preface

robertburnswasbornnearayr，scotland，25thofjanuary，1759.hewasthesonofwilliamburnes，orburness，atthetimeofthepoet'sbirthanurserymanonthebanksofthedooninayrshire.hisfather，thoughalwaysextremelypoor，attemptedtogivehischildrenafaireducation，androbert，whowastheeldest，wenttoschoolforthreeyearsinaneighboringvillage，andlater，forshorterperiods，tothreeotherschoolsinthevicinity.butitwastohisfatherandtohisownreadingthatheowedthemoreimportantpartofhiseducation;andbythetimethathehadreachedmanhoodhehadagoodknowledgeofenglish，areadingknowledgeoffrench，andafairlywideacquaintancewiththemasterpiecesofenglishliteraturefromthetimeofshakespearetohisownday.in1766williamburnessrentedonborrowedmoneythefarmofmountoliphant，andintakinghisshareintheefforttomakethisundertakingsucceed，thefuturepoetseemstohaveseriouslyoverstrainedhisphysique.in1771thefamilymovetolochlea，andburnswenttotheneighboringtownofirvinetolearnflax-dressing.theonlyresultofthisexperiment，however，wastheformationofanacquaintancewithadissipatedsailor，whomheafterwardblamedastheprompterofhisfirstlicentiousadventures.hisfatherdiedin1784，andwithhisbrothergilbertthepoetrentedthefarmofmossgiel;butthisventurewasasunsuccessfulastheothers.hehadmeantimeformedanirregularintimacywithjeanarmour，forwhichhewascensuredbythekirk-session.asaresultofhisfarmingmisfortunes，andtheattemptsofhisfather-in-lawtooverthrowhisirregularmarriagewithjean，heresolvedtoemigrate;andinordertoraisemoneyforthepassagehepublished（kilmarnock，1786）avolumeofthepoemswhichhehadbeencomposingfromtimetotimeforsomeyears.thisvolumewasunexpectedlysuccessful，sothat，insteadofsailingforthewestindies，hewentuptoedinburgh，andduringthatwinterhewasthechiefliterarycelebrityoftheseason.anenlargededitionofhispoemswaspublishedtherein1787，andthemoneyderivedfromthisenabledhimtoaidhisbrotherinmossgiel，andtotakeandstockforhimselfthefarmofellislandindumfriesshire.hisfameaspoethadreconciledthearmourstotheconnection，andhavingnowregularlymarriedjean，hebroughthertoellisland，andoncemoretriedfarmingforthreeyears.continuedill-success，however，ledhim，in1791，toabandonellisland，andhemovedtodumfries，wherehehadobtainedapositionintheexcise.buthewasnowthoroughlydiscouraged;hisworkwasmeredrudgery;histendencytotakehisrelaxationindebaucheryincreasedtheweaknessofaconstitutionearlyundermined;andhediedatdumfriesinhisthirty-eighthyear.

itisnotnecessaryheretoattempttodisentangleorexplainawaythenumerousamoursinwhichhewasengagedthroughthegreaterpartofhislife.itisevidentthatburnswasamanofextremelypassionatenatureandfondofconviviality;andthemisfortunesofhislotcombinedwithhisnaturaltendenciestodrivehimtofrequentexcessesofself-indulgence.hewasoftenremorseful，andhestrovepainfully，ifintermittently，afterbetterthings.butthestoryofhislifemustbeadmittedtobeinitsexternalsapainfulandsomewhatsordidchronicle.thatitcontained，however，manymomentsofjoyandexaltationisprovedbythepoemshereprinted.

burns'poetryfallsintotwomaingroups:englishandscottish.hisenglishpoemsare，forthemostpart，inferiorspecimensofconventionaleighteenth-centuryverse.butinscottishpoetryheachievedtriumphsofaquiteextraordinarykind.sincethetimeofthereformationandtheunionofthecrownsofenglandandscotland，thescotsdialecthadlargelyfallenintodisuseasamediumfordignifiedwriting.shortlybeforeburns'time，however，allanramsayandrobertfergussonhadbeentheleadingfiguresinarevivalofthevernacular，andburnsreceivedfromthemanationaltraditionwhichhesucceededincarryingtoitshighestpitch，becomingthereby，toanalmostuniquedegree，thepoetofhispeople.

