LETTERS

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Conjuring the spirits

I read with interest about Captain Francis Grose and his contribution to the English language (My History Hero, November). However, Captain Grose also had a hand in creating one of Scotland’s most famous literary figures, Tam O’Shanter by Robert Burns. After publishing The Antiquities of England and Wales, in 1788 Grose came up to Scotland to produce a book in a similar vein, The Antiquities of Scotland.

In the course of his research, he was introduced to Robert Burns, and the two became friends immediately. Burns suggested that Grose should include the ruined, reputedly haunted kirk at Alloway (very close to where he was born) in his new book, and Grose agreed on condition that Burns provided a suitably spooky story to go along with the picture. And so was conceived, complete with a bagpipe-playing Auld Nick, witches dancing hornpipes and reels and Cutty-sark, the young witch who chases Tam and almost catches him before he gets to safety. To my mind, it’s the finest