Madam
Nae heathen name shall I prefix,
Frae Pindus or Parnassus,
Auld Reekie dings them a' to sticks
For rhyme-inspiring Lasses.
Jove's tunefu' Dochters three times three
Made Homer deep their debtor;
But gien the body half an e'e,
Nine Ferriers wad done better.
Last day my mind was in a bog;
Down Georg's Street I stoited;
A creeping, cauld, Prosaic fog
My vera senses doited.
Nae heathen name shall I prefix,
Frae Pindus or Parnassus,
Auld Reekie dings them a' to sticks
For rhyme-inspiring Lasses.
Jove's tunefu' Dochters three times three
Made Homer deep their debtor;
But gien the body half an e'e,
Nine Ferriers wad done better.
Last day my mind was in a bog;
Down Georg's Street I stoited;
A creeping, cauld, Prosaic fog
My vera senses doited.
Do what I dought to set her free,
My Muse lay in the mire;
Ye turn'd a neuk - I saw your e'e-
She took the wing like fire.
The mournfu' sang I here inclose,
In gratitude I send you:
And pray, in rhyme, sincere as prose,
A' gude things may attend you.
St James' Square
Saturday even.
My Muse lay in the mire;
Ye turn'd a neuk - I saw your e'e-
She took the wing like fire.
The mournfu' sang I here inclose,
In gratitude I send you:
And pray, in rhyme, sincere as prose,
A' gude things may attend you.
St James' Square
Saturday even.
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/52
- Alt. number
- 3.6192
- Date
- 1787
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Ferrier, Jane
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/02/52
- Alt. number
- 3.6192
- Date
- 1787
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Ferrier, Jane
Description
'To Miss Ferrier'. 5 four-line verses; written from "St James Square, Saturday even."
This poem is addressed to Miss Jane Ferrier (1767 - 1846), the daughter of James Ferrier and sister of the novelist Susan Ferrier. She met Burns during the summer of 1787, when she was an Edinburgh society favourite. She asked the Bard for a poem and he sent her this epistle along with the Elegy on Sir J. H. Blair.
Miss Ferrier went on to marry General Samuel Graham, Depute-Governor of Stirling Castle. She also published a volume of engravings based on the carvings found around the castle.
Archive information
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Robert Burns, collection of poems and songs
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- To Miss Ferrier