The Authentic Portraits of Robert Burns

ENGRAVING

John Horsburgh

A SKETCH BY J. M. GRAY, F.S.A. SCOT

I suppose there is no poet, ancient or modern, who has called forth so intimate and homely a human interest, such a sense of ardent brotherhood, has so widely and powerfully stirred a distinctly personal enthusiasm, as Robert Burns. He has no moderate admirers, no readers that are merely “a little loving;” your heart must gush forth spontaneously towards this singer, or else you are for ever incapable of feeling his spell. And it is just because the enthusiasm for this poet is something more ~ and deeper ~ than a mere literary preference, just because he is admired not simply as a writer skilled in his craft, but rather as a rich human personality whose exuberant humanity came to overflow in verse, that all personal relics relating to Burns are so peculiarly prized by his devotees. They are treasured like the relics of a personal friend; they are cherished like the ribbons and the flowers of an “enskyed” mistress.

And among such relics of the poet none, of course, can possibly be more intimate, more deeply personal, than his authentic portraits: these must always rank among the best-valued treasures of the Burns collector. Portraits of Burns have been called for; pictures ostensibly portraits of Burns have promptly answered the call. But such of these as possess any claim to be regarded as firsthand portrayals of the poet's features, by artists who knew him in life, or worked under other circumstances specially favourable to authenticity, are few indeed. It is with these few that I propose to deal, all but exclusively, in the present brief paper. Most of the authentic portraits of Robert Burns owe their origin to the period of his earliest visit to Edinburgh, that triumphant time when ~ his first poetic devoir done ~ he began to taste the delight of mingling with his peers, or at least with those of his contemporaries who approached nearest to his own intellectual stature.

There is reasonable ground for believing that the earliest of his portraits painted in Edinburgh was the cabinet-sized half-length, executed by Peter (known also as Patrick) Taylor, at present deposited in the Scottish National. Portrait Gallery by Mr. W. A. Taylor; and that this portrait was taken from life during December, 1786, Burns having arrived in Edinburgh in the end of the previous month. An interesting letter by Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, reprinted in the Edinburgh Literary Journal, 5th December, 1829, records a visit which the writer paid in 1812 to the widow of the artist, in company with Gilbert Burns, Mr. Gray, Mr. Ainslie, and other of the poet's surviving friends. Mrs. Taylor singled out Gilbert, as being Robert's brother. When the portrait was produced, Mr. Gray was enthusiastic in its praise, and on Mr. Ainslie making some remarks about the mouth, Gilbert Burns expressed his opinion: “It is particularly like Robert in the form and air; with regard to venial faults, I care not.” Mrs. Taylor then related how the portrait had been executed by her late husband during three morning sittings, at the last of which she had herself been present.