To Captain Gordon, On Being Asked Why I was Not to be of the Party With Him and His Brother Kenmure at Syme's
To Capt. G----, on being asked why I was not to be of the party with him & his brother K-nm-re as Syme's. ---- Dost ask; dear Captain, why from Syme I have no invitation, When well I knows he has with him My first friends in the nation? Is it because I love to toast, And round the bottle hurl? No! there conjecture wild is lost, For Syme, by G-d's no churl! ---- Isn’t it because that a bawdy jest I love, lest with bawdy jests I bore, As oft the matter of fact is? No! Syme the theory must approve can't abhor ---- Who loves so well the practice. ---- Is it, a fear I should avow Some heresy seditious? No! Syme (but this is entre nous) Is quite an old Tiresias. ---- In vain conjecture thus would flit Thro' mental clime & season: In short, dear Captain, Syme's a Wit ---- Who asks of Wits a reason? ---- Yet must I still the sôrt deplore That to my griefs adds one more, In balking me the social hour With you & noble Kenmure.
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/48
- Alt. number
- 3.6188
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/48
- Alt. number
- 3.6188
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
Description
To Captain Gordon, On Being Asked Why I was Not to be of the Party With Him and His Brother Kenmure at Syme's
This poem's full title is To Captain Gordon, On Being Asked Why I was Not to be of the Party With Him and His Brother Kenmure at Syme's. The poem consists of 6 four-line verses and contains Burns's answer to the question posed in its title.
Captain Adam Gordon of the 81st Regiment was the son of John Gordon of Kenmure. His elder brother John Gordon was MP for Kirkcudbright from 1784-6. Burns met the Gordons during his Galloway trip with John Syme in 1793.
The manuscript is also docketed by Dr. James Currie, an early biographer of the poet.
The manuscript is also docketed by Dr. James Currie, an early biographer of the poet.
Archive information
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Robert Burns, collection of poems and songs
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- To Captain Gordon, On Being Asked Why I was Not to be of the Party With Him and His Brother Kenmure at Syme's
Caring for collections
A gift of £5 a month can help us ensure collections like the Robert Burns Collection receive ongoing care and are shared with as many people as possible.