NOTES AND QUERIES. ཁྱ GAVIN HAMILTON'S SON. Mr John Hamilton, well known in the Kilmarnock District, died in 1852, at London, having attained his 84th year. He was the eldest son of Gavin Hamilton, writer in Mauchline, to whom Burns dedicated the Kilmarnock Edition of his Poems. John was then "the wee curlie John" of the following lines : 66 May health and peace, with mutual rays, Shine on the evening of his days, Till his wee curlie John's ier-oe, When ebbing life nae mair shall flow, The last and mournful rites bestow." John died, however, without leaving living issue, both of his sons (William and Gavin) having predeceased him. He was for many years factor for Loudoun, the property of the Marquis of Hastings, but, having accepted the situation as factor for the Duke of Portland, he resigned it. His son, William, was afterwards associated with him in that appointment. [Liverpool Mercury, August 15th, 1852]. As agent for the Duke of Portland, his name occurs frequently in the records of Kilmaurs and Kilmarnock. EDITOR. SOUTER JOHNNIE. A statement in the Aberdeen Weekly Journal Notes and Queries column, on the 1st October, 1915, that John Lachlan, shoemaker, Ayr, was the prototype of Burns's "Souter Johnnie was refuted by a writer signing himself "Q," a week later. Part of his reply 66 was as follows :-Burns is believed to have drawn "Tam o' Shanter from Douglas Graham, a farmer at Shanter, near Kirkoswald, and Souter Johnnie " (or Johnny," as it is more frequently rendered) from John Davidson, who lived for some time at Glenfoot of Ardlochan, near the farm of Shanter, whence he removed to Kirkoswald. Davidson died in 1806, and was buried in the churchyard of KirkOswald. There is no need to cite " authorities," but a comparatively modern one may be adduced. In a work dealing with the parish of Monkton and Prestwick, titled "A Little Scottish World as revealed in the annals of an ancient Ayrshire parish," and published in 1894, the author, the Rev. Kirkwood Hewat, mentioned that a friend of his in the parish possessed the silver link buttons of the coat in which "Tam o' Shanter was married, having got them from the grand-daughter of Douglas Graham of the Shanter farm. The descendants of "Souter Johnny also had a connection with the parish. "They were, wrote Mr Hewat, "the Davidsons, known by all to be the descendants of John Davidson, the shoemaker or souter' of Glenfit, near Shanter farm, a crony both of Burns and of Douglas Graham.” 6 Readers of the Chronicle are referred to the authoritative and illustrated article by Mr James Muir in the 1906 issue. It seems. strange that these points are still in dispute. ROBERT MURDOCH-LAWRANCE. "Cairnchina," 23 Ashley Road, Aberdeen. AN ALLEGED PORTRAIT OF BURNS. Benrig, Kilmaurs, 13th February, 1915. He might have gone To prove the negative Sir,-In his remarks on an alleged portrait of Burns, which recently appeared in Scottish Country Life, Mr Iain MacDougall expresses the opinion that the evidence adduced by Mr Green in support of its authenticity is not convincing. further and described it as no evidence at all. in this instance would take up more space than you would be willing to allow in your columns ; the only course open, therefore, is to examine the reasons which Mr Green advances for the faith that is in him. Shortly put, these are a fancied similarity in the face and arrangement of the hair, the left hand of the figure resting on a volume of Shakespeare, in the neighbourhood of which is another volume very like the Edinburgh Edition of the Poet's works, an inkstand being used as one of the accessories, an apparent stoop of the shoulders, a seal with a Masonic emblem attached to the fob-chain, and the parting of the lips, which, it is asserted, agrees with Gilbert Burns's criticism of the Nasmyth portrait. The books, inkstand, and seal may be dismissed as inconsequent details equally applicable to many portraits of the young men of that period. Stooping or not, the shoulders are narrow, the figure slim, and the hands (sketchy as they are) are certainly not those of a ploughman. If the die on the seal had been shown in the smaller photograph Mr Green might have made something of it in the way of proof or the reverse. It is to the last of his reasons that Mr Green attaches most importance. But if he reads Gilbert's letter to George Thomson with closer attention (Burns Chronicle, No. VIII., page 55) he will find that the writer was referring to Beugo's engrav I 66 ing of the Nasmyth and not to the portrait itself when he used the words: To make the Poet mim-mou'd will not do." In another part of the same letter he says:-" Great caution is necessary to prevent being misled by Beugo's idea of silencing the modern lip as though the Poet brought his lips together when not speaking, yet the lips showed a separation outward, as you will likewise observe in the black profile." In a previous letter to Thomson (July 2nd, 1821), he says:- Nasmyth's portrait is certainly a very good likeness of the Poet." It is a fact that Beugo compressed the lips when he was working on the plate, and Gilbert noticed the alteration. The upper lip of the portrait in question is short, and drawn up so as to show the teeth-a wide divergence from Gilbert's criticism. The alleged portrait appears to me a very good painting of a young laird who has just attained his majority, and who has arrayed himself in faultless costume for the purpose of adding his canvas to the family portrait gallery.