Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

BURNS set out for Edinburgh in the month of November 1786, and arrived on the second day afterwards, having performed his journey on, foot. He was furnished with a letter of introduction to Dr. Blacklock, from the gentleman to whom the Doctor had addressed the letter which

is represented by our bard as the immediate cause of his visiting the Scottish metropolis. He was acquainted with Mr. Stewart, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the university, and had been entertained by that gentleman at Catrine, his estate in Ayrshire. He had been introduced by Mr. Alexander Dalzel, to the Earl of Glencairn, who had expressed his high approbation of his poetical talents. He had friends therefore who could introduce him into the circles of literature as well

as

heiress to Sir Thomas Wallace, of Craigie, and lineal descendant of the illustrious Wallace, the first of Scottish warriors, possesses the qualities of mind suited to her high lineage. Preserving in the decline of life the generous affections of youth; her admiration of the poet, was soon accompanied by a sincere friendship for the man; which pursued him in after life through good and evil report; in poverty, in sickness, and in sorrow; and which is continued to his infant family, now deprived of their parent.

as of fashion, and his own manners and appearance exceeding every expectation that could have been formed of them, he soon became an object of general curiosity and admiration. The following circumstance contributed to this in a considerable degree.-At the time when Burns arrived in Edinburgh, the periodical paper, entitled The Lounger, was publishing, every Saturday producing a successive number. His poems had attracted the notice of the gentlemen engaged in that undertaking, and the ninety-seventh number of those unequal, though frequently beautiful essays, is devoted to An Account of Robert Burns, the Ayrshire ploughman, with extracts from bis poems, written by the elegant pen of Mr. Mackenzie.* The Lounger had an extensive circulation among persons of taste and literature, not in Scotland only, but in various parts of England, to whose acquaintance therefore our bard was immediately introduced. The paper of Mr. Mackenzie was calculated to introduce him advantageously. The extracts are well selected; the criticisms and reflections are judicious as well as generous; and in the style and sentiments there is that hap

Ру

This paper has been attributed but, improperly, to Lord Craig, one of the Scottish judges, author of the very interesting account of Michael Bruce, in the 36th number of the Mirror.

py delicacy, by which the writings of the author are so eminently distinguished. The extracts from Burns' poems in the ninety-seventh number of The Lounger, were copied into the London as well as into many of the provincial papers, and the fame of our bard spread throughout the island. Of the manners, character, and conduct of Burns at this period, the following account has been given by Mr. Stewart in a letter to the editor, which he is particularly happy to have obtained permission to insert in these memoirs.

Professor Dugald Stewart, of Edinburgh,

To Dr. James Currie, of Liverpool."

"THE first time I saw Robert Burns, was on the 23d of October 1786, when he dined at my house in Ayrshire, together with our common friend Mr. John Mackenzie, surgeon, in Mauchline, to whom I am indebted for the pleasure of his acquaintance. I am enabled to mention the date particularly, by some verses which Burns wrote after he returned home, and in which the

day

day of our meeting is recorded.-My excellent and much lamented friend, the late Basil, Lord Daer, happened to arrive at Catrine the same day, and by the kindness and frankness of his manners, left an impression on the mind of the Poet, which never was effaced. The verses I allude to are among the most imperfect of his pieces; but a few stanzas may perhaps be an object of curiosity to you, both on account of the character to which they relate, and of the light which they throw on the situation and feelings of the writer, before his name was known to the public.*

"I cannot positively say, at this distance of time, whether, at the period of our first acquaintance, the Kilmarnock edition of his poems had been just published, or was yet in the press. I suspect that the latter was the case, as I have still in my possession, copies in his own hand writing, of some of his favourite performances; particularly

[blocks in formation]

of his verses "on turning up a Mouse with his plough"; "on the Mountain Daisy"; and "the Lament

I've been at druken writers' feasts,
Nay been bitch-fou 'mang godly priests,
Wi' reverence be it spoken;
I've even join'd the honour'd jorum,
When mighty Squireships of the quorum,
Their hydra drouth did sloken.

But wi' a Lord-stand out my shin,
A Lord-a Peer-an Earl's son,
Up higher yet my bonnet;

An sic a Lord-lang Scotch ells twa,
Our Peerage he o'erlooks them a',
As I look o'er my sonnet.

But O for Hogarth's magic pow'r
To show Sir Bardy's willyart glowr,†
An how he star'd and stammer'd,
When goavan, as if led wi' branks,§
An stumpan on his ploughman shanks,
He in the parlour hammer'd.

* Attorneys'.

Frightened stare.

Walking stupidly,

§ A kind of bridle.

« PredošláPokračovať »