Ewart Library, Dumfries

The Ewart Library was opened in 1904 so it has no direct connection with Burns and his time. However, in recent years the library premises have been extended to include the site of the former Anti-Burgher Church within which the poet sometimes worshipped. The contents of the library are a different matter. At Ellisland Burns had been an active promoter of the Dunscore Parochial Library, and after moving to Dumfries he was involved in, and gifted books towards the Dumfries Public Library following its foundation in September 1792; his fame exempted him from the usual joining fee and subscription. Many of the surviving books were acquired by the Mechanics’ Institute sometime after the 1820s and went on to form a small part of the original stock of the Ewart Library. They are still referred to, as they have been by the people of Dumfries for 200 years!

This historical continuity is emphasised by the library’s great treasure – the rarest and most famous edition of Burns’ poetry, "Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect" by Robert Burns - the Kilmarnock edition. It was donated to the library on the opening day by Thomas and Jessie M’Kie, siblings, serial philanthropists and the granters of the land on which the Ewart Library was built. It was the first edition of Robert Burns' work, published on the 31st July 1786 whilst Burns was still farming in Ayrshire. Burns arranged to have it printed and published by a local printer, John Wilson who had a press in Kilmarnock. Earlier in 1786 Burns had circulated a prospectus inviting friends and patrons to subscribe to the printing of an edition of his poems. Of this first edition, subscribers paid for 350 and a total of only 612 were printed altogether. Two are in Dumfries – one in the strongroom at the Ewart Library – the other on display at Robert Burns House.

Most of the Burns Collection is located in the Reference and Local Studies Department of the library and its associated store. Staff will be pleased to help with enquiries.

From 1787 onwards Burns became friendly and corresponded with the publisher of “The Scots Musical Museum”, James Johnson. Burns became the editor of this work, the first four volumes of which were published in his lifetime, and to which he submitted more than 300 songs. Song writing became the main preoccupation of his writing life for his last nine years and the Ewart Library holds one of Burns’ own copies of the first two volumes of the “Museum” including his own annotations (pictured).

During Burns’ residence in Dumfries his closest friend was John Syme. They went on tours of Galloway together, and in June 1793 Syme lent him a book of poetry, “The British Album” (pictured). The “Album” was popular in its day, but the verses it contained soon went out of fashion, and only this copy is likely to hold much interest for the modern reader. For while Burns had possession of the book he wrote in it several poems and other notes, which were only published in full for the first time in 1940! Some of these were Radical in sentiment, a potentially dangerous political act at the time, and not the only one Burns made in 1793. One of the books Burns donated to the Dumfries Public Library was "The Constitution of England " by J L De Lolme. It was published in 1790 and contains many annotations in Burns' handwriting. In 1792 Burns decided to present this book to the Dumfries Public Library and inscribed it thus, "Mr. Burns presents this book to the Library & begs they will take it as a Creed of British Liberty - until they find a better RB". Fearing that this could be taken as support for republican government, Burns retrieved it from the library and pasted down the flyleaf to conceal the inscription. The volume is now on display in the Robert Burns Centre, Dumfries.