Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
THIRD HERON BALLAD:
Tune: Babes o' the Wood
First printed in 1834 in Hogg and Motherwell, then Cunningham.
'Twas in the seventeen hunder year
hundred
     O' Christ and ninety-five,
That year I was the waest man
saddest
     Of ony man alive. â
any
5
On March, the three and twentieth morn,
     The sun raise clear and bright,
rose
But Oh, I was a waefu' man
woeful
     Ere toofa' o' the night. â
nightfall
Earl Galloway lang did rule this land
long
10
     With
equal
right and fame,
Fast knit in
chaste
and
haly
bands
holy
     With Broughton's noble name. â
1
Earl Galloway's man o' men was I,
     And chief o' Broughton's host:
15
So twa blind beggars on a string,
two
     The faithfu' tyke will trust. â
dog
But now Earl Galloway's sceptre's broke,
     And Broughton's wi' the slain;
with
And I my ancient craft may try,
20
     Sen honestie is gane. â
since, gone
'Twas on the bonie banks o' Dee,
     Beside Kirkcudbright's towers,
The Stewart and the Murray there
     Did muster a' their powers. â
25
The Murray on the auld grey yad,
old mare
     Wi'
wingèd
spurs
, did ride;
2
That auld grey yad, a' Nidsdale rade,
old mare all, rode
     He lifted by Nidside.
alighted
[An' there had na been the Earl himsel,
not
30
     O there had been nae play;
no
But Garlies was to London gane,
3
     And sae the kye might stray. â]
so, cattle
And there was Balmaghie, I ween,
4
pledge
     I' th' front rank he wad shine;
would
35
But Balmaghie had better been
     Drinkin Madeira wine. â
And frae Glenkens cam to our aid
5
from
     A Chief o' doughty deed:
In case that WORTH should wanted be,
40
     O' Kenmure we had need. â
And by our banners march'd Muirhead,
     And Buittle was na slack,
6
not
Whase haly Priest-hoods nane could stain,
whose holy, none
     For wha can dye the BLACK. â
who
45
And there, sae grave, Squire Cardoness,
7
so
     Look'd on till a' was done:
Sae, in the tower o' Cardoness
so
     A howlet sits at noon. â
owl
And there led I the Bushby clan;
50
     My
gamesome
billie WILL,
8
friend
And my son Maitland, wise as brave,
9
     My footsteps follow'd still. â
The DOUGLAS and the HERON'S name
     We set nought to their score:
55
The DOUGLAS and the HERON'S name
     Had felt our might before. â
10
But DOUGLASSES o' weight had we,
11
     The pair o' lusty lairds,
For building cot-houses sae fam'd,
so
60
     And christening kail-yards. â
kitchen-gardens
And there Redcastle drew the sword
12
     That ne'er was stain'd wi' gore;
Save on a wand'rer, lame and blind,
65
     To drive him frae his door. â
from
And last cam creepin Collieston,
13
came
     Was mair in fear than wrath:
more
Ae KNAVE was constant in his mind â
one
     To keep that KNAVE frae scathe. â
from harm
In this, the third Heron Ballad, Burns places the lament in the mouth of John Bushby, one of the leading supporters of the Tory candidate Thomas Gordon of Balmagie. Bushby was the former manager of the Dumfries branch of the defunct Douglas, Heron and Co. Bank. In the middle of this piece, Burns places the blame for the fall of the bank on the Bushby family and by implication, their family connections among Galloway's powerful aristocracy. He was Sheriff Clerk to the county of Dumfries when Burns knew him. We have included ll. 29â32, given in brackets above, missed by Kinsley but printed by Mackay. It was probably circulated as a broadside, like the other ballads.
1
The Earl's daughter, Lady Euphemia Stewart, wed Murray of Broughton's son Alexander.
2
An allusion to the winged spur crest of the Johnstone family, given that Murray had eloped with a lady of that family.
3
George Stewart, Lord Garlies.
4
The Tory candidate.
