My Ain Dear May.

PrinterPrinted by D. W. Kellogg & Co. American, 1830 - 1840

PublisherPublished by D. W. Kellogg & Co. American, 1830 - 1840

Date1830-1840

MediumLithography; printer's ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 7 3/4 x 8 3/8in. (19.7 x 21.3cm)
Sheet (height x width): 11 13/16 x 8 9/16in. (30 x 21.7cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection

DescriptionA young man and a young woman are seated on a grassy bank. He wears a plaid jacket, trousers, and tartan and a round cap, similar to a fez, with two feathers in it. He places some lilies of the valley in the young woman's bodice. She wears a lowcut blouse and skirt and holds a bouquet of flowers, including roses. Trees are in the right background and on a hill in the left background.

Object number1995.182.25

InscribedRecto: Lithographed title beneath image: "MY AIN DEAR MAY. / I'll pu' the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view, / For its like a baumy kiss o'her sweet bonnie mou'; / The hyacinth for constancy, wi'its unchanging blue, / And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. / The lily it is pure & the lily it is fair, / And in her lovely bosom I'll place the lily there; / The daisy's for simplicity & unaffected air, / And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. / Burns Songs."

Verso: In pencil, upper right: "#465/500"; lower right: "Dwr 10"; old and new accession numbers inscribed in pencil, upper center.NotesSubject Note: The son of a farmer, Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland on 25 January 1759. Although poor, he read widely, and by 1781, had begun to write poetry. His Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, were an immediate success when they were published in 1786. He died at Dumfries, Scotland on 21 July 1796 at the age of 37.

Subject Terms