Letter from Robert Burns to William Niven, 12 June 1781
Dear Sir,
I shall not begin with
considering whether you are to blame, or
I am to blame, or who of us is most to blame
for this long, long interval of our correspondence
In my letter which I wrote you in Feb;
last, I touched a subject which, I thought, would
have produced an immediate answer; but it seems
I have been mistaken, tho' I suspect not altogether
neither. Had not the hurried season of seed-time
come on so soon as it did, I would have wrote you
farther on the subject; but so fatigued was my
body & so hebetated my mind, that I could
neither think, nor write any thing to purpose.
I know you will hardly believe me
when I tell you, that by a strange conjuncture
of circumstances, I am interely got rid of all
connections with the tender sex, I mean
in the way of courtship: it is, however
absolutely certain that I am so; though
how
I shall not begin with
considering whether you are to blame, or
I am to blame, or who of us is most to blame
for this long, long interval of our correspondence
In my letter which I wrote you in Feb;
last, I touched a subject which, I thought, would
have produced an immediate answer; but it seems
I have been mistaken, tho' I suspect not altogether
neither. Had not the hurried season of seed-time
come on so soon as it did, I would have wrote you
farther on the subject; but so fatigued was my
body & so hebetated my mind, that I could
neither think, nor write any thing to purpose.
I know you will hardly believe me
when I tell you, that by a strange conjuncture
of circumstances, I am interely got rid of all
connections with the tender sex, I mean
in the way of courtship: it is, however
absolutely certain that I am so; though
how
long I shall continue so, Heaven only knows,
but be that as it may, I shall never be in-
volved as I was again. --
Our communion was on Sunday se en night,
I mention this to tell you that I saw your
cousin there, with some of Mr Hamilton's
sons. You cannot imagine how pleased I
was to steal a look at him, & trace the
resemblance of my old friend -- I was prepossed
in his favor on that account, but still more
be that ingenuous modestly a quality so rare
amongst students, especialy in the divinity way
which is so apparent in his air & manner.
I assure you my hear warmed to him: I
was only sorry I could not tell him, how
happy I would have been to have had it in
my power to have obliged him. you know
I am a Physiognomist, so will not be surprised
at this. I shall expect to hear from you soon
& shall conclude with assuring you, that I am
your sincere wellwisher & humble servant
Robt Burns
Lochlee June12th 1781
but be that as it may, I shall never be in-
volved as I was again. --
Our communion was on Sunday se en night,
I mention this to tell you that I saw your
cousin there, with some of Mr Hamilton's
sons. You cannot imagine how pleased I
was to steal a look at him, & trace the
resemblance of my old friend -- I was prepossed
in his favor on that account, but still more
be that ingenuous modestly a quality so rare
amongst students, especialy in the divinity way
which is so apparent in his air & manner.
I assure you my hear warmed to him: I
was only sorry I could not tell him, how
happy I would have been to have had it in
my power to have obliged him. you know
I am a Physiognomist, so will not be surprised
at this. I shall expect to hear from you soon
& shall conclude with assuring you, that I am
your sincere wellwisher & humble servant
Robt Burns
Lochlee June12th 1781
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/04
- Alt. number
- 3.6030
- Date
- 12 June 1781
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Niven, William
Archive information
Place of creation
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Letters from and to Robert Burns
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- Letter from Robert Burns to William Niven, 12 June 1781
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