Highland Mary

Robert Burns

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1792

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Montgomery Castle

Mentioned near the beginning of “Highland Mary,” the “castle o’ Montgomery” (Line 1) or Montgomery Castle provides the setting for Burns’s narrative. Originally known as Coilsfield House, Montgomery Castle was a real place near Tarbolton village in southern Ayrshire where Burns lived. It was here that Mary Campbell was working as a dairymaid when she first met Burns. Based on evidence found in letters between Burns’s acquaintances, many historians have speculated that, around the time she met Burns, Mary Campbell was having an affair with Captain James Montgomerie, who was living in Montgomery Castle, and that Burns knew about it (see “Burns’ Highland Mary” by Robert T. Fitzhugh in the Further Reading section). The mention of Montgomery Castle provides a sense of realism, but may also hint at something darker.

Even in the poem’s early, more cheerful stanzas, there is a pervasive feeling that a separation of the couple is imminent. Burns mentions “the last Fareweel” (Line 7) he took of Mary, and he speaks of her in the past tense even before revealing her death. He states, “For dear to me as light and life / Was my sweet Highland Mary” (Lines 15-16). The past tense verb “was” hints that Mary is no longer with Burns and foreshadows the later revelation of her death. The reference to Montgomery Castle may perhaps also serve as foreshadowing, symbolizing another cause for separation or obstacle to Burns and Mary’s relationship, this one posed by Mary’s prior connection with Captain Montgomerie.

Nature

Nature plays a key role in Burns’s depiction of the love affair. When Burns and Mary’s relationship is happy, nature is similarly ideal. When they lay “clasp’d” (Line 12) to each other’s bosoms, “green” (Line 9) and “fragrant” (Line 11) birch trees bloom “sweetly” (Line 9) above them, and waters remain clear and never “drumlie” (Line 4), or become muddy. Even summer seemingly lasts longer when they are together. However, when Mary dies and Burns is left alone, the beauty of nature accordingly diminishes in his memory. The “green” of the “woods” (Line 3) becomes the “green” of the “sod” (Line 23) that Mary’s body lies under. An “untimely frost” (Line 21) brings an “early” (Line 22) end to summer and its flowers, and the ground has become cold (Line 23) and “silent” (Line 29). Even the word choices of “sod” and “cauld” “clay” (Line 23) are much harsher sounding than the previous descriptors “gay” (Line 9) and “golden” (Line 13) that Burns used while Mary was still alive. Nature thus acts as a symbolic parallel to their relationship. Just as Mary’s body lies “mouldering” (Line 29) and remains silent in the grave, so too does the earth decay and become silent at her departure.

Flowers

An aspect of the natural beauty of southern Ayrshire that Burns significantly chooses to emphasize are the flowers. Early in the poem, Burns notes the “fair” (Line 3) flowers beside the streams and riverbanks of Montgomery Castle, and he later describes the “rich” (Line 10) blossom of flowers on the hawthorn trees which “shade” (Line 11) him and his lover. These flowers surround the lovers as they remain “lock’d” in an “embrace” (Line 17), and Burns eventually conflates the beauty of the flowers around him with Mary herself. When describing Mary’s death, Burns writes, “But Oh! fell Death’s untimely frost, / That nipt my Flower sae early” (Line 22-23). Burns uses the metaphor of winter killing plant life to explain Mary’s death. The metaphor compares Mary to a flower by virtue of their mutual beauty, transience, and frailty. Persisting in this comparison, Burns also refers to the paleness of Mary’s once “rosy” (Line 25) lips. The recurring flower imagery is symbolic of the beauty and short lifespan of Burns’s lover.