Book/Printed Material Letter, 1786 Aug. 19, New Cumnock to Monsr. Thomas Campbell, Pencloe.
About this Item
Title
- Letter, 1786 Aug. 19, New Cumnock to Monsr. Thomas Campbell, Pencloe.
Summary
- Robert Burns (1759-96) is best known for his poems and songs that reflect Scotland's cultural heritage. He was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first of seven children belonging to William Burnes, a tenant farmer, and his wife Agnes Broun. Burns had little formal education, but he read English literature and absorbed the traditional, largely oral Scots-language folk songs and tales of his rural environment. He began to compose songs in 1774, and published his first book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in 1786. The work was a critical success, and its poems in both Scots and English, on a range of topics, established Burns's broad appeal. While building his literary reputation, Burns worked as a farmer, and in 1788 he was appointed an excise officer in Ellisland. He spent the final 12 years of his life collecting and editing traditional Scottish folk songs for collections including The Scots Musical Museum and A Select Collection of Original Scotish [sic] Airs for the Voice. Burns contributed hundreds of Scottish songs to these anthologies, sometimes rewriting traditional lyrics and setting them to new or revised music. This is a farewell letter written by Burns to Thomas Campbell, who owned the small estate of Pencloe in Glen Afton, about two miles from New Cumnock Kirk. The phrase "this side of the Atlantic" suggests that the letter was written during the period Burns was contemplating emigration to Jamaica.
Names
- Burns, Robert, 1759-1796 Author.
Created / Published
- [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1786-08-19.
Headings
- - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland--Scotland
- - 1786
- - Burns, Robert, 1759-1796
- - Campbell, Thomas, 1777-1844
- - Correspondence
- - Letters
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: 16.7 x 18.7 centimeters.
- - Original resource at: University of South Carolina.
- - Content in English and Scots.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Source Collection
- Robert Burns Collection
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021667617
Online Format
- compressed data
- image