by Robert Burns
30 The widow’s tears, the orphan’s cry:
But soon may Peace bring happy days,
And Willie, hame to Logan braes! home
Burns knew several old songs that mention Logan Braes, one by his contemporary, John Mayne. Here the poet takes the original lyric and turns it into an anti-war song, sung, characteristically, in the feminine voice. He introduced it to Thomson, who did not like the dissenting tone of the final lines, which Burns defends as the voice of ‘plaintive indignation of some swelling, suffering heart, fired at the tyrannic strides of some Public Destroyer; and overwhelmed with private distresses, the consequence of a Country’s Ruin’ (Letter 566). Logan Water joins the river Nethan in Lanarkshire.
On Miss Davies
First printed by Stewart, 1801.
Ask why God made the GEM so small,
And why so huge the granite?
Because God meant, mankind should set
That higher value on it.
This was written about the diminutive Miss Deborah Duff Davies, the subject of Bonnie Wee Thing. Some editors mention a ‘Mrs A’ who is contrasted with Miss Davies. This unidentified woman is described in a manner only Burns could have written – ‘a huge, bony, masculine, cowp-carl, horse-godmother, he-termagant of a six-feet figure, who might have been bride to Og, King of Bashan: a Goliath of Gath’ (Letter 563).
Epigram on Maxwell of Cardoness
or On a Galloway Laird not Quite so Wise as Solomon
First printed in Morison, 1811.
Bless Jesus Christ, O Cardoness,
With grateful lifted eyes;
Who taught that not the soul alone,
But body too shall rise.
For had he said, the soul alone
From death I will deliver:
Alas, alas, O Cardoness!
Then hadst thou lain for ever!
David Maxwell of Cardoness, near Gatehouse of Fleet in Galloway, was made a Baronet in 1804 and died in 1825. Burns obviously met him at some point and described him as a ‘stupid, money-loving dunderpate of a Galloway Laird’ (Letter 563). Maxwell, a loyalist landowner, during 1792 and 1793 paid two of his workers to travel among the peasantry of Dumfriesshire to track down and report to him anyone active as a reformist radical (See RH 2/4/65/ff.54–57). Maxwell also wrote to the Duke of Buccleuch and mentioned Dumfries in horror due to the ‘rapidity with which these mad ideas [reformist] had made sheer progress’ (See RH 2/4/65/f.48).
On Being Shown a Beautiful Country Seat
Belonging to the Same
First printed in Scott Douglas, 1876.
We grant they’re thine, those beauties all,
So lovely in our eye:
Keep them, thou eunuch, Cardoness,
For others to enjoy!
Seeabove notes on David Maxwell of Cardoness. This was supposedly written during the poet’s Galloway tour in the summer of 1793.
On Seeing the Beautiful Country Seat of Lord Galloway –
First printed in Cromek, 1808.
What dost thou in that mansion fair,
Flit, Galloway! and find
Some narrow, dirty, dungeon cave,
The picture of thy mind. —
John Stewart (1736–1805) was the 7th Earl of Galloway. When Burns toured with John Syme through Galloway during 1793, Burns is supposed to have composed this extempore on seeing Galloway house across the bay of Wigtown, after the two travellers left Gatehouse of Fleet on their way to Kirkcudbright. Many previous editions mention that Stewart was a pious and loyal public servant who served as a Tory M.P. for many years and never merited these angry epigrams by Burns. Local folklore, however, still tells of Stewart’s habit of sending out a servant with a whip to clear the streets in Garlieston in order that he could ride through the small town without having to see any of the local peasantry. Burns never usually hit at anyone of high rank without justification. This grand house still stands.
On Lord Galloway 2
First printed in Cromek, 1808.
No Stewart art thou, Galloway,
The Stewarts all were brave:
Besides, the Stewarts were but fools,
Not one of them a knave. —
Burns, according to Syme, also wrote this on Lord Galloway during the Galloway tour. See above notes.
On Lord Galloway 3
First printed in Cromek, 1808.
Bright ran thy LINE, O Galloway,
Thro’ many a far-fam’d sire:
So ran the far-fam’d ROMAN WAY,
And ended in a mire. —
See above notes.
To Lord Galloway
On The Author Being Threatened With Vengeance
First printed in Cromek, 1808.
Spare me thy vengeance, Galloway;
In quiet let me live:
I ask no kindness at thy hand,
For thou hast none to give.
It was supposedly reported to Burns that Stewart of Galloway had heard of his critical epigrams and would take action against him. Prompted by this story, Burns wrote the above.
Lines by Burns in The British Album.
Wisdom and Science –
First printed in The Burns Chronicle, 1940.
WISDOM and Science – honor’d Powers!
