Robert Burns came to know James Cunninghamme, Earl of Glencairn in Edinburgh in 1786 through a 'Letter of Introduction' provided by Dalrymple of Orangefield who was married to Lady Glencairn's sister. The Earl received the poet warmly in his house and introduced him to his friends.[1] One of several gifts from the earl to the poet was a diamond point pen,[2] stylus, or cutter[3] which he used to write upon many windowpanes and glasses, scribing verse, his signature, epigrams, or other writings for posterity. Many of these diamond-point engravings survive, some however are contentious as regards either their authenticity, meaning, or both.
The pen may well survive to this day, made of a cylindrical piece of wood (elder?), and has the diamond inserted at one end in a metal extension. It is held in the collection of the Rozelle House Galleries in South Ayrshire. Its Accession Number is AYRTOS:100346, The Digital Number is SABN001n. The original catalogue record for the object states that it is an "old glass cutting diamond used by Robert Burns".[4] The pen is part of the collections from the former Tam O'Shanter Museum in Ayr, currently under the care of South Ayrshire Council (datum 2012).
Diamond point
The Black Bull Inn.
This is one of the oldest glass engraving techniques, practiced by the ancient Romans probably using flint and in the mid-sixteenth century in England and Holland using diamond tipped tools and a stipple technique to produce landscapes, portraits, still life, etc.[2] Old glass has a higher lead content than the present day and this generally made scribing easier and more fluid in its execution.[5]
On windowpanes
The Inn at Inverary
Burns paid a visit to the Duke of Argyll in June 1787, but was unfortunate in that the duke was busy with a large gathering of the British Fishery Society. John Frazer, the innkeeper, was too busy to attend to Burns. He wrote these lines[6] on a window in the inn in the presence of his travelling companion Dr. George Grierson with his newly acquired diamond-point pen so it would be one of his first:
"Whoe'er he be that sojourns here, I pity much his case. Unless he comes to wait upon The lord their god, His Grace
There's naething here but Highland pride, And Highland scab and hunger; If Providence has sent me here, 'Twas surely in an anger."
Three different versions of the verses have been published. The whereabouts of the windowpane and inscription are longer known.[7] It was in the hands of the Argyll family for many years and then lent to an exhibition and never returned.[8]
Kirkliston, Edinburgh
Kirkliston is often given the nickname of "Cheesetown". One theory is that this because of an inscription mentioning cheese inscribed by Burns on a window pane of Castle House, formerly an inn. The window pane in question was put on show in the late 19th century at Broxburn in the Strathbock Inn. No satisfactory explanation has been given for Burns stopping here at the start of his Highland Tour and the poet himself has left no record of the event and the details of the whereabouts of the pane itself has been lost.[9]
Inver Inn, Dunkeld
In 1787 Robert Burns set out from Edinburgh on a Highland Tour. Local tradition has long held that Burns visited Niel Gow at Dunkeld and went with him to the Inver Inn where, on seeing and hearing an irate woman, the poet inscribed an epigram which he wrote then and there on the window with his diamond pen. The lines were not those of the poet, having been published some years before:
Ye gods, ye gave to me a wife, out of your grace and pleasure, To be the partner of my life and I was glad to have her. But if your providence divine for better things design her, I obey your will at any time, I'm willing to resign her."
The non-existence of the windowpane with this inscription was explained away in the middle of last century, the glass was said to have been cut out for better preservation and was broken in the act.[10]
Carron Inn, Falkirk
In 1789 Robert Burns attempted to visit the Carron Ironworks at Camelon near Falkirk, however he was refused entry because it was a Sunday and the works were closed. The poet went to the nearby Carron Inn opposite and breakfasted on the second floor where he inscribed on a windowpane the following lines:
At Carron Ironworks
We cam here to view your warks, In hopes to be mair wise, But only, lest we gang to hell, It may be nae surprise:
But when we tirl'd at your door, Your porter dought na hear us; Sae may, shou'd we to Hell's yetts come, Your billy Satan sair us!
William Benson, a clerk at Carron Works (from 1765), saw these lines and copied into an order book. He penned a reply:
If you came here to view our works, You should have been more civil, Than to give a fictitious name, In hopes to cheat the devil,
Six days a week to you and all, We think it very well; The other if you go to church, May keep you out of hell.
These verses were published in the 5 October 1789 edition of the Edinburgh Evening Courant and inscription survived until the window was blown in on a stormy night.[11]
Wee Bush Inn, Carnwath
Robert Burns's coat of arms.