5
Gordon of Kenmure Castle. Burns visited the Gordons during his first Galloway tour in 1793.
6
Rev. James Muirhead, of Urr, near Castle Douglas, and Rev. George Maxwell, of Buittle.
7
David Maxwell of Cardoness.
8
William Bushby, John's brother.
9
James Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, was a Whig and friend of Burns.
10
This is a potent allusion to the failure of the Douglas and Heron Bank in 1773, placing the blame firmly at the door of the Galloway Tory families, particularly the Bushby clan.
11
Sir William Douglas and Sir James Douglas.
12
Walter Sloan Lawrie.
13
William Copeland of Collieston.
FOURTH HERON BALLAD:
An Excellent New Song
Tune: Buy Broom Besoms
First printed as an anonymous broadside, 1796.
Wha will buy my Troggin,
who, misc. items sold by vagrants
      Fine ELECTION WARE;
Broken trade o' BROUGHTON,
1
      A' in high repair.
all
Chorus
5
Buy braw Troggin,
fine
      Frae the banks o' DEE!
from
Wha want Troggin,
who
      Let them come to me.
Here's a noble Earl's
10
      Fame and high renown,
For an auld sang â
old song
      It's thought the Gudes were stown.
2
goods, stolen
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here's the Worth o' BROUGHTON,
      In a
needle's e'e:
eye
15
Here's a reputation
      Tint by BALMAGHIE.
3
lost
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here's an HONEST CONSCIENCE,
      Might a Prince adorn,
Frae the
Downs o
'
Tinwald
,
from
20
      â So was never worn.
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here's its Stuff and Lynin,
     Â
Cardoness's
Head;
4
Fine for a Soger,
soldier
      A' the wale o' lead.
boast/choice
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
25
Here's a little Wadset â
mortgage
     Â
Buittle's
scrap o' TRUTH,
5
Pawn'd in a gin-shop,
      Quenching haly drouth. holy thirst
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here's Armorial Bearings,
30
      Frae the Manse o' Urr:
from
The crest, an auld
crab-appl
e,
old
      Rotten at the core.
6
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here is Satan's Picture,
       Like a bizzard-gled,
buzzard kite
35
Pouncing
poor Redcastle
,
7
      Sprawlin like a tade.
toad
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here's the Font where
Douglas
      Stane and mortar names;
stone
Lately used at
Caily
,
8
40
      Christening
Murray's
crimes.
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Here's the Worth and Wisdom
     Â
Collieston
can boast;
9
By a
thievish Midge
      They had been nearly lost.
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
45
Here is
Murray's
Fragments
      O' the Ten Commands;
Gifted by BLACK JOCK
10
      â To get them aff his hands.
off
Buy braw Troggin &c.
Saw ye e'er sic Troggin?
such
50
      If to buy ye're slack,
slow
HORNIE'S
turnin Chapman,
the Devil
      He'll buy a' the
Pack
!
all
            Buy braw Troggin &c.
Buy braw Troggin,
fine
      Frae the banks o' DEE!
from
55
Wha want Troggin,
who
      Let them come to me.
For introduction, see notes to the first and second Heron ballads. During the 1796 election Patrick Heron's opponent was the son of the Earl of Galloway, Montgomery Stewart. This propaganda song was composed sometime in May or early June, 1796. One of Burns's last radical works, it is further evidence of his anonymous, underground support for the Opposition cause until his death. It displays remarkable brevity without losing its pointed satirical effect, employing the image of a trogger to reduce the Tory candidate to that of a travelling packman, or hawker, peddling election promises like worthless goods. One of its many satirical barbs alludes to the Earl of Galloway's role (l. 12) in selling out the Scottish parliament in 1707, while the Laird of Cardoness, David Maxwell is the straw man of the Tory show. The Rev George Maxwell, of Buittle (l. 26) is castigated as a gin addict and the Rev. James Muirhead (l. 30) of Urr, near Castle Douglas, a sour faced crab-apple. These palpable hits were, probably developed from gossip circulating among radicals within Galloway. It was probably with an eye to the Heron Ballads that Burns told Maria Riddell in June 1796, â⦠if I must write, let it be Sedition, or Blasphemy' (Letter 697). A broadsheet was printed in 1796, probably by Burns himself. A copy of the broadsheet was sold in 1939 and now exists in the Spoor Library, Lot 107. It is further proof of his radical involvement on behalf of the Whig Opposition. This Heron Ballad was first included in the canon by Cunningham, 1834.