Pardon the truth a sinner tells;
I owe my dearest, raptured hours
To FOLLY with her cap and bells. —
Burns wrote four scraps of verse in John Syme’s copy of a volume of radical poetry called The British Album, a collection mostly written by Robert Merry, who spearheaded the group known as the ‘Della Cruscan’ poets. Syme’s recollection dates composition to around June 1793, although the second piece may have been penned earlier, given that it was also supposedly found in a lady’s pocket book, hence the title. Syme’s copy of The British Album is now in the Dumfries Museum. The first piece is written at the foot of Merry’s Ode ending ‘Then still for you my bosom swells, / O Folly, with your Cap and Bells!’ The Mackay edition drops this epigram and two others, admitting only the second piece to the canon, stating in error, ‘The second of these alone has been so far admitted to the canon’ (Appendix B, Burns: A-Z, The Complete Wordfinder, p. 753). Kinsley rightly accepts all four. (See notes to no. 412A-D, Vol. III, p. 1432.)
Lines in a Lady’s Pocket Book
First printed in Cunningham, 1834.
Grant me, indulgent Heaven, that I may live
To see the miscreants feel the pains they give:
Deal Freedom’s sacred treasures free as air,
Till SLAVE and DESPOT be but things which were!
These lines were supposedly written extempore by Burns but feature in two separate places. They are not written against the French revolution as some nineteenth century editors presented them but are lines aimed directly at the ‘terror’ imposed by Pitt’s government in Britain during the early to mid-1790s. They are very close in sentiment and expression to the poem On the Year 1793, printed in The Edinburgh Gazetteer on 8th January, 1793 and if inserted at the end of that poem, seamlessly complete it.
Perish their Names –
First printed in The Burns Chronicle, 1940.
PERISH their names, however great or brave,
Who in the DESPOT’s cursed errands bleed!
But who for FREEDOM fill a hero’s grave,
Fame with a Seraph-pen, record the glorious deed!
These lines are written after Mrs Cowley’s Stanzas to Della Crusca in Syme’s copy of The British Album. Kinsley accepts them (no. 412C) but Mackay rejects them. The lines are, in fact, very close in tone and language to the newly, discovered Lines on Ambition written in 1793.
Love’s Records –
First printed in The Burns Chronicle, 1940.
LOVE’s records, written on a heart like mine,
Not Time’s last effort can efface a line.
There is no evidence in The British Album or elsewhere that these lines were copied by Burns from another poet, but appear to have be
en prompted by the poem Henry Deceived in the anthology.
O, Were My Love Yon Lilack Fair
First printed in Currie, 1800.
Tune: Hughie Green
O were my Love yon Lilack fair
Wi’ purple blossoms to the Spring,
And I, a bird to shelter there,
When wearied on my little wing,
5 How I wad mourn, when it was torn would
By Autumn wild and Winter rude!
But I wad sing on wanton wing, would
When youthfu’ May its bloom renew’d.
O, gin my love were yon red rose, were/if
10 That grows upon the castle wa’! wall
And I mysel a drap o’ dew, drop
Into her bonie breast to fa’! fall
Oh, there beyond expression blesst
I’d feast on beauty a’ the night;
15 Seal’d on her silk-saft faulds to rest, -soft folds
Till fley’d awa by Phoebus’ light! put to flight
The first stanza of this song is from Burns, the last is from the traditional song in Herd’s collection (1769).
Bonie Jean
or There was a Lass
First printed in Currie, 1800.
There was a lass, and she was fair,
At kirk and market to be seen;
When a’ our fairest maids were met,
The fairest maid was bonie Jean.
5 And ay she wrought her country wark, labour
And ay she sang sae merrilie; so
The blythest bird upon the bush
Had ne’er a lighter heart than she.
But hawks will rob the tender joys
10 That bless the little lintwhite’s nest; linnet’s
And frost will blight the fairest flowers,
And love will break the soundest rest.
Young Robie was the brawest lad, finest
The flower and pride of a’ the glen;
15 And he had owsen, sheep, and kye, oxen, cattle
And wanton naigies nine or ten. horses
He gaed wi’ Jeanie to the tryste, went, cattle sale
He danc’d wi’ Jeanie on the down;
And, lang ere witless Jeanie wist, long, knew
20 Her heart was tint, her peace was stown. lost, stolen
As in the bosom of the stream
The moon-beam dwells at dewy e’en; evening
So, trembling, pure, was tender love
Within the breast of bonie Jean.
25 And now she works her Mammie’s wark, labour
And ay she sighs wi’ care and pain;
Yet wist na what her ail might be, knew not, ailment
Or what wad make her weel again. would, well
But did na Jeanie’s heart lowp light, not, jump
30 And did na joy blink in her e’e; not, eye
As Robie tauld a tale o’ love, told
Ae e’enin on the lily lea. one
The sun was sinking in the west,
The birds sang sweet in ilka grove: each
35 His cheek to hers he fondly laid,
And whisper’d thus his tale of love.
O Jeanie fair, I loe thee dear; love
O canst thou think to fancy me!
