UBPARy UNIVERSITY OF CAL'TORNIA ROBERT BGRNS IJ^ STIRLW&SJIIRB. Bust ok Robert Burns, kv D. W. Stevenson, R.S.A., i.\ Nationai, Wallace Monument. From photograph by Valentine ^ Sons, Limited, Dundee. Robert Burns IN Stirlingshire. )iY WILLIAM HARVEY, Author of " Kcunethcrook : Some Sketches of Village I-ife ;" " Scotti.sh Life anJ Character in Anecdote and Story;" etc., pnd ICdilor of "The Harji of Stirlingshire." STIRLING : ENEAS MACKAY, 43 Murray Place. MDCCCXCIX. M57- PRINTED AT THE STIRLING JOURNAL PRESS. C O N r E NTS. Pack ROBF.KT HURNS'S FlRST VlSlT TO STIRLINGSHIRE : Auc.usT, 1787, .-...- 1-2S Rop.RRT BuRNs's Second Visit m STiRi.iNcsinuF, : Octoher, 1787, ..... 29-35 RoKERT Burns and Dr. John Moore, - - - 3^1-76 "Scots Wha IIae": The Song and its IIistokv, - 77-96 " By Ai.i-an Stream I Chanced to Rove,' - - 97-99 " HuGHiE Graham," ..... 100-102 Songs and Poems with Local References, - - 103-106 Some County "Intimates" of Robert Burns, - - 107-113 Notable County Contributors to Burns Literature and Art, ...... 114-117 The Bust of Robert Burns : National Wallace Monument, ...... 11S-120 The Centenary Celebrations : January 25, 1859, .... 121-130 July 21, 1896, . - . . . 130-133 Notes, ..-.-•-- 135-146 Index, ........ 147-150 List of Suhscribers, ..... 151-156 PREFACE. Stirlingshire has many connections with Hterature, but few- are of greater interest than that which exists between it and the National Bard. " Robert Burns in Stirhngshire " is an attempt to gather together the various associations of the county with the poet. In his tours to the north, Robert Burns inckided Stirhng- shire, and left behind him some memorials of his visit- notably his " Lines Written on the Window of the Inn at Carron," and his famous " Stirling Lines." The places he visited, and the persons he associated with, come in for treatment in the present volume, and it is believed that the facts set forth will be read with interest by every admirer of the National Poet. In connection with the county, Burns's muse was called into service, and one has but to name his immortal " Scots Wha Hae " in this connection. A history of the song, gathered from many sources, and undoubtedly the most com- plete that has yet been published, is presented in the following pages. There are also notices of other effusions of county interest. One of the chief of his correspondents was Dr. John Moore, a "Son of the Rock," and father of the hero of Corunna. To that gentleman the poet penned his famous viii. Preface. autobiographical letter, and from the important place which Moore occupies in the Burns world it has been deemed fit to present the correspondence between the bard and him in extenso. Stirlingshire has ever been among the foremost admirers of Burns, and in veiw of that fact, and also to give a certain completeness to the work, chapters have been added containing notices of county " intimates " of the poet, county contributors to Burns literature and art, the county's celebrations of the centenaries of the poet's birth and death, and the placing of his bust in the Hall of Heroes in the National Wallace Monu- ment near Stirling. While these sheets were in the press, an interesting county landmark connected with Burns was swept away. The change- house at Alva, kept by Betty Black (see page 34), and locally known as "No. 5," suffered demolition, and as another structure was proposed to be erected in its stead, the Alva Burns Club arranged to place a memorial tablet, commemorating the tradition of the poet's visit, in the wall of the new building. The ceremony of handing over the tablet took place on Friday, September 29, 1899, in presence of a large gathering of members of the Alva Burns Club and others interested. Throughout the book the author notes his obligations to various sources of information. Here he would thankfully acknowledge the assistance generously given him on local points connected with Burns by Messrs. David B. Morris and W. B. Cook, Stirling ; Wallace Maxwell, Carron ; and John T. Yule, Alva. 5 Bruce Street, Stirling, October i, 1S99. ROBERT BURNS m STIRLINGSHIRE. ROBERT BURNS'S FIRST VISIT TO STIRLING- SHIRE : August, 1787. |T was in the early autumn of the year 1787 that Burns passed through Stirlingshire in the course of his Highland tour. Some short time before — in the month of May in the same year — he had left Edinburgh to journey in the south. Beyond its scenic beauty and historic associations, however, the Borderland did not present then (although that is little more than a century ago) the attractions it does to-day. Scott and Hogg were youths of seventeen summers at the time, and had given no indication of the work they were to accom- plish. If the national bard had been a later-day traveller, how full his diary might have been of this, that, and the other place and scene connected with the Wizard of the North and the Ettrick Shepherd ! But these men were to achieve distinction in what B 2 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. was to Burns the future : if they had lived before him he or they would have been to some extent im- possible. In his tour to the West Highlands, undertaken apparently in the end of June, 1787, and regarding which we have so very scanty information, the poet doubtless touched the western fringe of Stirlingshire. He tells us he saw "the glorious lamp of day peering o'er the towering top of Ben Lomond," and spent a day on Loch Lomond, but beyond the mere statement of this latter fact we have no record of his doings, and it is with the journey in August, 1787, that we are at present concerned. During his Border tour the poet provided himself with a diary, and so preserved his observations by the way, and this he repeated on the occasion of his journey in the north. On August 25, 1787, Burns, in company with his friend William Nicol,^ left " Auld Reekie" bound for the Highlands. They set out from Edinburgh in a chaise ; Nicol — to quote from the poet's letter to Robert A^inslie two days before their departure — thought it more comfortable than horseback, to which the bard said " Amen," so that Jenny Geddes went home to Ayrshire " wi' her finger in her mouth." Following the poet's Journal, we find that the route was by Kirkliston, and Winchburgh, and Linlithgow. The first entry akin to our subject is — "Come through the rich Carse of Falkirk to Falkirk to pass the night." Beyond this meagre announcement the bard has given us no account of his doings, and any informa- tion on the subject must come from other sources. First Visit to Stirlingshire. 3 Mr. J. Gibson Lockhart, in his biography of Burns relates an incident which Dr. Robert Chambers sup- poses may refer to this, the evening of the first day of their northern tour. " I have heard," says Lockhart, "that riding one dark night near Carron, his (the poet's) companion teased him with noisy exclamations of delight and wonder, whenever an opening in the wood permitted them to see the magnificent glare of the furnaces: 'Look! Burns. Good Heaven! Look! Look! What a glorious sight!' 'Sir,' said Burns, ■clapping spurs to his horse, ' I would not look look at your bidding if it were the mouth of hell!'"- This outburst is attributed by Lockhart to impatience on the part of the poet at being interrupted while viewing some other scene of beauty. Halting at Falkirk, Burns and his companion resolved, as the Diary bears, to pass the night in the town. They seem to have found accommodation in the Cross Keys Inn, which was at that time the hostelry of chief importance and the calling-place of stage-coaches. The apartment which tradition associates with the poet is still pointed out : it is the centre room on the second floor of the building. Here, it is believed, Burns penned the first of the stanzas which bear witness to his journey at various stages. Some time prior to his leaving Edinburgh, the poet had procured a diamond pen, and the following lines and date are said to have been found scratched on one of the panes of the window in the apartment occupied by him : — Sound be his sleep and blythe his morn That never did a lassie wrang ; 4 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Who poverty ne'er held in scorn — For misery ever tholed a pang. 25th Aug., 1787. The date appended to the lines agrees with the date of the poet's visit to Falkirk, and the writing is not unlike that of the bard, but there is no actual proof that the verse was written by Burns. The lines- were never acknowledged by Burns, and are not included in any of the earlier editions of his works. Indeed, if they are genuine, they seem to have been- overlooked entirely for over half-a-century, as the first publication of them which we have been able to trace was in an article — along " with some other circum- stances regarding Burns's visit to Falkirk " which Robert Chambers looked upon "as doubtful" — con- tributed by Mr. George Boyack, St. Andrews, to the Fifeshire Journal for November 4, 1847.^ Boyack,, who was a native of Falkirk, and was born on 19th March, 1792* — less than five years after the poet's visit — would probably be in possession of any facts — traditional or other — which might go to prove the authenticity of the lines, but it would seem that our acceptance of them must rest entirely on his- authority. Admitted by Chambers on this authority,. they have been accepted by certain later editors — including Scott Douglas and Hately Waddell — and they are retained by William Wallace in his revised edition of Chambers's " Burns." Scott Douglas, who prefaces them as " generous sentiments," prints them as " said to have been " written by the poet, and from a small correction in the text, would appear to have compared Chambers's version with the original. The First Visit to Stirlingshire. 5 lines are not printed in " The Centenary Burns," which would seem to point to a dubiety existing in the minds of Messrs. Henley and Henderson as to their authenticity. In addition to these lines, the Inn preserved until (recently what was said to be another relic of the bard. At the time of his visit the ground floor of the .hostelry consisted of two apartments, separated by a wooden partition. One of the rooms was the public drinking-place, and for the convenience of the host and his servants, there were windows in the partition which afforded communication with the adjoining room. At some period — seemingly subsequent to the poet's visit — these windows were covered over, and remained so obscured until a few years ago, when, owing to certain alterations which were being effected, Ihe wooden partition was removed. On the windows being uncovered, there was revealed on one of them a. signature which purported to be the autograph of the poet scratched, like the lines in the room above, on the window pane with a diamond pen. The pro- prietor of the Inn — Mr. William Gow — doubtful of its authenticity, paid little attention to it, but, according to the local press, a curio-hunter being in Falkirk and hearing of the signature, visited the Inn, and, after ■examination, declared the autograph to be genuine. He purchased it, the local scribe tells us, " at a high price," and we are informed by Mr. Gow that it is included in the collection of a well-known Burns enthusiast. The Cross Keys Inn is proud of its connection with the bard. In one of the rooms the Falkirk 6 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Burns Club met for many years twice in twelvemonths — 25th January, the date of his birth, and 25th August, the date of his visit to the town — to celebrate the poet, and in 1889 steps were taken to erect some permanent memorial of his visit. This took the form of a metal medallion of the bard. It was gifted by the late William Thomson Mitchell, and was cast in. Grahamston Foundry. It was erected on the front wall of the Inn, and was unveiled on 25th January^ 18S9, by the late Sir (then Mr.) Thomas D. Brodie. The medallion tablet is three feet wide by four feet high. The portrait is a three-quarter length casting after Skirving, the bust being in bold relief with floral bordering of daisies on the one side, and poppies on the other, these flowers being considered emblematic of the poet's career. Over the bust on a ribbon scroll are the words — " Wood-notes wild," and underneath is the inscription : — ROBERT burns, Poet, Slept here. August 25TH, 1787, On the wall of the Inn the following tribute to his genius is also inscribed : — What heart hath ever matched his flame What spirit matched his fire ! Peace to the Prince of Scottish Song, Lord of the Bosom's Lyre. Returning to Burns and his companion, we find that on the following day — Sunday — they directed their attention to the places of interest in and around Falkirk, and the following is the poet's resume : — " Falkirk nothing remarkable, except the tomb of Sir John the Graham, over which, in the succession of time, four [three] stones have been laid. ^ First Visit to Stirlingshire. 7 *' Caniclon the ancient metropolis of the Picts, now n. small village, in the neighbourhood of Falkirk.* Cross the grand canal to Carron^ — Breakfast — come past Larbert, and admire a fine monument of cast-iron erected by Mr. Bruce, the African traveller, to his [second] wife. N^.B. — He used her very ill, and I suppose he meant it as much out of gratitude to Heaven as anything; else."' In supplement to the poet's notes it is unnecessary that much should be written. One thing that calls for notice is the fact that he dismisses the visit to Carron with mere mention, leaving" us to "glean ''our information from other sources. In visiting thejplaces of interest on their way, Burns and Nicol proceeded to Carron, in the hope of seeing the ironworks there.