hefirstshowedcompletemasteryofverseinthefieldofsatire.in“thetwaherds，”

“holywillie'sprayer，”

“addresstotheuncoguid，”

“theholyfair，”

andothers，hemanifestedsympathywiththeprotestoftheso-called“newlight”

party，whichhadsprungupinoppositiontotheextremecalvinismandintoleranceofthedominant“auldlichts.”

thefactthatburnshadpersonallysufferedfromthedisciplineofthekirkprobablyaddedfiretohisattacks，butthesatiresshowmorethanpersonalanimus.theforceoftheinvective，thekeennessofthewit，andthefervoroftheimaginationwhichtheydisplayed，renderedthemanimportantforceinthetheologicalliberationofscotland.

thekilmarnockvolumecontained，besidessatire，anumberofpoemslike“thetwadogs”

and“thecotter'ssaturdaynight，”

whicharevividlydescriptiveofthescotspeasantlifewithwhichhewasmostfamiliar;andagrouplike“puirmailie”

and“toamouse，”

which，inthetendernessoftheirtreatmentofanimals，revealedoneofthemostattractivesidesofburns'personality.manyofhispoemswereneverprintedduringhislifetime，themostremarkableofthesebeing“thejollybeggars，”

apieceinwhich，bytheintensityofhisimaginativesympathyandthebrillianceofhistechnique，herendersapictureofthelowestdregsofsocietyinsuchawayastoraiseitintotherealmofgreatpoetry.

buttherealnationalimportanceofburnsisduechieflytohissongs.thepuritanausterityofthecenturiesfollowingthereformationhaddiscouragedsecularmusic，likeotherformsofart，inscotland;andasaresultscottishsonghadbecomehopelesslydegradedinpointbothofdecencyandliteraryquality.fromyouthburnshadbeeninterestedincollectingthefragmentshehadheardsungorfoundprinted，andhecametoregardtherescuingofthisalmostlostnationalinheritanceinthelightofavocation.abouthissong-making，twopointsareespeciallynoteworthy:first，thatthegreaternumberofhislyricssprangfromactualemotionalexperiences;second，thatalmostallwerecomposedtooldmelodies.whileinedinburghheundertooktosupplymaterialforjohnson's“musicalmuseum，”

andasfewofthetraditionalsongscouldappearinarespectablecollection，burnsfounditnecessarytomakethemover.sometimeshekeptastanzaortwo;sometimesonlyalineorchorus;sometimesmerelythenameoftheair;therestwashisown.hismethod，ashehastoldushimself，wastobecomefamiliarwiththetraditionalmelody，tocatchasuggestionfromsomefragmentoftheoldsong，tofixuponanideaorsituationforthenewpoem;then，hummingorwhistlingthetuneashewentabouthiswork，hewroughtoutthenewverses，goingintothehousetowritethemdownwhentheinspirationbegantoflag.inthisprocessistobefoundtheexplanationofmuchofthepeculiarqualityofthesongsofburns.scarcelyanyknownauthorhassucceededsobrilliantlyincombininghisworkwithfolkmaterial，orincarryingonwithsuchcontinuityofspiritthetraditionofpopularsong.forgeorgethomson'scollectionofscottishairsheperformedafunctionsimilartothatwhichhehadhadinthe“museum”

;andhispoeticalactivityduringthelasteightornineyearsofhislifewaschieflydevotedtothesetwopublications.inspiteofthefactthathewasconstantlyinseverefinancialstraits，herefusedtoacceptanyrecompenseforthiswork，preferringtoregarditasapatrioticservice.anditwas，indeed，apatrioticserviceofnosmallmagnitude.bybirthandtemperamenthewassingularlyfittedforthetask，andthisfitnessisprovedbytheuniqueextenttowhichhisproductionswereacceptedbyhiscountrymen，andhavepassedintothelifeandfeelingofhisrace.