Letter from Robert Burns to William Niven, 12 June 1781
Dear Sir,
I shall not begin with
considering whether you are to blame, or
I am to blame, or who of us is most to blame
for this long, long interval of our correspondence
In my letter which I wrote you in Feb;
last, I touched a subject which, I thought, would
have produced an immediate answer; but it seems
I have been mistaken, tho' I suspect not altogether
neither. Had not the hurried season of seed-time
come on so soon as it did, I would have wrote you
farther on the subject; but so fatigued was my
body & so hebetated my mind, that I could
neither think, nor write any thing to purpose.
I know you will hardly believe me
when I tell you, that by a strange conjuncture
of circumstances, I am interely got rid of all
connections with the tender sex, I mean
in the way of courtship: it is, however
absolutely certain that I am so; though
how
I shall not begin with
considering whether you are to blame, or
I am to blame, or who of us is most to blame
for this long, long interval of our correspondence
In my letter which I wrote you in Feb;
last, I touched a subject which, I thought, would
have produced an immediate answer; but it seems
I have been mistaken, tho' I suspect not altogether
neither. Had not the hurried season of seed-time
come on so soon as it did, I would have wrote you
farther on the subject; but so fatigued was my
body & so hebetated my mind, that I could
neither think, nor write any thing to purpose.
I know you will hardly believe me
when I tell you, that by a strange conjuncture
of circumstances, I am interely got rid of all
connections with the tender sex, I mean
in the way of courtship: it is, however
absolutely certain that I am so; though
how
long I shall continue so, Heaven only knows,
but be that as it may, I shall never be in-
volved as I was again. --
Our communion was on Sunday se en night,
I mention this to tell you that I saw your
cousin there, with some of Mr Hamilton's
sons. You cannot imagine how pleased I
was to steal a look at him, & trace the
resemblance of my old friend -- I was prepossed
in his favor on that account, but still more
be that ingenuous modestly a quality so rare
amongst students, especialy in the divinity way
which is so apparent in his air & manner.
I assure you my hear warmed to him: I
was only sorry I could not tell him, how
happy I would have been to have had it in
my power to have obliged him. you know
I am a Physiognomist, so will not be surprised
at this. I shall expect to hear from you soon
& shall conclude with assuring you, that I am
your sincere wellwisher & humble servant
Robt Burns
Lochlee June12th 1781
but be that as it may, I shall never be in-
volved as I was again. --
Our communion was on Sunday se en night,
I mention this to tell you that I saw your
cousin there, with some of Mr Hamilton's
sons. You cannot imagine how pleased I
was to steal a look at him, & trace the
resemblance of my old friend -- I was prepossed
in his favor on that account, but still more
be that ingenuous modestly a quality so rare
amongst students, especialy in the divinity way
which is so apparent in his air & manner.
I assure you my hear warmed to him: I
was only sorry I could not tell him, how
happy I would have been to have had it in
my power to have obliged him. you know
I am a Physiognomist, so will not be surprised
at this. I shall expect to hear from you soon
& shall conclude with assuring you, that I am
your sincere wellwisher & humble servant
Robt Burns
Lochlee June12th 1781
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/04
- Alt. number
- 3.6030
- Date
- 12 June 1781
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Niven, William
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/04
- Alt. number
- 3.6030
- Date
- 12 June 1781
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Niven, William
Description
Letter from Robert Burns to William Niven, dated Lochlea, 12 June 1781. One of three letters to William Niven, a contemporary of the Poet while a pupil at Kirkoswald. These letters are dated from Lochlee (Lochlea) between July, 1780, and June, 1781, and are the earliest letters of the poet within the National Trust Collection.
This is a two page letter in which Robert Burns wrote to his school friend William Niven now a merchant in Maybole. He deals with the lack of progress in his love life and mentions seeing William's cousin in the local kirk.
Page one starts with Burns commenting on the length of time since they last wrote. He had written to Niven back in February on an undisclosed subject (but the letter has not survived to tell us what this might have been).
He then goes on to enlighten his friend on the absence of his courting activity which Burns imagines Niven will be disbelieving of in view of Burns's reputation with the fair sex. He does however feel he will be unable to re-capture his earlier experience.
The second page deals with his sight of Niven's cousin at the Sunday communion which has pleased him with the recollection of his friendship with Niven and which presumably prompted Burns to write this letter.
He also reports to Niven how well he regarded his cousin's demeanor and although he did not meet him in person believes that he can read his character by merely regarding his face.
He then goes on to enlighten his friend on the absence of his courting activity which Burns imagines Niven will be disbelieving of in view of Burns's reputation with the fair sex. He does however feel he will be unable to re-capture his earlier experience.
The second page deals with his sight of Niven's cousin at the Sunday communion which has pleased him with the recollection of his friendship with Niven and which presumably prompted Burns to write this letter.
He also reports to Niven how well he regarded his cousin's demeanor and although he did not meet him in person believes that he can read his character by merely regarding his face.
Archive information
Place of creation
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Letters from and to Robert Burns
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- Letter from Robert Burns to William Niven, 12 June 1781