Or wilt thou leave thy Mammie’s cot, mother’s cottage
40 And learn to tent the farms wi’ me. tend
At barn or byre thou shalt na drudge, not
Or naething else to trouble thee; nothing
But stray amang the heather-bells, among
And tent the waving corn wi’ me. gather
45 Now what could artless Jeanie do?
She had nae will to say him na: no, refuse
At length she blush’d a sweet consent,
And love was ay between them twa. two
Bonie Jean is the most appropriate title for this work. The heroine is Jean McMurdo, daughter of John McMurdo. Thomson eventually printed the song in 1805.
On the Death of Echo, a Lap-Dog
First printed in Currie, 1800.
Ye warblers of the vocal grove,
Your heavy loss deplore;
Now half your melody is lost,
Sweet Echo is no more.
Each shrieking, screaming bird and beast,
Exalt your tuneless voice;
Half your deformity is hid,
Here Echo silent lies.
The authenticity of these verses relies somewhat on the reminiscence of John Syme that Burns composed lines at the Gordons of Kenmure Castle, in late July 1793, on their pet dog, Echo, who had recently died. Kinsley prints two versions, suggesting that the first is probably lines remembered by Syme and gives the second, above, as the authentic (See Vol. III, p. 1434). This, though, may be open to question given that the holograph in the Rosenbach catalogue is considered a hurried scrawl which might not be by Burns. The version printed by Mackay is placed in our Appendix with other works doubted or rejected.
On John Morine, Laird of Laggan
First printed in Cromek, 1808.
When Morine, deceas’d, to the Devil went down,
’Twas nothing would serve him but Satan’s own crown!
Thy fool’s head, quoth Satan, that crown shall wear never;
I grant thou’rt as wicked —but not quite so clever. —
This was found among the Glenriddell manuscript collection. John Morine of Laggan, near Ellisland, purchased the poet’s farm. He and Burns supposedly quarrelled over the amount that should be paid for a large heap of dung.
Phillis The Fair
Tune: Robin Adair
First printed in Currie, 1800.
While larks with little wing
Fann’d the pure air,
Viewing the breathing Spring,
Forth I did fare:
5 Gay, the sun’s golden eye
Peep’d o’er the mountains high;
Such thy morn! did I cry,
Phillis the fair.
In each bird’s careless song,
10 Glad, I did share;
While yon wild flowers among
Chance led me there:
Sweet to the opening day,
Rosebuds bent the dewy spray;
15 Such thy bloom, did I say,
Phillis the fair.
Down in a shady walk,
Doves cooing were;
I mark’d the cruel hawk,
20 Caught in a snare:
So kind may Fortune be,
Such make his destiny!
He who would injure thee,
Phillis the fair.
This was written on Phillis McMurdo, younger sister of Jean and daughter of John McMurdo of Drumlanrig. Burns picked up the tune from a Highlander based in Dumfries with the Breadalbane Fencibles.
Had I a Cave
Tune: Robin Adair.
First printed in Thomson, 1799.
Had I a cave on some wild, distant shore,
Where the winds howl to the waves’ dashing roar:
There would I weep my woes,
There seek my lost repose,
5 Till grief my eyes should close,
Ne’er to wake more.
Falsest of womankind, canst thou declare,
All thy fond, plighted vows — fleeting as air!
To thy new lover hie,
10 Laugh o’er thy perjury —
Then in thy bosom try,
What peace is there!
Burns wrote this lyric in recollection of the unfortunate break-up of Alexander Cunningham and his beloved Anna, as also expressed in Anna, Thy Charms. Writing to Thomson in August 1793 Burns admitted he had not succeeded in matching the lyrics perfectly to the music of Robin Adair (Letter 576).
O, Whistle an’ I’ll Come to Ye, My Lad
First printed in Thomson, 1799.
But warily tent, when ye come to court me, take care
And come nae unless the back-yett be a-jee; not, -gate, ajar
Syne up the back-style and let naebody see, then, -stile, nobody
And come as ye were na comin to me — not
5 And come as ye were na comin to me. — not
Chorus
O WHISTLE an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,
O whistle an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad;
Tho’ father, an’ mother, an’ a’ should gae mad, go
Thy JEANIE will venture wi’ ye, my lad.
10 At kirk, or at market whene’er ye meet me,
Gang by me as tho’ that ye car’d na a flie; go, cared not, fly
But steal me a blink o’ your bonie black e’e, eye
Yet look as ye were na lookin to me — not
Yet look as ye were na lookin to me. — not
O whistle an’ I’ll, &c.
15 Ay vow and protest that ye care na for me, not
And whyles ye may lightly my beauty a wee; at times, a little
But court na anither tho’ jokin ye be, not another
For fear that she wyle your fancy frae me — lure, from
For fear that she wyle your fancy frae me. — lure, from
20 O whistle an’ I’ll, &c.