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On the recommendation of a possible distant relative
of mine, John Ballantine, a businessman, banker and later provost of
Ayr, Robert Burns set out for Edinburgh on 27th Nov 1786 to
negotiate a second edition of his poetry.
With the successful publication, he was suddenly
flush with money and since Scotland at large was essentially a closed
book to him, he resolved to see something of the country.
In 1787 he set out on 3 separate tours, the Borders,
the West Central, and the better known Highlands tour. There was also
another motivation, in that Burns could also collect subscriptions due
on orders for his new edition, adding money to his pocket.
Burns had befriended a young apprentice lawyer in
Edinburgh, Robert Ainslie, who had many connections in the border
country. He was a pleasant companion and they got on well together.
Alexander Nasmyth had painted Burns portrait for the
cover of the Edinburgh edition and Burns had 3 dozen copies of the Buego
engraving with him, to hand out. He was sure he would be noticed.
He kitted himself out with new clothes and purchased a mare for £4,
which he named Jenny Geddes.
The duo set out on the 5th May via
Haddington to Ainslies home, Berrywell near Duns.
Burns was impressed by the character of Ainslie’s
parents and charmed by his sister, Rachel.
The next day was Sunday. Burns went to church with
the family and sat next to Rachel.
During the service she became quite upset at the
sermon on sinners and could not find the referred text in her Bible.
Burns took it from her and on the flyleaf wrote the following.
Fair maid, you needna take the hint
Nor idle texts pursue;
'Twas
guilty sinners that he meant
Not angels
such as you!
The following day
the duo made a day trip to
Coldstream and crossed the bridge into England.
This was the first time Rabbie had set foot
on English soil. To Ainslie’s surprise Rab threw away his hat and, then
knelt down with uplifted hands and seemingly in a fit of enthusiasm &
with great drama, prayed for and blessed Scotland most solemnly, by
reciting in loud, tones with deep devotion, the two concluding stanzas
of `Cottar's Saturday Night'."
They then returned to Berrywells.
On the Tuesday they went south to Jedburgh and lodged 3
nights at the home of a Lawyer James Fair. Mrs Fair and her sister, Miss
Lookup, were also there and seemed to be always squabbling but he
described them as “tolerably fair”. However Miss Lookup decided to set
her cap at Burns.
On the Wednesday Rabbie escaped by going out of town to a
land auction, then he accepted an invitation to dine with a Captain
Rutherford, who had fought in the American Wars and been captured by
Indians. Burns reported being captivated by the Captain’s daughter.
On the Thursday he and Ainslie were invited to join a
party on a walk in the country and a young Miss Isabella Lindsay caught
Burns’ eye. He managed to take the girls arm and walk with her but Miss
Lookup interjected to break them up, and conspicuously, Miss Lindsay was
excluded from the dinner party that evening.
Burns noted in his diary “that he came within a point & a
half of being damnably in love----“.
The following day he had Breakfast with Isabella and
walked with her in her garden, where he gave her a copy of his portrait
engraving and exchanged gossip about Miss Lookup.
Later in the day Burns received the Freedom of the Burgh
of Jedburgh.
In the evening he went to Kelso and dined at the
Farmers Club, were a Gilbert Kerr invited the travellers to stay over
with him at Stodrig house. Gilbert also offered to accompany Burns on
his journey into England.
The following days were wet and the two travellers
took short trips to visit Dryburgh Abbey and Melrose Abbey.
On the Monday it was still wet but the intrepid pair
elected to leave and follow the Vale of Yarrow to Inverleithen, where
they slept over in the Piccadilly Inn.
Tuesday was still wet and the pair made their way
South via Galashiels and Ettrick (visiting Thomas the Rhymer country)
then on to Selkirk .
On arriving there they went to Veich’s Forest Inn
looking very bedraggled and wet.
The dining room was crowded but there were two chairs
at a table with a small party. They asked the innkeeper if they could
join the party. The man went in to Dr. Clarkson, the host, and made the
request but when asked, “who the muddied pair were?” he replied that
“one sounded like a gentleman but the other was a drover-looking chap”.
The doctor dismissed the request, so Burns and Ainslie retired to their
rooms. Burns then wrote a letter to his publisher William Creech
enclosing the poem "Auld Reekie’s sair distrest".
The next day the doctor discovered that the
celebrated Mr. Burns was in town. He was mortified and being a genuine
admirer of Burns and owning a copy of his book, he went back to the Inn
to meet him.
However Burns was in a “jaded mood” (Hung-over?) and
a bit tired of being on show all the time, so he refused the request.
The poor Dr Clarkson spent the rest of his life regretting his moment of
hauteur.
The Duo then returned to Ainslie’s home at Duns.
When they arrived Burns received packages left for
him by a Londoner, Symon Gray, who had retired to Duns. Gray wanted to
know Burns honest opinion of his poetry. Burns replied in verse:-
Syimon Gray you are dull today.
A second parcel arrived, to which Burns responded
with:-
Dullness, wit redoubted sway, has seized the wits
of Symon Gray
Not to be deterred a third bulky parcel of poems
arrived, to which Burns again responded:-
Dear Symon Gray, the other day,
When you sent me some rhyme,
I could not then just ascertain,
It’s worth for want of time.
But now today, good Master Gray,
I’ve read it o’er and o’er,
Tried all my skill, but find I’m still,
Just where I was before.