Opened in 1750, Burns stayed here and also used to drop in on his journeys to Edinburgh, for Carnwath was where he would pick up the old coach road to the capital, known as the 'Lang Whang'. He is said to have been asked his opinion on the hostelry and wrote on a window pane "Better a Wee Bush than Nae Bield." This was also a motto that he added to his coat of arms. It is not recorded as to what happened to the inscribed pane of glass.[12]
Cross Keys Inn, Falkirk
In 1787 Burns toured the Highlands with Willie Nicol as a companion and visited Falkirk en route where he is said to have inscribed a glass window pane of the Cross Keys Inn with 4 lines beginning – 'Sound be his sleep and blithe his morn'; dated 25 August 1787.[13]
Sound be his sleep and blythe his morn', That never did a lassie wrong; Who poverty ne'er held in scorn, For misery ever tholed a pang. 25th Aug. 1787
The bard is not known to have acknowledged these lines, however local tradition is strongly supportive of the story. The owners took the glass pane with them to Sydney in Australia.[11] Although it was thought to be lost it is now on display in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway.[14] A signature, said to be by Robert Burns was uncovered on a glass partition and subsequently purchased for a princely sum, but is now lost.[11]
Ecclefechan
Burns in February 1795 is said to have been held up in an inn at Ecclefechan during a snowstorm and encountered Jean Scott, the daughter of the postmaster John Scott. Burns engraved the lines of "Epigram on miss Jean Scott" on a window pane.[15]
O had each Scot of ancient times Been, Jeanie Scott, as thou art; The bravest heart on English ground Had yielded like a coward.
Braehead House, Kilmarnock
This was the home of William Paterson, the Town Clerk. Burns was an occasional visitor and apparently in a melancholic mood he engraved two lines from a poem by John Dryden. The complete window frame and engraved lines are recorded to have been preserved at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock.[16]
Finlaystone House
Finlaystone House.
Burns's signature is said to exist on a windowpane in an upstairs bedroom at Finlaystone, home of James Cunningham, Earl of Glencairn.[17] Mason records that Robert Burns left his initials on a window pane in the library.[18] Gibb records the message written as:
R. Burns,1768. Under an aged oak, AMEN,
This was inscribed on a window pane in a first floor bedroom, which was at that time was a drawing room. The words refer to Burns drinking wine with the family and their guests under a large oak that still stood in the 1870s.[19]
A photograph shows a broken pane with part of the name 'Robert' broken off and no 'Under an aged oak'. It is recorded to be associated with a bottle seal also dated 1768. Burns would have been nine years old in 1768 and it is suggested that this date makes reference to the wine's vintage being 1768, enjoyed by Burns and the earl in the 1780s.[20]
The Whitefoord Arms, Mauchline
Burns engraved 'sarcastic' lines about John Dow, Landlord of the Whitefoord Arms, on a window pane in the upper room of the inn which he had often used to communicate with Jean Armour whose home lay just across the street from the back of the building. It is not recorded how much of the poem was engraved. The room was preserved as it was in Burns time for the sake of tourists, however the pane was destroyed when the Whitefoord Arms was demolished at a date after 1881 when the author William Jolly saw it intact.[21]
Here lies Johnie Pigeon: What was his religion Whae'er desires to ken To some other warl' Maun follow the carl, For here Johnie Pigeon had nane!
Strong ale was ablution; Small beer, persecution; A dram was memento mori; But a full flowing bowl Was the saving his soul, And port was celestial glory!
Richard Brown's House, Bay Street, Port Glasgow
Richard Brown's grand-daughter, Mrs Robert Montgomerie, is on record as stating that Robert Burns slept for one night in Brown's house on a journey from Greenock to Finlaystone House circa 1788 even though his friend Richard was at aea at the time. The family house in Bay Street was demolished at some point between 1960 and the end of the 1970s. The details of the inscription are not available and the pane was accidentally smashed. It had been the middle pane of the mid window in the dining room.[22] Burns is said to have left behind a pair of hose which had been soaked in the rain.
Cross Keys Hostelry, Greenock
Burns is said to have lodged on 24 June 1787 at this hostlery in Cross Shore Street, Greenock and the window pane upon which he inscribed some words was in the possession of a Mr George Williamson, a local historian and was inherited by his descendants.[22]
Drumlanrig Castle and Queensberry estates
From 1780 to 1797 James McMurdo was the chamberlain to the Duke of Queensberry and was a good friend of Robert Burns, who wrote a poem in tribute to McMurdo. Burns is recorded to have etched the following verse onto a window pane at McMurdo's dwelling on the estate.[23]
Blest be McMurdo to his latest day! No envious cloud o'ercast his evening ray; No wrinkle furrow'd by the hand of care, Nor ever sorrow add one silver hair! O may no son the father's honour stain, Nor ever daughter give the mother pain.
Queensberry Arms (New Inn), Sanquhar
Burns was a frequent visitor to Sanquhar on account of his excise duties and he often stayed at the New Inn, later the Queensberry Arms, on the High Street where he is thought to engraved lines in 1789 on a windowpane in the breakfast room. Edward Whigham (1750-1823) was the innkeeper and later provost. The poem was not originally composed by Burns himself, but by John Hughes (1677-1720), before 1719, for a window in Wallington House, home of a Mrs Elizabeth Bridges.[25] In the 1880s, the window pane was said to have been broken or removed during repairs to the house, but in the 1880s Miss Allison, a granddaughter of Edward,[26] recited the lines from memory for the author of a local guidebook.
