INTRODUCTION
In the present age, there is a stronger desire to read the Correspondence of an Author and see his inner life than existed in former times. James Muir, the first editor of Tannahill's Works (1815) has only given short extracts of little importance from four letters. Mr. William M'Laren, in his Life, does not refer to any letters at all. Mr. William Motherwell, in his Essay in the Harp of Renfrewshire, gave extracts from letters of R. A. Smith, the friend of Tannahill, without dates; and in one of these, Smith gave a quotation from a letter without name or date, and drew an inimical inference, without quoting the context. P. A. Ramsay, the editor of the 1838 edition, gave extracts from twenty-one letters, which he chiefly embodied in his Memoir of the Author. At this distance of time, we have recovered thirty-five letters,—twenty from Tannahill, nine to him, and six referring to him. This number far exceeded our expectation, and we trust the letters will form an interesting feature in this edition. The letters from Tannahill to his correspondents are plain, neat, well-expressed compositions, without any flowery language or pretentiousness, and showed that he could condense his thoughts. The handwriting is good in every case, while the whole are carefully punctuated, and are evidently the productions of a man of method. The names of the persons who furnished us with the loan of these valuable relics are given, and a few explanatory notes to several of the letters are added. Though this is the fullest collection which has been made, it is evident that they do not comprise a tithe of the letters our Author must have written in his day.