which saved them from oblivion. is a case in point. version : "Jenny dang the Weaver" We copy one verse of Sir Alexander's "At Willie's wedding on the green The lassies, bonny witches, Were buskit oot in aprons clean And snaw-white Sunday mutches. Auld Mysie bade the lad's tak' tent, For Jenny dang the weaver.' Alexander Boswell was a great admirer of the Poet, perhaps a greater admirer of the Bard than of the Biographer, for the fame of Burns was abroad in the land, while it remained for a later generation to fix the place of Boswell among the literary stars. The career of Sir Alexander was cut short in a duel which arose out of a quarrel over a literary pasquinade. In his unhappily, short career, however, he showed the high estimation in which he held the Ploughman Poet in being the means, almost unaided, in collecting £2000 for the erection of the beautiful and classical Monument to Burns which stands on the banks of the Doon. In such a way are the names of Burns and Boswell united in practical form in the eyes of men, while in literature, as we have seen, Robert Burns and James Boswell each in his own way was the pioneer of a new school-pioneers indeed, but each remaining to this day without a peer. H. J. S. THE SCOTTISH EXHIBITION. I' T must ever be a source of pride to the Burns Federation that the movement for the establishment of a Chair of Scottish Literature and History in a Scottish University originated with one of their members, the late Mr W. Freeland, whose whole-hearted enthusiasm, continued through many years of difficulty and discouragement, at length culminated in the hearty co-operation of kindred Scottish Associations, by whose aid the foundation of the necessary endowment was laid by voluntary subscriptions amounting in the gross to something like £5000. Before this measure of success was achieved Mr Freeland had passed away. But the spirit with which he had imbued the Federation was not allowed to die. Dr William Wallace, who occupied the Presidential chair when he was editor of the Glasgow Herald, lent the whole weight of his influence to the enterprise, and so widened the area of national appeal that it at length took practical shape in the launching of the National Exhibition scheme in Glasgow, which has proved such a financial success that the full endowment of the Chair may now be considered an accomplished fact. When the scheme came to be considered in detail it was thought that the object might be best attained by an Exhibition in which the National History, Art, and Industry of Scotland should be expounded. Committees were therefore formed of men expert in these several spheres. In the departments of history and art it was deemed advisable that the work should be subdivided. Sub-committees were therefore formed to deal with Scottish History and Literature, Historical Portraits, and Ethnographical and Historical Objects. The first of these was further divided into sections, one of which was devoted to Burns MSS., Literature, and Relics. The gentlemen selected to supervise the Burns of the West Gallery was set aside for the Burns exhibits, which, being somewhat circumscribed in area, necessarily limited the accommodation for exhibits, and compelled the committee to make a most careful selection. It was therefore resolved that the exhibits should be confined as far as possible to articles of Burnsian interest in private hands which had seldom or never been exhibited before, and the rarer objects which formed part of the collections in public institutions. The result was a display of portraits, books, manuscripts, and relics which made up in quality and interest for any diminution of quantity observable in comparison with the other sections of a similar nature. The wall space was devoted for the most part to the portraiture of Burns, a subject on which there is much public curiosity, though it requires more expounding than can conveniently be set down in the pages of a catalogue. The centre of attraction here was the original Nasmyth bust, lent to the Exhibition authorities by the Board of Trustees for the National Galleries of Scotland. Efforts were made by the sub-committee to secure the Nasmyth replica from the National Fortrait Gallery, in London, and the Auchindrane replica in the possession of Lord Rosebery, so that all three might be seen side by side, but the negotiations unfortunately came to nothing. Oil canvases of the three sons of the Poet were on view, and Colonel De Peyster and Dr Blacklock were also similarly represented. The subsidiaries of the Cottage, the Brig o Doon, the Auld Brig o' Ayr, &c., were unfailing objects of interest to all classes of visitors, and the collection of engravings of Burns, the Burns country, and everything hat relates thereto, was the most complete that ever was or ever will be brought together. The show of Burns editions was as unique as it was unprecedently valuable. No fewer than nine copies of the First or Kilmarnock Edition of 1786, including Mr M'Naught's uncut copy, were to be seen in the show cases, whose aggregate value cannot be put down at less than £3000. To the four uncut copies already known-the Lamb, the Veitch, the M'Naught, and the Brown-perhaps now fall to be added the slightly-cut Hoe and Huth copies, the former of which was sold in New York this year for 5800 dollars, and the latter in London for £730. The record price on this side of the Atlantic was obtained for the Veitch copy, which was bought by the Alloway Trustees for £1000, the volume being in the original wrappers, with rough edges all round. It is probable that not more than thirty or forty copies of the Kilmarnock edition are now in existence, which, of course, accounts for the high price which even an imperfect copy now brings at public auction. In the centre case the most perfect specimens obtainable of the succeeding editions published during the Poet's life - the Edinburgh, the London, the 2-vol. Edinburgh, the Belfast, the Dublin, the Philadelphia, and the New York-were exhibited, some of which are almost as rare as the Kilmarnock. Some beautiful examples of binding were here shown, notably the volume belonging to Mr Weir, of Kildonan. The centre of attraction, however, was the identical whistle competed for at Friars' Carse in 1789 by Craigdarroch and Glenriddel, and immortalised by Burns in his poem of "The Whistle." The renowned whistle has been in the possession of the Craigdarroch family ever since, and was kindly put on exhibition at Glasgow by Miss Cutlar-Fergusson. The collection of MSS., though small, was very select, several of them, indeed, being unsurpassable for quality and condition. Amongst the most notable may be mentioned "The Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie," "Sic a wife. as Willie's wife," "The deil's awa' wi' th' Exciseman,' the Burns Family's copy of "Holy Willy's Prayer," the 66 66 Cardonell copy of Tam o' Shanter," and two copies of Scots wha hae," one of which has for the first line, "Scots who have wi' Wallace bled." Besides poems and songs, a number of holograph letters of the Poet's were exhibited, some of them for the first time, and the end cases contained an interesting collection of Burns medals and medallions. Though but a corner of the magnificent display laid out in the Palace of History, the Burns section was not the least popular of the sights in the West Gallery. From opening to closing day it was visited by admiring crowds, and when there was an influx of holiday-makers from the provinces there was scarce standing-room in the limited area. The sub-committee are to be congratulated on the success which attended their efforts, a success which is thus fittingly expressed in the official report :-" The collection of Burns portraits, engravings, manuscripts, and relics was exceptionally complete; and it is the truth when we say that no collection hitherto brought together has equalled in importance and unique interest that which was housed in the Burns Section of the Palace of History at the Glasgow Scottish Exhibition of 1911.” |