BIB_ID
293965
Accession number
MA 50.10
Creator
Burns, Robert, 1759-1796.
Display Date
[1795 ca. Jan. 1-15].
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1906.
Description
1 item (7 p.) ; 25 cm
Notes
"Ode to Spring -- Tune, The tither morn" first line: When maukin bucks, at early f--s.
"Ode to Spring -- Tune, The tither morn" without edits and as published in Kinsley.
"Song -- For a' that and a' that" first line: Is there, for honest Poverty.
"Song -- For a' that and a' that" without edits and as published in Kinsley.
"Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn" first line: Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn.
"Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn" without edits and as published in Kinsley.
Address panel with seal and postmark (Dumfries) and addressed to "Mr. George Thomson / Trustees' Office / Edinr." Docketed "Jany 1795 Mr. Burns with Scotish Verses for Craigieburnwood For a' that, & all that unpublishable."
Localization from postmark; dating from docket and internal evidence.
Part of a large collection of letters from Robert Burns to George Thomson. Items are described individually; see collection record (MA 47 and MA 50) for more information.
With notes in Thomson's hand.
"Ode to Spring -- Tune, The tither morn" without edits and as published in Kinsley.
"Song -- For a' that and a' that" first line: Is there, for honest Poverty.
"Song -- For a' that and a' that" without edits and as published in Kinsley.
"Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn" first line: Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn.
"Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn" without edits and as published in Kinsley.
Address panel with seal and postmark (Dumfries) and addressed to "Mr. George Thomson / Trustees' Office / Edinr." Docketed "Jany 1795 Mr. Burns with Scotish Verses for Craigieburnwood For a' that, & all that unpublishable."
Localization from postmark; dating from docket and internal evidence.
Part of a large collection of letters from Robert Burns to George Thomson. Items are described individually; see collection record (MA 47 and MA 50) for more information.
With notes in Thomson's hand.
Summary
Noting that it is difficult to write original verse on subjects, such as Spring, that poets have been describing "for these three thousand years." Mentioning that some years ago, when Burns "was young, & by no means the saint I am now," he undertook a bet to produce an Ode to Spring on an original plan. Giving the verses to his "Ode to Spring -- Tune, The tither morn." Referencing John Aikin's stance that "love & wine are the exclusive themes for song-writing," and giving the verses to his "Song -- For a' that and a' that." Continuing the letter after a fortnight on January 15, thanking him for a copy of Pindar, and giving the text of "Sweet fa's the eve on Craigieburn."
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