-I am, etc., -From Glasgow Herald, 17th February, 1915. D. M'NAUGHT. SALE OF A BURNS MS. RED CROSS SALE IN EDINBURGH. Public interest in the auction sale in aid of the funds of the Scottish Branch of the Red Cross Society, which was opened in Dowell's Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh, on Wednesday, 2nd December, 1915, was well sustained throughout the entire proceedings of the first day. In the presence of a numerous company of ladies and gentlemen, the sale was formally inaugurated by Lord Provost Inches, who explained at the outset that it had been agreed that the sale should be held conjointly in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and that the funds were to be equally divided between the Central Scottish Fund and the Lord Provost's Fund in Edinburgh. The feature of the day's transactions was the sale of an original Burns MS. of the poem To the Unco Cuid," set in a glazed case, which shows some variations to the poem as printed, and which were quoted in The Scotsman recently. The MS. is in good preservation, and is an excellent specimen of the national Poet's bold handwriting. Tacked on to the MS. are two separate lines, also in the same hand : "Farewell old Coila's hills and dales, Her heathy moors and winding vales." : Bidding for the MS. opened at sixty guineas, with three or four prospective purchasers vying for the treasure. Eventually, how ever, the competition was narrowed down to two bidders, Mr Ferguson, Burntisland, securing the MS. at 124 guineas. The MS. was gifted by the Misses Mary Welwood and Helen Hog, whose grandfather, James Maitland Hog of Newliston, acquired it in 1824. Dear Mr M'Naught, Mauchline, November 8th, 1915. The accompanying note may, I hope, not be unhelpful towards the understanding of what is called " the Lochlea Sequestration," to which reference is made in "Notes and Queries in No. XIX. of the Burns Chronicle. It is at the instance of my uncle, Alexander Taylor, an old man of 75 years of age, who was sometime tenant in the farm of Millburn (a farm adjoining Lochlea), and who, despite his years, has good mind of the many traditions of that district, and specially of those pertaining to the Burns family while residing there. With reference to the dispute between William Burns and his landlord, which led to sequestration," he says: 66 According to bargain, certain allowances were to be made by the landlord to the tenant for the making up of the high lands of the farm, which were very bare, by the carting of moss (soil) from the low lands (bog). One winter (one of extreme lengthened frost), the tenant (William Burns) carted more than was equal to the rent (half year's rent), hence the dispute." That accounts for something, but surely not for the £500 claimed. Further knowledge may come in time, if certain papers be forthcoming. Meanwhile may we not say-William Burns was an honourable man. J. TAYLOR GIBB. KILMARNOCK EDITION OF BURNS. The following appeared in the Aberdeen Evening Express, 27th April, 1911, and culled from the Standard :-" New York, Wednesday (no date). American dealers secured a Kilmarnock Edition of Burns's Poems for £1160, a figure which is believed to constitute a record for Burns.... Foreign dealers complain that the American bidders are offering extravagant prices, making reasonable prices impossible." 66 ROBERT MURDOCH-LAWRANCE. Cairnchina," 23 Ashley Road, Aberdeen, 9th August, 1915. BURNS IN ABERDEEN. When looking the old files of the Aberdeen Journal recently I came upon the following item in the issue of September 11th, 1787 :--Domestic Occurrences, Aberdeen.-Yesterday passed through this place, on his return from a tour in the North, Mr Burns, the celebrated Ayrshire Bard." an Sheriff William Watson of Aberdeen's life, and his work for the young, was written by his grand-daughter, Miss Marion Angus, Inchgower, Cults, near Aberdeen, 1913. As is well known, the worthy Sheriff was the founder of Industrial Schools, and extract from his diary is of interest to Burnsites :-" Regarding the Dumfries School, which had been largely assisted by Mr David Steuart, Sheriff Watson speaks in one of his letters thus: Mr Steuart has overcome all his difficulties, and the Industrial School was opened to-day, March 27th, 1848, in the house where Burns died, on July 5th, 1796 (three months after I was born).' ” ROBERT MURDOCH-LAWRANCE. Cairnchina," 23 Ashley Road, Aberdeen, A M'KIE LETTER. Burnsites who possess copies of James M'Kie's Bibliography of Robert Burns, published at Kilmarnock, 1881 (edition limited to 600 copies, my copy numbered 129), may be glad of the following transcript of a holograph letter in my possession : Kilmarnock, 22nd December, '69. Messrs A. Brown & Co. (Aberdeen). Gentlemen, I have tried every way to complete the Edin. [burgh] Vol. of Burns according to your Note, and along with your parcel of Burns I have sent sheets so far as I can find them. The poems commence |