[To THE EDITOR or THE "sine - urea:1 SIR,—With reference to the
question, " Plagiarism or Coincidence ?" raised by a correspondent in your issue of November 8th, I beg to state that the stanza he quotes (the third) of "The Farewell," by Robert Burns, was used by Sir Walter Scott in the "Rover's Adieu," which, with other beautiful ballads, originally appeared in Rokeby, published in 1813. "The Farewell" was contributed by Burns to Johnson's Museum in the year 1796, and was unsigned, probably because of its Jacobitish sentiments. It was not until 1839 that it became known that Burns had sent the song to Johnson, therefore Sir Walter knew nothing of Burns's claim. It is possible that both Burns and Scott adopted the stanzas so highly praised by Ruskin and Tennyson from the chap-book ballad of "Malty Stewart." Your correspondent, however, can obtain full information on these points from Henley and Henderson's Centenary Burns (re-issue 19J1), vol. iii, in a note at pp. 433-436.—I am, Sir,
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