Letter from Robert Burns to Mrs Dunlop, 31 January 1796
of the cup of affliction. - The Autumn robbed
me of my only daughter & darling child, & that
at a distance too & so rapidly as to put it out of
my power to pay the last duties to her. - I had
scarcely began to recover from that shock, when
became myself the victim of a most severe
Rheumatic fever, & long the die spun doubtful
until after many weeks of a sick-bed it seemed to
have turned up more life, & I am beginning
to crawl across my room, & once indeed have [?]
my own door in the street. -
When Pleasure fascinates the mental Sight,
Affliction purifies the visual ray;
Religion hails the drear, the untried night
That shuts, forever shuts! Life's doubtful day.
As
As to other matters of my concern, my family, views & c.
they are all as successful as I could well wish. -
I know not how you are in Ayr-shire, but here, we have
actual famine, & that too in the midst of plenty. Many
days my family, & hundreds of other families, are
absolutely without one grain of meal; as money cannot
purchase it. - How long the Swinish Multitude will be
quiet, I cannot tell: they threaten daily.
Farewell! May all good things attend you!
RBurns
Jan 31st 96
![](https://ciim-data.nts.org.uk/media/iiif/3/pf%2F2%2F1%2F41%2F13%2FNTSBRNp07830.ptif/full/!640,640/0/default.jpg)
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/124
- Alt. number
- 3.6359
- Date
- 31 January 1796
- On display
- Yes
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/124
- Alt. number
- 3.6359
- Date
- 31 January 1796
- On display
- Yes
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
Description
Letter from Robert Burns to Mrs Dunlop, dated 31 January 1796.
Letter attempting to regain her friendship following the offence she had taken at the poet's strongly held revolutionary views. Also tells of the death of his daughter and his own ill-health. Robert suffered from bouts of ill health throughout his short life. In this letter to a friend, he complains of a severe rheumatic fever from which he is only beginning to recover. Six months later, he was dead.
Archive information
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Letters from and to Robert Burns
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- Letter from Robert Burns to Mrs Dunlop, 31 January 1796