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Letter from James Candlish to Robert Burns, 13 February 1779
This is the earliest Poem addressed to the Poet known to exist. McCandlish had been one of Burns' school companions, and in 1779 was a student at the Glasgow College (Glasgow University) . He married Jean Sister, one of the "Mauchline Belles," and was father of Principal R.S.McCandlish. About 1788, Candlish settled in Edinburgh as a lecturer in Medicine. In a letter to Peter Hill, dated March 1791 from Ellisland, RB refers to Candlish as "the earliest friend except my only brother that I…
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Robert Burns and six friends form the Talbolton Bachelors’ Club, a debating society and private gentlemen’s club that met once a month.
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Seven days of anti-Catholic Gordon Riots take place in London, including attacks on Newgate Prison and the Bank of England.
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Robert Burns goes to Irvine to learn flax-making.
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Robert Burns is inducted as a Freemason into Lodge St David, no 174, Tarbolton.
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Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau is published after his death.
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Immanuel Kant publishes Critique of Pure Reason.
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Americans, supported by the French fleet, defeat the British at the Battle of Yorktown.
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Robert Burns returns to Lochlea when his fledgling career in the flax trade is cut short by a fire in the flax shop, started accidentally by his business partner’s wife.
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The Irish Constitution of 1782 restores legislative independence to the Parliament of Ireland for a 16-year period.
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Robert Burns begins his first Commonplace book.
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Robert and Gilbert Burns secretly lease Mossgiel, a 118-acre farm near Mauchline, to help the family’s economic circumstances.
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End of the American War of Independence, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
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The British government collapses, after the Fox–North coalition falls.
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The Burns family move to Mossgiel Farm after the death of William Burns.
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Robert Burns meets Jean Armour, his future wife, at a Mauchline dance.
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The first voyages by hot air balloon take place.
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William Burns, Robert Burns’s father, dies.
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William Pitt the Younger officially becomes British Prime Minister after winning a general election. He is Britain’s youngest-ever serving prime minister, aged 24.
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The London Hospital Medical College opens as England’s first chartered medical school.
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Elizabeth Burns, Robert Burns’s first daughter, is born to Elizabeth ‘Betsey’ Paton. Betsey met Robert when she was employed as a servant girl at Lochlea Farm.
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New Lanark is established in Lanarkshire by entrepreneur David Dale.
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Jean Armour is sent to Paisley by her family after the affair between her and Robert Burns is discovered.
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Robert Burns begins an affair with Margaret ‘Mary’ Campbell (also known as Highland Mary).
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Robert Burns writes to David Bryce, describing his plans to move to Jamaica and that he believes he has been abandoned by Jean Armour.
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Robert Burns writes to John Richmond about his planned emigration to Jamaica. Burns had been offered the job of bookkeeper on the Springbank plantation in Port Antonio through his friend Dr Patrick Douglas.
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Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna.
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The last meeting takes place between Mary Campbell and Robert Burns, where they exchange marriage vows and bibles. She is reportedly pregnant.
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Robert Burns is recalled to Mauchline Kirk (Church) to admit his affair with Jean Burns, who is also pregnant with twins. James Armour (Jean’s father) offers a warrant for Burns’s arrest. Burns goes into hiding.
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Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is published through subscription in Kilmarnock. 612 copies are printed, costing 3 shillings each.
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Astronomer Caroline Herschel becomes the first woman to be credited with discovering a comet.
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Robert Burns informs John Richmond that he has missed the sailing of the Nancy, the first of three ships he booked on to sail to Jamaica.
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Jean Armour gives birth to twins, Robert and Jean Burns.
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Mary Campbell dies in Greenock, likely from typhus. She is 23 years old.
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Burns travels to Edinburgh and spends the winter there, meeting many patrons, artists and writers.
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Henry Mackenzie reviews Poems, Chiefly in a Scottish Dialect for the Lounger magazine, casting Robert Burns as ‘this heaven-taught ploughman’.
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William Creech publishes a subscription proposal for printing a second edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in Edinburgh.
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Alexander Nasmyth paints a portrait of Robert Burns for the Edinburgh edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect.
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Mozart writes the opera Don Giovanni.
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Letter from Robert Burns to James Candlish, 21 March 1787
James Candlish was a school mate of Burns who studied medicine at Glasgow University. He married Jean Smith, the sister of Robert Burns's friend James Smith and one of the 'Mauchline Belles'. About 1788, Candlish settled in Edinburgh as a lecturer in Medicine.