The Canongate Burns (115 page)
Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
Ellisland, Monday Even:
First printed by Cromek, 1808.
    Your News and Review, Sir,
    I've read through and through, Sir,
With little admiring or blaming:
    The Papers are barren
5
    Of home-news or foreign
No murders or rapes worth the naming. â
    Our friends, the Reviewers,
    Those Chippers and Hewers,
Are judges of Mortar and Stone, Sir;
10
    But of
meet
or
unmeet
,
    In a Fabrick complete
I'll boldly pronounce they are none, Sir.
    My Goose-quill too rude is
    To tell all your goodness
15
Bestow'd on your servant, The Poet;
    Would to God I had one
    Like a beam of the Sun,
And then all the World, should know it!
Robt. Burns.
The date of this anecdotal verse to Robert Riddell is not known, but it is certainly from the Ellisland period. Kinsley places this (K527) chronologically in the wrong place, assuming it was composed during the 1795â6 period.
Ellisland
First printed by Scott Douglas, 1876.
DEAR Sir, at onie time or tide
any
I'd rather sit wi' you than ride,
      Tho' 'twere wi' royal Geordie:
And trowth your kindness soon and late
Aft gars me to mysel look blate â
oft makes, backward
      THE LORD IN HEAVEN REWARD YE!
R. Burns.
Burns wrote this in response to a poetic invitation from Robert Riddell to visit Glenriddell house. In the invitation, Riddell advises Burns not to go on his Excise ride, due to the threatening inclement weather, but visit him and âWe'll twa or three leaves fill up with scraps ⦠And spend the day in glee.' This, like the above, is misplaced chronologically by Kinsley (K529) who puts it in the 1795â6 period.
Written on an Envelope,
Enclosing a Letter to Him
Tune: Sir John Malcolm
First printed in Currie 1800.
Ken ye ought o' Captain Grose?
know
              Igo and ago â
If he's amang his friends or foes?
              Iram, coram, dago. â
5
Is he South, or is he North?
              Igo and ago â
Or drowned in the river Forth?
              Iram, coram, dago. â
Is he slain by Hieland bodies?
Highland
10
              Igo and ago â
And eaten like a wether haggis?
ram's stomach bag
              Iram, coram, dago. â
Is he to Abram's bosom gane?
gone
              Igo and ago â
15
Or haudin Sarah by the wame?
holding, belly
              Iram, coram, dago. â
Where'er he be, the Lord be near him!
              Igo and ago â
As for the Deil, he daur na steer him,
dare not lead
20
              Iram, coram, dago. â
But please transmit th' enclosed letter,
              Igo and ago â
Which will oblige your humble debtor
              Iram, coram, dago. âÂ
25
So may ye hae auld Stanes in store,
have old stones
              Igo and ago â
The very Stanes that Adam bore;
stones
              Iram, coram, dago. â
So may ye get in glad possession,
30
              Igo and ago â
The coins o' Satan's Coronation!
              Iram, coram, dago. â
This song on Francis Grose, first printed by Currie 1800, is based on an oyster dredging song Burns knew about from The Firth of Forth, which reads: âKen ye ought o' Sir John Malcolm? Igo and ago; / If he's a wise man, I mistak' him! Iram, coram, dago' (See Scott Douglas, Vol. III, p. 149). The letter containing the verses was sent to a colleague of Grose in Edinburgh in the Autumn of 1789, written on the inside wrapper to be passed to the antiquarian then in the city on business.
First printed by Currie, 1800.
Life ne'er exulted in so rich a prize,
As Burnet, lovely from her native skies;
Nor envious Death so triumph'd in a blow,
As that which laid th' accomplish'd Burnet low. â
5
Thy form and mind, sweet Maid, can I forget,
In richest ore the brightest jewel set!
In thee high Heaven above was truest shown,
For by His noblest work the Godhead best is known. â
In vain ye flaunt in summer's pride, ye groves;
10
Thou crystal streamlet with thy flowery shore,
Ye woodland choir that chaunt your idle loves,
Ye cease to charm, Eliza is no more. âÂ
Ye heathy wastes immix'd with reedy fens,
Ye mossy streams with sedge and rushes stor'd,
15
Ye rugged cliffs o'erhanging dreary glens,
To you I fly, ye with my soul accord. â
Princes whose cumbrous pride was all their worth,
Shall venal lays their pompous exit hail;
And thou, sweet Excellence! forsake our earth,
20
And not a Muse with honest grief bewail!