^ On their reaching the gate of the Foundry, however, the porter refused them admittance, and once more the diamond pen was called into use. The poet and his companion adjourned to Carron Inn, and the following epigram, chronicling their disappointment,. was inscribed on one of the windows : — We cam na here to view your warks In hopes to be mair wise. But only, lest we gang to Hell, It may be nae surprise ; But when we tirl'd at your door, Your porter dought na bear us : ^ * Sae may, should we to Hell's yetts come, Your billie Satan sair us. This epigram, dated "August 26th, 1787," and signed " R. B. Ayrshire," was published in the Edinbiirgh Evening Courant for 5 th October, 1789,, under title, " Written on the Window of the Inn at Carron." It was republished in 1799 in No. i of a series of chap-books issued by George Gray, Book- J? Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. seller, North Bridge Street, Edinburgh, and Stewart included it in his " Poems ascribed to Robert Burns " published at Glasgow in 1801. The lines attracted attention and even inspired a reply. A traveller, or riding clerk as he was called in those days, in the employment of the Carron Company — Alexander (?) Benson^^ by name — is said to have been the first to notice the lines. He copied them into his " Order Book," and afterwards retorted in the following terms : — If you cam here to see our works You should have been more civil Than give us a fictitious name In hopes to cheat the devil. Six days a week to you and all We think it very well, The other, if you go to church. May keep you out of Hell. This moralising rejoinder, the work of an obscure individual who probably never attempted higher flights of poesy, nor wrote another line even of kindred doggerel, has, by connection, gained the im- mortality awarded the epigram of the national bard ! There is another reply to the poet which is quoted from the Toast List of one of the anniversary gather- ings of the Larbert Burns Club. It differs con- siderably from that by Benson, but at the same time seems to have been suggested by his. It runs thus — When ye cam here to view oor warks, Had ye but been mair civil, We'd ta'en ye in, and taught ye tricks, We'd garr'd ye cheat the Devil. First Visit to Stirlingshire. 9 But when ye tirled at oor door, Ye made sac niuckle din ; Oor porter thocht 'twas Nick himsel, And widna' let ye in. The Inn at which Burns halted and on the window of which he penned his lines still stands, but it has long since given up its business of catering for the refreshment of the public. It was originally built by the Carron Company as a Bank, when that Company contemplated adding banking to their other enter- prises, but subsequently it was let as an Inn, and was kept by one of the name of Stewart in the year 1787, when Burns visited the district. The poet's verse remained for some time, but one stormy night — the Deil may have had some work on hand — the pane on which it was inscribed was blown into the room, and the original " manuscript " irreparably smashed. The building is now occupied as workmen's houses. The reason assigned, says Cunningham, for refusing to show the Carron Foundries to Burns was that he called on a Sunday. This could hardly be, continues his biographer: he knew that the labour which rendered the place interesting had ceased ; that the furnaces were mostly extinguished, and the " warks " not to be seen. The more probable reason is that he sought admittance without an introduction. In a note the same Editor says, the poet sought permission under *' an assumed name," and this of course is borne out by Benson's reply. So much for Carron. After noticing the monument to Bruce's wife, and giving vent to his sarcasm at the pile, he continues his observations : — " Pass Dunipace, a place laid out with fine taste— a charming amphitheatre bounded by Denny village, and pleasant seats of Herbert- lo Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. shire, ^ ^ Denovan, ^ ' and down to Dunipace. The Carron running down, the bosom of the whole makes it one of the most charming little prospects I have seen." From the notes which the poet gives it would seem that he took an active interest in every place he saw. His local knovvledsre could not be so ex- tensive as to enable him to recognise such places as Denovan and Herbertshire. Nor can we suppose that his companion would give him much assistance. The inference is, rather, that he enquired as to the respective places as he passed, or that, recapitulating' his journey at the intermediate resting-places to his various hosts, he received from them information for the completion of his Diary. Resuming our perusal of the poet's Journal, we find that the next paragraph or entry embraces the visitors' doings on the Sabbath afternoon. "Dine at Auchenbowie^* — Mr. Monro an excellent, worthy old man — Miss Monro an amiable, sensible, sweet young woman much resembling Mrs. Grierscm [wife of Dr. George Grierson of Glasgow, the friend and brother-mason of the poet]. Come to Bannockburn — shewn the old house where James III was murdered. The field of Bannockburn — the hole where glorious Bruce set his standard. Here no Scot can pass uninterested. I fancy to myself that I see my gallant, heroic countrymen coming o'er the hill, and down upon the plunderers of their country, the murderers of their fathers ; noble revenge and just hate glowing in every vein, striding more and more eagerly as they approach the oppressive, insulting, blood-thirsty foe. I see them meet in gloriously triumphant congratulation on the victorious field, exulting in their heroic royal leader, and rescued liberty and independence. — Come to Stirling " In the course of a century the shrines of a nation do not alter much, and the places visited by the poet are the spots to which the pilgrim turns to-day. The First Visit to Stirlingshire. ir white-washed cottage with its thatched roof is still visited by many, and still tells its stoiy of the murder of a king. The field of Bannockburn likewise draws pilgrims from near and far, but the centre of attraction on the field is somewhat altered since Burns's time. "The hole where glorious Bruce set his standard " was in a boulder which lay on that part of the field known as Brock's Brae. This Bored- Stone, or King's Stane, to quote the words of an old inhabitant lately deceased (and the words may be taken as illustrating the appearance of the stone when Burns saw it), was a field boulder about 2 ft. 4 or 5 inches diameter, of rather a coarse and porous nature, not so close in the grain as common whin stone. In the centre was a hole three inches in diameter, and about six inches deep, which must have been made previous to the day of battle, as it would take some time to make it. Visitors were in the habit of chipping off portions of the stone, especially round the hole, and taking it away. To prevent the stone disappearing altogether before this vandalism, the interesting relic was enclosed in the iron grating which visitors to the field must be familiar with. Whether or not the poet was vandal enough to take with him a fragment of the stone, history telleth not, but there he said a fervent prayer for old Caledonia, and there, time and again, multitudes of "brither Scots" from "here aboot and far awa," have shewn their gratitude to the heroes of their country by blending their voices in the poet's battle-ode — " Scots wha hae." Reaching the City of the Rock on the Sabbath afternoon, Burns and his companion turned their 12 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. steps towards Wingate's Inn.^^ This Inn, which had lately been erected by James Wingate, a well-known Stirling innkeeper of that period, was situated in what was then known as Quality Street. To-day the Inn is the Golden Lion Hotel, and the street is King Street. The Inn has changed somewhat since Burns's visit, but the room in which the poet is said to have slept is still pointed out. It is located in the oldest part of the hotel, on the third floor and at the north- east corner. The room is a spacious apartment, and the window faces the Ochils. Having found ac- commodation here, the visitors betook themselves to see their surroundings, but local history is mute and the writings of the poet are almost silent on the subject. The central object of attraction was the Castle, the view from which received a commendatory notice in "his correspondence, and the neglected condition of which drew forth the significant " Stirling Lines." On returning to the Inn the poet proceeded to write to his friend, Mr. Robert Muir of Kilmarnock. The epistle contains an account of the earlier part of the northern tour, and as such amplifies, to some extent, the poet's Diary. This letter was first printed in No. lo of The Bi-oughani (a Glasgow weekly) for May 5, 1832. It is in the following terms : — My Dear Sir, — I intended to have written you from Edinburgh, and now write you from Stirling to make an excuse. Here am I on my way to Inverness, with a truly original, but very worthy, man, a Mr. Nicol, one of the Masters of the High-school in Edinburgh. I left Auld Reekie yesterday morning, and have passed, besides bye-excursions, Linlithgow, Borrowstounness, Falkirk, and here am I undoubtedly. This morning I kneeled at the tomb of Sir John the Graham, the gallant friend of the immortal Wallace ; and two hours ago I said First Visit to Stirlingshire. 13 a fervent prayer for Old Caledonia over the hole of a blue whin-stone, where Robert de Bruce fixed his royal standard on the banks of Bannockburn ; and just now, from Stirling Castle, I have seen by the setting sun the glorious prospect of the windings of the Forth through the rich carse of Stirling, and skirting the equally rich carse of Falkirk. The crops are very strong, but so very late, that there is no harvest, except a ridge or two perhaps in ten miles, all the way I have travelled from Edinburgh. I left Andrew Bruce and family all well. I will be at least three weeks in making my tour, as I shall return by the coast, and have many people to call for. My best compliments to Charles [Samson], our dear kinsman and fellow-saint ; and Messrs. W. and H. Parkers. I hope Hughoc [Parker] is going on and prospering with God and Miss M'Causlin. If I could think on anything sprightly, I should let you hear every other post ; but a dull, matter-of-fact business like this scrawl, the less and seldomer one writes, the better. Among other matters-of-fact, I shall add this, that I am and ever shall be, My dear Sir, your obliged, Robert Burns. ^^ Stirling, 26th Aug., 1787. The best of biographers are apt to err in matters of minutest detail, and Mr. William Wallace in company with Dr. Robert Chambers makes a little slip in his reference to the poet's visit to Stirling. As matter of fact, Burns, as we have already said, did not reach Stirling till Sabbath afternoon, and the following paragraph contains the error in question : — " At Stirling, on the Saturday night, the travellers had not been more charmed with the magnificent panorama of the Grampians, viewed from the battle- ments of the castle, than their patriotic and quasi- Jacobitical feelings had been outraged by the ruinous state of the ancient hall in which parliaments had occasionally been held under the Scottish kings." The outraged feelings found expression in the ** Stirling Lines." 14 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Mr. W. B. Cook, in his introduction to his *' History of Stirling Castle," says—" When Robert Burns first visited Stirling, the desecration of the Parliament House made him so angry that, on re- turning to his inn, he scratched on one of the window- panes a few severe lines, reflecting on the successors of the Stewart race." The lines are said (by Cunningham) to have been composed early on the morning of Monday, the 27th August, before Nicol was awake, and are as follows: — Here Stewarts once in glory reign'd, And laws for Scotland's weal ordain'd ; But now unroof'd their palace stands, Their sceptre fallen to other hands ; [Fallen indeed, and to the earth, Whence grovelling reptiles take their birth ;y The injured Stewart line is gone, A race outlandish fills their throne ; An idiot race, to honour lost — Who know them best despise them most. The Editors of T/te Centenary Burns fall foul of Cunningham for stating, without quoting his authority, that the lines were written on the Monday morning, and allege that "not improbably these lines were written after the jolly supper mentioned in his (the poet's) Journal^ The statement of Cunningham, without giving his authority, is doubtless of as much value as the "probability" of The Centenary Bttrns Editors ; and is not the consideration of these lines as an after-jolly-supper-production an adherence to that doctrine of atonement for the poet's failings which The Centenary Burns declaims so much against? Leaving the lines and his friend Nicol in Stirling, First Visit to Stirlingshire. 