXXXIV. — TO MR. JOHN FRANCIS ERSKINE, OF MAR.
CLXXXV. — TO MISS M’MORDO, DRUMLANRIG.
CLXXXVI. — TO JOHN M’MURDO, ESQ., DRUMLANRIG.
CLXXXVII. — TO MRS. RIDDEL.
CLXXXVIII. — TO MRS. RIDDEL.
CLXXXIX. — TO MRS. RIDDEL.
CXC. — TO MRS. RIDDEL.
CXCI. — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CXCII. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXCIII. — TO MR. JAMES JOHNSON.
CXCIV. — TO MR. PETER MILLER, JUN., OF DALSWINION.131
CXCV. — TO MRS, RIDDEL
CXCVI. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CXCVII. — TO MRS. DUNLOP, IN LONDON.
CXVIII. — TO THE HON, THE PROVOST, ETC., OF DUMFRIES.
CXCIX. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.133
CC. — TO MR. JAMES JOHNSON.
CCI — TO MR. CUNNINGHAM.
CCII. — TO MR. GILBERT BURNS.
CCIII. — TO MRS. BURNS.137
CCIV. — TO MRS. DUNLOP.
CCV. — TO MR. JAMES BURNESS, WRITER, MONTROSE.
CCVI. — TO HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, JAMES ARMOUR, MASON, MAUCHLINE.138
THE THOMSON LETTERS.
PREFATORY NOTE.
THE THOMSON LETTER.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
The Biographies
Burns’ last home in Dumfries, where he died aged 37
LIFE OF ROBERT BURNS by Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) was a Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist and historian during the Victorian era, rising to became a controversial social commentator of his time. Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was expected to become a preacher by his parents, but while at the University of Edinburgh he lost his Christian faith. Calvinist values, however, remained with him throughout his life. His combination of a religious temperament with loss of faith in traditional Christianity, made Carlyle’s work appealing to many Victorians who were grappling with scientific and political changes that threatened the traditional social order. He offered an incisive style to his social and political criticism and a complex literary style to works such as The French Revolution: A History (1837), which later served as a source for Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
Carlyle developed influential ideas of Socialism and his belief in the importance of heroic leadership, as argued in his monumental work On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841), in which he compared a wide range of different types of heroes, including Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon, William Shakespeare and, of course, his beloved fellow Scot Robert Burns. In his mature years, Carlyle published the following detailed and affectionate biography of Robert Burns in 1859.
Thomas Carlyle
CONTENTS
PART FIRST.
PART SECOND.
PART FIRST.
Robert Burns, the national bard of Scotland, was born on the 25th of January, 1759, in a clay-built cottage about two miles south of the town of Ayr. He was the eldest son of William Burnes, or Burness, who, at the period of Robert’s birth, was gardener and overseer to a gentleman of small estate; but resided on a few acres of land which he had on lease from another person. The father was a man of strict religious principles, and also distinguished for that penetration and knowledge of mankind which was afterwards so conspicuous in his son. The mother of the poet was likewise a very sagacious woman, and possessed an inexhaustible store of ballads and legendary tales, with which she nourished the infant imagination of him whose own productions were destined to excel them all.
These worthy individuals labored diligently for the support of an increasing family; nor, in the midst of harassing struggles did they neglect the mental improvement of their offspring; a characteristic of Scottish parents, even under the most depressing circumstances. In his sixth year, Robert was put under the tuition of one Campbell, and subsequently under Mr. John Murdoch, a very faithful and pains-taking teacher. With this individual he remained for a few years, and was accurately instructed in the first principles of composition. The poet and his brother Gilbert were the aptest pupils in the school, and were generally at the head of the class. Mr. Murdoch, in afterwards recording the impressions which the two brothers made on him, says: “Gilbert always appeared to me to possess a more lively imagination, and to be more of the wit, than Robert. I attempted to teach them a little church music. Here they were left far behind by all the rest of the school. Robert’s ear, in particular, was remarkably dull, and his voice untunable. It was long before I could get them to distinguish one tune from another. Robert’s countenance was generally grave, and expressive of a serious, contemplative, and thoughtful mind. Gilbert’s face said, Mirth, with thee I mean to live; and certainly, if any person who knew the two boys had been asked which of them was the most likely to court the muses, he would never have guessed that Robert had a propensity of that kind.”
Besides the tuition of Mr. Murdoch, Burns received instructions from his father in writing and arithmetic. Under their joint care, he made rap
id progress, and was remarkable for the ease with which he committed devotional poetry to memory. The following extract from his letter to Dr. Moore, in 1787, is interesting, from the light which it throws upon his progress as a scholar, and on the formation of his character as a poet:— “At those years,” says he, “I was by no means a favorite with anybody. I was a good deal noted for a retentive memory, a stubborn, sturdy something in my disposition, and an enthusiastic idiot piety. I say idiot piety, because I was then but a child. Though it cost the schoolmaster some thrashings, I made an excellent scholar; and by the time I was ten or eleven years of age, I was a critic in substantives, verbs, and particles. In my infant and boyish days, too, I owed much to an old woman who resided in the family, remarkable for her ignorance, credulity, and superstition. She had, I suppose, the largest collection in the country, of tales and songs, concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions, cantrips, giants, enchanted towers, dragons, and other trumpery. This cultivated the latent seeds of poetry; but had so strong an effect upon my imagination, that to this hour, in my nocturnal rambles, I sometimes keep a sharp look-out in suspicious places; and though nobody can be more skeptical than I am in such matters, yet it often takes an effort of philosophy to shake off these idle terrors. The earliest composition that I recollect taking pleasure in, was, The Vision of Mirza, and a hymn of Addison’s, beginning, “How are thy servants blest, O Lord!” I particularly remember one-half stanza, which was music to my boyish ear:
“For though on dreadful whirls we hung
High on the broken wave.”
I met with these pieces in Mason’s English Collection, one of my school-books. The first two books I ever read in private, and which gave me more pleasure than any two books I ever read since, were, The Life of Hannibal, and The History of Sir William Wallace. Hannibal gave my young ideas such a turn, that I used to strut in raptures up and down after the recruiting drum and bagpipe, and wish myself tall enough to be a soldier; while the story of Wallace poured a tide of Scottish prejudice into my veins, which will boil along there till the flood-gates of life shut in eternal rest.”
Mr. Murdoch’s removal from Mount Oliphant deprived Burns of his instructions; but they were still continued by the father of the bard. About the age of fourteen, he was sent to school every alternate week for the improvement of his writing. In the mean while, he was busily employed upon the operations of the farm; and, at the age of fifteen, was considered as the principal laborer upon it. About a year after this he gained three weeks of respite, which he spent with his old tutor, Murdoch, at Ayr, in revising the English grammar, and in studying the French language, in which he made uncommon progress. Ere his sixteenth year elapsed, he had considerably extended his reading. The vicinity of Mount Oliphant to Ayr afforded him facilities for gratifying what had now become a passion. Among the books which he had perused were some plays of Shakspeare, Pope, the works of Allan Ramsay, and a collection of songs, which constituted his vade mecum. “I pored over them,” says he, “driving my cart or walking to labor, song by song, verse by verse, carefully noticing the true, tender or sublime, from affectation and fustian.” So early did he evince his attachment to the lyric muse, in which he was destined to surpass all who have gone before or succeeded him.