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Man with brother Man to meet

And as a brother kindly greet:

Then may Heaven with prosp'rous gales

Fill my sailor's welcome sails,

To my arms their charge convey

My dear lad that's far away.

I give you leave to abuse this song, but do it in the spirit of Christian meekness.

Yours ever,

R. B.

GEORGE THOMSON TO ROBERT BURNS.

EDINBURGH, 16 Sept. 1794.

MY DEAR SIR-You have anticipated my opinion of On the seas and far away.' I do not think it one of your very happiest productions, though it certainly contains stanzas that are worthy of all acceptation.

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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.

ROBERT BURNS TO GEORGE THOMSON.

Sept. 1794.

Little do the Trustees for our Manufactures, when they frank my letters to you-little do they consider what kind of manufacture they are encouraging. The manufacture of Nonsense was certainly not in idea when the Act of Parliament was framed, and yet, under my hands and your cover, it thrives amazingly. Well, there are more pernicious manufactures, that is certain.

I shall withdraw my 'O'er the seas and far away' altogether; it is unequal and unworthy of 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 and try him.

For that reason I send you the offspring of my brain, abortions and

[graphic]

Ca the yowes to the knowves.
Eu them where the heather
grows.
Ca them where the burnie "rows
My bonnie dearie!

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