15 Burns proceeded on Monday to visit some friends at Harvieston, near Dollar, and the following is the entry in his Journal : — " Go to Harvieston — Mrs. Hamilton and family — Mrs Chalmers — Mrs. Shields — Go to see Cauldron linn, and Rumbling brig, and the Deil's mill. Return in the evening to Stirling." During the poet's absence, Nicol had observed the lines inscribed on the window. On Burns's return (following Scott Douglas's version of the story), his companion took him to task for having penned so bold a libel on the reigning family. " Well," replied Burns, " I shall try to qualify it somewhat, by writing a reproof to the author." Taking out his diamond pen, he added the lines : — Rash mortal, and slanderous poet, thy name Shall no longer appear in the records of Fame ! Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the Bible, Says, the more 'tis a truth. Sir, the more 'tis a libel? The " Stirling Lines " soon became notorious. They were written on a window of one of the public rooms of the Inn, and there they remained to be seen and read by every visitor who cared ; and copied into many travellers' note-books, they soon got into circulation. Whether Burns adhibited his name to the stanzas is not clear, but in subse- quent correspondence he gave unmistakable evidence ■of the authorship. An eccentric character in Paisley, says Mr. Scott Douglas, styling himself "John Maxwell, Poet" pub- lished in 1788, the Stirling Lines in a tract, entitled, ^' Animadversions on some Poets and Poetasters of the present age," in which he aims at being very severe on Burns and Lapraik. i6 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Notwithstanding evidence in existence, it was believed by some that the lines were not written by Burns. The Paisley Magazine, edited by William Motherwell, contained in the number for December, 1828, a statement throwing doubt on the authorship. It asserted that the lines were really the production of Nicol, and that it was only because Burns found that the public laid them to his charge that he took the blame of having written them in order that his friend might be saved the consequences. The article was introduced by Allan Cunningham in his edition of the poet's works, with the words — "this more satisfactory account of these celebrated lines involves circumstances which reflect the brightest lustre on the character of the Ayrshire Poet." The writer says : — " They were not the composition of Burns, but of his friend Nicol. This we state from the testimony of those who themselves knew the fact as it truly stood, and who were well acquainted with the high- wrought feelings of honour and friendship which induced Burns to remain silent under the obloquy which their affiliation entailed upon him. The in- dividual whose attention the lines first attracted was a clerk in the employment of the Carron Iron Com- pany, then travelling through the country collecting accounts, or receiving orders, who happened to arrive immediately after the departure of the poet and his friend. On enquiry, he learned that the last occupant of the apartment was the far-famed Burns, and on this discovery, he immediately transferred a copy of the lines to his memorandum-book of orders, made First Visit to Stirlingshire. 17 every person as wise as himself on the subject, and penned an answer to them, which, with the lines- themselves, soon spread over the country, and found a place in every periodical of the day. To this poetic critic of the Carron Works do we owe the first hint of Burns being the author of this tavern effusion. Those who saw the writing on the glass know that it was not the hand-writing of the poet ; but this critic, who< knew neither his autograph nor his person, chose to consider it as such, and so announced it to the workL On his return to Stirling, Burns was both irritated and grieved to find that this idle and mischievous- tale had been so widely spread, and so generally believed. The reason of the cold and constrained reception he met with from some distinguished friends^ which at the time he could not account for, was now explained, and he felt in all its bitterness the misery of being innocently blamed for a thing which he despised as unworthy of his head and heart. To disavow the authorship was to draw down popular indignation on the head of Nicol — a storm which would have annihilated him. Rather than ruin the interests of that friend, he generously and magnani- mously, or, as some less fervent mind may think,, foolishly, devoted himself to unmerited obloquy by remaining silent, and suffering the story to circulate uncontradicted. The friend who was with Burns- when he indignantly smashed the obnoxious pane v^ith the butt end of his whip, and who was perfectly aware of the whole circumstances as they really stood^ long and earnestly pleaded with him to contradict the story that had got wind, and injured him so much irt C 1 8 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. public estimation. It was with a smile of peculiar melancholy that Burns made this noble and charac- teristic reply : ' I know I am not the author ; but I'll be damned ere I betray him. It would ruin him — he is my friend.' It is unnecessary to add that to this resolution he ever after remained firm." This statement \s, prima facice, so absurd, that it is matter for wonder that Allan Cunningham, even with his notorious credulity, should have been charmed by the " lustre " it shed " on the character of the poet." The story is such a mixture of verbosity and imagina- tion, and so manifestly conflicts the Carron Lines with the Lines at Stirling as to suggest that its author, while able to make much ado about nothing, did not know what he was speaking about. The stanza was inscribed in one of the public rooms of the Inn — not in an apartment of which Burns was the " last occupant." No reply was penned by a Carron clerk, and this part of the story certainly refers to the lines written by the poet on his being refused admittance to the Ironworks. The friend who pled with Burns when he smashed the pane to contradict the story was probably Dr. Adair, and if so, it is surprising that Dr. Adair makes no mention of this in his account of the destruction of the glass. Above all, the reference to the stanza as a " thing which he despised as unworthy of his head and heart " is beside the mark. The " Stirling Lines " is not the only instance on record ■of the poet's impulsive disaffection towards the reigning dynasty. His troubles with the Excise are against the view that " he despised as unworthy of his head and heart " the sentiment of the offensive verses.^** First Visit to Stirlingshire. 19 Written at a time wlien a very little might be ■interpreted as treason, there was doubtless much in the stanza that might threaten untoward results, but as we have shewn, the article in the Paisley MagarAne is nothing more than an absurd fiction. Burns was unquestionably the author. The epigram is included in a MS. collection of verses in his own handwriting and is introduced with the significant head-line " Wrote by Somebody in an Inn at Stirling." He also put a confession on record in his correspondence with Clarinda, and this may be accepted as final. Writing to his correspondent on Sunday, 27th January, 1788, some months after its production, he said — " I have almost given up the Excise idea. . . . Why will great people not only deafen us with the din of their equipage, and dazzle us with their fastidious pomp, but they must also be so very dictatorially wise ? I have been questioned like a child about my matters, and blamed and schooled for my inscription on Stirling window. Come Clarinda ! — ' Come, curse me, Jacob ; come, defy me, Israel !'" Clarinda, replying on the following day, and writing with an unquestionable previous knowledge of the authorship of the lines, retorted — ** I'm half-glad you were school'd about the Inscription ; 'twill be a lesson, I hope, in future. Clarinda would have lectured you on it before, 'if she durst.'" The "Stirling Lines" caused many to turn un- favourable eyes on the poet. They were remembered years afterwards, says Lockhart, to his disadvantage, and even danger. The last couplet, continues this biographer, alluding, in the coarsest style, to the melancholy state of the King's health at the time, •was indeed an outrage of which no political prejudice 20 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. could have made a gentleman approve ; but he in all probability composed his verses after dinner ; and surely what Burns would fain have undone, others should not have been unwilling to forget. Although^ as Mr. Scott Douglas subsequently pointed out, " the melancholy state of the King's health" did not become publicly known till some time after the stanza was written, the strictures of Lockhart are not unjust.* ° To combat the disloyal verses of Burns, a reverend rhymer in the person of George Hamilton, minister of Gladsmuir, in East Lothian, and a notable divine of his day, came forward. On reading the " Stirling Lines" he added these by way of commentary — Thus wretches rail whom sordid gain Drags in Faction's gilded chain ; But can a mind which P'amc inspires, Where genius lights her brightest fires — Can Burns, disdaining truth and law, Faction's venomed dagger draw ; And, skulking with a villain's aim, Basely stab his monarch's fame ? Yes, Burns, 'tis o'er, thy race is run, And shades receive thy setting sun : With pain thy wayward fate I see, And mourn the lot that's doomed for thee : These few rash lines will damn thy name. And blast thy hopes of future fame. Alas for the gift of prophecy ! The Rev. George Hamilton, and one might even say the monarch himself, are numbered with the almost forgotten dead ; Burns knows no obscurity. When the commentary came under the notice of the bard, it moved him to a retort. Under the title. First Visit to Stirlingshire. 21 " The Poet's Reply to the Threat of a Censorious Critic," he refers to the matter in the Glenriddel MSS. in these words — "My imprudent lines"" were answered, very petu- lantly, by somebody, I believe a Rev. Mr. Hamilton. In a MS., where I met the answer, I wrote below : — With yEsop's lion, Burns says : — ' Sore I feel Each other blow ; but damn that ass's heel !''''i On his return from Harvieston, the poet and his companion spent the evening in the company of some Stirling folks, regarding whom he has left us scanty information. His entry is as follows : — " Supper — IMessrs. Doig (the Schoolmaster) and Bell ; Captain Forrester of the Castle — Doig a quecrish figure, and something of a pedant — Bell a joyous, vacant fellow who sings a good song — Forrester a merry, swearing kind of man, with a dash of the Sodger." Of Burns's friends who sat rcmd the table, the most important was " the School ./laster," and if the bard found congenial company \v\i\\ Bell who sang a good song, and Forrester who was a merry man, he would also find an intelligent conversationalist in Doig. Dr. David Doig, Rector of Stirling Grammar School, was born at Aberlemno, in 17 19, and was consequently advanced in life when he met Burns. He was educated for the ministry, but turned to teaching, and for many years filled this important scholastic appointment in Stirling. He had an ex- tensive knowledge of classical and oriental literature. On these subjects he contributed to the Encyclopaidia Britannica, and in recognition of his knowledge, the Glasgow University conferred on him the honorary 22 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. degree of LL.D. He died at Stirling in 1800. One of his biographers says he was a man of eminence in his times, and this is probably the reason for his acquaintance with the bard. The genius who had attracted the literati of the Capital was not likely to be unknown to such a man as Doig. The " Captain Forrester" to whom the poet refers was Gabriel Forrester of Craigannet and Braes, but it would appear that he had only the rank of lieutenant at the date of Burns's visit. He was lineally descended on the maternal side from the family of Napier of Mer- chiston, the inventor of logarithms. He married Jean, daughter of Robert Hamilton of Hamilton Hill, by whom he had a family of two sons and three daughters. He died in 1813, predeceased by his wife. Regarding " Bell " of the company, there is some doubt. Beyond his name Burns gives no infor- mation, but it is likely that he was Christopher Bell, who was a schoolmaster in Stirling at the time. Under his Trust Disposition and Settlement, Captain Forrester appoints " Christopher Bell, teacher in Stirling," one of his Trustees, and in some correspond- ence with his law-agent refers to " our friend Bell." It is likely, therefore, that it was he who met Burns when the latter was the guest of Captain Forrester. How the evening was spent is not on record, but we can read into the lines of the Diary chronicling this, the first " Burns Supper" in Stirling, that the conversa- tion would now turn on some abstract subject, in the discussion on which the Schoolmaster was pedantic, and then that the company would listen to some re- miniscence of military life from the Captain, and again that they would enjoy a song from their friend Bell. First Visit to Stirlingshire. 