Robert Burns' bastart wean auctioned for £17,400

Published on Tuesday 29 March 2011 18:38

A POEM written by Robert Burns addressed to his first child, an illegitimate daughter by his mistress "bonnie Betty", has fetched £17,400 at auction.

• The 'beautiful poem, generous and affectionate' sparked a bidding war that sent the price soaring. Picture: Bonhams

A Poet's Welcome to a Bastart Wean is one of Burns' best-loved works, although it is now more widely known as A Poet's Welcome To His Love Begotten Daughter.

Burns was prompted to write it by the birth of Elizabeth (Bess) to his then mistress, Elizabeth Paton, a family servant, on 22 May, 1785.

The work praises his "bonnie, sweet, wee Dochter" and expresses his pride in the "bastart wean". It also condemns the disapproval of members of the Kirk, who, Burns writes, would "ca' me fornicator".

But by the time the baby was born, the poet and Jean Armour were in a relationship, and by the end of the year she, too, was pregnant with his child.

The signed handwritten manuscript, folded in half by Burns to make four pages, was sold at Bonhams' in London yesterday.

It was bought by a collector in England after a fierce bidding war that saw the price soar to more than twice its 8,000 pre-sale estimate.

Burns titled it A Poet's welcome to his bastart wean, with a subheading The vigorous offspring of a stolen embrace, which he took from Alexander Pope's famous translation of Homer.

The poem was first published as Burns's Address to His Illegitimate Child in 1799.

Dr Alison Burke, from the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum at Alloway, Ayrshire, said: "This poem is much-loved for the warmth and affection with which is was written.

"The baby in the poem was Burns's first child.

"He had three daughters called Elizabeth. This one, Elizabeth Paton Burns, was born to his mother's servant, Elizabeth Paton, while he was embarking on a relationship with Jean Armour, who became pregnant with twins in March 1786.

"She was known as Bess, and in this poem Burns shows his great pride and such warm feelings towards her. What comes out is his absolute love for her, whatever people say of him for fathering her.

"Burns describes his seduction of Elizabeth Paton in his poem The Epistle to John Rankine as a hen that he had brought down with his gun, and he teases her.

"But by the time the child is born and he writes this poem, he is far more tender and refers to her in the poem in much kinder terms."

She added: "In 1786, Elizabeth Paton made a claim on Burns and accepted 20 from the profits of the Kilmarnock Edition. She went on to marry a farmhand. "Bess was raised by Burns' mother and only returned to her mother when Burns himself died."

Remarkably, the successful bidder received two poems for the price - the fourth page featured a stanza of eight lines from Burns' Musing on the ocean's roaring, which the Bard had scored out, possibly using the same sheet simply to save paper.

Seller Roy Davids, 68, from Oxford, an expert in rare manuscripts, said it might have belonged to Burns' widow, Jean Armour, whom he married in 1788.

He said: "It is a beautiful poem, described by Burns' editor, James Kinsley, as 'generous and affectionate'."

Jean Armour's announcement, in March 1786, that she was expecting Robert Burns's baby caused the poet to faint.

The certificate of an informal marriage agreement between Burns and Jean was destroyed by James Armour, and he removed his daughter to Paisley to prevent local scandal.

However, word had spread, and the Mauchline Kirk recalled her on 10 June, 1786, to admit that she was unmarried and pregnant and to confirm the name of the baby's father.

Burns was called on 25 June to admit his part in the affair.

The full text

A Poet's Welcome to a Bastart Wean - now more widely known as A Poet's Welcome To His Love Begotten Daughter.

Thou's welcome, wean; mishanter fa' me,

If thoughts o' thee, or yet thy mamie,

Shall ever daunton me or awe me,

My bonie lady,

Or if I blush when thou shalt ca' me

Tyta or daddie.

Tho' now they ca' me fornicator,

An' tease my name in kintry clatter,

The mair they talk, I'm kent the better,

E'en let them clash;

An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter

To gie ane fash.

Welcome! my bonie, sweet, wee dochter,

Tho' ye come here a wee unsought for,

And tho' your comin' I hae fought for,

Baith kirk and queir;

Yet, by my faith, ye're no unwrought for,

That I shall swear!

Wee image o' my bonie Betty,

As fatherly I kiss and daut thee,

As dear, and near my heart I set thee

Wi' as gude will

As a' the priests had seen me get thee

That's out o' hell.

Sweet fruit o' mony a merry dint,

My funny toil is now a' tint,

Sin' thou came to the warl' asklent,

Which fools may scoff at;

In my last plack thy part's be in't

The better ha'f o't.

Tho' I should be the waur bestead,

Thou's be as braw and bienly clad,

And thy young years as nicely bred

Wi' education,

As ony brat o' wedlock's bed,

In a' thy station.

Lord grant that thou may aye inherit

Thy mither's person, grace, an' merit,

An' thy poor, worthless daddy's spirit,

Without his failins,

'Twill please me mair to see thee heir it,

Than stockit mailens.

For if thou be what I wad hae thee,

And tak the counsel I shall gie thee,

I'll never rue my trouble wi' thee,

The cost nor shame o't,

But be a loving father to thee,

And brag the name o't