Envy, if thy jaundiced eye. Through this window chance to pry, To thy sorrow thou shalt find, All that's generous, all that's kind Friendship, virtue, every grace, Dwelling in this happy place.
The lines are also preserved, with minor variation in wording, and not in Burns's hand, in the copy of Burns's Kilmarnock edition that he presented to Mrs. Whigham, now in Princeton University Library.[27] In 1896, the window pane itself was reported to be part of the Burns memorabilia collection of Mr David Barker, and it is more recently said to be in New Zealand.[28][29]
Ellisland Farm
Robert sent his brother-in-law Adam Armour at dead of night to Ellisland Farm in November 1791 to smash every window in the farm upon which he had inscribed verses by way of revenge upon James Morin, Laird of Laggan who was the new owner, paying him 5 shillings to carry out the task. Robert felt cheated over the price paid for a heap of manure, a valuable commodity before artificial fertilisers were available. No full record of the verses has survived.[30] Adam Armour and Fanny Burnes's signatures were on a window pane in the southern window of the parlour as well as a favourite quote from Alexander Pope "An honest man's the noblest work of God." in what may have been Burns's handwriting.[31] Until March 1876, when it was vandalised, part of an apparently surviving window pane in a river view facing window had a diamond point pen inscription inscribed by Burns. This was especially valued as it could be seen from outside as well as from within.[32]
Friars' Carse Hermitage
Amongst the most famous examples of scribing on windowpanes is at the Friars Carse Hermitage, near his then home at Ellisland Farm, which the poet was allowed to use by Robert Riddell as a place of peace and solitude where he could compose and write down his poems and songs.
Burns wrote the following lines on the Hermitage window to the memory of Robert Riddell:
Thou whom chance may hither lead, Be thou clad in russet weed, Be thou deckt in silken stole, Grave these counsels on thy soul.
Life is but a day at most, Sprung from night – in darkness lost; Hope not sunshine ev'ry hour, Fear not clouds will always lour.
The original windowpane was preserved and is now in the Ellisland Farm museum, having been removed by a new owner of the property and coming up for sale in 1835 it was purchased for five guineas.[33] The restored Hermitage building's window had the same lines inscribed upon it, however they are now in the mansion house and the Hermitage's windows have no inscription.[34] Friars' Carse at one time held the original Burns manuscripts The Whistle and Lines Written in the Hermitage.[35][36]
The second window of the 1874 building had the following verse inscribed upon it[33] that were written on the original pane by Burns when he visited Friars Carse for the last time, some years after Robert Riddell's death.[37]
To Riddel, much lamented man, This ivied cot was dear; Reader, dost value matchless worth? This ivied cot revere.
In 1888 the original windowpane was loaned by Thomas Nelson to the 'Scottish National Memorials' section of the Glasgow International Exhibition held in the reconstructed 'Bishop's Castle' in Glasgow.[38]
Globe Tavern, Dumfries
The Globe Inn.
At the Globe Inn, Dumfries, in an upstairs bedroom a number of windowpanes were inscribed, two genuine ones remaining. One pane has a stanza from "Lovely Polly Stewart." whilst the other has a variant on "Comin Thro the Rye."[39]
Gin a body meet a body Coming through the grain. Gin a body kiss a body The thing's a body's ain.
Three verses of "Lines Written on Windows of the Globe Tavern" were also present with at least the first stanza of "At the Globe Tavern."[39]
The following stanza is said to have been written on one of the window panes after he was told by the Excise authorities that his duty "was to act, not to think":
In politics if thou would'st mix, And mean thy fortunes be; Bear this in mind, be deaf and blind, - Let great folks hear and see.
The three missing panes were sold by the pub's owner in the 19th century and a later attempt to buy them back was not successful. Exact replicas of the missing lines have been put back in place in 2011. The original windowpanes are kept at the Burns Birthplace Museum at Alloway who do not wish to give them up.[41]
James McKie records that Mrs Ewing, landlady of the 'Globe', presented a pane to Mr John Thomson of Lockerbie and that he later presented it in 1824 to Mr John Spiers of Glasgow. In 1874 this was in the possession of Mr. David Dunbar, author, of Dumfries. Mr William Nelson of Edinburgh at one time owned The Globe and the stanza on the pane was at that time from "Sae Flaxen were her Ringlets":[42]
Her's are the willing chains of Love, By conquering beauty's sovereign law; But still my Chloris' dearest charm, She says she loes me best of a'.