We saw thee shine in youth and beauty's pride
And Virtue's light, that beams beyond the spheres;
But like the sun eclips'd at morning tide,
Thou left us darkling in a world of tears. â
25
The Parent's heart that nestled fond in thee,
That heart how sunk a prey to grief and care!
So deckt the woodbine sweet yon aged tree;
So, rudely ravish'd, left it bleak and bare. â
The subject of this elegy is Elizabeth Burnet, the daughter of James Burnet, Lord Monboddo. She died of tuberculosis on 17th June, 1790, twenty-five years old. The poet visited her home when he was
in Edinburgh and the elegy is not to be surprised at given his description of her in
Address to Edinburgh
(See our notes for the
Address
). The poet laboured to complete this work on âthe amiable and accomplished Miss Burnet' (Letter 433) and remarked to Mrs Dunlop, âElegy is so exhausted a subject that any new idea on the business is not to be expected' (Letter 435). Currie's version of the Elegy was the incomplete one as sent to Alexander Cunningham in Letter 433.
or
Out Over the Forth
First printed in S.M.M., 1796.
Out over the Forth, I look to the North
      But what is the North, and its Highlands to me;
The South nor the East, gie ease to my breast,
give
      The far foreign land, or the wide rolling sea:
But I look to the West, when I gae to rest,
go
      That happy my dreams and my slumbers may be;
For far in the West lives he I lo'e best,
love
      The man that is dear to my babie and me. â
This work, with Jacobite connotations, is mentioned by Burns as his own composition in a letter to Alexander Cunningham on 11th March, 1791.
First printed in McDowall's
Burns in Dumfriesshire
, 1870.Â
Gracie, thou art a man of worth,
      O be thou Dean for ever!
May he be damn'd to Hell henceforth,
      Who fauts thy weight or measure!
faults
James Gracie (1756â1814) was a banker and Dean of Guild in Dumfries.
Tune: Thru the Lang Muir
First printed in S.M.M. 1796.
Ance mair I hail thee, thou gloomy December!
once more
      Ance mair I hail thee, wi' sorrow and care;
Sad was the parting thou makes me remember;
      Parting wi' Nancy, Oh ne'er to meet mair!
more
5
Fond lovers' parting is sweet, painful pleasure,
      Hope beaming mild on the soft parting hour,
But the dire feeling, âO farewell for ever!'
      Anguish unmingl'd and agony pure. â
Wild as the winter now tearing the forest,
10
      Till the last leaf o' the summer is flown,
Such is the tempest has shaken my bosom,
      Till my last hope and last comfort is gone:
Still as I hail thee, thou gloomy December,
      Still shall I hail thee wi' sorrow and care;
15
For sad was the parting thou makes me remember:
      Parting wi' Nancy, Oh ne'er to meet mair. â
This was signed âR' in the S.M.M. It is written for Clarinda, Mrs Agnes McLehose. The two stanzas were sent to her on 27th December, 1791 before she left for Jamaica in late January 1792, hoping to repair her marriage with her estranged husband.
Tune: The Collier's Dochter
First printed in Thomson's
Select Collection
, 1798.
O saw ye bonie Lesley,
pretty
      As she gaed o'er the Border?
went
She's gane, like Alexander,
gone
      To spread her conquests farther.
5
To see her is to love her,
      And love but her for ever;
For Nature made her what she is,
      And never made anither.
another
Thou art a queen, fair Lesley,
10
      Thy subjects, we before thee:
Thou art divine, fair Lesley,
      The hearts o' men adore thee.
The Deil he could na skaith thee,
not harm
      Or aught that wad belang thee:
would belong
15
He'd look into thy bonie face,
      And say, âI canna wrang thee!'
cannot wrong
The Powers aboon will tent thee,
above
      Misfortune sha' na steer thee;
shall not trouble
Thou 'rt like themsel sae lovely,
so
20
      That ill they 'll ne'er let near thee.
Return again, fair Lesley,
      Return to Caledonie!
