Letter from Gilbert Burns to Jean Burns, 15 January 1820

Gilbert Burns opens the first page of this letter with his not unusual complaint at not having heard from his Sister-in-law for some length of time but also acknowledges that he has not been in contact with her either. He announces the death of his mother, who has been in bed for several months and had passed away "without a struggle or a groan" the previous day 14th January 1820.

He then says that the funeral will have to be held back until they can get an iron frame built around the burial plot to protect it from the nightly grave-robbers prevalent at the time. The balance of the page is taken up describing the current illness of his wife and a gruesome blood-letting treatment to deal with it.

Page two is devoted to the inclusion of an obituary notice which Gilbert Burns has written on the death of his Mother. This he asks his sister in law Jean to cut out and send to the Dumfries newspaper in the person of a Mr MacDiarmid.

The torn remnant of the page can be seen and so we can conclude that his request was fulfilled although the content of the notice can no longer be deduced.