23 In addition to the trio who have gained immor- tality through the Diary of the poet, many of the citizens of Stirling would doubtless see Burns on the occasion of his visit. Among those who claimed this distinction was Mr. John Dick, some time Provost of Stirling, and in after years he used to relate the story with pleasure. From his nephew — John Dick, Esq. of Craigengelt, who is a well-known Burns student, and who possesses the MS. " Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat?" — we have received the following account of the incident : — "The occasion on which the late Provost Dick saw Burns was on his (the poet's) first visit to Stirling. At that time he was a very young boy ; and he was attending, with a younger sister, the school then kept by ' Sandy M'Laurin ' in the neighbourhood of Broad Street. On the day in question, ' the maister,' as my uncle called him, gave his pupils ' the play ' in the shape of a holiday on account of the news of some victory. At all events, when my uncle came out of the school (with his little sister in his hand), the bells of the town were ringing a merry peal ; and, running down towards the middle of Broad Street, he saw a considerable crowd of people, who were shouting to each other — ' Burns ! — Burns !' " On looking closer, my uncle saw a group of gentle- men, which included Dr. Doig, Captain Forrester, of Stirling Castle, Mr. Ramsay of Ochtertyre (who was then universally known as 'the learned Mr. Ramsay'), and Hector Macneill, the poet, who was then living near Stirling. The man — Burns — who was with these gentlemen, my uncle described as a tall man, who 24 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. * looted ' (that is stooped) somewhat in his gait. He was remarkably swarthy or ' black-avic'd ' in com- plexion, and seemed engaged in earnest conversation. His dress, my uncle distinctly remembered, viz.: — buck-skin breeches and top-boots, a deep yellow or buff vest, and a blue coat with yellow buttons — the Fox political livery. The whole party, named above, had evidently come direct from Stirling Castle ; and the people on the street looked on the gentle- men — Burns particularly, with friendly and interested •eyes. Just a little below the Broad Street Steeple, the party made a short halt ; and Mr. M'Laurin (the teacher before referred to) came forward, and was evidently introduced to Burns, as my uncle saw 'the maister' take out his snuff-box and present it to Burns in a friendly way. Meantime, the crowd of people had increased, and the cry ran from one to another of 'Burns! Burns!' louder than before. But the halt was brief. The party proceeded down Broad Street at a quick pace, and my uncle soon saw it no more. " My uncle told me that it was a warm summer •day ; so, from what is known of Burns's movements, it must have been sometime in June or August, 1787." In the above narrative there are at least two dis- crepancies. One of these is the alleged meeting of Burns and Hector Macneill. Although it is the fact that Macneill, at different times and for considerable periods, resided in or near Stirling, he was not resident in this district on the occasions of the poet's visits, but was the guest of Mr, Graham of Gartmore. The other, and more important discrepancy, is in connection with the age of Mr. Dick. He was. First Visit to Stirlingshire. 25 according to his own story, attending school " with a younger sister," but as he died on 22nd April, 1865, aged 79 years, he could not have been nnuch more than one year old in 1787 — the date of Burns's visits to Stirling. On referring these discrepancies to our -correspondent, he supplied the following explanation, which may, or may not, be satisfactory to our readers : — " With reference to my late uncle. Provost John Dick's age, I have for long thought that he was older than 79 ; because he used to tell me various things that necessarily proved he was older than that. Taking everything into consideration, I think he must have been born in 1780 or 1781 ; in fact he seems to have been 5 or 6 years older than 79, at the date of his death in 1865. This is the only reason- able way I can account for the discrepancy as to his age. Mr. Dick's memory was, up to the end, very clear ; and, in the case of the Burns story, he always repeated the same statement ; and, from what I knew -of him, you may trust me that my uncle spoke according to knowledge and eyesight. What the Stirling town bells rang for on the day of Burns's visit, he could not say, but he remembered of them ringing, and of 'the maister' (Mr. INI'Laurin) giving his pupils the play. " As for Hector Macneill being the guest of Mr. ■Graham of Gartmore at the date of R. B.'s visit to Stirling, that fact does not prevent Llacneill from being in Stirling on the day in question. JBesides, Macneill was just the kind of man to go 26 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. much further than from Gartmore to Stirling to see such a man as Burns. Macneill was often in Stirh'ng, and he was the intimate friend of Dr. David Doicr." On the morning following the first " Burns Supper" in Stirling, the poet continued his tour northwards. He must have been early astir as we find he indited a long epistle to his friend Gavin Hamilton before he left the City of the Rock. The letter is descriptive of his previous day's visit to Harvieston. It does not deal directly with our subject, but it was written in Stirling, and so may fittingly find a place in these pages. Stirling, 28th Aug., 17S7. My Dear Sir, — Here am I on my way to Inverness. I have rambled over the rich, fertile carses of Falkirk and Stirling, and am delighted with their appearance ; richly waving crops of wheat, barley, &c., but no harvest at .all yet, except, in one or two places, an old wife's ridge. Yesterday morning I rode from this town up the meandring Devon's banks to pay my respects to some Ayrshire folks at Harvieston. After breakfast, we made a party to go and see the famous Caudron-linn, a remarkable cascade in the Devon, about five miles above Harvieston ; and after spending one of the most pleasant days I ever had in my life, I returned to Stirling in the evening. They are a family, Sir, though I had not had any prior tie ; though they had not been the brother and sisters of a certain generous friend of mine, I would never forget them. I am told you have not seen them these several years, so you can have very little idea of what such young folks- as they, are now. Your brother [step-brother] is as tall as you are, but slender rather than otherwise ; and I have the satisfaction to inform you that he is getting the better of those consumptive symptoms which I suppose you know were threatening him. His make and particularly his manner resemble you, but he will still have a finer face. (I put in the word still to please Mrs. Hamilton). Good-sense, modesty, and at the same time a just idea of that respect that man owes to man and has a right in his turn to exact, are striking features in his character ; and, wliat with me is the Alpha and the Omega, he has a heart might First Visit to Stirlingshire. 27 adorn the breast of a Poet ! Grace has a good figure and the look of heahh and cheerfuhiess, but nothing else remarkable in her person. I scarcely ever saw so striking a likeness as is between her and your little Beenie ; the mouth and chin particularly. She is reserved at first ; but as we grew better acquainted, I was delighted with the native frankness of her manner and the sterling sense of her observation. Of Charlotte, I cannot speak in common terms of admiration : she is not only beautiful, but lovely. Her form is elegant ; her features not regular, but they have the smile of sweetness and the settled com- placency of good nature in the highest degree ; and her complexion, now that she has happily recovered her wonted health, is equal tcv Miss Burnet's. After the exercise of our ride to the falls, Charlotte was exactly Dr. Donne's mistress : — Her pure and elegant blood Flow'd in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought That one would almost say her body thought. "- Her eyes are fascinating ; at once expressive of good-sense, tenderness, and a noble mind. I do not give you all this account, my good Sir, to flatter you. I mean it to reproach you. Such relations, the first Peer in the realm might own with pride ; then why but you keep up more correspondence with these so amiable young folks? I had a thousand questions to answer about you all : I had to describe the little ones with the minute- ness of anatomy. They were highly delighted when I told them that John [Gavin's eldest son] was so good a boy and so fine a scholar, and that Willie was going on still very pretty ; but I have it in commission to tell her from them, that beauty is a poor, silly bauble, without she be good. Miss Chalmers I had left in Edinburgh, but I had the pleasure of meeting with Mrs. Chalmers, only, Lady M'Kenzie being. rather a little alarmingly ill of a sore throat, somewhat marr'd our enjoyment. I shall not be in Ayrshire for four weeks. My most respectful compliments to Mrs. Hamilton, Miss Kennedy, and Doctor M'Kenzie. I shall probably write him from some stage or other. I am ever. Sir, yours most gratefully, RoBT. Burns. Having finished the writing of his letter, and breakfasted with Captain Forrester, the poet and his- friend continued on their way. The closing note in the Journal having reference to Stirlingshire, is — " Tuesday fiwriiing — Breakfast with Captain Fnrrester^leave Stirling— Ochil Hills— Devon River— Forth and Teith- 28 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. The country he was passing through was celebrated at a later date in his Song. The Ochils and the Allan, the Devon and the Forth received verses in their honour. In connection with this last entry there is one point in which the poet seems to have been in error ; it is his reference to the Devon river. It is difficult to understand how the poet could have seen the Devon from Stirling, and the explanation may be that he mistook one or other of the marvellous links of the Forth for the "crystal Devon, winding Devon."-" Before closing our notes on Burns's stay in the town of Stirling, we may say that his visit supplies another legendary link in the chain which connects him with Freemasonry. There is a tradition that on the occasion of his stay in the City of the Rock, he visited his brethren of Stirling Ancient, 30, in lodge assembled, and according to custom, inscribed his name in the Attendance Register. As we were anxious to authenticate the incident if possible, or to refute it authoritatively, a communication was addressed to the secretary, inquiring whether any information could be obtained from the Attendance Register or other Books of the Lodge, which would settle the matter, and the reply, received verbally, was to the effect that no information could be given. That being so, we simply record the tradition, which is well-known in local Freemason circles, and which was communicated to us by several Freemasons. In addition to what has been stated regarding the poet's visit, the tradition also records that the page on which his autograph appeared was subsequently abstracted from the Register, and that at a later period the Register itself disappeared. ROBERT BURNS'S SECOND VISIT TO STIRLINGSHIRE: October, 1787. N Sunday, i6th September, 1787, after an absence of some three weeks, the poet reached Edinburgh. There he remained for a short time, after which he set out again for the north. On this occasion, however, the extent of his journey was small, and he preserved no diary of his doings. There were three things that tempted him north : to revisit his friends at Harvie- ston, to visit Sir William Murray of Ochtertyre, in Strathearn, and to make the acquaintance of Mr. John Ramsay, who resided a few miles north of Stirling, and whose residence was also called " Ochtertyre." In addition to the making of these visits, there are several other things which mark his second journey. Of these may be mentioned — his visit to Carron Ironworks, and his smashing the glass containing the " Stirling Lines " on the window of Wingate's Inn at Stirling. On his second visit Burns was accompanied by Dr. James M'Kittrick Adair,"* whose acquaintance he had made a short time before. It is to this companion that we owe any information we have 29 30 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. regarding the tour. When Dr. Currie was engaged on his Work, he applied to Dr. Adair, who gave him the following account of their journeyings. He says — " Burns and I left Edinburgh in August, 1787. We rode by Linlithgow and Carron, to StirUng. We visited the Ironworlcs at •Carron, with which the poet was forcibly struck. The resemblance between that place and its inhabitants to the cave of the Cyclops, which must have occurred to every classical reader, presented itself to Burns. At Stirling, the prospects from the Castle strongly interested him ; in a former visit to which, his national feelings had been powerfully excited by the ruinous and roofless state of the hall in which the Scottish parliaments had frequently been held. His indignation had vented itself in some imprudent, but not unpoetical lines, which had given much offence, and which he took this opportunity of erasing, by breaking the pane of the window at the inn on which they were written. At Stirling we met with a company of travellers from Edinburgh, among whom was a character in many respects congenial with that of Burns. This was Nicol, one of the teachers of the High-Grammar-School at Edinburgh— the same wit and power of conversation ; the same fondness for convivial society, and thoughtlessness of to-morrow, characterized both. Jacobitical principles in politics were common to both of them ; and these have been suspected, since the revolution of France, to have given place in each, to opinions apparently opposite. I regret that I have preserved no niemorabiiia of their conversation, either on this or on other occasions, when I happened to meet them together. Many songs were sung ; which I mention for the sake of observing, that when Burns was called on in his turn, he was accustomed, instead of singing, to recite one or other of his own shorter poems, with a tone and emphasis which, though not correct or harmonious, were impressive .and pathetic. This he did on the present occasion." The date given by Dr. Adair, in his account of the second journey, appears to be incorrect. He wrote after a lapse of twelve years, and, as Chambers says, his memory must have played him false. The tour seems to belong to the month of October. The .earlier journey was undertaken in August ; the poet Second Visit to Stirlingshire. 