This inn was used by Burns when he had business in the town and was of a somewhat 'aristocratic' nature.[44] Burns inscribed these words on the window of the King's Arms Tavern, Dumfries, as a reply, or reproof, to some swells who had been witty and disrespectful about excisemen or gaugers:
Ye men of wit and wealth, why all this sneering, Gainst poor Excisemen? give the cause a hearing;, What are you, landlords' rent-rolls? teasing ledgers:, What premiers—what? even monarchs' mighty gaugers: Nay, what are priests, those seeming godly wise men?, What are they, pray, but spiritual Excisemen?;
Burns lodged at Thomas Williamson's home whilst on excise duties and Miss Harkness, Williamson's grand-daughter, recalled that he left inscriptions on some of the window panes.[46]
Gardenstoun Arms, Laurencekirk
On 11 Sept 1787 Burns stayed at the Gardenstoun Arms near Laurencekirk, then known as the 'Boars Head' with William Nicol. He is said to have written on a windowpane in his upstairs bedroom – "the lovely Miss Betsy Robinson, Banff, 27th December 1779". The windowpane was removed at some point prior to 1939 and was probably at that point broken into two. The windowpane was in the Meffan Institute for some years and was then taken by the Adam's family, previous owners of the business, to Canada. In 1977 the pane, broken into three, was presented to the Arbroath Public Library by Captain John B. Adam, however it remains the property of the Adam family.[47] The Gardenstoun Arms has been demolished. The date on the inscription is however eight years after Burns's tour.[48]
An Elizabeth Robinson of Banff, was born there on 27 May 1762 and married an Andrew Hay. She was painted by Raeburn. It unclear what connection Robert Burns may have had with her.[49]
Black Bull Inn, Moffat
The Black Bull Inn was first established in 1568. proprietor of Moffat's family-owned Black Bull Inn (est. 1568). The pane of glass bearing the bard's verses are said to have been given to the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia during a visit to Moffat in 1817. The young duke was on a triumphal tour of Britain as one of the victorious allies who had defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.[50] A replica of the windowpane now hangs in the 'Robert Burns Room' within the hostelry, placed there in 1996 by the Robert Burns World Federation.[51]
A friend asked the poet why God made Miss Davies so little, and a lady who was with her, so large: before the ladies, who had just passed the window, were out of sight, the following answer was recorded on a pane of glass:
Ask why God made the gem so small, and Why so huge the granite, because God meant Mankind should set the higher value on it.
Laight Farm, New Cumnock
Burns's nine point star Masonic mark.
John Logan lived at Laight Farm and Burns visited on a number of occasions, dining here on Saturday 19 October 1788, and four days later dropping in for breakfast. He knew John through his Masonic links and John was very helpful in securing subscribers for copies of his first "Kilmarnock Edition" of his poems. A window in the west gable, to the right of the front door, locally known as the 'Burns Window' once carried inscriptions by Burns, removed in the 1970s[52] and displayed for some years in the Crown Hotel. One inscription was Burns's Masonic mark, if present, making it the third known use of the symbol by the poet, another was 'S. Logan' for the eldest daughter, Sarah Logan. A third inscription in another hand was 'J.L', probably John Logan.[53]
St Margaret's Hill, Newmilns
The St Margaret's Hill was the Loudoun manse, home at the time of the Reverend George Lawrie. Robert Burns was a frequent visitor, scribing the message on a bedroom windowpane there that said – "Lovely Mrs Lawrie, she is all charms". At one time the windowpane was in the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock and later in the Barr Castle in Galston.[54] The window sash and pane are now preserved in the modern Loudoun Manse and the inscription is regarded as genuine by handwriting experts.[55]
Wingate's Inn, Stirling
James Macdonald recorded in his journal for 2 June 1796 that he had a dinner with Burns the evening previous at what is now known as the Golden Lion Hotel:
"I arrived here from Dumfries this evening, after a ride of about 30 miles in the most romantic country the mind can conceive. Yesterday Burns the Ayrshire Poet dined with me; and few evenings of my life passed away more to my satisfaction."
He looks consumptive, but was in excellent spirits, and displayed as much wit and humour in 3 hours time as any man I ever knew. He told me that being once in Stirling when we was a young lad, heated with drink, he had nigh got himself into a dreadful scrape by writing the following lines on the pane of a glass window at the inn –
Here Stewarts once in triumph reign'd, And laws for Scotland's weal ordain'd; But now unroof'd their Palace stands, Their sceptre's fall'n to other hands; Fall'n indeed unto the Earth.
Whence grovelling reptiles take their birth; And since great Stewart's line is gone, A race outlandish fills their throne; An idiot race to honour lost, Who know them best despise them most.
These lines were to almost cut short his career in the Excise before it had even started for he records in a letter that a "great person" had visited him and interrogated him "like a child about my matters, and blamed and schooled for my inscription on a Stirling window".[13][58]
Possibly because of William Nicol's negative comments or the rebuke from a "great person"[58] Burns later is said, only by Allan Cunningham, to have added the lines:
Rash mortal, and slanderous Poet! thy name, Shall no longer appear in the records of fame, Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the Bible, Says – the more 'tis a truth, sir, the more 'tis a libel?
