Manuscript poem entitled "On the Death of Mr Basil Hamilton". Basil Hamilton, Esq., of Baldoon, was an M.P. for the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. He died in November 1742, and the epitaph was written in December of the same year. Due to its controversial subject, only the first six lines were printed in Hamilton's Poems, 1760. It was not published in full until the 1850 edition.

This poem is recorded in the famous Jacobite manuscript collection "The Lyon in Mourning" (1746-75) under the title "Upon a young lady, who died on seeing her lover, Mr. Dawson, executed on 30th July 1746".

Manuscript poem entitled: "Sir James Suttie", written in 1736. The 1760 published title was "Epitaph on Sir James Sooty." Small differences in wording to the printed version.

Sir James Suttie of Balgone, in East Lothian, died 4th May, 1730.

This poem was first published in 1850. Note to the 1850 edition: "Here we have, in a classical parody, another memorial of the fair conquerors in the gay fists of last century. The poem is printed from the MS. volume, so far as we are aware, for the first time." In the 1850 published version, the poem has six lines at the beginning which are not in our version.

Manuscript poem, unrecorded and apparently unpublished.

First and last lines:

"Cupid! What sounds invade my Ear / Dotheythus treat my faithful Peer"

...

"That keep Wit Down & knowledge under / And seen in Heaven but for a Wonder".

Manuscript collection containing poems of poet and soldier William Hamilton of Bangour (1704-1754). The most comprehensive edition of Hamilton's poems (1850) is based on this manuscript.

This series consists of fifteen manuscript poems by William Hamilton, some very similar to their published version, and some unrecorded and unpublished. See the item-level descriptions for more details.