1
James Murray of Broughton.
2
Earl of Galloway. An allusion to the loss of the Scottish parliament in 1707.
3
The Tory candidate, Gordon of Balmaghie.
4
David Maxwell of Cardoness.
5
Rev. George Maxwell of Buittle.
6
Rev. James Muirhead of Urr, near Castle Douglas.
7
Walter Sloan Lawrie of Redcastle.
8
Cally House at Gatehouse of Fleet. This is an allusion to plunders of war.
9
William Copeland of Collieston.
10
John Bushby.
Published anonymously in
The Glasgow Magazine
, August, 1795.
Tune: â For a' That, and a' That.
Is there, for honest Poverty
    That hings his head, an' a' that;
hangs
The coward-slave, we pass him by,
    We dare be poor for a' that!
5
For a' that, an' a' that,
    Our toils obscure, an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
    The Man 's the gowd for a' that.
gold
What though on hamely fare we dine,
homely foods
10
    Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that?
coarse woollen cloth
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
give
    A Man's a Man for a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
    Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
15
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
so
    Is king o' men for a' that.
Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
fellow called
    Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that,
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
20
    He's but a coof for a' that.
fool/lout
For a' that, an' a' that,
    His ribband, star, an' a' that,
The man o' independent mind,Â
    He looks an' laughs at a' that.
25
A Prince can mak a belted knight,
    A marquis, duke, an' a' that!
But an honest man's aboon his might â
above
    Guid faith, he mauna fa' that!
good, must not be like
For a' that, an' a' that,
30
    Their dignities, an' a' that,
The pith o' Sense an' pride o' Worth
    Are higher rank than a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
    As come it will for a' that,
35
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth
    Shall bear the gree an' a' that.
win the dayÂ
For a' that, an' a' that,
    It's comin yet for a' that,
That Man to Man the warld o'er
world
40
    Shall brithers be for a' that.
brothers
The first version of
A Man's a Man,
printed anonymously during the poet's life, differs textually from the final version given above. Rather than containing five, it has only four stanzas, beginning with what became the second:
What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
    Wear hodden grey, and a' that:
Gie fools their silk, and knaves their wine,
    A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
    Their tinsel shew, and a' that;
An honest man, tho' ne'er sae poor,
    Is Chief o' men for a' that.
It was this early version, printed in the
Glasgow Magazine,
August 1795 that was copied by the radical Belfast-based
The Northern
Star,
19thâ22nd October, 1795. A more sinister publication occurred just prior to the poet's death, when the first Glasgow version re-appeared in the pro-government London
Oracle
, 2nd June 1796, but this time, disturbingly, with Burns's name as author. Professor Werkmeister remarks on this: âConsidering the character of the poem, one doubts even so that Burns had authorized
it over his signature. The poem was copied by
The Star
on June 3.' (
Robert Burns and the London Daily Press, Modern Philol
ogy
1966, p. 329). There can be little doubt that the governmental spy network would have taken notice of the song and judged it as seditious. While there is no mention that the song was published under his name in surviving letters, it is certain to have caused some considerable anxiety for Burns, given his Excise post. That his employers took no action against him, or enquired formally into the matter, is perplexing. With hindsight, it may be that the poet's illness was well known to his Excise superiors and the Commissioners in Edinburgh that they chose not to take action against him. Either way, Burns not only feared imprisonment, being pursued for the debt owed for his Dumfries Volunteers uniform, but must have known about this named publication which could have had him arrested at any moment from 2nd June, 1796 onward and charged with sedition.
