Portion of bard's letter on display for Burns Day

A portion of a Robert Burns manuscript letter has gone on display at Dunedin’s City Library to celebrate Burns Day (Sunday 25 January).

The letter, on display on the City Library’s 3rd Floor, was made available in 2025 by the Gibson family, which has longstanding connections to Dunedin.

On permanent loan, it comprises a framed portion of Burns’ location as he was in Edinburgh for most of August 1787, before departing for his tour of the Highlands on 25 August.

In 1787, Burns had reached the peak of his initial fame, following the huge success of the second, or ‘Edinburgh’ edition of his poems.

The phrase that Burns uses, ‘A wee bush is better than nae bield’, is a reference to Ayrshire, and the motto was used by Burns for his coat of arms.

The portion of the Burns letter reads:

We’ll seek our bield. _ A wee bush is better than nae
bield.  Let the worm come and the meat wit
A pund o’ care winna pay an ounce o’debt. When
Friends meet, hearts warm; which brings me
In my regular course of method to this solemn
Truth, that I am ever,
My dear Sir,
Your sincerely
Robt. Burns
Edin.: 22 August 1787.

Sarah Gallagher, Director Library Services says, “We are delighted to share this letter fragment with the public for the first time, thanks to the generosity of the Gibson family, and to acknowledge their permanent loan of the letter on the occasion of Burns Day this year.”

Dunedin’s City Library collection also includes Robert Burns’ four-line manuscript poem, To Mrs Kemble.

This poem memorialises his admiration for a 1794 performance by actress Elizabeth Kemble in the comic opera, Inkle and Yarico.

The Dunedin Burns Club presented Dunedin Public Libraries with the majority of the Burns material, which today numbers more than 300 items.

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