occasion. Mrs. Sarah Burns Hutchinson was then too frail and aged to travel, but Miss Annie B. Burns and her niece, Miss Daisy Burns Hutchinson, accepted the invitation. They were greatly interested in all they saw in Scotland, especially so in the Cottage Homes at Mauchline, which are designed for aged and deserving poor, particularly among the peasantry. As one of them said to me at the time, "Enough money has been spent on mere statues and memorials to the Poet's memory. Better to build cottages and give rooms to old couples and aged widows with something to live upon; they could bring their own furniture, do their own cooking, and make their rooms home-like. Burns's warmhearted sympathy would lie with work like this." That is exactly the policy the directors have ever since followed, and it has proved a great success.

In 1913, when the Liverpool Athenæum, false to its trust, sold the Glenriddell Manuscripts of Burns's writings, Miss Annie Burns lent her aid to the efforts for their recovery. She was the nearest relative of the Poet, and the Glenriddell Manuscripts had been entrusted to the Liverpool Athenæum by the daughter of Dr. Currie, who had received them on loan from the Poet's widow to enable him to write the Life and edit the Works of the Poet. Counsel who were consulted thought, with the information then before them, that the only chance of recovering the manuscripts was through Miss Burns, as legal heir of the Poet. Miss Burns at once agreed to a summons being taken out in her name against the Liverpool Athenæum, not for any personal gain, for at the same time she wrote a letter that, if the action was successful, the manuscripts would be gifted to Scotland. As the first step in the legal proceedings, a petition was presented in the Court at Dumfries, and the Sheriff of Dumfries judicially decerned Miss Burns to be nearest relative and legal heir of the Poet. Before the actual summons could be

112 MISS BURNS: GRAND-DAUGHTER OF THE POET

served on the Liverpool Athenæum the unexpected happened, through the generosity of Mr. John Gribbel, of Philadelphia, who bought the precious manuscripts and presented them to Scotland. Mr. Gribbel was so pleased with the action of Miss Burns that, when he was in Scotland in the autumn of 1920, he made a special visit to Cheltenham to see her.

Miss Burns kept wonderfully well, and retained all her faculties till near the end. She was able to write in a firm, clear hand till last year. The end came very peacefully and very quietly, with no pain.

Miss Burns was somewhat reserved in manner, but all who knew her had the most profound affection and respect for her. Cultured and well educated, with refined features, her face in repose seemed reserved, but when she spoke her eyes lit up, and you then realised her warm and sympathetic nature. She knew intimately the writings of Burns, and was interested in everything that made him famous. On one of my visits to Cheltenham she read to me some of the Poet's writings, and I realised in the fullest sense the beauty of "The Cottar's Saturday Night." She was proud of the world's growing appreciation of the genius of Burns, and, though she knew that she was the nearest link to him, she never obtruded her personality on the public. She was fond of music; in her younger days she had a beautiful voice, and sometimes sang at concerts in aid of charity. In her own quiet way she helped on many a good object-not so much with money, as her circumstances did not permit of that, but with her own hands and work. She was much loved and respected in Cheltenham. I close with the tribute of a Cheltenham friend who, on my last visit there, pointing to Miss Burns, whispered in my ear, "She is one of the hidden servants of God." J. LEIPER GEMMILL.

MR. JAMES JEFFREY HUNTER, OF GLASGOW : VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BURNS FEDERATION, 1900-1925. (Died 27th November, 1925.)

The first page of this volume records the death, on 1st June, 1925, of the Emeritus-President of the Burns Federation, Dr. D. M'Naught. Here we record with regret that, on 27th November, 1925, the Senior VicePresident of the Federation, Mr. James Jeffrey Hunter, died suddenly in Glasgow.

Mr. Hunter was about sixty-four years of age, and was a son of the late Bailie Archibald Jeffrey Hunter, a man of advanced views whose picturesque figure was for long well known in the streets of Glasgow, and who was for two decades secretary to the Glasgow United Trades Council, and for several years a member of the Town Council and a Magistrate of the city. He received his training with the firm of Messrs. Maclay, Murray & Spens, and attended law classes at Glasgow University. In 1892 he began business as a solicitor on his own account, and during the subsequent thirty-three years built up a large Court practice.

Mr. Jeffrey Hunter's interests in his native city were many and varied-chiefly political and municipal, theatrical and literary-and his services were freely given to them.

Liberal in politics, he travelled the country to speak on behalf of candidates for parliamentary honours, and on several occasions acted as agent at elections. He was also a member of Glasgow Corporation, representing the First (Dalmarnock) Ward during the years 1899-1901; was a member of the Institute of Journalists, a lecturer on literary subjects, and an amateur actor of considerable reputation.

In 1900 Mr. Jeffrey Hunter was elected a Vice

H