31 and Nicol did not return from it till i6th September, so that the second journey could not possibly have been made at the time Dr. Adair gives. As mentioned by his fellow-traveller, the poet was admitted to Carron Works. " The gates were opened with an apology for former rudeness, which mollified the bard." This detail is given by Allan Cunningham, and may be taken for what it is worth. In ignorance of the real cause of his former refusal, one cannot say that an apology for " rudeness " was either necessary or given, and there is no call for exalting the poet at the expense of the porter. Burns, his friend tells us, was forcibly struck with his inspection of the Works, and one remark of the poet has been preserved. He said — "The blazing furnaces and melting iron realized the description of the giants forging thunderbolts." It is to be regretted that Burns did not preserve any record of this later tour. Whether or not, as on the former occasion, they halted at Falkirk, does not appear; neither is it stated in which Inn in Stirling they found accommodation. It is not improbable that it was Wingate's, and that for one of two reasons — either, that he proceeded there for the purpose of smashing the pane of glass containing the offensive Lines, or, that, finding himself in the Inn, and with the Lines confronting him, he deliberately did what he could to prevent their circulation. As to the actual destruction of the glass various stories are in existence. The Stirling Sentinel o{ March 15, 1898, noticing a sale of Burns's MSS., including a copy of the " Stirling Lines," put the question — " We wonder what became of the pane of glass," and the following 32 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. week it contained this note : — " In commenting last week upon the sale of Burns' MS. containing the lines which were first written on a window in the inn which is now the Golden Lion Hotel, we remarked that it would be interesting to know what became of the pane of glass. Our curiosity has since been satisfied by Mr. Adam Aikman, Cowane Street [Stirling], whose memory takes him back to the time when the facts were pretty generally known in the town. Burns, it seems, was challenged in the hotel by an officer from the Castle as to the authorship of the lines, and not wishing probably to get into an argument with a gallant soldier, he summarily closed the interview by putting his fist through the window." The note merely chronicles local tradition, but is worth preserving. Dr. Chambers, in his " Life and Works of Burns,'* writes with regard to the smashing of the pane : — " Burns, it is said, finding the minister of Gladsmuir's reproof below his Lines, dashed out the pane with the butt-end of his whip." This note is what Henley and Henderson would call one of Chambers's " slices of gossip." It is not repeated in William Wallace's edition. It is worthy of note that less than two months had elapsed since they were inscribed on the window, and yet Dr. Adair writes that they had given much offence. Of course the times were unsettled, and the verses would appeal strongly to the adherents of Jacobitism, by whom they would be circulated as widely as possible. The poet did all he could to correct the mistake, but it was too late. What a broken pane failed to do was accomplished by travellers' note- Second Visit to Stirlingshire. 33 books, and the "Stirling Lines" remained to witness to his anger at the neglected state of the Parliament Hall. By one party alone were they forgotten — the "War Department. And so they may be said to have failed in their mission."^ " From Stirling," writes Dr. Adair, " we went next morning through the romantic and fertile vale of Devon, to Harvieston, in Clackmannanshire." Here •the poet was detained longer than he intended on account of a violent storm. Dr. Adair, in his narra- tive, gives the length of their stay as "about ten days," but Burns, in a letter written from Auchtertyre, -and from internal evidence, apparently addressed to Mr. William Cruickshank, says — " I was storm-steaded two days at the foot of the Ochel (sic) Hills, with Mr. Tait of Harvieston and Mr. Johnson (sk) of Alva." Beyond this meagre reference, the bard gives us no information concerning his visit to Alva, and we are forced back upon local tradition for details."" The story of the poet's visit to Alva, as it has been preserved in oral tradition, is not without interest. It appears that during the time he was in the Hillfoots district he journeyed to Alva and remained over night. He visited Mr. Johnston, the first laird of Alva of •that name, who was then the inhabitant of Alva House, and who, in earlier years, had fought at Plassey. It might be inferred from Burns's letter already quoted, that he was the guest of Mr. Johnston during his stay in Alva, but, locally, it is believed that this is not the case. The tradition is that he passed the night in Courthill House, which was at that time •occupied as an inn by a person of the name of Hume. D 34 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. The building, which is situated in Ochil Street, is now used as a dwelHng-house, and on the occasion of our visit we found that the inhabitants were quite famiHar with the story of the poet's stay, although they made no endeavour to impose upon credulity by pointing out the room or shewing the bed in which he had slept. It would seem that Burns renewed the acquaint- ance of a Mauchline friend who was then resident in Alva. This was Betty Black. The information con- cerning her is somewhat scanty. Among the song- heroines of Burns there are two named "Betty"-' — Elizabeth Black and Elizabeth Miller — and for want of accurate information confusion of these persons has been the result."'^ Elizabeth Black, otherwise Mrs. Stewart, kept a public-house in the village. The building is situated in what is known as " The Middle Bridge," and is still occupied as a public-house. Burns visited the place, and the room in which he sat — the apartment at the west end of the building — is still pointed out. Our informant stated that among those who met Burns on this occasion was his wife's grand-uncle, James Dawson. Dawson, who was pre- centor in the Parish Church was, of course, well-known in the village, and it is understood that "Lucky" (as Betty was familiarly called), thinking him a likely person to converse with the bard, sent for him. He, in company with another villager, named John Morrison, sat down at Lucky's table with the poet, and they had two gills — rather a moderate quantity — among them. Dawson in after years used to tell that Burns was very silent on the occasion, and did not seem to care whether he joined in the conver- Second Visit to Stirlingshire. 35 sation or not."'-' Our informant's father also recollected having seen the poet. He was a mere boy at the time and was playing with some companions in the Square when a man clad in grey clothes went past, and somebody remarked — " That's Robert Burns." After their stay at Harvieston, the poet and Dr. Adair returned to Edinburgh by Kinross and Queens- ferry. A native of Stirling district — Thomas Morrison by name — claimed to have met Burns on the occasion of his crossing from Kinross to Oueensferry. Morrison was employed in his early days at Kinross, and stated that he was in charge of the ferry-boat in which the poet crossed the Firth of Forth. This, of course, is mere tradition. So far as record goes, Stirlingshire saw the poet no more. ROBERT BURNS AND DR. JOHN MOORE. MONG the many correspondents of Burns — some of them great men in their day, but nearly all of them living now in the shadow of his fame — was Dr. John Moore, a " Son of the Rock," a literatteur of eminence, and father of the hero of Corunna. Dr. Moore was en- gaged in medical practice in London during his ■correspondence with Burns, and his interest in the bard was elicited through the kind offices of another of the poet's admirers — Mrs. Dunlop.^" It was in the end of 1786, when the bard was participating in the glories of the " Edinburgh period " of his life, that Mrs. Dunlop, in a letter to Dr. Moore, referred to the recently discovered Scottish poet, " and that cul- tured and kind-hearted man took an opportunity of pointing out to the Earl of Eglinton what a genius was now claiming the friendly patronage of all good .Scotsmen." Writing to Burns,under date December 30, 1786, Mrs. Dunlop, referring to her having mentioned his name to Moore, says — " I sent him a copy of your Poems as the most acceptable present I could make to that person whose taste I valued most and from whose friendship I have reaped most instruction as ■well as infinite pleasure. His literary knowledge, his 36 Robert Burns and Dr. John Moore, ij fame as an author, his activity in befriending that merit of which his own mind is formed to feel the full force — all led me to believe I could not do so kind a thing to Mr. Burns as by introducing him to Mr, Moore, whose keen passions must at once admire the poet, esteem the moralist, and wish to be useful to the author." Dr. Moore was the son of a Presbyterian minister. In many volumes relating to Burns (from Chambers's " Life and Works " to Findlay's " Robert Burns and the Medical Profession") he is referred to as "the son of an Episcopalian minister," but this is a mistake. His father, the Reverend Charles Moore, was minister of the second charge in Stirling, and filled the pulpit which was occupied at a later date by Burns's " Black Russell." He was inducted in 171 8, and continued to labour in Stirling till 1736. At Kilsyth, on 27th October, 1727, he was married to Marion Hay,, daughter of John Anderson of Dowhill, Lord Provost of Glasgow. John Moore, who was born at Stirling in 1729,, was the eldest son of this union, and he was nearly sixty years of age at the time when Burns made his acquaintance. He received his early education at the High School of Glasgow, from which he passed to the University to study medicine. Brought under the notice of Colonel Campbell of the 54th Regiment,, who subsequently became fifth Duke of Argyll, Moore was, while yet in his seventeenth year, introduced tO' the Hospitals in connection with the British Army in. Flanders. Here he seems to have equipped himself with satisfaction to his superiors, as, one of his. 38 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. biographers tells us, he was soon afterwards, on the recommendation of Dr. Middleton, Director-General •of Military Hospitals, appointed by the Earl of Albemarle, Colonel of the Coldstream Guards, to the office of Assistant-Surgeon to that regiment, then ■quartered in Flushing. He remained abroad till 1748. In that year, on the conclusion of peace, he returned to London, where for some time he was engaged in the further study of medicine. From London he proceeded to Paris, and while attending the Hospitals there, received an appointment as surgeon in the house ■of Lord Albemarle, who was at this time Ambassador .at the French Court. At the end of two years Moore returned to Glasgow, where he entered into partnership with Dr. Gordon, a friend of earlier days. In 1772 he received his diploma as M.D. from Glasgow Univer- sity, and six years later he removed to London. Here he devoted himself almost entirely to literary work. In 1779, a year after his removal to the metropolis, he published " A View of Society and Manners in France ;" and two years later he produced a similar work on Italy. In 1786 he issued a volume entitled " Medical Sketches." This work deals with some important topics relative to health and disease, and is written in a popular rather than a scientific style. In 1789, when he was nearl}' sixty years of age, Moore made his first appearance as a novelist with " Zeluco." This was followed in 1796 by "Edward," and in 1800 by " Mordaunt." He also issued in 1792 his "Journal during a Residence in France," and he edited an edition of Smollett's Works. Robert Burns and Dr. John Moore. 