from their carousals. The poor shepherd lad, being TAM O' equally a stranger to the scene and the liquor, heedlessly SHANTER got himself drunk; and when the rest took horse he fell asleep, and was found so next day by some of the people belonging to the merchant. Somebody that understood Scotch, asking him what he was, he said such a one's herd in Alloway; and by some means or other getting home again, he lived long to tell the world the wondrous tale.' For the rhythmus of Tam o' Shanter, see ante, Prefatory Note to The Twa Dogs (p. 319). The motto is the eighteenth verse of Gavin Douglas's sixth 'Proloug' (Eneados), and should read thus :- Of browneis and of bogillis full this buke.' Probably Burns drew the suggestion of his hero, Tam o' Shanter, from the character and adventures of Douglas Graham-born 6th January 1739, died 23th June 1811— son of Robert Graham, farmer at Douglastown, tenant of the farm of Shanter on the Carrick Shore, and owner of a boat which he had named Tam o' Shanter. Graham was noted for his convivial habits, which his wife's ratings tended rather to confirm than to eradicate. Tradition relates that once, when his long-tailed grey mare had waited even longer than usual for her master at the tavern door, certain humourists plucked her tail to such an extent as to leave it little better than a stump, and that Graham, on his attention being called to its state next morning, swore that it had been been depilated by the witches at Alloway Kirk (MS. Notes by D. Auld of Ayr in Edinburgh University Library). The prototype-if prototype there were-of Souter Johnie is more doubtful; but a shoemaker named John Davidson-born 1728, died 30th June 1806-did live for some time at Glenfoot of Ardlochan, near the farm of Shanter, whence he removed to Kirkoswald. In Alloway Kirk and its surroundings, apart from its uncanny associations, Burns cherished a special interest. 'When my father,' says Gilbert, 'feued his little pro TAM O' perty near Alloway Kirk the wall of the churchyard had SHANTER gone to ruin, and cattle had free liberty of pasturing in it. My father and two or three other neighbours joined in an application to the Town Council of Ayr, who were superiors of the adjoining land, for liberty to rebuild it, and raised by subscription a sum for enclosing this ancient cemetery with a wall; hence he came to consider it as his burial-place, and we learned the reverence for it people generally have for the burial-place of their ancestors.' When, therefore, Burns met Captain Grose— then on his peregrinations through Scotland-at the house of Captain Riddell, he suggested a drawing of the ruin; and the captain,' Gilbert says, 'agreed to the request, provided the poet would furnish a witch story to be printed along with it.' It is probable that Burns originally sent the stories told above for insertion in the work, and that the narrative in rhyme was an afterthought. Lockhart, on Cromek's authority, accepts a statement, said to have been made by Mrs. Burns, that the piece was the work of a single day, and on this very slender evidence divers critics have indulged in a vast amount of admiration. Burns's general dictum must, however, be borne in mind:-'All my poetry is the effect of easy composition, but of laborious correction'; together with his special verdict on Tam o' Shanter (letter to Mrs. Dunlop, April 1791) that it showed a finishing polish,' which he despaired of 'ever excelling.' It appeared in Grose's Antiquities-published in April 1791-the captain's indebtedness being thus acknowledged :-'To my ingenious friend, Mr. Robert Burns, I have been seriously obligated he was not only at the pains of making out what was most worthy of notice in Ayrshire, the county honoured by his birth, but he also wrote, expressly for this work, the pretty tule annexed to Alloway Church.' Ere Grose's work was before the public, the piece made its appearance in The Edinburgh Magazine for March 1791 ; and it was also published in The Edinburgh Herald of 18th TAM O' March 1791. The мs. now in the Kilmarnock MuseumMs. (A)—of which a photolithograph was published in 1869, SHANTER is of special interest for some of its deleted readings. The copy at Lochryan-мs. (B)-was written in or before November 1790 (Letter to Mrs. Dunlop). Sometime