Robert Burns and the Scottish Vernacular Revival
1. Introduction – Scottish Literary Revival
18th century was the time of great changes on Scottish political and cultural scene. Period that preceded it was influenced mainly by the Reformation and the Union of the Crowns in 1603, having as a consequence the growing tendency of Scottish writers to write in English, pushing the Scottish literary language aside until it disappeared. However, after 1707 it was brought back to life, to reach its peak in Robert Burns’ poetry. The Union of Parliaments in 1707 resulted in the end of the Scottish Parliament’s existence, making Scotland a part of Great Britain. This was a blow to the already wounded Scottish pride. Since there wasn’t much Scotts could do to affect the unpleasant changes, they turned to the literary past. The interest in collecting and reviving the traditional literature gained more and more popularity throughout the 18th century.
The pioneer in this new Scottish passion for the old literature was James Watson with his A Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems both Ancient and Modern. The collection included mixture of poems, macaronics1, mock elegies, epitaphs, sixteenth century love poems, patriotic pieces, laments, etc. The major achievement of this collection in the early 18th century Scottish society was that it diverted the public attention from politics to literature and encouraged the production of vernacular poetry, but Watson’s personal main goal was to “rival the collections of miscellaneous poems in our neighboring kingdoms and states”.2
William Hamilton of Gilbertfield wrote verse epistles, thus beginning a tradition of verse letters in the vernacular, later to be exploited by Robert Burns. “Watson’s contribution was editorial and antiquarian rather than creative, but a creative movement soon followed. Allan Ramsey (1686-1758) was concerned with both.”3
His first collection, The Evergreen presented the poetry of Scotland’s Golden Age, with a patriotic intention. The Tea Table
18th century was the time of great changes on Scottish political and cultural scene. Period that preceded it was influenced mainly by the Reformation and the Union of the Crowns in 1603, having as a consequence the growing tendency of Scottish writers to write in English, pushing the Scottish literary language aside until it disappeared. However, after 1707 it was brought back to life, to reach its peak in Robert Burns’ poetry. The Union of Parliaments in 1707 resulted in the end of the Scottish Parliament’s existence, making Scotland a part of Great Britain. This was a blow to the already wounded Scottish pride. Since there wasn’t much Scotts could do to affect the unpleasant changes, they turned to the literary past. The interest in collecting and reviving the traditional literature gained more and more popularity throughout the 18th century.
The pioneer in this new Scottish passion for the old literature was James Watson with his A Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems both Ancient and Modern. The collection included mixture of poems, macaronics1, mock elegies, epitaphs, sixteenth century love poems, patriotic pieces, laments, etc. The major achievement of this collection in the early 18th century Scottish society was that it diverted the public attention from politics to literature and encouraged the production of vernacular poetry, but Watson’s personal main goal was to “rival the collections of miscellaneous poems in our neighboring kingdoms and states”.2
William Hamilton of Gilbertfield wrote verse epistles, thus beginning a tradition of verse letters in the vernacular, later to be exploited by Robert Burns. “Watson’s contribution was editorial and antiquarian rather than creative, but a creative movement soon followed. Allan Ramsey (1686-1758) was concerned with both.”3
His first collection, The Evergreen presented the poetry of Scotland’s Golden Age, with a patriotic intention. The Tea Table
Bibliography: 1. Blamires, Harry. A Short History of English Literature. London: Methuen, 1974. 2. Carter, Ronald, and John MacRae. The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland. London: Routledge, 1997. 3. Daiches, David. A Critical History of English Literature. Vol. II. London: Secker & Warburg, 1960 4. Dizdar, Srebren. Poezija Engleskog Predromantizma. Sarajevo: Šahinpašić, 1999. Web Sources 1. www.robertburns.org (texts of the poems) 2. www.merriam-webster.com