Anderson, but that your time would scarcely permit you to read them. Among others, I have a valuable communication from Mr Ramsay of Ochtertyre. I will arrange a parcel of these, and send them for your winter evenings' amusement. I have mentioned to you before, the great sale in Liverpool, and indeed over England in general. If I am right in my supposition, our works are likely to get better through the British Critic than I suspected they would. Except the Critical Review, no other periodical work has noticed them. The Critical seems disposed to assign them a large space. Two numbers are occupied by the Life alone and the critical observations are not touched yet, nor a word said of the writings themselves.

"I am scribbling to you at a late hour of the night-I grow obscure-sleep steals upon me. I must not, however, conclude without acknowledging the very kind interest you take in my son. He is better, and I hope likely to recover.

"I will write again to-morrow. In the meantime, adieu.-Yours very affectionately,

"JAMES CURRIE,"

SOME ADDENDA TO THE CROMEK

CORRESPONDENCE.

I

66

N the Burns Chronicle (Nos. VII. and VIII., 1898-99) we gave the text of a series of letters by the editor of the Reliques and others, which formed part of the Earnock MSS.," then in the possession of Sir John Watson, Bart., and which shed much new light on Currie's edition of 1800, and Cromek's Reliques published in 1808. Through the courtesy of Mr W. K. Bixby, one of the leading members of the St. Louis Burns Club, whose property they are, we are enabled to lay before our readers another series of Cromek letters of almost equal value, which have never been published till now, so far as our knowledge goes. They are addressed to Wm. Creech, Burns's Edinburgh publisher, and were written when the Reliques was passing through the press. So much has come to light within recent years regarding Cromek's peculiar methods of procuring and preparing the material for his publication that the Bixby contribution is sure to be perused with as much amusement as Burnsian interest. The correspondence makes it plain that his object was to get as much from Creech as he could on the easiest terms. Having undoubted proof in his hands that Burns was far from being satisfied with the financial aspect of his dealings with Creech, he skilfully plays this off against Creech's well-known predilection to keep a tight hold of everything from which money might be extracted, by offering to delete all damaging references to him in the Poet's letters already in his possession, for the which good offices he expected a satisfactory quid pro quo. His appeal to the vanity of Creech by vague promises of personal puffing in the projected volume will not be lost upon the reader.

We also give other three letters from Mr Bixby's collection containing some interesting Burnsiana. The

letter from Mr Scott Douglas to an unknown correspondent contains his opinion of the Laing, Train, or Richmond papers (they have been referred to under one or other of these titles) bequeathed to the Edinburgh University Library by David Laing. That opinion has been endorsed by every Burns student who has given them any consideration. The Greenfield referred to is the Rev. Wm. Greenfield, of St. Andrew's Church, Edinburgh, and Professor of Rhetoric in the University there. Burns had a good opinion of him, but flagrant reports regarding his conduct having got into currency, he demitted his charge and subsequently died in the north of England under an assumed name. He is mentioned in one of the preceding Cromek letters.

The accepted reading of the line quoted from the Jolly Beggars" is :

"Wha used at trysts and fairs to driddle."

Cromek to Wm. Creech.

14th March, 1808.

SIR,I take the liberty of repeating the request I made to you when in Edinburgh respecting the letters of Burns in your possession, to be substituted instead of those which I could wish to

suppress.

As you promised me them so seriously, I have, of course, been looking for them by every mail. As the book is gone to press, this delay is of the greatest consequence to the volume-this I need not point out to you.

I hope to have the pleasure of a line from you forwarding the manuscripts in a post or two at the farthest. A compliance with my request will serve the interests of literature, and very much oblige-Sir, Your obedient and humble Servant,

4 Newman Street,

Oxford Road, London.

(Signed) R. H. CROMEK.

Cromek to Wm. Creech.

London, 64 Newman Street,

21st March, 1808.

DEAR SIR,—I was busily employed in correcting the fourth sheet of the forthcoming volume when your letter reached me.

I need not say that your discovery of the letter and poem gave me infinite delight. Nor am I less pleased with your liberal mode of communicating the discovery to me; for I was all along aware that if you could contribute your mite to the volume you would cheerfully do it, notwithstanding the "ebullitions of that ardent mind which dictated the letters addressed to you in my possession. In the proof sheet I have just mentioned is printed a letter addressed to a lady in your city, the postscript of which contains a long and most severe remark on your conduct toward this unfortunate son of song. In the copy I gave to the printer I had run my pen through it, but I was greatly surprised on revising the sheet to see it staring me in the face. Of course I have obliterated the whole of the passage, and I will be scrupulously careful that it does not appear.

I hope you will do me the justice to believe that my mind is not formed of that sort of stuff which delights in wantonly giving pain to others; at the same time it must be considered that as Editor of the volume the reputation and good name of the Poet is in some measure entrusted to my guardianship; and to the utmost of my ability and integrity I pledge myself to watch over it with the most anxious solicitude.

I am greatly surprised when you tell me you subscribed and paid the full price for 500 copies of the Edinburgh edition. It was indeed a liberal act, and an act that I shall mention to your honor in a proper part of the book. How different is this conduct from that of a certain gentleman in your town to whose musical publication poor Burns contributed gratuitously so many of the finest efforts of his Muse. This wretch in return sent him one five-pound note, and when subscription was set on foot to raise a sum for a monument to the Bard's memory he very generously contributed five shillings!!!

If it please God that my right hand "does not forget its cunning "this shall be told, and told most severely. Just now,

this is entre nous.

You need not have told me that several of your literary people approved of the poem you have found. Your own approbation, with me, would have had sufficient weight.

Will you have the goodness to present my kindest respects to my good friend Mr Miller ? I will write to him, if possible, by

to-morrow's mail.

I am

You say the poem will now need some illustrations. sure you will oblige me by making such observations on it as you may judge necessary, and let me have it by letter-never mind whether single sheet or double-as soon as possible.

If I can serve you in return in any way in London, I hope you

3

will not stand on ceremonies in commanding me.-I am, dear Sir, Your obt. obliged humble servant,

I shall indulge the hope that Mr Ballantyne will be the messenger of good news to me. May I ask if you can indulge me with one or two of the manuscripts in the handwriting of Burns? To me they will be of consequence, as I mean to bind together all his originals that I have collected.

The second paragraph of this letter was undoubtedly intended to impress Creech with a due sense of the risk he was running by neglecting to reply to his letters and acceding to his requests. The fourth paragraph is grossly unjust to Thomson. Burns emphatically refused to accept any remuneration from him, and there is every reason to believe that no profit had accrued from his musical publications for some time after the death of Burns. Thomson had placed his Burns MSS. unreservedly in the hands of Currie, the proceeds of the Liverpool edition being for behoof of the Poet's family. It was different with Cromek. We learn from Thomson's letter to Alex. Peterkin (October, 1814), that he flatly refused to put said MSS. into the hands of Cromek for two reasonsfirst, they required careful and judicious editing considering that Currie had not published them in their entirety; and second, Cromek's being confessedly a speculation for personal profit, he could not, in justice to himself, entertain his proposal. Hence the resentment expressed in the letter. The heirs of Creech have never given his correspondence with Burns to the public, for some occult reason; consequently nothing definite is known regarding the merits of the dispute between them. We reproduce Thomson's letter to Peterkin at the end of the present series.

Cromek to Wm. Creech.

28th March, 1808.

DEAR SIR,-I am half afraid you will begin to think me a troublesome correspondent, but I should not be thus urgent if my