It is said that he returned about two months later with Dr.Adair[13] and smashed the pane with the head of a riding switch.[60] The first set of lines are recorded in the Glenriddel manuscript.[61]
Burns was too late in his attempt to remove the evidence as several travellers had copied the lines into their note books and it was widely circulated, in addition one John Maxwell, an eccentric Paisley poet had in 1788 published in the Stirling Times an article entitled "Animadversions on some Poets and Poetasters of the present age" in which he criticises Burns and Lapraik.[62]
In 1828 a story appeared in the Paisley Magazine, edited by William Motherwill, to the effect that the 'Stirling Lines' had been written by William Nicol and that Burns took the blame upon himself to protect his friend.[62] A manuscript in Burns's own hand however includes these lines and is given the title "Wrote by Somebody in an Inn at Stirling".[62] Burns also admitted to Clarinda in 1788 that he had inscribed these lines.[62]
Brownhill Inn, Closeburn
The Brownhill Inn lay a couple of miles north of Ellisland Farm in the parish of Closeburn and was a favourite haunt of Burns from 1788 to 1791, even to the extent that he gave his own inscribed horn snuff mill to the landlord, Mr. Bacon.[63] In the Ladies' Own Journal of 3 September 1870, published in Glasgow and Edinburgh, an article was published that claimed that Burns had engraved on some window panes certain verses that even best friends were ashamed of.[64] The article claimed that Sir Charles D. Stuart-Menteith, Bart of Closeburn had these window panes carefully removed and packed away. Following his father's death Sir James is said to have examined these artefacts and was so shocked that he destroyed them in order to preserve Burns's reputation.[64] Watson, a local man, records in 1901[65] that the poem concerned, written in 1788, was The Henpecked Husband:
"Curs'd be the man, the poorest wretch in life, The crouching vassal to a tyrant wife! Who has no will but by her high permission, Who has not sixpence but in her possession; Who must to he, his dear friend's secrets tell, Who dreads a curtain lecture worse than hell. Were such the wife had fallen to my part, I'd break her spirit or I'd break her heart; I'd charm her with the magic of a switch, I'd kiss her maids, and kick the perverse bitch".
High Street, Annan
Miss Harkness recalled that Burns left inscriptions by his diamond point pen on several windows on the upper floor of the property in the town's High Street where he often stayed whilst on Excise duties. The windows faced the street however no details of the inscriptions appear top have been recorded. In more recent times the building was the site of the Cafe Royal.[66]
Burns composed this after Mrs Bacon, the landlords wife, locked up the bar one night and sent him to his bed, judging that her husband and the bard had consumed enough for that night. Mrs Bacon found the poem engraved on one of the window panes, the poet having engraved it that night or early the next morning. If it was this poem, then the destruction of the window panes was in vain, as it appears in all major collections of the poets works.[65]
A Small Country Inn, Dumfries
In 1803 the poem "On the Destruction of Drumlanrig Woods" was first published in The Scots Magazine and at first attributed to Burns who is said to have inscribed this lengthy work on a window pane. Henry Mackenzie later claimed to have composed it and its validity as a work by Burns is still debated. No manuscript version by Burns has been found.[67]
Man! Cruel man!' the Genius sigh'd, As through the cliffs he sank him down: 'The worm that gnawd my bonie trees That reptile - wears a Ducal crown.'
Provenance unknown
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland holds a broken pane of glass which is said to have been inscribed by Robert Burns with the words:
I do compare her to the Damask Rose, That in some well improven garden grows, O if I was a bee, To sip the heavenly balm upon her lips.
Jessie Lewars was a friend and neighbour of the Burns family in Dumfries who nursed Robert Burns during his last days. When she was briefly ill or indisposed Robert write an epitaph to her on a crystal goblet and asked her to retain it as a keepsake:[69][70]-
Jessie's Illness
Say, sages, what's the charm on earth
Can turn Death's dart aside?
It is not purity and worth,
Else Jessie had not died!
Her Recovery
But rarely seen since Nature's birth
The natives of the sky!
Yet still one seraph's left on earth,
For Jessie did not die.
He also wrote a rhymed toast to her on another crystal goblet containing wine and water using his diamond pen.[71] He had been ill and seemingly in slumber, he observed Jessy Lewars moving about the house with a light step lest she should disturb him. He presented the goblet to her.
The Toast
Fill me with the rosy wine;
Call a toast, a toast divine;
Give the Poet's darling flame;
Lovely Jessie be her name:
Then thou mayest freely boast
Thou hast given a peerless toast.
Willie Stewart
The Brownhill Inn engraved tumbler.
The 1791 dated poem "Your welcome, Willie Stewart" was scratched on a tumbler or tavern glass at the Brownhill Inn by the poet,[72] much to the displeasure of the landlady, who sold the glass for a shilling to a customer who purchased it to soothe her anger.[73] This tumbler was later acquired by Sir Walter Scott.[72] Bearing in mind that Willie Stewart was the landlady's brother her behaviour seems a little excessive.
