Letter from Robert Burns to Dr John Moore, 28 February 1791, with 'To Miss C - a very young lady'

Ellisland near Dumfries 28th Feb.ry 1791


I do not know, Sir, of whether you are a Subscriber to Grose's Antiquities of
Scotland. - If you are, the inclosed poem will not be altogether new
to you. - Capt.n Grose did me the favor to send me a dozen copies
of the Proof-sheet, of which this is one. - Should you have read the
piece before, still this will answer the principal end I have in
view: it will give me another opportunuty of thanking you
for all your goodness to the rustic Bard; & also of shewing you that
the abilities you have been pleased to commend & patronise,
are still employed in the way you wish.-
The Elegy on Capt.n Henderson, is a tribute to the
memory of a Man I loved much.- Poets have in this the
same advantage as Roman Catholics; they can be of service
to their Friends after they have past that bourne where
all

other kindness ceases to be of any avail. - Whether after all, either the
one or the other be of any real service to the Dead, is, I fear
problematical; but I am sure they are highly gratifying to the
Living: and as a very orthodox text, I forget where, in Scripture
says, "Whatsoevr is not of faith, is sin" - so, say I, Whatsoever
is not detrimental to Society, & is of positive Enjoyment, is of
God the Giver of all good things, & ought be received & enjoyed by His
creatures with thankful delight. - As almost all my Religious
tenets originate from my heart, I am wonderfully pleased with the
idea that I can still keep up a tender intercourse with the dearly
beloved Friend, or still more dearly beloved Mistress, who is
gone to the world of Spirits.
The Ballad on Queen Mary, was begun while I was busy with
Percy's Reliques of English Poetry. - By the way, how much
is every honest heart which has a tincture of genuine Caledonian
Prejudice, oblidged to you for your glorious story of Bucha-
& Targe. - 'Twas an unequivoval proof of your loyal gallan
of Soul, giving Targe the victory. - I should have been mort
to the ground, if you had not. - What a rocky-heartet, perfe
Succubus was that Queen Elizabeth! - Judas Iscariot was a
sad

dog to be sure, but still his demerits shrink to insignificance,
compared with the doings of the infernal Bess Tudor. -
Judas did not know, at lease was by no means sure, what or
who that Master was; his turpitude was simply, betraying
a worthy, man who had ever been a good Master to him: a
degree of turpitude which has even been outdone by many
of his kind since. - Iscariot, poor wretch, was a man of
nothing at all per Annum, & by consquence, thirty
pieces of silver was a very serious temptation to him;
but, to give but one instance, the Duke of Q------ry,
the other day, just played the same trick to his kind
Master, tho' His Grace is a man of thirty thousand a
year, & come to that imbecille period of life when no
temptation but Avarice can be supposed to affect
him. -
I have just read over, once more of many time, your
Zelucco. - I marked with my pencil, as I went along
every passage that pleased me paticularly above the
rest, & one, or two I think, which with humble defer
I am disposed to think unequal to the merit of the Book.
I

I have sometimes thought to send you a tr transcribe these
^marked passages, or at least so much of them as to point out where
they are, & send them to you. - Original strokes, that strongly
depict the human heart, is your & Fielding's province,
beyond any other Novellist, I have ever perused. - Richardson
indeed might perhaps be excepted; but unhappily, his
Dramatis personae are beings of some other world; & how-
ever they may captivate the unexperienced, romantic fancy
of a boy or a girl, they will ever, in proportion as we have
made human nature our study, disgust our riper
minds. -

As to my private concerns, I am going on, a mighty Tax-
gatherer before the lord, & have lately has the interest to
get myself ranked on the list of Excise as a
Supervisor. - I am not yet employed as such, but in
few years I will fall into the file of supervisorship
by seniority. - I have had an immense loss in the death
of the Earl of Glencairn; the Patron from whom all my
fame & good fortune took its rise. Independant of my grateful
 

grateful attachment to him, which was indeed so strong that
it pervaded my very soul, & was entwined with the thread
of my existence; so soon as the Prince's friends had got in,
(& every dog you know has his day) my getting forward in the
Excise would have been an easier ^business than otherwise it will
be. - Though this was a consummation devoutly to
be wished, yet, thank Heaven, I can live & rhyme, as I am;
& as to my boys, poor, little fellows! if I cannot place them on
as high an elevation in life, as I could wish; I shall, if I am
favoured so much of the Disposer of events as to see that
period, take care to fix them on as broad and independant
basis as possible. - Among the many wise adages which
have been treasured up by our Scotish Ancestors, this is one
of the best. - "Better be the head o' the Commonality, as
the taill o' the Gentry." --
But I am got on a subject, which however interesting to
me, is of no manner of consequence to you; so I shall
give you a short poem on the other page, & close this with
assuring you how sincerely I have the honor to be,
Sir, your obliged & ever grateful humble serv.t
Rob.t Burns

Written on the blank leaf of a book which I presented to a
very young lady, whom I had formerly characterised under the
denomination of, The Rose-bud. -

Beauteous Rose-bud, young & gay,
Blooming on the early day,
Never may'st thou, lovely Flower,
Chilly shrink in sleety shower;
Never Eurus' pois'nous breath,
Never Boreas' hoary path,
Never baleful Stellar lights,
Taint thee with untimely blights!
Never, never reptile thief
Riot on thy virgin leaf;
Nor even Sol too fiercely view
Thy bosom, blushing still with dew!
May'st thou long, sweet, crimson gem,
Richly deck thy native stem;
Till some evening, sober, calm,
Dropping dews & breathing balm,
While all around the woodland rings,
And every bird thy requiem sings,
Thou