39 He had been in London for some years, and had made a considerable name for himself as a litterateur, before Burns was brought under his notice, and that the poet recognised him as a person of some eminence is apparent from his letter to Mrs. Dunlop, dated 15th January, 1787, In that letter he writes thus : — " I wished to have written to Dr. Moore before I wrote to you ; but though every day since I received yours of Dec. 30th, the idea, the wish to write to him, has constantly pressed on my thoughts, yet I could not for my soul set about it. I know his fame and character, and I am one of 'the sons of little men.' To write him a mere matter-of-fact affair, like a merchant's order, would be disgracing the little character I have ; and to write the author of ' The View of Society and Manners ' a letter of sentiment — I declare every artery runs cold at the thought. I shall try, however, to write to him to-morrow or next day. His kind inter- position in my behalf I have already experienced, as a gentleman waited on me the other day, on the part of Lord Eglinton, with ten guineas by way of subscription for two copies of my next edition." Two days after writing to Mrs. Dunlop, the Bard addressed himself to Dr. Moore. His letter was in the following terms : — Edinburgh, 17th January, 1787. Sir, — Mrs. Dunlop has been so kind as to send me extracts of letters she has had from you, where you do the rustic bard the honor of noticing him and his works. Those who have felt the anxieties and solicitudes of authorship can only know what pleasure it gives to be noticed in such a manner by judges of the first character. Your criticisms, sir, I receive with reverence; only I am sorry they mo:-lly came too late : a peccant passage or two that I would certainly have altered were gone to the press. The hope to be admired for ages is, in by far the greatest part of those e : What was strait as an arrow, you've bent like a bow. I must own too I hinted your waddling walk Was much like a parrot's— and sometimes yr talk. Robert Burns and Dr. John Moore. 6i Yet these observations as plainly you'll view, Tho' they glance at your person, don't touch upon yoit ; Tot joK never can think — you're too much refined — That your body isfoii — you's entirely your mind. And when yr sweet genius so gracefully fiows, In melodious verse or poetical prose, Who thinks of your chin or the turn of yr toes? For you, my dear Helen, have proved by your works That women have souls, in the teeth of the Turks. Your person and face in the hands of those Who think upon nought but the care of their bodies It is true would be ranked for beauty and air In a pretty high class of the graceful and fair. And would doubtless attract from the thoughtless and gay A more pointed regard to yr fabrick of clay, But all those you will treat with scorn eternal Who sigh for the shell and taste not the kernel. If the poet fulfilled his promise and sent his -correspondent some of the ideas picked up in his pilgrimage, and some rhymes of his earlier years, the letter containing or sending these is missing. There is a lapse of fully fifteen months before we find the Bard again addressing Dr. Moore, and his epistle ■contains no reference to the promise. In this letter, written early in January, 1789, he chronicles news as far back as the previous April, so that in the period between 8th November, 1787, and April, 1788, there maybe a link in the chain of correspondence which up to the present has not been recovered. By the time Burns wrote this letter the Edinburgh period of his life was past, and he was settled at Ellisland. Ellislanu, near Dumfries, 4th Jan., 1789. Sir, — As often as I think of writing to you, which has been three or four times every week these six months, it gives me something so like the idea of an ordinary-sized statue offering at a conversation with the 62 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. ^ — _ - Rhodian Colossus, that my mind misgives me, and the affair always miscarries somewhere between purpose and resolve. I have at last got some business with you, and business letters are written by the style- book. I say my business is with you, Sir, for you never had any with- me, except the business that benevolence has in the mansion of poverty. The character and employment of a poet were formerly my pleasure but are now my pride. I know that a very great deal of my late eclat was owing to the singularity of my situation and the honest prejudice of Scotsmen ; but still, as I said in the preface to my first edition, I do look upon myself as having some pretensions from Nature to the poetic character. I have not a doubt but the knack, the aptitude, to learn the muses' trade is a gift bestowed by Him " who forms the secret bias of the soul ;" — but I as firmly believe that excellence in the profession is the fruit of industry, labour, attention, and pains. At least, I am resolved to try my doctrine by the test of experience. Another appearance from the press I put off to a very distant day, a day that may never arrive — but poesy I am determined to prosecute with all my vigour. Nature has given very few, if any, of the profession, the talents of shining in every species of composition. I shall try (for until trial it is impossible to know) whether she has qualified me to shine in any one. The worst of it is, by the time one has finished a piece it has been so often viewed and reviewed before the mental eye, that one loses, in a good measure, the powers of critical discrimination. Here the best criterion I know is a friend — not only of abilities to judge, but with good-nature enough, like a prudent teacher with a young learner, to praise perhaps a little more than is exactly just, lest the thin-skinned animal fall into that most deplorable of all poetic diseases — heart-breaking despondency of himself. Dare I, Sir, already immensely indebted to your goodness, ask the additional obligation of your being that friend to me ? I inclose you an essay of mine in a walk of poesy to me entirely new : I mean the epistle addressed to R. G., Esq., or Robert Graham, of Fintry, Esq., a gentle- man of uncommon worth, to whom I lie under very great obligations. The story of the poem, like most of my poems, is connected with my own story, and to give you the one, I must give you something of the other. I cannot boast of Mr. Creech's ingenuous, fair dealing to me. He kept me hanging about Edinburgh from 7th August, 1787, until the 13th April, 1788, before he would condescend to give me a statement of affairs ; nor had I got it even then but for an angry letter I wrote him, which irritated his pride. "I could" not a "tale" but a detail "unfold," but what am I that I should speak against the Lord's anointed Bailie of Edinburgh ? Robert Burns and Dr. John Moore. 65 I believe I shall, in whole, ;^ICX3 copy-right included, clear about ^^400 some little odds ; and even part of this depends upon what the gentleman has yet to settle with me. I give you this information, because you did me the honor to interest yourself much in my welfare. I give you this information, but I give it to yourself only, for I am still much in the gentleman's mercy. Perhaps I injure the man in the idea I am sometimes tempted to have of him — God forbid I should ! A little time will try, for in a month I shall go to town to wind up the business- if possible. To give the rest of my story in brief: I have married "my Jean," and taken a farm : with the first step I have every day more and more reason to be satisfied ; with the last, it is rather the reverse. I have a younger brother, who supports my aged mother, another still younger brother and three sisters in a farm. On my last return from Edinburgh, it cost me about ;i{^i8o to save them from ruin. Not that I have lost so much — I only interposed between my brother and his impending fate by the loan of so much. I give myself no airs on this, for it was mere selfishness on my part : I was conscious that the wrong scale of the balance was pretty heavily charged, and I thought that throwing a little filial piety and fraternal affection into the scale in my favour might help to smooth matters at the grand reckoning. There is still one thing would make my circumstances quite easy : I have an excise ofiicer's commission, and I live in the midst of a country division. My request to Mr. Graham, who is one of the commissioners of excise, was, if in his power, to procure me that division. If I were very sanguine, I might hope that some of my great patrons might procure me a Treasury warrant for supervisor, surveyor-general, etc. Thus, secure of a livelihood, "to thee, sweet poetry, delightful maid," I would consecrate my future days. R. B. Dr. Moore does not appear to have replied to this communication by the time a circumstance arose which led to the poet writinf^j him again. The cir- cumstance came about in this way. The Rev. Edward Neilson had been presented by the Duke of Queens- berry to the Parish of Kirkbean in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, but the Duke left Scotland without sending " the presentation " — the legal document em- €4 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. powering a Presbytery to ordain a minister — to the presentee. Mr. Neilson went to Paris in search of the Duke but f^iiled to find him, and ultimately the matter was arranged by the Presbytery of Dumfries accepting as sufficient a document signed by the factor on the Oueensberry estate. By the hands of Mr. Neilson •the bard sent the following communication to Dr Moore : Ellisland, 23CI March, 17S9. Sir, — The gentleman who will deliver this is a Mr. Neilson, a worthy -clergyman in my neighbourhood and a very particular acquaintance of mine. As I have troubled him with this packet, I must turn him over to your goodness, to recompense him for it in a way in which he much needs your assistance, and where you can effectually serve him: — Mr. Neilson is on his way to France, to wait on his Grace of Queensberry, on some little business of a good deal of import- ■,ance to him, and he wishes for your instructions respecting the most eligible mode of travelling, etc., for him, when he has crossed the Channel. I should not have dared to take this liberty with you, but that I am told, by those who have the honor of your personal acquaint- ance, that to be a poor honest Scotchman is a letter of recommendation to you, and that to have it in your power to serve such a character gives you much pleasure, that I am persuaded in soliciting your goodness in this business I am gratifying your feelings with a degree of enjoyment. The enclosed ode is a compliment to the memory of the late Mrs. Oswald of Auchencruive. You probably knew her personally, an honor of which I cannot boast ; but I spent my early years in her neigh- bourhood, and among her servants and tenants I know that she was detested with the most heartfelt cordiality. However, in the particular part of her conduct which roused my poetic wrath she was much less blameable. In January last, on my road to Ayrshire, I had put up at Bailie Whigham's, in Sanquhar, the only tolerable inn in the place. The frost was keen, and the grim evening and howling wind were ushering in a night of snow and drift. My horse and I were both much fatigued with the labors of the day, and just as my friend the Bailie and I were bidding defiance to the storm, over a smoking bowl, in wheels Robert Burns and Dr. John Moore. 65 the funeral pageantry of the late great Mrs. Oswald, and poor I am forced to brave all the horrors of the tempestuous night, and jade my horse, my young favourite horse, whom I had just christened Pegasus, twelve miles farther on, through the wildest moors and hills of Ayrshire, to New Cumnock, the next inn. The powers of poesy and prose sink under me when I would describe what I felt. Suffice it to say that when a good fire at New Cumnock had so far recovered my frozen sinews, I sat down and wrote the inclosed ode. I was at Edinburgh lately and settled finally with Mr. Creech ; and I must own that, at last, he has been amicable and fair with me. R. B. From the recently published Robert Burns and Mrs. Dunlop by Mr. William Wallace, much that is interesting^ is gathered concerning the proposal that Burns should endeavour to procure a professorship in Edinburgh. Through the munificence of Mr. William Johnstone Pulleney, a sum of ^1250 was presented to Edinburgh University for the endowment of a Chair of Agriculture. Mrs. Dunlop and Dr. Moore entered into hearty co-operation on behalf of the bard, and were the means of having his name brought under the notice of the patron. Moore's action in the matter, however, appears to have been entirely out- with the poet's knowledge so far as Moore knew as there is no reference to the Chair in any of his letters to the bard. It is in the correspondence of Burns and Mrs. Dunlop that the story is told, and it is in that correspondence that reference is made to the endeavours of Dr. Moore. Notwithstandiner tholed a pang," which being inconsistent with the sense evidently intended. Chambers abered to " P'or misery ever tholed a pang." On collation with the original on the Inn window this is found to be correct. Note 4 — Page 4. Boyack was apprenticed to a shoemaker, but he left this in 1810 to study music, and after filling various situations, was appointed music master in Madras College, St. Andrews. lie died at St. Andrews on lOth February, 1854. Note 5 — Page 6. The resting-place of this warrior is in the Old Churchyard of Falkirk, where, as mentioned by the poet, a suitable monument marks the spot. 137 138 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Note 6 — Page 7. Camelon's prominence in the Pictish dominion and its metropolitan character are pretty much matter of legend. It is believed by some that the place was possessed by the painted Picts down to the ninth century, when Kenneth, King of Scots, meeting them in battle (A.D. 839),. put them to the sword, " sparing neither age nor sex." Note 7 — Page 7. The Carron Company are among the oldest Glasgow merchants^ and the first furnace was blown on ist January, 1760. The Ironworks^ achieved almost world-wide distinction at the very outset by their manufacture of cannon, mortar, and chain-shot for the arsenals of Europe. Russia, Denmark, and Sardinia each drew its war supplies from this Foundry, and Carron manufactured the whole battering Irairv of the Duke of Wellington. Note 8 — Page 7. James Bruce was born at Kinnaird House in 1730. His first wife- was Adriana Allan, the daughter of a London wine merchant. His- second wife (in whose memory he erected the monument referred to by the poet) was Mary Dundas, daughter of Thomas Dundas of Fingask, The memorial is adorned with various emblematical figures and Greek inscriptions, and bears to have been erected by Bruce "to the memory of Mary Dundas, his wife, who died, Feb. 10, 1785.'' Note 9— Page 7. The fame of Carron Ironworks has drawn many distinguished visitors to their gates. In 1821, Prince Nicholas, afterwards Emperor Nicholas, visited the works, and he was followed by Prince Leopold, and Prince Maximilian of Austria. In July, 1859, the chief departments were inspected by the Prince of Wales. Note 10 — Page 7. " Line 6. — Your porter dought na hear us. Gray, Stewart, and all Editors but the Couraiii has 'bear,' which rhymes with 'sair,' and in the sense of ' suffer,' or ' allow ' is the better reading." — The Centenary Burns. Notes. 