The son of an inn keeper at Closeburn Kirk Bridge, William Stewart (1749–1812), father of 'lovely Polly Stewart' was an acquaintance of Robert Burns who knew him as the factor of the Closeburn Estate of the Rev. James Stuart Menteith. The verses were written in honour of 'Polly Stewart'.[74][75]
Chorus
You're welcome, Willie Stewart, You're welcome, Willie Stewart, There's ne'er a flower that blooms in May, That's half sae welcome's thou art!
Come, bumpers high, express your joy, The bowl we maun renew it, The tappet hen, gae bring her ben, To welcome Willie Stewart, &c.
May foes be strang, and friends be slack, Ilk action, may he rue it, May woman on him turn her back, That wrangs thee, Willie Stewart, You're welcome, Willie Stewart, &c. [76]
Inscription on Goblets
Written on a dinner-goblet by Robert Burns at Ryedale, John Syme's home in Troqueer parish. Syme, annoyed at having his set of crystal goblets defaced, threw the goblet under the fire grate: it was taken however taken by his clerk, and preserved as a curiosity.[45]
The text was adapted by Burns from the Bible, the Second Book of Kings, iv, 40.
Burns's friend Gabriel Richardson owned a brewery which Burns as an excise office had to survey. Gabriel was the father of Sir John Richardson, the Artic explorer. His mother passed the tumbler on to her son and in 1881 it was in the possession of his widow, Lady Rchardson, at Lancrigg, Cumbria.[78] He wrote on a glass goblet:
Plaque recording the visit to the Rosslyn Inn by Robert Burns and Alexander Nasmyth
The Burns Windows Project was inspired by Robert Burns's habit of scribing verses on windowpanes. The artist Hugh Bryden and David Borthwick, lecturer at the University of Glasgow in Dumfries, came up with the idea of sending clear plastic sheets with a pen to contemporary poets and inviting them to submit their own work for display as window poems. The remit was "to write a poem which spoke of their own time 'in a transparent way."[80]
Other carvings, engravings and writings
In 1777 Burns is said to have visited the famous Crookston Yew Tree or "Queen Mary's Tree" and carved "Robt Burns Ap 4th, 1777" in the bark of the tree's trunk. In 1817 the tree was felled and taken to Pollok House where the section in question was preserved as a valuable relic. In December 1875 it was loaned for a time to the Paisley Burns Society by Sir William Stirling Maxwell, Bart. An ornate 'Dinner Hammer' made from the same tree was donated to the club by Sir William.[81]
In 1786 Burns visited Rosslyn Castle with the artist Alexander Nasmyth and they had breakfast at the Rosslyn Inn.[82] Burns wrote an epigram on a pewter plate in appreciation of his excellent meal:
My blessings on ye, honest wife!
I ne’er was here before;
Ye’ve wealth o’ gear for spoon and knife-
Heart could not wish for more.
Heav’n keep you clear o’ sturt and strife,
Till far ayont fourscore,
And while I toddle on thro’ life,
I’ll ne’er gae by your door!
Whilst at Taymouth Robert Burns wrote a few lines of poetry with a pencil on the wood above the fireplace in the parlour at the Inn at Kenmore:[60]
Poetic ardours in my bossom swell,
Lone wand'ring by the hermit's mossy cell;
The sweeping theatre of hanging woods,
The incessant roar of headlong tumbling floods.
This is thought to have been composed in recollection of his visit to the Falls of Acharn.
A landlord of a respectable Dumfries inn had the nickname The Marquis and oddly asked the bard to write on his skin.[83] Burns apparently wrote:
Here lies a mock Marquis whose titles were shamm'd If ever he rise, it will be to be dammed
Robert Burns is said to have carved his initials on a natural red sandstone arch in Crichope Linn near Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway. His initials 'RB' are to be found in the Mauchline gorge near Ballochmyle Viaduct and are again said to have been carved by the poet who frequented the site and lived for a time at the nearby Mossgiel Farm.
Burns has been credited with writing on a window pane at Chester in 1798, though this would have been two years after he died and in a place he had never visited.[84]
Related Research Articles
Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
During the years 1781–1782, at the age of 23, Robert Burns (1759–1796) lived in Irvine, North Ayrshire for a period of around 9 months, whilst learning the craft of flax-dressing from Alexander Peacock, who may have been his mother's half-brother, working at the heckling shop in the Glasgow Vennel. Dr John Cumming of Milgarholm, a provost of Irvine, claimed that he had invited Burns to come to Irvine to learn flax dressing. During this time he made a number of acquaintances, befriended several locals and took regular walks into the Eglinton Woods via the old Irvine to Kilwinning toll road and the Drukken or Drucken (Drunken) Steps. Steps over the Red Burn and back via the site of Saint Brides or Bryde's Well at Stanecastle. Burns had several other connections with the Eglinton Estate and other branches of the Montgomerie family. He probably left in March 1782.
