Autograph Manuscript Verse, commencing “O think nae main o me, sweet may/O think nae main o me/Im but a wearied glimist sweet May/That bus or wierd to dree…,” two pages.

n.p: n.d.

Price: $400.00


About the item

1 vols. 8vo. Consisting of three-sixteen line verses apparently addressed to “May,” a manuscript correction and light soiling, else very good.

Item #21734

A Scottish poet and literary man, Motherwell edited “The Harp of Renfrewshire” in 1819, wrote “Renfrewshire Characters and Scenery” as “Isaac Brown” in 1824 and in 1827 his work “Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern” brought him to the attention and subsequent friendship of Sir Walter Scott. He collaborated with Hogg on the 1835 edition of Burns. He was also at one time the editor of the “Glasgow Courier” and the “Paisley Advertiser.” He was among the earliest to use Scandinavian mythology in his verse, an authority on ballads and was known for the wide range of emotion expressed in his verse. Among his best known poems were “Jeanie Morison” and “The Battle Flag of Sigurd.” With a manuscript attestation reading “The preceeding verses are Motherwell, and in his hand writing. David Robertson, Glasgow, 6 Aug. 1849.” David Robertson had published “The Poetical Works of William Motherwell” in Glasgow, 1847, the engraved title of which accompanies the manuscript.