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Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, dated, 9 December 1789

Key details

Archive number
NTS/02/25/BRN/01/61
Alt. number
3.6092.a-b
Date
9 December 1789
On display
No
Creator
Burns, Robert (Author)
Recipient
Graham, Robert

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Description

Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, dated, Ellisland, 9 December 1789.

Burns met Robert Graham at Athole House, Blair Atholl in 1787. They became friends and later, once Graham had become a Commissioner of the Scottish Board of Excise, Burns sought Graham's good offices to get himself a position with the Excise in Dumfries.

This letter finds Burns now engaged as an employee of the Excise. He apologises to his patron Graham for not writing sooner but he has been busy with Mr Mitchell and his Supervisor Mr Findlater in training for his new role. He assures Graham that his work is not interfering with his poetic work, as his journeys through the countryside have provided ample inspiration for his poems and songs.

Burns has enclosed several copies of his work for Graham's perusal. He has sent On the Late Captain Grose's Peregrinations thro' Scotland, The Kirk's Alarm, The Five Carlins, and Thou Lingering Star. He also provides detailed descriptions of the inspiration behind The Kirk's Alarm and The Five Carlins. These enclosures are no longer with the letter.

Archive information

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Hierarchy

  1. Letters from and to Robert Burns ( )
  2. Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, dated, 9 December 1789

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