The Canongate Burns (140 page)

This first appears with Scott Douglas in 1877 who estimates the composition date for sometime in 1786. This is probably in error. It is accepted to the canon by Mackay (p. 256) but placed in Dubia by Kinsley (no. 629), who questions whether it is by Burns. Kinsley remarks ‘… if Burns wrote the piece, it more probably belongs to
the period of the Highland tour' (Vol. III, no. 629, p. 1529). The reference to Psalms cxxv, v. 5 is in the manner of Burns, although the first section is linguistically weak. If Scott Douglas transcribed it from a letter he saw (as claimed) which was later destroyed, then it is probably authentic. There is no extant manuscript, but the transcript in the Wisbech and Fenland Museum records that it was written on a window of an Inn at Moffat, suggesting a later date, possibly when Burns lived in Dumfries. It is probably his.

According to Kinsley, Burns has abridged the long political ballad
What Murrain Now has Tae'n the Whigs
. The original was in vogue after the 1688 revolution, as mentioned at l. 9.

This fragment is included by Burns in a letter to John Beugo, an Edinburgh Engraver, dated 9th September, 1788 (Letter 268). It is, of course, a parody of Metrical Psalm 137, vv. 1–2.

These lines first appear with Cunningham, but Scott Douglas suggests they might be from Milton, although he prints them (Vol. II, p. 232). There is no trace of the lines in Milton. They have not been printed by any editor during the 20th century. Professor Delancey Ferguson observes in a footnote to his edition of the poet's letters that the lines were attributed to Burns by J.B. Reid in his 1889
Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert Burns
, published in Glasgow. There are several poetic quotes in the same letter by Burns, all of them within quotation marks. Ferguson states, ‘The absence of quotation marks in the MS suggests that Reid may have been right' (Letter 181).

Of the seven stanzas in this traditional work, the final lines are almost certainly the work of Burns. They do not feature in the original song and are on a subject close to the poet's heart, taking responsibility for begetting children. Stenhouse and other editors during the 19th century attributed this stanza to Burns, but modern editors have tended to overlook this last stanza aware that Burns did not write the entire song. This stanza, almost word for
word, is also employed by Burns to end his bawdy song
Wha'll
Mow Me Now
.

This appears in Henley–Henderson and the Chambers–Wallace edition and features in Kinsley's
Dubia
section only because he could not date the composition (Vol. III, p. 1527). It is by Burns.

The original printed by Cunningham and a transcript by John Syme are both given here. Burns may have written two versions of these lines, or the differences may derive from John Syme's deficient memory. Syme wrote: ‘A friend of the Bard having bought a Bible which was elegantly bound requested him to write something on the blank leaf. Extempore — written with his pencil.'

Kinsley states, ‘Said by Cunningham to have been written in a volume of Shakespeare in a nobleman's library. The variant copied by Syme was written in a Bible which a friend offered Burns for his inscription' (Vol. III, p. 1526). Mackay records, almost verbatim, ‘Said by Cunningham to have been inscribed in a volume of Shakespeare in a nobleman's library. A variant copied by John Syme was written in a Bible which a friend offered Burns for his inscription' (p. 608).

This fragment, accepted by modern editors, although it features in Kinsley's Dubia (as an undated composition) was probably meant to be set to a musical air, but Burns left it unfinished.

Hugh Logan (1739–1802) was laird of Logan, near Cumnock. In an age when aristocratic gentleman could purchase a small volume with personal details and a description of the active Edinburgh prostitutes, it is almost certain Burns picked up some gossip about Logan's connection with them.

This is given without comment in Kinsley's Dubia section, leaving readers to ponder whether he considered it to be an undated composition by Burns or that he rejected it. Mackay accepts it as a work of Burns. It was first printed in Glasgow in 1801 among
Poems Ascribed to Robert Burns
. There are several short pieces on the theme of tyrannical wives preserved at the British Museum's archive of single sheet poetry from the 1790s. Burns may have seen some of these.

This is another work on which Kinsley makes no comment, either to include or reject from the canon. Mackay accepts it. It was apparently
seen in manuscript by the 1839 Aldine editor. The inscription is probably the work of Burns as well.

This appears first in the
Edinburgh Magazine
along with a copy of
Adam Armour's Prayer
. A second version, from a manuscript copy, features in the same magazine in January 1818. It is this latter, shorter version that is accepted as the improved lyric taken by Burns from a traditional song.

These lines were added by Burns to a song written by Miss Cranstoun,
The Tears I Shed
, to make the lyric better fit the music. In notes to the Interleaved S.M.M. Burns records, ‘It wanted four lines to make all the stanzas suit the music, which I added' (Henley– Henderson, Vol. IV, p. 103).

This exists in manuscript although its provenance has been questioned. The manuscript has corrections by Burns, suggesting at the very least, that he either improved the lines on behalf of another author, or polished up a work of his own. It is rightly accepted by Kinsley and Mackay. Kinsley states, ‘Dewar suggested that Burns may have “copied out a poem sent to him and corrected it for the author”… But it would not have been necessary to make a fair copy in order to insert a few minor corrections' (Vol. III, p. 1527).