Lot 642: Robert Burns, ARSA (British, 1869-1941) 'The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens'

'The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens'
signed 'Robert Burns 1902' (lower right) oil on canvas
113 x 198cm (44 1/2 x 77 15/16in).

EXHIBITED: RSA, 1902, no62 entitled:
"O lang, lang may the ladyes sit..." (Sir Patrick Spens).

This picture illustrates one of the best-loved 'Child Ballads', beginning
'The King sits in Dunfermline toun,
Drinking the blood-red wine
O where shall I get a skeely skipper
To sail this ship of mine'

Spens was despatched against his will in the depths of winter 1290 to fetch seven year old Scottish Queen Margaret, Maid of Norway. On route, as Spens had feared, many in the fleet were lost, and the skipper and Margaret were subsequently drowned on the way home.

Burns was a noted figure in the Celtic Revival in Scotland and displayed a great range of talents, from stained glass and mural design to book illustration.