Another, hitherto undocumented version was printed in 1798 by Professor Peter Urbani, Edinburgh. It too begins with what became the second stanza. Its second stanza is the one Burns eventually reworked to become the final version's first stanza:
Wha wad for honest poverty,
Hang down their heads an' a' that?
The coward slave we pass him by
And dare be poor for a' that.
       For a' that and a' that,
       Their purse-proud looks and a' that,
       In ragged coats ye'll often find
       The noblest hearts for a' that.
Kinsley mentions a 1793 songbook edited by Peter Urbani, but not the more important 1798 publication containing version two of
A
Man's A Man.
Henley and Henderson are dismissive of variant lines in another version they found, published by Brash and Reid (1801) in Glasgow which is similar to the 1798 text, mentioning âpurse-proud looks'. They refer to the âabsurd version of this half stanza, apparently the invention of the ingenious Reid' (Vol. 3, p. 490) unaware that it occurs in the 1798 Urbani version and they display their ignorance of Burns's letters, where the phrase âpurse-proud' occurs several times. Their commentary is mixed with obvious political loathing and they appear unaware that the song had been re-drafted several times by Burns. The second version has five stanzas, not the four of the first edition.
Henley and Henderson were not perceptive enough to see the genesis of the final lyric, from the original publication, through Urbani's 1798 text to the intermediate Brash and Reid text, printed at Glasgow,
circa
1801. The Brash and Reid print contains many of the peculair typographic stresses employed by Burns, evident among his manuscripts and it is the first publication to have the famous first verse in place as it is now known, although the text is rather more Scottish than the final version:
Wha wad for honest poverty,
       Hing down his head an' a' that?
The coward slave we pass him by
       And dare be poor for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
       Our toils obscure, and a' that,
The RANK is but the GUINEA stamp,
       The MAN's the GOWD for a' that.
In self-deprecatory mood Burns described the lyric to George Thomson as â⦠no Song; but will be allowed, I think, to be two or three pretty good
prose
thoughts, inverted into rhyme' (Letter 651). He did not hide his authorship from Thomson, but probably trusted the song collector implicitly not to pass copies around. When Thomson eventually printed the song in 1805, it had been in Currie's 1800 edition and was well known as a work of Burns, having surfaced in
The Morning Chronicle,
in late 1796 with the poet's name ascribed. Even then, Thomson felt compelled to make a few of his own meddling changes to the text. The many variant texts are ample proof that Burns considered this one of his best songs and the final draft was the result of considerable textual re-appraisal.
For Daiches, the merits of this song, dedicated to the worthiness of âhonest poverty' and democratic rights, is apparent:
It is a rhetorical poem, testifying to the effect on Burns of the French revolution and its ideological currents, and it owes its popularity to its effectiveness as a series of slogans ⦠it represents a legitimate and in its way impressive use of the poetic medium ⦠The poem has a well contrived structure, moving from the generalization about âhonest poverty' through specific illustrations of the difference between virtue and social rank to a final climactic generalization which is at once a prayer and a prophecy (pp. 302â3).
Crawford rightly refers to the ârevolutionary yearning for fraternity that underlies' the song, with its theme, âa spontaneous and passionate democratic humanism'. Crawford quotes the introduction to Marshak's
Robert Burns in Translation
, Moscow, 1957: âHe was able to describe the finest and most truly human feelings and experiences of the simple people ⦠not as a critic, but as a brother and friend' (Crawford, p. 337). Interestingly, Crawford shows specific influences on the song from Thomas Paine's
The Rights of Man
(Crawford, p. 365).
Due to the different texts of this marching revolutionary anthem it is certain that Burns produced the first text probably very late in 1794 and considering that the anonymous publication in August 1795 is of the first draft, he must have worked on the piece well into 1795 and possibly touched it up again early in 1796. Hence, the final draft would have been improved well
after
the composition of
T
he
Dumfries Volunteers.