Burns and Scott in Edinburgh

When Burns did make triumphant entry
’Mong Edina’s famous gentry,
A discussion did there arise
Among those solons learned and wise,
About some lines by a new poet.
The author’s name none did know it,
Poem was of Canadian snow
And how o’er it the blood did flow,
For it had then been swept by war
Where armies met in deadly jar.

But ’mong philosophers was boy
Of tender years now Scotland’s joy,
He there did quickly quote each line
And author’s name he did define,
Burns glanced at him with loving eyes,
Youth ever more that look did prize,
The happiest moment in his lot
Ever revered by Walter Scott.
Thus Scotlands greatest poets met,
And they did part with sad regret.

Where this text comes from

First published in Musings on the Banks of Canadian Thames (1884). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1]

Structure read from the source's markup; the words have not been compared against a page scan. Last checked 2026-08-20.

Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/james-mcintyre_poetry, poetry.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (3)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1–#L20.

Cite this poem

James McIntyre (1828?–1906). “Burns and Scott in Edinburgh.” First published in Musings on the Banks of Canadian Thames (1884). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/james-mcintyre/burns-and-scott-in-edinburgh/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

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