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''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'', commonly known as the Kilmarnock Edition, is a collection of poetry by
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
, first printed and issued by John Wilson of
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
on 31 July 1786. It was the first published edition of Burns' work. It cost 3 
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s and 612 copies were printed. The volume was dedicated to Gavin Hamilton. The Kilmarnock volume contained, besides satire, a number of poems like "
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
" (written in 1785), "The Twa Dogs" and "
The Cotter's Saturday Night ''The Cotter's Saturday Night'' is a poem by Robert Burns that was first published in ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'' in 1786. Composition Burns wrote "The Cotter's Saturday Night" at his Mossgiel farm, near Mauchline, during the win ...
", which are vividly descriptive of the Scots peasant life with which he was most familiar; and a group like "Puir Mailie" and "
To a Mouse "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785" is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1785. It was included in the Kilmarnock volume and all of the poet's later editions, such as the ''Poems, Chiefly ...
", which, in the tenderness of their treatment of animals, revealed one of the most attractive sides of Burns' personality. Six of the original manuscript versions of the poems from the book are in the possession of the
Irvine Burns Club The Irvine Burns Club, based at the Wellwood Burns Centre & Museum, was founded on 2 June 1826 and is one of the world's longest continuously active Burns Clubs. At least five personal friends of Robert Burns were among the group of local gentl ...
. In 1787 Burns travelled to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
with the intention of organizing a second edition and, after being introduced to publisher
William Creech William Creech FRSE (12 May 1745 – 14 January 1815) was a Scottish publisher, printer, bookseller and politician. For 40 years Creech was the chief publisher in Edinburgh. He published the first Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns' poems, and ...
and printer William Smellie, 3,000 copies of the ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'' (Edinburgh Edition) were published in April 1787.


Facsimiles

As stated, only 612 copies of the Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect were printed by John Wilson in 1786 and the publisher James McKie saw that most collectors of Robert Burns's works would be unable to acquire a copy and to satisfy this demand and satisfy his own interests as an admirer of Burns he produced the first facsimile edition for collectors in 1867 in a print run of 600 copies. These facsimiles were in original style boards, signed by James McKie. A miniature facsimile issued in a protective case with a magnifying glass in the 1890s and was of benefit to troops in the trenches in World War I due to its protective case and convenient size.


Contents

Source: # ''The Twa Dogs, a Tale'' # ''Scotch Drink'' # ''The Author's earnest cry and prayer, to the right honorable and honorable, the Scotch representatives in the House of Commons'' # ''The Holy Fair'' # ''
Address to the Deil An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along w ...
'' # ''The death and dying words of Poor Maillie'' # ''Poor Mallie's Elegy'' # ''To J. S****'' # ''A Dream'' # ''The Vision'' # ''
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
'' # ''The auld Farmer's new-year-morning Salutation, to his auld Mare, Maggy, on giving her the accustomed ripp of Corn to hansel in the new year'' # '' The Cotter's Saturday Night, inscribed to R. A. Esq'' # '' To a Mouse, on turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November, 1785'' # ''Epistle to Davie, a brother Poet'' # ''The Lament, occasioned by the unfortunate issue of a friend's amour'' # ''Despondency, an Ode'' # ''Man was made to mourn, a Dirge'' # ''Winter, a Dirge'' # ''A Prayer in the prospect of Death'' # '' To a Mountain-Daisy, on turning one down, with the Plough, in April, 1786'' # ''To Ruin'' # ''Epistle to a young Friend'' # ''On a Scotch Bard gone to the West Indies'' # ''A Dedication to G. H. Esq'' # '' To a Louse, on seeing one on a Lady's bonnet at Church'' # ''Epistle to J. L*****k, an old Scotch Bard'' # ''Epistle to the same'' # ''Epistle to W. S*****n, Ochiltree'' # ''Epistle to J. R******, enclosing some Poems'' # ''Song, It was upon a Lammas night'' # ''Song, Now westlin winds, and flaught'ring guns'' # ''Song, From thee, Eliza, I must go'' # ''The Farewell'' # ''Epitaphs and Epigrams'' # ''A Bard's Epitaph''


See also

*
Address to the Deil An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along w ...
*
To a Mountain Daisy "To a Mountain Daisy", On Turning one Down, With The Plough, in April 1786 is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1786. It was included in the Kilmarnock volume of Burns's poems, published in that year. The poem tells of how the poet, whil ...
*
Epitaph for James Smith "Epitaph for James Smith" is a satirical Scots epitaph written by poet Robert Burns in 1785, and was included in his first publication, the ''Kilmarnock volume'': :LAMENT him, Mauchline husbands a’, :He aften did assist ye; :For had ye staid ...
*
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh Edition) ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh Edition)'' is commonly known as the first Edinburgh Edition and the partial second setting has become known as the Stinking Edition. It is a collection of poetry and songs by Robert Burns, fir ...
*
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Second Edinburgh Edition) ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Second Edinburgh Edition)'' was issued during the poet's lifetime ''In Two Volumes. The Second Edition Considerably Enlarged.'' It is a collection of poetry and songs by the poet Robert Burns, printed f ...
*
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (London Edition) ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (London Edition)'' is commonly known as the Third or London Edition and sometimes the Stinking Edition. It is a collection of poetry and songs by Robert Burns, printed for A. Strahan; T. Cadell in the St ...
*
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Dublin Variant) ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Dublin Variant)'' was the second 'pirated' issue of Robert Burns's work, being published in Ireland at Belfast without permission from or payment to the author or publisher. It is a so-called 'Stinking ...
*
Robert Burns World Federation The Robert Burns World Federation is a literary society based in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, aimed at educating the public about the life, poetry and works of the poet Robert Burns.
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Burns Clubs Burns Clubs exist throughout the world to encourage and cherish the memory of Robert Burns, to foster a love of his writings and generally to encourage an interest in the Scots Language and Literature.Poems by David Sillar ''Poems'' is a collection of poetry and songs by David Sillar, a close friend of the poet Robert Burns who had been encouraged to go into print by the success of ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect''. ''Poems'' was printed by John Wilson o ...
*
Glenriddell Manuscripts The ''Glenriddell Manuscripts'' is an extensive collection written in holograph by Robert Burns and an amanuensis of his letters, poems and a few songs in two volumes produced for his then friend Captain Robert Riddell, Laird of what is now Fr ...


References


External links

*Digitised copy o
Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect
from the ''Kilmarnock edition'' printed by John Wilson (1786) from
National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...
. JPEG, PDF, XML versions.
Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing digital versions of the ''Kilmarnock edition''
{{Robert Burns Robert Burns British poetry collections