No. LV. G. THOMSON TO BURNS. MY DEAR SIR: Edinburgh, 16th Sept., 1794. You have anticipated my opinion of "On the seas and far away;" I do not think it one of your very happy productions, though it certainly contains stanzas that are worthy of all acceptation. The second is the least to my liking, particularly "Bullets, spare my only joy." Confound the bullets! It might, perhaps, be objected to the third verse, "At the starless midnight hour,” that it has too much grandeur of imagery, and that greater simplicity of thought would have better suited the character of a sailor's sweetheart. The tune, it must be remembered, is of the brisk, cheerful kind. Upon the whole, therefore, in my humble opinion, the song would be better adapted to the tune, if it consisted only of the first and last verses, with the choruses. [The objections raised by Thomson to this song seem to have been unacceptable to Currie, The verses pròposed to be omitted are the most original and touching: the third, in particular, is a noble one, and in keeping with the excited feelings of a lady whose love is on the great deep, exposed to the accidents of battle and the extremities of the tempest.-ED.] No. LVI. BURNS TO G. THOMSON. Sept. 1794. : I SHALL withdraw my "On the seas and far away" altogether it is unequal, and unworthy the work. Making a poem is like begetting a son: you cannot know whether you have a wise man or a fool, until you produce him to the world to try him. I For that reason I send you the offspring of my brain, abortions and all; and as such, pray look over them and forgive them, and burn them. am flattered at your adopting "Ca' the yowes to the knowes," as it was owing to me that ever it saw the light. About seven years ago, I was well acquainted with a worthy little fellow of a clergyman, a Mr. Clunie, who sung it charmingly; and, at my request, Mr. Clarke took it down from his singing. When I gave it to Johnson, I added some stanzas to the song, and mended others, but still it will not do for you. In a solitary stroll, which I took today, I tried my hand on a few pastoral lines, following up the idea of the chorus, which I would preserve. Here it is, with all its crudities and imperfections on its head. CA' THE YOWES. I. Ca' the yowes to the knowes, Hark the mavis' evening sang II. We'll gae down by Clouden side, 111. Yonder Clouden's silent towers, Where at moonshine midnight hours, O'er the dewy bending flowers, Fairies dance sae cheery. IV. Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear; Thou'rt to love and heaven sae dear, Nocht of ill may come thee near, My bonnie dearie. V. Fair and lovely as thou art, Ca' the yowes to the knowes, Ca' them whare the heather growes, Ca' them whare the burnie rowes- I shall give you my opinion of your other newly adopted songs, my first scribbling fit. [The water, on the banks of which the scene of this lyric is laid, is a beautiful stream, and known by three names, Cairn, Dalgoner, and Clouden. Under the first name, it finds its way over wild uplands, among flocks of sheep and coveys of black grouse under the second, it washes the walls of old castles, rural villages, and seems at one place to be lost among thick groves of hazel and holly; and, under the third name it finds its way among romantic rocks, where it forms a succession of deep clear pools, connected by leaps or falls, the individual murmurings of which are any thing but unmusical; and, finally, it unites itself with the Nith in the shadow of the towers of Linclouden. Burns formed this song upon an older lyric, an amended version of which is inserted in the fourth volume of this work.-ED.] No. LVII. BURNS TO G. THOMSON. my September, 1794. Do you know a blackguard Irish song, called "Onagh's Water-fall?" The air is charming, and I have often regretted the want of decent verses to it. It is too much, at least for humble rustic muse, to expect that every effort of her's shall have merit : still I think that it is better to have mediocre verses to a favourite air than none at all. On this principle I have all along proceeded in the Scots Musical Museum; and as that publication is at its last volume, I intend the following song, to the air above mentioned, for that work. If it does not suit you as an editor, you may be pleased to have verses to it that you can sing before ladies. |