Cancelled Manuscript by Robert Burns Discovered

The cancelled working manuscript of the song Ye Jacobites by Name was written by Robert Burns in 1791 in the inflammatory early period of the French Revolution - if published, the revolutionary themes of the work might have placed him under suspicion with the authorities.

Co-inciding with celebrations for Burns Night, the discovery of this early version of one of his most famous songs is the most explicit example of several where he ostensibly writes about history but actually has his eye on 18th century current affairs following the French Revolution.

Burns had no political vote, even as a highly skilled Exciseman working for the government that denied him that right. The cancelled draft, Ye Black-nebs by name, sees writing with implicit sympathy for the radical reformers who were challenging the 1700s British status quo of highly limited democracy, which entailed the rights essentially of a small propertied class. Burns risked putting paid to his advancement or even being sacked from his job in the Crown service. 

Professor Gerard Carruthers of the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies says the discovery in the collection of Burns materials held at Barnbougle Castle, near Edinburgh, gives a fascinating insight into Burns creative genius.

“The cancelled ‘Ye Black-nebs’ chimes with other songs, most famously Scots Wha Hae and A Man’s a Man for a’ That where revolutionary ideas are smuggled in under the guise of writing about the Scottish Wars of Independence or universal brotherhood," he said. "In the end, Ye Black-nebs was more explicit than these texts and is completely overwritten by ‘Jacobite’. Burns’s original version, however, raises the strong possibility that the finished version is code for more recent 1790s revolutionaries.

“If Burns had lived longer, I believe he would have been in favour of political reforms emerging at that time particularly after the Napoleonic wars of the early 1800s. He wouldn’t have continued to use cunning to cover his allegiances I don’t think. But at the time as a Crown employee and at this point in his life, he hadn’t got there just yet. But I believe he would have increasingly been on the side of democratic reform had he lived into the early 19th century.

“However, when this was written Ellisland, his farm, was not as productive as he would have liked, and things were uncertain financially for him and his growing family. He was therefore dependent on his Excise employment and couldn’t speak as freely as he might have liked. It was a very dangerous time for people who backed political reform in the wake of the American and French revolutions. For example, Thomas Muir, a famous Scottish political reformer, fewer than two years later in 1793 was transported to Botany Bay with a sentence of 14 years after having been found guilty of sedition due to the speeches he had given on the ideals of democracy.” 

The cancelled Burns manuscript is part of the library at Barnbougle Castle, near Edinburgh, belonging to the former 19th century Prime Minister, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, who during his lifetime amassed an excellent library which he kept mainly at Barnbougle. Lord Dalmeny and Lady Jane Kaplan, the children of the the 7th Earl of Rosebery and great-grandchildren of Archibald Primrose the 5th Earl, have been instrumental in supporting the Centre for Robert Burns Studies research into their family’s collection.