Ralph McLean, Manuscripts Curator for the Long 18th century, writes: The Church of Scotland Minister, Robert Blair (1699-1746) is an unusual figure in Scottish literature as he had a prominent reputation which rested on limited publications and virtually no original manuscripts. This volume represents the single biggest collection of Blair’s poetry and religious writings found to date, all of which are unpublished. Blair enjoyed literary fame thanks to his poem The Grave (1743) which sparked a vogue for mortuary poems in the 18th century. However as a minister in the Church of Scotland he was discouraged from publishing literary works, so his output remained small. Until the appearance of this volume almost no manuscripts of Blair were thought to have survived until the present day.
The volume (MS.23659) comprises two unpublished poems by Blair, the second of which ‘Evening Hymn’ contains themes and ideas later explored in more detail in The Grave. The poems are followed by 60 pages of prose divided into seven sections concerning spiritual investigations and meditations on topics such as confessions, petitions, intercession and thanksgiving. Blair has clearly returned to these themes on several occasions as the manuscript shows signs of corrections and additions to the original content. The volume offers significant research potential for new studies of Blair and his poetic development within the context of the early Scottish Enlightenment and offers insights into his theological positions through his only surviving writing on the subject.
The Library owns part of the manuscript of Blair’s poetry, a portion of the draft of ‘The Grave’, one of Blair’s few surviving manuscripts. This was presented to the Library in 1978 by Blair’s descendent A. C. Maconochie. This volume also traces its provenance to ownership of the Maconochie family, and therefore greatly complements our existing holdings. The Library holds important collections of sermons and writings of ministers who made significant contributions to the Scottish Enlightenment, such as the Edinburgh Professor, Hugh Blair (Robert’s cousin), Alexander Carlyle and John Home. Robert Blair’s connection to Home is significant as he was Home’s predecessor as minister of Athelstaneford. Home would likewise go on to carve out a literary career.
The purchase of this volume ensures that an important part of Scottish Enlightenment history and literature is preserved for the nation, and that it is publicly accessible for those who would like to view and consult it. We are very grateful to FNL for helping us to purchase this manuscript volume for the National Library of Scotland.
A note in the inside cover indicates the volume was in the possession of C. C. Maconochie (descendant of Robert Blair) in July 1913.
