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Details
BURNS, Robert (1759-96). Autograph verse, entitled 'Sonnet' and beginning 'No more, ye warblers of the wood, no more,' nine lines (one scored through), with corrections, on one page, 115 x 205mm cut from a larger leaf with trace of mount, browned, docketed on recto 'Cv2 fo 266j' and on verso '18. Sonnet on the Death of Mr Riddel; Copied by W.W.C.'
Burns has made manuscript corrections to two lines. In line 2, he has altered 'Nor pour your grating descant on my ear' to 'Nor pour your descant grating on my ear'; and the last (eighth) line has been altered from 'Poured round th'untimely tomb where Riddell lowly lies' to 'That strain pours round th'untimely tomb where Riddell lies'. The text of this sonnet published in James Kinsley, ed, The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Oxford, 1968, continues with a quatrain and concluding couplet. A comparison between his text and the present manuscript with several variant readings suggest that this was an early version of the sonnet.
On the day after Robert Riddell died on 20 April 1794 at the age of thirty-nine, Burns sent the sonnet to John Clarke of Locherwoods, 'a small heart-felt tribute to the memory of the man I loved. I shall send it to some Newspaper with my name.' The text of this sonnet published in Kinsley is taken from Currie, 1801 (iv. 368-9), collated with the Dumfries Journal, 22 April 1794, the Morning Chronicle, 5 May 1794 and other journals.
BURNS'S TRIBUTE TO ONE OF HIS GREATEST FRIENDS. Robert Riddell (1755-94) was the eldest son of Walter Riddell of Glenriddell, in the parish of Glencairn, Dumfriesshire. In 1784 he married Elizabeth Kennedy of Manchester and settled on the estate of Friars Carse, about six miles north of Dumfries. Both Robert Riddell and Riddell's brother Walter together with their wives became intimate friends of Burns. Robert Riddell was a country gentleman of convivial habits, an amateur musician and an antiquary. He collected and published Scottish music for piano, harpsichord and violin. At some undetermined date, apparently in the latter part of December 1793, Burns was guilty of some drunken offence against Elizabeth which resulted in his writing the famous 'letter from hell' and led to his estrangement from the family. Walter Riddell's wife Maria, a woman of charm, wit and intelligence forgave Burns in 1795 both for his drunken behaviour and for the unfortunate lampoon he wrote during the estrangement. His enthusiastic admiration of her and the chequered course of their friendship are recorded in their letters. Robert Riddell's sudden death prevented Burns from effecting a reconciliation. The Glenriddell MSS in the National Library of Scotland, a collection of manuscript verse and transcripts of letters, was made by Burns for Robert Riddell in 1791.
Burns has made manuscript corrections to two lines. In line 2, he has altered 'Nor pour your grating descant on my ear' to 'Nor pour your descant grating on my ear'; and the last (eighth) line has been altered from 'Poured round th'untimely tomb where Riddell lowly lies' to 'That strain pours round th'untimely tomb where Riddell lies'. The text of this sonnet published in James Kinsley, ed, The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Oxford, 1968, continues with a quatrain and concluding couplet. A comparison between his text and the present manuscript with several variant readings suggest that this was an early version of the sonnet.
On the day after Robert Riddell died on 20 April 1794 at the age of thirty-nine, Burns sent the sonnet to John Clarke of Locherwoods, 'a small heart-felt tribute to the memory of the man I loved. I shall send it to some Newspaper with my name.' The text of this sonnet published in Kinsley is taken from Currie, 1801 (iv. 368-9), collated with the Dumfries Journal, 22 April 1794, the Morning Chronicle, 5 May 1794 and other journals.
BURNS'S TRIBUTE TO ONE OF HIS GREATEST FRIENDS. Robert Riddell (1755-94) was the eldest son of Walter Riddell of Glenriddell, in the parish of Glencairn, Dumfriesshire. In 1784 he married Elizabeth Kennedy of Manchester and settled on the estate of Friars Carse, about six miles north of Dumfries. Both Robert Riddell and Riddell's brother Walter together with their wives became intimate friends of Burns. Robert Riddell was a country gentleman of convivial habits, an amateur musician and an antiquary. He collected and published Scottish music for piano, harpsichord and violin. At some undetermined date, apparently in the latter part of December 1793, Burns was guilty of some drunken offence against Elizabeth which resulted in his writing the famous 'letter from hell' and led to his estrangement from the family. Walter Riddell's wife Maria, a woman of charm, wit and intelligence forgave Burns in 1795 both for his drunken behaviour and for the unfortunate lampoon he wrote during the estrangement. His enthusiastic admiration of her and the chequered course of their friendship are recorded in their letters. Robert Riddell's sudden death prevented Burns from effecting a reconciliation. The Glenriddell MSS in the National Library of Scotland, a collection of manuscript verse and transcripts of letters, was made by Burns for Robert Riddell in 1791.
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