Ellisland Farm lies about 6.5 mi/10.4 km northwest of Dumfries near the village of Auldgirth, located in the Parish of Dunscore, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The complex is a museum in the farm Robert Burns built, lived in and farmed from 1788 until 1791. One of the earliest references to the site is in 1465. Cardinal Antonius confirming a Charter by the Monastery of Melrose of the adjoining property of Ellisland to John Kirkpatrick.
Friars' Carse is a mansion house and estate situated 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southeast of Auldgirth on the main road (A76) to Dumfries, Parish of Dunscore, Scotland. The property is located on the west bank of the River Nith and is known for its strong associations with Robert Burns who lived for a while at the nearby Ellisland farm. The mansion house is unlisted, however the stables and hermitage are Category B listed buildings.
Helen Anne Park, known as Anna Park or Ann Park, was born in 1769 at Moffat, Scotland. She was thought to have been the daughter of Joseph Park, an Edinburgh coachmaker, and Jean Dick. However, recent research has shown that she was actually the daughter of Walter Park and Elizabeth Blacklock. Margaret Ewing née Park, a onetime landlady of 'The Globe', was her sister and she worked there as a barmaid. Anna bore the poet Robert Burns an illegitimate child named Elizabeth 'Betty' Burns as a result of an adulterous affair.
Helen Hyslop, also Nelly or Ellen Hyslop was a 'noted local beauty' in Moffat and a strong local tradition maintains that Robert Burns was for some time a great admirer of her and that she had an affair with him. A daughter, also Helen, is said to have been born as a result of this liaison. Parish records show that a Helen Hyslop, the mother of Burns's possible daughter, was born in the area in 1766, her parents being John Hyslop and Janet Howatson of Langholm.
Burns Clubs exist throughout the world to encourage and cherish the memory of Robert Burns, to foster a love of his writings and generally to encourage an interest in the Scots Language and Literature. An emphasis on encouraging the young to take an interest in Burns is found in most clubs through poetry, singing and other competitions. Once mainly existing as 'male only' clubs in the mould of the Tarbolton 'Batchelor's Club' most now welcome women as fellow members. Ladies Burns Clubs also exist such as the 'Irvine Lasses' that was established in 1975; it has appointed several male 'Honorary Lasses'.
The Robert Burns World Federation is a literary society based in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, aimed at educating the public about the life, poetry and works of the poet Robert Burns. It is a Scottish Charity and a company limited by Guarantee. The Federation links existing Burns Clubs and similar groups, giving a unique number to affiliated Clubs, which is then used by them in their promotion and identification. Their ongoing intent is to provide a way for clubs to link together and enjoy the mutual benefit of association, communication and shared mission. It was founded in 1885
The Hermitage was a folly first built by Captain Robert Riddell of Friars Carse as part of his enthusiasm for antiquities. It is famous for its connection with the bard Robert Burns who through his friendship with Riddell was permitted to use it to compose poetry in this secluded and tranquil sylvan spot. Burns also used his diamond point pen to engrave lines on the window pane at the Hermitage following the premature death of Riddell. The original Hermitage fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1874. It was further restored to its former glory more recently (2009).
Brownhill Inn, now just called Brownhill, was an inn approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) mile south of Closeburn, on the A76, which itself is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built in approximately 1790, this old coaching inn has undergone extensive changes, and the south side of the original property appears little changed whilst part of the inn has been demolished. The inns facilities used to include the once-extensive 12 stall livery stables on the west side of the road, but these have been sold and converted to farm buildings after the inn closed. The inn was the first changing place for horses hauling coaches from Dumfries and closed in 1850. In 1789 an Act of Parliament had been passed that enabled the building of a Turnpike from Auldgirth Bridge to Sanquhar through Closeburn Parish and the inn was built to serve the patrons of this new road. The toll road supplanted the original post road that ran via Stepends, Gateside and Shaw that may have been of Roman origins.
Adam Armour (1771–1823) was the younger brother of Jean Armour and therefore the brother-in-law of the poet Robert Burns. In addition, being married to Fanny (Frances) Burnes, he was also related to the poet through his father-in-law 'Poor Uncle Robert', who lived at Stewarton.
The Glenriddell Manuscripts is an extensive collection written in holograph by Robert Burns and an amanuensis of his letters, poems and a few songs in two volumes produced for his then friend Captain Robert Riddell, Laird of what is now Friars Carse in the Nith Valley, Dumfries and Galloway. The two volumes of the manuscript were handsomely bound in calf leather. The first volume of poems and songs was completed by April 1791 and was presented to Robert Riddell, however their friendship ceased due to the unfortunate 'The Rape of the Sabine Women' incident and Robert Riddell died shortly after before any reconciliation could take place. The first volume is partly in Burns's hand with one main amanuensis contributing much of the text in a far neater hand than the author himself and a possible third person contributing to the text. The second volume is entirely in Burns's hand.
