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And something of its History by James A. Morris (1912)
THE poem, "The Brigs of Ayr," was written in 1786, and inscribed to the Poet's good friend, Mr John Ballantine, banker, Ayr. He it was who generously offered to advance the sum, happily not required, for the production of the Second Edition, published in Edinburgh in 1787, which, following by a year the Kilmarnock Edition, contained twenty-two pieces additional thereto, one of them "The Brigs of Ayr." To Mr Ballantine, Burns addressed several letters from Edinburgh, informing him of his reception by the world of birth, letters, and good fellowship; and, as indicative throughout all his triumphs and later troubles of how warm a place Ayr held in his heart, let the following letter establish:—
March 1791.
"While here I sit, sad and solitary, by the side of a fire in a little country inn, and drying my wet clothes, in pops a poor fellow of a sodger, and tells me he is going to Ayr. By heavens ! say I to myself, with a tide of good spirits which the magic of that sound, Auld Toon o' Ayr, conjured up, I will send my last song to Mr Ballantine. Here it is:—
"Ye flowery banks o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye blume sae fair!
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird,
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o' the happy days
When my fause luve was true.
Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird,
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wist na o' my fate.
Aft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon,
To see the woodbine twine,
And ilka bird sang o' its love,
And sae did I o' mine.
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose
Frae aff its thorny tree,
And my fause luver staw the rose,
But left the thorn wi' me."
The second version of the song, one of the most beautiful lyrics ever written, is here given in the form in which it was sent to Mr Ballantine, and not the altered and later version now in general use.
And so this is how the book starts which goes on to tell you a story of Ayr.
This book is only three sections so will go up quickly and can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ayr
Alastair
THE poem, "The Brigs of Ayr," was written in 1786, and inscribed to the Poet's good friend, Mr John Ballantine, banker, Ayr. He it was who generously offered to advance the sum, happily not required, for the production of the Second Edition, published in Edinburgh in 1787, which, following by a year the Kilmarnock Edition, contained twenty-two pieces additional thereto, one of them "The Brigs of Ayr." To Mr Ballantine, Burns addressed several letters from Edinburgh, informing him of his reception by the world of birth, letters, and good fellowship; and, as indicative throughout all his triumphs and later troubles of how warm a place Ayr held in his heart, let the following letter establish:—
March 1791.
"While here I sit, sad and solitary, by the side of a fire in a little country inn, and drying my wet clothes, in pops a poor fellow of a sodger, and tells me he is going to Ayr. By heavens ! say I to myself, with a tide of good spirits which the magic of that sound, Auld Toon o' Ayr, conjured up, I will send my last song to Mr Ballantine. Here it is:—
"Ye flowery banks o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye blume sae fair!
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird,
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o' the happy days
When my fause luve was true.
Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird,
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wist na o' my fate.
Aft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon,
To see the woodbine twine,
And ilka bird sang o' its love,
And sae did I o' mine.
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose
Frae aff its thorny tree,
And my fause luver staw the rose,
But left the thorn wi' me."
The second version of the song, one of the most beautiful lyrics ever written, is here given in the form in which it was sent to Mr Ballantine, and not the altered and later version now in general use.
And so this is how the book starts which goes on to tell you a story of Ayr.
This book is only three sections so will go up quickly and can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ayr
Alastair