139 Note n — Page 8. Benson was also Blast Furnace Manager with, and was a share- holder in, the Carron Company, He resided at West Carron, which is close to the Ironworks, and which was at that time a farm. Here he engaged in farming in addition to his clerical duties. He had a large family, and one of his daughters was married to .Symington, who built the first steamboat. One of the sons was a sea-captain in the Carron Company's service. At a later date the family went to Australia, and the name is now unknown in the Carron district. Note 12— Page 10. Herbertshire Castle on the Carron. This keep was given by one of the early Jameses to the Earl of Wigton, in recognition of services rendered in battle. The castle was presented as the Earl's " halbert share," which time has changed into " Herbertshire." Note 13 — Page id. Denovan House lies about a mile and a quarter from the town of Denny, Note 14— Page 10. The Estate of Auchenbowie is situated a few miles south from Stirling, and is still in the possession of the Monro family. The present representative is D. B. Monro, Esq., of Oriel College, Oxford. His- great-grandmother was the Miss Monro of Burns's time. Note 15 — Page 12, In local handbooks Burns is said to have stayed in Gibb's Inn — now the Golden Lion Hotel. The building did not pass to the Gibbs, however, until some time subsequent to the poet's visit, and it was the hostelry of James Wingate in 1787, At this date the Gibbs were proprietors of an Inn situated in St, Mary's Wynd, which was considered the principal Inn of the town until the erection of the Golden Lion Hotel. There is a belief entertained by some that it was in this Inn in St. Mary's Wynd that the poet slept, but local tradition is against it. Note 16— Page 13. In 1892 the Edinburgh Evenivg Dispatch made some startling exposures regarding the manufacture of Bums MSS., and in the cor- 140 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. respondence which took place on the subject the following letter, dated at Stirling, and purporting to have been written by Burns, was submitted as having been sent out to Canada to be sold to the highest bidder, by a Scotch gentleman who had exhausted his fortune in collecting literary curiosities : — Stirling, August 26th, 1787. John Ord, Esq., Lanark. Dear Sir, — I am forced to be more laconic in my letter, as I have not had much time on my hands with my present travelling about. I had some intention of sending you the songs from Edinburgh, but could not get a chance. However, you will receive a packet of them with this letter by the hand of the carrier. I have had a favourable settle- ment. I am, your obliged friend, Robert Burns. There seems to be little room for the suspicion that this letter is other than one of those forgeries which resulted in twelve months' imprisonment to "Antique" Smith. Note 17— Page 14. These lines are not printed in the text by Mr. W. Scott Douglas, but are given as a footnote, with the explanation that they are to be found in the Glenriddell MSS. In an edition of Currie's " Life and Works," published in 1865, the lines are given as follows : — Here Stuarts once in glory reign'd, The laws for Scotia's weal ordain'd ; But now unrooPd their palace stands. Their sceptre's sway'd by foreign hands. The Stuarts' native race is gone ! A race outlandish fills the thione. Note 18— Page 18. In " Old Faces, Old Places, and Old Stones of Stirling," by William Drysdale (Stirling : Eneas Mackay, 1898), reference is made to Burns's visit to Stirling, and the Paisley Magazine article is quoted verbai^m. It is apparently adopted by Mr. Drysdale, and this is unfortunate, as, from what we have said, it will be manifest that the story is very far from being correct. Note 19— Page 20. A lady still living in Perthshire, wrote Robert Chambers in his *' Life and Works of Robert Burns," remembers visiting Drummond Notes. 141 Castle a very short time after Burns had been at Ochlertyre. Captain Drumniond, subsequently Lord Perth, had recently obtained possession of this fine place, along with the estates which had been forfeited by his collateral relations in 1745-46. He and his lady, the Honourable Mrs. Drumniond, were full of loyalty to the reigning family, to which they had been so largely indebted. My informant remembers that someone asked Mrs. Drummond why Burns, who had been at various places in the neighbourhood, had not been here ; to which the answer was — "We could not invite him, unless he had disclaimed writing the lines on the inn window." This "slice of gossip," as The Centenary Burns might call it, has not been re-served by Mr. Willam Wallace in his levised edition of Chambers's " Burns." Note 20 — Page 21. Mr William Wallace, quoting from the Glenriddell MSS. gives "My impriuknt lines," etc. The Editors of The Centenary Burns , quoting from the same source, give " These impudent lines, etc." Note 21 — Page 21. The lines are sometimes rendered thus : — With yEsop's Lion, Burns says, " Sore I feel All others' scorn — but damn that ass's heel." Note 22— Page 27. From Of the Progress of the Soul : the Second Anniversarie ( Elegy sn Mrs. Elizabeth Drury), by John Donne, D.D. Note 23 — Page 28. Li an article entitled " Robert Burns in Stirlingshire, ' which appeared in the People's Journal for January 21, 1899, the topographical note of Burns is accepted as accurate, and in order to justify it the writer informs us that "he passed into Perthshire over the Ochil Hills, and as he went, admired in poetic fashion the beauties of the Forth, the Teith, and the Devon." Note 24 — Page 29. Dr. Adair was the son of a physician in Ayr, and had been introduced to Burns by the minister of Loudon — Rev. Mr. Lawrie. In 17S9 he 142 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Avas married to Miss Charlotte Hamilton, whose acquaintance he made on the present occasion. He was for some time engaged in medical practice in the Pleasance, Edinburgh, but he afterwards removed to Harrogate, where he died in 1802, aged 37. Note 25— Page 33. At a sale of Burns MSS. at Messrs. Sotheby's Auction Rooms in London on March 11, 1898, four pages of autograph lines from poems of Burns, comprising the last two verses of " Bruar Water," "Lines written on a pane of glass at Stirling," "The bonnie lass of Albany," .and " Strathallan's Lament" realised the sum of ;,^i6. Note 26 — Page 33. Finding that Alva possessed traditional evidence of incidents con- nected with the poet's visit, we made enquiry, and were referred to Mr. John Ritchie, Green Square, Alva, whose father had seen Burns, and who was understood to know the facts. We interviewed Mr. Ritchie on August 17, 189S, and our story of Burns in Alva is the result. Mr. Ritchie was in his 84th year at the time we saw him. Possessed of a very retentive memory, he recounted incidents of long ago with fluency, and on one or two points which we were able to check from other sources, we found his statements correct, so that his recollections may be regarded as accurate. So far as Mr. Ritchie is concerned, our narrative may be accepted as a "true and particular account." Note 27 — Page 34. Chambers tells us that there was a third " Betty " who inspired the muse of Burns. It is still believed, he says, in the parish of Stair that Burns courted and was accepted by Betty Campbell, a servant in Stair House, that he gave her "lines, ' and that these were destroyed by the girl after a quarrel with the poet. Note 28 — Page 34. In the "Burns Obituary" in the Burns Chronicle for 1S96, there appears the following— " Black, Elizabeth (reputed 'Eliza') died 1S27, aged 74." This is manifestly a reference to Betty Black of Alva, and it raises the question whether, after all, Burns writers have been correct in their speculations regarding the heroine — Betty — of " Mauchline Belles," and the heroine of "From thee, Eliza, I must go." It has been generally agreed that tlic " braw " Miss Betty of the " Mauchline Notes. 143 :) Belles," the suliject of " From thee, Eliza, I must go," and the " Bess of "The Mauchline Wedding" were one and the same person, viz. — Miss Elizabeth Miller, daughter of John Miller of the Sun Inn, Mauch- line ; and this agreement has been come to after considering evidence that is not very conclusive. Elizabeth Miller was resident in Mauchline, so also was Elizabeth Black, and both appear to have been intimate with Burns. To begin with, it is stated by Chambers that " Miss Betty" of the " Mauchline Belles" was Elizabeth Miller. He gives no : authority for his statement, and it could quite as easily h.ive referred to Elizabeth Black. Elizabeth Miller was born in 1768, and was thus nine years younger than Burns, while Elizabeth Black, born in 1754, was six years older, and if, as Chambers infers, he had composed the lines by the time he was twenty-six years of age, it is more likely that he would write of the "braw" woman of twenty-nine than of the girl of sixteen. Having made his statement regarding the "Betty" of the "Mauchline Belles," Chambers further records with respect to the heroine of " Eliza " that, " from a variety of circumstances, he has been led to conclude that Eliza was identical with the Miss Betty, one of the Mauchline Belles." What the '^' circumstances" are he does not so much as indicate, and in support of his case he merely quotes the refer- ence to his "quondam Eliza," on whom he had called on his return to Mauchline in June, 1787. But again, his "quondam Eliza" could easily have been, and probably was, Elizabeth Black. Without, there- fore, appearing to be too anxious to knock a "pious opinion" on the head, and with due deference to Robert Chambers and the later writers who have copied his statements and accepted his conclusions without . demur, we may be allowed to say that it seems to us at least that the " braw " Miss Betty and the heroine of " Eliza " were Elizabeth Black, whose acquaintance the poet renewed at Alva. In " The Complete Works of Robert Burns," by William Gunnyon, •"From thee, Eliza, I must go" is introduced with the note— " The heroine of this song was the ' Miss Betty is braw,' one of the Mauch- line belles whom the poet has celebrated in epigrammatic verse. She was born and brought up in Ayrshire, was of an amiable disposition, and appears to have sympathised with the poet in all his sufferings, and thus raised, says Chambers, a kind of love chiefly composed of gratitude, in his bosom. She ultimately married a Mr. James Stewart, and long survived the poet, having died in Alva in 1827, in the 74th year of her age." Gunnyon's note is clearly a mixture of Chambers and some one ..else, but it without hesitancy declares Betty Black to be the heroine. 144 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Mr. Ritchie informed us that he had heard her remark that it was. she who came up "as light as onie lambie " in the " Holy Fair." This- may mean either that Burns had been at Mauchline " Holy Fair" with her, and on her invitation — which is not unlikely — and that she had consequently taken the remark in the poem to apply to herself, or, that, the bard had indicated to her that she was commemorated in this way. In any event, if Betty is correct, the statement goes to prove that the "Fun" of Burns was a real personage, and not after all a mere sug- gested copy of Fergusson's " Mirth " in " Leith Races." Lucky had a sister married to a Mr. Rutherford, who resided in Bridge of Allan. Mr. Ritchie and a son of Rutherford used to meet on Airthrey Loch at curling, and ]\Ir. Ritchie was informed by him of one incident in Lucky's Mauchline connection with Burns. It was that her father was always very angry when he saw Betty coming home from any of the fairs round Mauchline riding behind Burns. A well-known Alva worthy, Betty left behind her one memorial in the form of "Lucky's Linn." This was a pool in which Betty was- wont to bathe, and so it took her name. The bathing place has passed from existence, but the term " Lucky's Linn" continues. She died at Alva in 1827, and was interred in Alva Churchyard. Note 29— Page 35. James Dawson died in 1837, aged 77, so that he would be about twenty -seven years of age when he met Burns. Note 30— Page 2^. The daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, Frances Anna. Wallace was born April 16, 1730. She was married in 1748 to John Dunlop of Dunlop, who was much her senior. On her father's death, which occurred in 1760, she succeeded to Craigie Estate, but in 1783 it had to be sold, it was so heavily encumbered. This loss, followed by the death of her husband in 17S5, conduced to a depressed state of mind, and she spent much of her time in semi-retirement. She died May 24, 1815. Note 31— Page 41. George Bannatine, minister of Craigie Parish, Ayrshire, 1744-64, and afterwards of the West Parish (now St. George's), Glasgow, 1764, till his death in 1769.