We auld Wives’ minions gie our opinions,
Solicited or no’,
Then, of it’s fau’ts my honest thoughts,
I’ll give – and here they go.
Such damn’d bombast no time that’s past,
Will show, or time to come,
So Symon, dear, your song I’ll tear,
And with it wipe my bum!
There was no further word from Symon Gray.
After a two day rest the intrepid pair took off to
see Berwick. While there they met Lord Errol who conducted them on a
tour around the town and sailed them round the harbour.
They then travelled North and lodged with a Mr Greive
at Eyemouth.
The following day, Saturday 19th the two
travellers were inducted as Arch Masons of St. Ebbs Lodge.
On the Sunday Ainslie had to return to Edinburgh and
Burns made his way to Peasbridge where he lodged with a George Sherriff,
according to Burns “a crashing bore, talkative and conceited”.
George was called away suddenly on some business,
leaving Burns alone with his sister Nancy.
Things must have been getting “hot”, for Burns
records that “George returned just in time”.
When Burns was saddling up to head to
Dunbar after a morning tour of the Deane of Dunglass with Sir James
Hall, he was astonished to find Nancy all set to accompany him. He later
described the situation in a letter to Ainslie.
Next
day, "well powdered, hair curled, in her fine cream-coloured riding
clothes mounted on an old dun cart horse that had once been fat, a
broken old side-saddle without cupper, stirrup or girth, a bridle that
in former times had had buckles and a crooked, meandering hazel stick
which might have borne place with credit in a scrubbed besom", it had
been her intention that they would ride as far as Dunbar, and that she
would introduce him to relatives on the way. I pretended a fire-haste
and rode so hard she was almost shaken to pieces on old Jolly, and, to
my great joy, she found it convenient to stop at an uncle's house by
the way. I refused to call with her, and so we quarrelled and parted.
Flirtation with pretty women, as Burns often
declared, “was just his kind of sport”, but every now and then it
backfired. It was a game played in a social context and it was expected,
on both sides, that it end with the end of the evening. Few of the
ladies were as determined as Nancy Sherriff. Once he had escaped, he
made his way through 'the most glorious corn country I ever saw' till he
reached Dunbar.
Burns dined
with the Provost in Dunbar then returned South to Dunglass for the
night, probably at the home of Sir James.
The next
morning he had breakfast at Skateraw Farm and stayed till the next
morning when he returned to the Ainslie’s at Duns. His traveling
companion on the road south was the Excise man from Dunbar Charles
Lorimer. Burns was not impressed with the company.
When he
arrived at the Ainslie’s he discovered the only person there was Rachel.
They dined together and there was no flirtation. His best friend’s
sister was ‘off limits”. He greatly admired Rachel as a person and it
appears they were to remain good friends. It seems Burns was here able
to be himself with a woman, for the first time since maturity.
Burns left the
next day Thursday 24th and met up with Gilbert Kerr at
Coldstream. They crossed into England and made their way to a friend of
Kerr’s, Mr. Hood, who lived in Wooler, where they planned to stop the
night.
That night
Burns was stricken with a severe fever and was apparently badly shaken
by the experience, confessing to visions of dying there. They were
obliged to wait over and then Mr Hood said if they waited till the
Sunday he would join them.
On Sunday they
set out southwards and visited Alnwick Castle, the duke of
Northumberland’s residence. They then stopped over in the town.
On Monday they
continued South to Morpeth, where the party again stopped over. The
short journey legs were possibly occasioned by the two companions doing
business on the way. Burns was not particularly enamoured by their
company, finding them rather serious and humourless farmers.
The next
morning they made their way to Newcastle and met up with a Scotsman
named Chattox, who Burns found very agreeable and who dined & supped
with them.
The story is told that during dinner with Mr
Chattox, Burns was rather surprised to see the meat served before the
soup. Chattox explained with a laugh that there was a Northumbrian
maxim, which states that in these parts 'we must eat beef before we sup
the broth, lest the hungry Scots make an inroad and snatch it'!
He only stayed
one night in Newcastle.
In the morning of Wednesday 30th they made their way to Longton via
Hexham. There was a hiring day in progress in the town and Burns
companions completed their business there. They had Lunch with him and
took their leave. Burns then joined the road South to Carlisle and
booked in at the Malt Shovel Inn. That was by far the longest one-day
leg of the tour, a good 60 miles.
Burns then met with a local printer, Mr Mitchell, and was shown around
his calico printing works. He was then shown around the town and taken
to dinner by Mr. Mitchell.
On his return to the Malt Shovel Inn Burns, who was a “bit worse for
wear’ was told that his mare Jenny Geddes had been impounded for
wandering onto Corporation property and grazing illegally. He would have
to report to the town hall and pay a fine to the Mayor.
In the morning Burns did so and attached the following lines to the
payment.
Was e’r poet
befitted,
The maister drunk, the horse committed.
Puir harmless beast! tak’ ye nae care,
Thou’lt be a horse when he’s nae mair.
Burns was
recognized and the charge was dropped. {Wish parking fines got that
treatment nowadays?}
This was now
the 1st of June. Burns composed a long letter to William
Nichol, The only one he ever wrote in broad Scots. He then set out for
Dumfries and that was the beginning of another tour.
It is somewhat
perplexing to me, who has travelled the Newcastle to Longton road often,
that he makes no mention of Hadrian’s Wall, which the road follows. He
either was not aware of that Roman history in Britain, or his traveling
companions were uncompromising about sightseeing on that day.
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