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Burns Relationship Explorer

View everything sent by Robert Burns in our collection

View everything received by Maria Riddell in our collection

  • Letter 1792

    Letter from Robert Burns to Maria Riddell

    Letter from Robert Burns to Maria Riddell, undated, arranging a meeting and other personal matters. Docketed '4' by Maria Riddell.

  • Burns event 31 dhen Dùbhlachd 1791

    Burns is asked to contribute to George Thomson’s A Select Collection of Original Scotish Airs for the Voice.

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  • Burns event 31 dhen Dùbhlachd 1791

    Jean Armour gives birth to Elizabeth Riddell Burns.

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  • World event 31 dhen Dùbhlachd 1791

    Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is published.

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  • World event 20 dhen t-Sultain 1792

    The French Republic is established.

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  • Burns event 31 dhen Dùbhlachd 1792

    The second Edinburgh edition of Poems, Chiefly in a Scottish Dialect is published and the first volume of Thomson’s Select Collection.

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  • World event 20 dhen Fhaoilleach 1793

    King Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.

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  • World event 31 dhen Fhaoilleach 1793

    France declares war against Britain.

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  • Letter August 1793

    To Maria

    Burns wrote this poem for his friend Maria Riddell. It was written in response to Lord Buchan's assertion that 'Woman ought not always to be flattered grossly, or not spoken to at all'. In these short lines, Robert proves just the opposite.

  • Letter November 1793

    Letter from Robert Burns to Maria Riddell

    Letter from Robert Burns to Maria Riddell, concerning the poem "Farewell, thou stream"; Shortly after this R.B. substituted "Maria" in the second line with "Eliza" following his quarrel with the Riddell family.

  • Letter January 1794

    Letter from Robert Burns to Maria Riddell, January 1794

    Letter from Robert Burns to Maria Riddell, dated January 1794