— Chambers. Notes. 145 Note 32— Page 42. Miss Helen Maria Williams was born in London in 1762. Cham- bers tells us that she was settled in Paris in 1790, was imprisoned as a partisan of the Gironde, released on the fall of Robespierre, and died at Paris, December, 1827. She published Jtilia, a novel, in 1790 : translated Paul and Vtrginia ; wrote several books on France, and for several years the portion of the Annual Register relating to that coun- try. Her verse — smooth, flowing, and essentially conventional — includes Edwin and Elfrida (1782), a legendary tale, and The Slave Trade (1788). Note 33— Page 46. This is probaljly a reference to " Holy Willie's Prayer." Note 34 — Page 55. Richard Brown, one of the poet's correspondents. Note 35— Page 58. Graham (afterwards Sir Graham, Admiral, who did distinguished service in the French wars), the younger brother of Sir John Moore. — William Wallace. Note 36— Page 59. This may be an allusion to the poet's mysterious Highland tour of June, 1787, but more probably the castle referred to is Gordon Castle — Dr. Moore may not have been strong in Scotch geography^ — and the " inha])itants " the Duke and Duchess of Gordon. — Robert' Burns and Mrs. Dunlcp. Note 37— Page 89. The songs of Burns were readily picked up and circulated in the form of chap-books. Sometimes they were transformed. " Scots Wha Hae " was introduced with the following verses : — " Near Bannockburn King Edward lay. The Scots they were not far away ; Each eye bent on the break of day, Glimm'ring frae the east. At last the sun shone o'er the heath, Which lighted up the field of death, While Bruce, with soul-inspiring breath, His heroes thus address'd." L 146 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Then followed the song, and these stanzas were added to make a proper finish : — " Now fury kindled every eye, ' Forward ! forward !' was the cry ; 'Forward, Scotland, do or die I' And where 's the knave shall turn ? At last they all run to the fray, Which'gave to Scotland liberty ; And long did Edward rue the day He came to Bannockburn." Note 38 — Page 98. Or, " O, my love Annie's very bonie." — (R. B. ) INDEX. INDEX. Adair, Dr., iS, 29-32, 141. Aikman, Adam, 31. Airth, 122. Alva, 33, 122, 142-144. Auchenbowie, 10. Bannatine, Rev. George, 144. Bannockburn, 10, 77, 123. Barclay, Rev. John, 104. Bell (Cristopher ?), 21, 22 Ben Ledi, 98, 99. Benson (Alexander?), 8, 139. Black, Elizabeth, 34, 142-144. Blair, Sir James H., 58. Blore, Edward, m. Bonnybridge, 123. Boyack, George, 3, 137. Bridge of Allan, 123. Brodie, Deacon, 113. Brodie, Sir Thomas D., 6. Brougham, The, 12. Bruce, Mr., 7, 9, 138. Bruce, Robert de, 13, 7S. Buchan, Earl of, 91. Buchlyvie, 124. Bums Chjoiiicle, 1 43. Burns, Robert, i, 150. " By Allan Stream, &c. ," 97, 146. Camelon, 7, 103, 13S. Campbell, Betty, 142. Campsie, 124. Carlyle, Thomas, 77, 96. Carnegie, Andrew, 119. Carron, 3, 7-9, 30, 124, 137, 138. Carron Lines, 7, 16, 29. Carronshore, 124. Centenary Bui'iis, The, 5) H; 99> 104. Chalmers, Mrs., 15. Chambers, Dr. Robert, 3, 4, 13, 30, 31, 104, 137. Clarinda, 19. Cook, W. B., 14. Corbet, William, 112. Creech, William, 43, 58, 67. Cromek, 100, 102. Cunningham, Allan, 9, 14, 16, 18, 31- Currie, Dr., 30, 77, 88, 99, 104. Dawson, James, 34, 144. Denovan, 10. Denny, 9, 124. Devon, 26. Dick, John, 23-25. Doig, Dr. David, 21. Dollar, 15. Douglas, William Scott, 4, 15, 20. Dunipace, 9, 10. Dunlop, Mrs., 36, 39, 44, 47- 65, 67, 72, 73. "2, 144. Edinburgh, 2. Edinburgh Evening Courant, 7. Edinburgh Evening Dispatch^ 139. Falkirk, 2, 3-6, 12, 26, 31, 125, 131. Falkirk Herald, 131. Ferrier, James, W.S., iii. Ferrier, Jane, no. Ferrier, Susan Edmonstonc, 112. Fifeshire Journal, 4, 137. Findlay, Dr. W^illiam, 37, 75. Forrester, Captain, 21, 22, 27. Freemasons, Stirling Ancient 30, 28. 149 ISO Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Gargunnoclc, 125. (jibson, James, 114. Gow, William, 5. Graham, General Samuel, III. Graham, Sir John the, 6, 12. Grangemouth, 126. Gray, George, 7- Gunnyon, William, 143. Hadden, J. Culhbert, 90. Hamilton, Gavin, 26. Hamilton, Mrs., 15. Hamilton, Rev. George, 20. Harvey, Sir George, /". R.S.A., 116. Harvieston, 15, 26, 29. Henderson, T. F., 5, 99. Henley, W. E., 5, 40, 42, 49. Herbertshire, 9, 139. Hogg, James, i, 84. " Hughie Graham," 100. Jack, William, 93. Johnston, Mr., Alva, ^^. Kilsyth, 126, 132. Kippen, 126. Lacunar Strevilinense, III. Lang, Andrew, 82. Lapraik, John, 15. Larbert, 7. Lauriston, 127. Lewis, Matthew Gregory, 97. Lockhart, J. Gibson, 3, 19. Masson, Professor, 93. Maxwell, John, 15. Menstrie, 127. Mercer, Robert, 119. Miller, Elizabeth, 34. Milngavie, 127. Mitchell, William Thomson, 6. Moodie, Rev. Alexander, 108. Moore, Dr. John, 36-76, 145. Moore, John Carrick, 75. Moore, Rev. Charles, 37. Mornhig Chronicle, The, 79, 91. Morrison, John, 34. Morrison, Thomas, 34. Motherwell, William, 16. Muir, Robert, 12. Monro, Miss, Auchenbowie, 10, 139. Monro, Mr., Auchenbowie, 10. Murray, Sir William, 29. Musical Mtisciim, 100. Macfadzean, R. W., 113. M'Kie, James, 119. Macneill, Hector, 23, 24, 25. National Wallace Monument, 118. Neilson, Rev. Edward, 63. Nicol,Wni.,2, 12, 14, 15, 16,30, 137. Polmont, 128. Ramsay, John, Ochtertyre, 23, 29. Redding, 1 28. Ritchie, John, 142. Rogers, "Dr. Charles, 74, 75, 94, 109, 120. Rosebery, Lord, I18. Ross, John D., 90. Russell, Rev. John, 37, 107- no. "Scots Wha Hae," 10, 77-96, 99, 103, 129, 145. Scott, Sir Walter, i, 100. Shields, Mrs., 15. Simpson, William, 105. Slamannan, 128. Smith, George, 113. Stenhousemuir, 133. Stevenson, D. W., R.S.A., 119. Stewart, Mrs., 34. Stewart, James, 143. Stirling, 10, 13, 14, 15-2S, 29, loi, 129, 133. I39> 140. Stirling Lines, 10, 140-142. Slirliug Sentinel, The, 31. St. Ninians, 130. Syme, John, 77, 82. Tannahill, Robert, 97. Thomson, George, 80, 85-S9, 97, 98. Waddell, Dr. P. Hately, 4, 115. Wallace, William, 4, 13, 31, 65, 81, 141. Williams, Helen Maria, 41, 42, 44, 57, 145- Wilson, Professor, 94. Wingate, James, 10. Yellowlees, Robert, 119. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Angus, W. Craibe, Si Renfield Street, Glasgow. Asher & Co., Covent Garden, London. Bain, William, Upper Bridge Street, Stirling. Bald, William, Blackwood & Son, Edinburgh. Barnet, George. Advertiser Office, Kinross. Barrett, F. T., for Mitchell Library, Glasgow. Beard, Dr., Glebe Crescent, Stirling. Beeby, John, Booth Place, Falkirk. Black, J. T., Underscar, Keswick. Black & Johnston, Brechin. Bridges, James, 14 Tay Street, Perth. Brisbane, Thomas, Stirling. Brown, J., Artist, Stirling. Burden, John, Locust Avenue, Troy, N.Y. Cameron, Alexander, Forfarshire Constabulary. Cameron, R. A., Stirling. Campbell, D, The Tors, Falkirk. Campbell, Malcolm Macgregor, Glasgow. Campbell, W., 32 Monteith Ro\v, Glasgow. Cherry, Miss, Craigs, Stirling. Christie, Ex-Provost, Southfield, Stirling. Clark, John R. W., Solicitor, Arbroath. Clarke, Alfred J., 41 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. Clarke, Frederick Chas., M.R.C.V.S., etc, London. Cook, W. B., Stirling. Cooper, Alfred, 10 Featherstone Buildings, London, W.C. 153 154 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. ig- Cowan, Donald, Sheriff Clerk Depute, Stirling Crichton, David, R.N., 6 Duncan Street, Edinburgh. Crichton, William C, 35 Balhousie Street, Perth. Donovan, R., Town Clerk's Office, Stirling. Doig, Christine, Miss, Milwaukie, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Drysdale, Ex-Provost, Bridge of Allan. Drysdale, William, Darnley House, Stirling. Duff, John, Upper Bridge Street, Stirling. Dundee Burns Club, Dundee. Elliot, (t. B., 38 Dumbarton Road, Stirling. Ferguson, James, 46 Peddie Street, Dundee. Ferguson, W., Ainsworth Street, Blackburn. Findlay, James, Journal Office, Stirling. Findlay, William, M.D., 19 AVestercraigs, Glasgow. Fisher, J. Steel, 18 Burnbank Terrace, Glasgow. Forester, Robert, Bookseller, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow. Fox, Charles Henry, M.D., 35 Heriot Row, Edinburgh. Frater, Robert, Park Terrace, Stirling. Gibson, Jas. A., Solicitor, Stirling. Giltillan, D. Menzies, Burghmuir, Stirling. Gordon, Alex., Stirling. Gow, William, Cross Keys Inn, Falkirk. Graham, John, Inverness. Grant, William, Kinnivie, Dufftown. Gray, A. U., Melville Terrace, Stirling. Gray, George, Clerk of the Peace, Glasgow. Hardie, A. Murray, Newbattle, Dalkeith. Harvie-Brown, John A., Dunipace House, Larbert. Holding, J. C, Southsea, Hants. Holmes, W. & R., Glasgow. Hynd, Miss, 30 Forth Crescent, Stirling. List of Subscribers. 03 Jamicson, John, Observer Office, Stirling. Jenkins, Alex., Solicitor, Stirling, Jenkins, John, Solicitor, Stirling. Johnston, Rev. J. J., Port of Menteith. Johnston, T, W . R., jGurnal Office, Stirling. Kegan, Paul, ct Co., London. Kilmarnock Burns Museum Library. King, Chas. M., Milton of Campsie. King, Councillor, Snowdon Place, Stirling. King, James, Bridgend, Dunblane. Law, Rev. W. G., M.A., St. Ninians. Macadam, Joseph H., F.S.A. (Scot.), London. Macfarlane, Bartic, Perth. Macfarlane, C, East Brackland, Callander. Macfarlane, P., Queen's Road, Stirling. Macgillivray, A., London. Mailer, V.'., Baker Street, Stirling. Macintosh, C. Fraser, LL.D., iS Pont Street, London. Mackay, Donald, Inverness. Mackay, James, Dresden, U.S.A. Mackay, William, Salisbur}', B.S.A. Mackay, William, Inverness. Mackenzie, James, Bookseller, Glasgow. Mackenzie, M., Supervisor of Inland Revenue, Gareloch. Mackenzie, Mrs., Dunblane. Mackie, J. F., Solicitor, Stirling. IVIacnab, James, Milton of Campsie. Macpherson, James, People's Journal Office, Stirling. Maule & Sons, F., London. Maxwell, Wallace, Mulloch, Carron. Middleton, Wm., Wallace Monument, Stirling. Mills, John F., Kirriemuir Observer, Kirriemuir. 156 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Mills, W. B., Bookseller, Kirriemuir. Minnoch, W. H., Stirling. Moir, A., Mar's Hill, Alloa. Molyneaux, J., Edinburgh. Monro, D. Binning, Oriel College, Oxford. Morries-Stirling, J. M., Gogar, Stirling. Morris, David B., 3 Snowdon Place, Stirling. Morrison, Alexander, jr., Solicitor, Bridge of Allan. Morrison, J. Holme, M.D., F.R.C.S , Perth. Munro, John, Observer Ofifice, Stirling. Murdoch, J. W., Milnthorpe, Westmoreland. Murphy, A. ?>l'Lean, Stirling. Murray, Francis A., 3 Park Lane, Stirling. MacGregor, Ex-Provost, Crieff. MacLeod, M. C, Inverness. MacLuckie, R., Writer, Stirling. MacTavish, Jain C, High School, Falkirk. M'Call, John W., Thornfield, Bridge of Allan. M'Cartney, James, 13 Nelson Place, Stirling. M'Diarmid, H. R., 55 Newhouse, Stirling. M'Gregor, Rev. A. Oram, Denny. M'Kay, George, Union Place, Lennoxtown. M'Kerchar, Daniel, 13 Douglas Street, Stirling. M'Kinnon, Neil, East Plean, Bannockburn. Neilson, M., Hon. Secy., Sunderland Burns Club. Noble, R., Inverness. Oliver, Dr. Thomas, Ellison Place, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Paterson, Robert, Invergovvrie, Dundee. Pentland, J. Young, Publisher, London. Reid, Alan, F.E.I.S., 4 Harrison Road, Edinburgh. Rennie, John C, Gowan Bank, Falkirk. List of Subscribers. 157 Reyburn, W. M., Clydesdale Bank, Stirling. Rodgers, Wm., Victoria Square, Stirling. Robertson, R., 304 Duke Street, Glasgow. Ross, David, M.A., B.Sc, LL.D., CS. Training College, Glasgow. Sandeman, R., 22 Forth Crescent, Stirling, Sempill, John D., Newhouse, Stirling. Simpson, S. E., 38 West Street, Berwick. Sinclair, William, M.D., Barrow-in-Furness. Small, J. W., Heathfield, Stirling. Smith, Dr., Sunderland. Smith, G., King Street, Stirling. Smith, John Rae, Aberdeen. Sneddon, Captain D., Kilmarnock. Sorley, Robert, i Buchanan Street, Glasgow. Stark, Robert, 326 Links Street, Kirkcaldy. Stechart, G. E., for New York Public Library. Stevens, B. F., 4 Trafalgar Square, London. Stevenson, A. L L, Golden Lion Hotel, Stirling. Stevenson, C. P., Arcade, Stirling. Stirling, Robert, Union Place, Lennoxtown. Strachan, William B., Bookseller, Arbroath. Struthers, M. Fleming, Stirling. Sunderland Burns Club. Symington, A. J., Langside, Glasgow. Ure, George, Wheatlands, Bonnybridge. Walker, Ronald, Stirling. Wallace, William, Glasgow. Watson, Adam, Journal Office, Stirling. Whyte, Robert, Solicitor, Stirling, President Stirling Burns Club. 158 Robert Burns in Stirlingshire. Williams, Rev. G., Thornhill. Wilson, Colonel, Bannockburn. Wood, Alexander, Saltcoats. Wright, Peter, Art Master, Falkirk. Young, George, 13 Nelson Place, Stirling. UC SOIJTHFRN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 1 I! [|! Ilil 11" AA 000 599 612 9