be fore publication Burns recited Tam o' Shanter to Robert Ainslie, when he visited Ellisland, and, after his departure home, sent him a copy, which Ainslie gave to Sir Walter Scott, and which is now at Abbotsford—мs. (C). It is thus prefaced :-'Alloway Kirk, the scene of the following poem, is an old ruin in Ayrshire, hard by the road from Ayr to Maybole, on the banks of the river Doon, and very near the old bridge of that name. A drawing of this ruin, accompanied perhaps with Tam o' Shanter, will make its appearance in Grose's Antiquities of Scotland.' The piece is inscribed in the Afton Lodge Book at Alloway-мs. (D)—and the Glenriddell Book at LiverpoolMS. (E). There is also a copy in the Observatory at Dumfries it is so framed as to show the front page alone. LINE 8. The waters, mosses, slaps, and styles,' Mss. (B, D and E). 25. 'That every naig was ca'd a shoe on,' 1793. 27. 'That at the L-d's even on Sunday,' periodicals. 28. ‘Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean till Monday':-The Jean referred to is supposed to have been Jean Kennedy of KirkOswald, who with her sister kept a very respectable tavern, sometimes called the Ladies' House. 29. 'She prophesy'd that late or soon,' 1794. 30. Thou wad be found deep drowned in Doon,' MSS. and periodicals. 37. But to our tale : ae market night,' 1794. 44. 'They had been fou for weeks tegither,' Grose. 47. 'The landlady grew unco gracious,' Ms. (B). 48. 'Wi' favours, secret, sweet, and precious,' 1793 and 1794. 50. 'The landlord's laugh was ready chorus':-On Ms. (C) Robert Ainslie has noted that when Burns recited to him the poem at Ellisland he added these lines : 'The crickets joined the chirping cry, The kittlin chased her tail for joy.' 52. Tam did na care the storm a whistle,' deleted reading in мs. (A). 54. E'en drown'd himself amang the nappy,' 1794; TAM O' among,' Ms. (D) :-This line and the previous one are in MS. SHANTER (A) written on the margin, being evidently an afterthought. 55. As bees flee hame laden wi' treasure,' deleted reading in Ms. (A). 56. Ilk minute winged its way wi' pleasure,' deleted reading in Ms. (A). 62. 'Or like the snow falls in the river ':The relative' that' or 'which' should be understood between 'snow' and 'fall.' Chambers gave this preposterous attempt at amendment :-' Or like the snowfall in the river'; and Scott Douglas took upon him to affirm that Burns would have preferred 'snowflake' before 'snowfall.' Plainly Burns preferred the line as it is. 71. 'And sic a night he took the road in,' Mss.; 'Tam,' deleted reading for 'he' in Ms. (A). 73. The wind blew as twould blawn its last,' Ms. (A). 74. The rattling show'rs rose on the blast,' 1794. 79. 'Weel mounted on his grey meare Meg,' MSS., Grose, and periodicals. 83. 'Whiles hadding fast his guid blue bonnet,' periodicals. 84. 'Whiles crooning o'er an Auld Scots sonnet,' Ms. (A). 85. 'Whiles glowring round wi' prudent cares,' 1793. 95. 'And near the tree aboon the well,' deleted reading in Ms. (A). 113. She ventur'd forward to the light,' periodicals. 114. And wow! Tam saw an unco sight,' MSS. and Grose. 116. Nae cotillon brent new frae France,' MSS. and Grose :-'Brent new ' means quite new: new from the fire or forge. The term is no doubt agricultural. 125-8. Coffins stood round,' etc. :-Of these four matchless lines the first draft, as deleted in мs. (A), was : 'The torches climb around the wa' Infernal fires, blue-bleezing a'.' 136. Five scymitars,' etc. :-After this line these two, deleted in Ms. (A), were inserted : 'Seven gallows pins; three hangman's whittles; A raw o' weel seal'd Doctor's bottles.' 142. Which even to name,' etc.:-At this point, these four lines occur in all the Mss. and in Grose and the periodicals : 'Three Lawyers' tongues, turned inside out, Wi' lies seamed like a beggar's clout; Three Priests' hearts, rotten black as muck, Lay stinking, vile, in every neuk' :— but on Tytler's advice they were omitted from the Author's Editions. 153. 'Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flainen," MSS. and Grose. 154. 'Seventeen hunder linen' :-Woven ON SEEING A WOUNDED HARE ON 21st April 1789 Burns enclosed a copy of this production-мs. (A)—in an unpublished letter to Mrs. Dunlop (Lochryan мss.):-'Two mornings ago, as I was TAM O' SHANTER |