The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #49836 Message #3559051
Posted By: GUEST,Iain Pollock
15-Sep-13 - 08:20 AM
Thread Name: Review: Waltzing Matilda
Subject: RE: Review: Waltzing Matilda
I also have a book of about the same vintage as the Tannahill one, and it is a collection of poems by Robert Fergusson, who was a contemporary of Tannahill's. They must have been hard up for names back then, as they were both called Robert, and they also knew Robert Burns, who is the most famous 'Robert' of all, as you will be aware. When you read Tannahill or Fergusson you can hear Burns coming through loud and clear, as they all had the same style, which was probably par for the course back then. I say this at the risk of offending Burns fans and scholars, but the words speak for themselves. I understand that they knew each other, and this is not surprising due to the proximity of their haunts in Scotland, and the slow speed of communication in those days. The Tannahill book also has a copper-plate signature of one James Ferguson 1823 in the flyleaf, and I assume that this would have been the first owner of the book, probably received as a gift, thereby further authenticating it's origin.