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Description: | This three page letter written at Ellisland shortly after New Year 1789 is to congratulate his friend Robert Ainslie who had at the age of only twenty-two become a Writer to the Signet. Burns encloses a 'brushed up' version of an old song 'O Robin sure in hairst' for him, and announces his intention of visiting Edinburgh shortly to find Jenny Clow. (letter no 295)
Robert Ainslie was a Law student in Edinburgh where Burns and he first became acquainted. He accompanied Burns for part of his Borders tour in 1787 and was a lifelong correspondent with whom Burns shared many of his most intimate thoughts.
The last page of the letter is the most important as in it Burns reveals for the first time the name Jenny Clow. A servant girl whom he had got pregnant the previous winter in Edinburgh and who was now looking for support for their illegitimate son. He is asking Ainslie to help him locate her so that on his next visit to the Capital he can sort the matter out. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 | Publisher: | Burns Monument Trust | Temporal: | 1789-01-01 - 1789-12-31 | Source: | Burns Scotland | Identifier: | Letter of Robert Burns to Robert Ainslie | Go to resource |
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