Abraham Lincoln and Robert Burns by Alec Ross

[Donna McCreary]

The Scottish dialect is often difficult to sort out.

I absolutely agree with your statement.

And, sometimes there is a also noticeable difference in philosophy between Abraham Lincoln and Robert Burns. And, I wonder how Lincoln reconciled that difference. Robert Burns was somewhat of a rogue (i.e., a mischievous and double-standard person).

For instance, my favorite Robert Burns' poem, of the few that I have read, is "To a Mouse."

The following is the original Scottish version:

But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

The beauty of the Scottish language is almost musical. Note the symmetry.

The adequate English translation that I have found reads:

But mouse-friend, you are not alone
in proving foresight may be vain:
the best-laid schemes of Mice and Men
go oft awry,
and leave us only grief and pain,
for promised joy!


I believe that Lincoln would have substituted the word "plans" in his way of thinking for the word "schemes" in the original Robert Burns' work.

But that changes the meaning and intent of Burns. There is a difference between what a man plans and what a man schemes. It is the man's schemes that go awry - not his plans.

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Does anyone know if there was a Burns Society in Springfield? If so, did the Lincolns belong to it?

Donna, this afternoon I did some research on this and drew a blank.

There is one in Chicago, and the one in Rockford, Illinois is the oldest one in the state. So far, I have not found anything about one in Springfield.