Duncan McNaught LL.D., J.P., was born in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire in 1845. He was the parochial school teacher at Kilmaurs in East Ayrshire from 1867 and served at the school for over fifty years, having served as assistant from 1865. He founded the Kilmarnock Conservative Association, jointly founded the Robert Burns World Federation, acted as the editor of the "Burns Chronicle" and was the president of what became the Robert Burns World Federation.
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was issued during the poet's lifetime In Two Volumes. The Second Edition Considerably Enlarged. It is a collection of poetry and songs by the poet Robert Burns, printed for T. Cadell, London, and W. Creech, Edinburgh. M,DCC,XCIII The date of publication for this edition was 16 February 1793 as advertised in the Edinburgh Courant. The successful demand for the 1787 Edinburgh Edition seems to have encouraged Creech to publish this new edition as the 1787 volume had been sold out since around 1791.
James M'Kie or James McKie (1816–1891) was an apprentice of Hugh Crawford, John Wilson's successor at the Kilmarnock Cross printing business. In 1867, M'Kie published the first facsimile edition of the 1786 "Kilmarnock Edition" or Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect as well as various bibliographies, reprints, special editions, limited editions, etc. of Robert Burns' and other works for the Scottish, British, British Empire or North American markets. He became an avid collector of Burnsiana and put together the largest collection of published in the world at the time, that was eventually purchased by the local Kilmarnock Corporation and housed in the Kay Park Burns Museum.
Jean Lorimer (1775–1831) was a friend of the poet Robert Burns, often referred to by him as the "Lassie wi' the lint-white locks" or "Chloris". Lorimer was born at Craigieburn House on a small estate near Moffat and from 1788 to 1791 was a neighbour of Burns when he was living at Ellisland Farm, her father's new farm being at Kemmishall or Kemys Hall, Kirkmahoe Parish, two miles to the south of Ellisland on the opposite bank of the Nith. Burns commented "The Lady on whom it was made, is one of the finest women in Scotland" in a letter to George Thomson, enclosing one of the two dozen or so songs that he wrote for her. They first met when she was a teenager through his excise duties bringing him to their farm.
John McMurdo (1743–1803) was a friend of Robert Burns who became the chamberlain to the Duke of Queensberry at Drumlanrig Castle where the poet was a frequent visitor. His eldest daughter Jean (1777-1839) was also a close friend of Burns, who wrote the song "Bonie Jean" in her honour. As an old Nithsdale family the McMurdos were related to the Sharpes of Hoddam, the Charteris of Amisfield, the Fergussons of Craigdarroch, Dr James Currie and the Duncans of Torthorwald amongst others.
John Bacon was a vintner, the landlord at the one time important hostelry named the Brownhill Inn, that lay in open country to the south of Closeburn in Nithsdale on the Ayr to Dumfries Road. From 1788 to 1791 the poet Robert Burns spent many an evening at Bacon's inn whilst travelling on his Excise duties. A coaching stop and hostelry, the inn lay about 7 miles north of Ellisland Farm, Burns's home before the family moved into Dumfries. During their tour of August–September 1803 Dorothy Wordsworth, with her brother William Wordsworth and mutual friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge were hosted by Bacon and his wife at their inn.
Edward Whigham (1750–1823) was the landlord of a coaching inn, a bailie, Provost of Sanquhar, bibliophile and one of Robert Burns's close friends during his Nithsdale and Dumfries days. Edward married Jane Osborne who died on 6 October 1846.
William Nicol Burns (1791–1872) was the sixth child, third born and second surviving son born to the poet Robert Burns when he was 32 and his wife Jean Armour was 26. William was born at Ellisland Farm in Dunscore parish, shortly before the family moved to Dumfries in 1791. His first and middle name was added in honour of William Nicol, Robert's friend.
↑ McQueen, Colin (2009). Hunter's Illustrated History of the Family, Friends and Contemporaries of Robert Burns. Messrs Hunter McQueen & Hunter. p.279. ISBN978-0-9559732-0-8.
↑ Gibson, James (2023). Kilmarnock and Burns. Kilmarnock Burns Club. No.0. p.66.
↑ McQueen, Colin (2009). Hunter's Illustrated History of the Family, Friends and Contemporaries of Robert Burns. Messrs Hunter McQueen & Hunter. p.284. ISBN978-0-9559732-0-8.
↑ M'Kie, James (1881). The Bibliography of Robert Burns with Biographical and Bibliographical Notes. James M'Kie. p.277.
↑ McQueen, Colin Hunter (2008). Hunters' Illustrated History of the Family, Friends and Contemporaries of Robert Burns. Messrs Hunter McQueen & Hunter. p.196. ISBN978-0-9559732-0-8.
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