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The gloomy night is gath'ring fast
This poem was written by Burns at a time in 1786 when he had arranged to emigrate to Jamaica and was the one which he expected to be "my last song I should ever measure in Caledonia". He is in a mood of depression as he contemplates his farming and other domestic problems which had led to his decision to leave his native soil.
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My Nanie O
This is one of Burns' earliest recorded poems. He introduces this version in the Stair Manuscript with: 'The following songs were all done at a very early period of life and consequently are incorrect'. In the poem, he describes himself as a 'country plough boy' with little cash and without a care in the world while he has the love of his Nanie.
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In the character of a ruined farmer
This song tells of the worries a ruined farmer faces, woebegone at the thoughts of how his wife and children will fare. Again Burns turns to the welcome peace of the grave but that would not resolve the problem of caring for his family.
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Stanzas on the same occasion
In the summer of 1781 Robert left his home at Lochlea and travelled to Irvine to work as a flax dresser. There he suffered from a physical and mental breakdown which lasted for three months. He returned to Lochlea in early 1782.
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The Northern Lass
Manuscript page 'The Northern Lass'. Part of the Stair manuscript collection. Begins: "Though cruel Fate should bid us part".
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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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The Bonnie Lass o' Ballochmyle
This manuscript headed by Burns 'A Song -- Tune Etrick banks -- On accidentally seeing Miss W.-- A. in an evening walk'. It was written after Burns had strayed into the private estate of Claud Alexander in Ballochmyle. As he wandered along the banks of the river Ayr, he caught a glimpse of Claud's sister Wilhelmina, and wrote the song as an ode to her.
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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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The Edinburgh edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is published. 3,000 copies are printed and Burns sells the copyright to William Creech for 100 guineas.
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Formerly enslaved people, sent from London, establish Freetown in Sierra Leone.
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Robert Burns tours the Scottish Borders, using the proceeds of the Edinburgh edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect to fund his tour. He also begins to collect and contribute songs to James Johnson‘s Scots Musical Museum.
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Robert Burns tours the West Highlands.
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Robert Burns tours the Highlands.
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Robert Burns meets Agnes Maclehose in Edinburgh.
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Robert Burns and Agnes Maclehose begin exchanging love letters.
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Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) dies in Rome.
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Burns returns to Tarbolton to see Jean Armour, who is pregnant.
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Jean Armour gives birth to twin girls, who both die, unnamed, within a month.
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Burns takes on the lease at Ellisland, the farm he and Jean will live in from 1789 to 1791.
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Verses written in Friars Carse Hermitage
In this poem, the Poet addresses himself to the rustic and the rich, contrasting the aims and ambitions of man with that which will ensure true contentment of the mind and the soul.
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Burns receives his Excise commission and begins his traineeship.
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The formal marriage of Jean Armour and Robert Burns is registered in Mauchline, although they likely married in March 1788.
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Jenny Clow, the maid of Agnes Maclehose in Edinburgh, gives birth to a son, Robert Burns Jnr.
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Alterations of the verses Written in Friars' Carse Hermitage
This manuscript is headed 'Alteration to the verses, Page 27', which refers to the page number in the Afton Manuscript volume where Burns recorded his first version of this poem. Here on page 43 is the later, longer version. Based on the same theme, the format is somewhat different. Burns considers the ages of man, youth, maturity and old age, at the last giving way to the peace of death and the joy of the resurrection.
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Burns sends the first version of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to Mrs Dunlop. During his time at Ellisland Farm, Burns writes over 130 songs and poems, nearly a quarter of his total output.
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The Five Carlins
In this poem Burns personifies the five Dumfriesshire Boroughs as five women, each giving their opinion as to whom should be their Parliamentary representative at Westminster.
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Robert Burns formally takes up Excise work with a salary of £50 per annum.
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William Blake writes Songs of Innoncence.
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George Washington becomes the first President of the United States of America.
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Jean Armour and Robert Burns move into Ellisland Farm.
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The fall of the Bastille in Paris marks the beginning of the French Revolution.
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Francis Wallace Burns is born to Jean Armour Burns.
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Robert Burns writes Tam o’ Shanter.
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Sweet Afton - a Song
This is a two-page poem which Burns first enclosed in a letter to Mrs Dunlop dated 5 February 1789 and whose first line is 'Flow gently sweet Afton, among thy green braes'. The six verse lyrics were to be one of Burns's contributions to Johnson's Scots Musical Museum.
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Cragieburn-wood - A Song
Cragieburn-wood was written by Burns to assist a fellow exciseman John Gillespie in his desire for a relationship with Miss Jean Lorimer, who was the daughter of a farming neighbour at Ellisland.
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On Sensibility - To a Friend
Burns composed this poem in early July 1790, the same time as he was corresponding with his friend Mrs Dunlop. He included two verses of the work in a letter and later sent her the completed version at the end of the month. A personalised version was sent to Clarinda at the end of the following year.
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A fragment, which was meant for the beginning of an Elegy on the late Miss Burnet of Monboddo
Burns wrote this elegy for Elizabeth Burnett (referred to in the Address to Edinburgh as 'Fair Burnet'). It has been suggested that Burns laboured for several months to produce a satisfactory Elegy. Alexander Cunningham received the text from Burns on the 23 January 1791.