Caledonia
That we may brag we hae a lass
have
      There's nane again sae bonie. â
none, so
This was composed after the poet spent most of a day in the company of Miss Lesley Baillie, her father Robert, a sister and friend, who called to visit the poet in Dumfries as they travelled to England. The poet rode a few miles with them beyond Dumfries and composed this on his return, basing it on an old work beginning with âMy Bonie Lizie Baillie' (Letter 505).
First printed in Hogg and Motherwell, 1834.
GRIM Grizzle was a mighty Dame
      Weel kend on Cluden-side:
well known
Grim Grizzle was a mighty Dame
      O' meikle fame and pride.
great
5
When gentles met in gentle bowers
      And nobles in the ha',
hall
Grim Grizzle was a mighty Dame,
      The loudest o' them a'
Where lawless Riot rag'd the night
10
      And Beauty durst na gang,
dared not go
Grim Grizzle was a mighty Dame
      Wham nae man e'er wad wrang.
no, would wrong
Nor had Grim Grizzle skill alane
alone
      What bower and ha' require;
15
But she had skill, and meikle skill,
much
      In barn and eke in byre.
also/even
Ae day Grim Grizzle walked forth,
one
      As she was wont to do,
Alang the banks o' Clouden fair,
along
20
      Her cattle for to view.
The cattle shit o'er hill and dale
      As cattle will incline,
And sair it grieved Grim Grizzle's heart
sore
      Sae muckle muck to tine.
so much, lose
25
And she has ca'd on John o' Clods
called
      Of her herdsmen the chief,
And she has ca'd on John o' Clods
called
      And tell'd him a' her grief: â
âNow wae betide thee, John o' Clods!
woe
30
      I gie thee meal and fee,
give, work
And yet sae meikle muck ye tine
so much, lose
      Might a' be gear to me!
âYe claut my byre, ye sweep my byre,
scrape/clean
      The like was never seen;
35
The very chamber I lie in
      Was never half sae clean.
so
âYe ca' my kye adown the loan
call, cattle
      And there they a' discharge:
My Tammy's hat, wig, head and a'
40
      Was never half sae large!
so
âBut mind my word's now, John o' Clods
      And tent me what I say:
take heed
My kye shall shite ere they gae out,
cattle, go
      That shall they ilka day.
every
45
âAnd mind my word's now, John o' Clods,
      And tent now wha ye serve;
mind, who
Or back ye 'se to the Colonel gang,
going
      Either to steal or starve.'
Then John o' Clods he looked up
50
      And syne he looked down;
then
He looked east, he looked west,
      He looked roun' and roun'.
His bonnet and his rowantree club
      Frae either hand did fa';
from, fall
55
Wi' lifted een and open mouth
eyes
      He naething said at a'.
nothing
At length he found his trembling tongue,
      Within his mouth was fauld: â
folded
âAe silly ward frae me, madam,
one, word from
60
      Gin I daur be sae bauld.
If, dare, so bold
âYour kye will at nae bidding shite,
cattle, no
      Let me do what I can;
Your kye will at nae bidding shite
      Of onie earthly man.
any
65
âTho' ye are great Lady Glaur-hole,
      For a' your power and art
Tho' ye are great Lady Glaur-hole,
      They winnie let a fart.'
will not
âNow wae betide thee John o' Clods!
woe
70
      An ill death may ye die!
My kye shall at my bidding shite,
      And that ye soon shall see.'
Then she's ta'en Hawkie by the tail,
      And wrung wi' might and main,
75
Till Hawkie rowted through the woods
ran
      Wi' agonising pain.
âShite, shite, ye bitch,' Grim Grizzle roar'd,
      Till hill and valley rang;
âAnd shite, ye bitch,' the echoes roar'd
80
     Lincluden wa's amang.
walls among
This was only partly printed by Hogg and Motherwell in 1834. Henderson and Henley give a fuller version in their notes, with some polite censorship (Vol. III, pp. 459â61). The tale is based on the widow, Mrs Grizzel Young of Lincluden. Burns wrote an explanatory note on the manuscript, âPassing lately through Dunblane, while I stopped to refresh my horse, the following ludicrous epitaph, which I pickt up from an old tombstone among the ruins of the ancient Abbey, struck me particularly, being myself a native of Dumfriesshire'.
