TREASURES OF BURNS.

Shannon News, 5 March 1926, Page 4

TREASURES OF BURNS.

MOST INTERESTIN GAND PRECIOUS REUC. v ' One of the most interesting and precious of all Burns reucs is that collection of documents known as the Glenriddell Manuscripts. 'The collection consists of two quarto volumes bound in calf; one containing a selection of the poet’s letters, entirely in his own hand .the other a selection of poems, partly in that of an amanuensis. Both volumes —hence th e name —are stamped with the Glenriddell Arms, for they were selected by Burns in 1791 for the collection of his friend> Robert Riddell of Glenriddell. They are now in the possession of the Scottish nation. How they came to be there is a romantic story. Burnses Biographer. After the death of Burns, in 1796, it was decided that Dr. James Currie, of Liverpool, should be his biographer. To Dr. Currie were sent all the papers, manuscripts, etc., in the poet’s house, among them the Glenriddell MSS. The official was duly produced in 1800, and in 1803 Dr. Currie died, without having returned the papers. The poet’s family were young and his widow not used to business; Dr. Currie’s family were also * young, and these priceless relics of . Burns were forgotten until 1853, whenCurrie’s daughter-in-law* presented them to the Liverpool Athenaeum. Liverpool failed to appreciate the gift. It was not until 1873 that the volumes were put on put>lic display. Then, in 1913, the Liverpool Athenaeum decided to sell them! Messrs Sotheby secured an option on thefri lor £5,009, and in spite of an indignant outcry .from the nobility and intelligentsia; of Scotland —who were prepared to take legal\ action—the Liverpool Athenaeum; refused to canr cl the sale. Messrs Sotheby Uieir option, and the Glenriddell MSS. disappeared. While the enthusiasts in Scotland were .gathering to consider a plan of action, Mr. John Gribbol of Philadelphia was offered the volumes by an American dealer. On

, November. 21, 1913, he purchased them and cabled to the Earl of Rosebery that they were “now a gift to the people of Scotland for ever.” It was a handsome act, and theGlenriddell MSS. will be one of the mosv precious treasures of the new Scottish •National Library. The Polite Letter-writer. feurns’s handrwriting is clear and bold, and whilst most of the material in these • volumes has already been printed, a close study of the originals seems to bring one hearer than print can do to the personality of the mail. The chief interest is in the letters. Burns was of the eighteenth century; he followed classical models in his prose, and it was apt>to be .stiff, especially- when lie was affected by the importance?! of his correspondent. One letter addressed to a young lady, the original “Lass of Ballochmyle,” is typical. The poet enclosed, a copy of the verses she had inspired.. The scenery was nearly taken froiu real life; though I daresay, Madam, you do not recollect it, as I believe you scarcely noticed the Poetic Reveur as he wandered by you. I had rover out as Chance directed, on the favourite haunts of my Muse, the banks of Ay f » to view Nature •in all the gayetv of the vernal year. —The sun was flaming o’er the distant, western: hills; not a breath stirred the crimson opening blossom,, or the verdant spreading leaf.—’Twas a golden moment for a Poetic heart. And so on —high-flown and artificial. But a note is added to the copy of this rejected address:— “Well, Mr Burns, and did the Lady give you the desired ‘Permission’ ? ” —No! She was too fine a Lady to notice so plain a compliment.—As to her great brothers, whom I have since met in Life, on more equal terms of respectability, why should I quarre\ their want of attention, to me? — When Fate swor e that their purses should be full, Nature was equally positive that their heads should be empty.—Ye canna mak’ a silk purse o’ a : saw’s lug.

Private Confessions. And there you have a sudden glimpse of the real Burns. It is as in his poetry: when he sought to "write finely’.' in English he was merely dull; when he wrote as a Scot in Scots, ho was unique. The thing is illustrated again and again in these yellow pages. Here 4s an incredible passage from a letter of his youth:— I Shall I hear from you? But-first, hear me! No cold language, no prudential documents.' I' despise Advice and scorn Control! If you are not to -Write such language, such sentiments, as you know I shall wish, shall delight to receive; I conjure you, „by wounded Pride! By ruined Peace! By frantic disappointed Passion! By all the many ills that constitute the sum of human woes —a Broken Heart! —to me be silent for ever! ! ! .And a note at the- end, by Burns himself, describes it priojperly as “fustian rant"!: The (Whole collection is full of such quaint comments by the poet on his own work: —all the more piquant since they were never intended for' the public. <ln these- .pages we may even find Burns’s sinceirest confession of poetic faith:— For my own part, I never had the least thought or inclination of turning Poet till I got once heartily in love; and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart. The reproduction above is made, by permission of the Trustees, from facsimiles of the Glenriddell _ MSS, as printed for his friend® by Mr Gribbel.