Ashley MS A1907

1. 'Tristram of Lyonesse II. The Queen's Pleasance'; [1881?]. Draft of ll. 86-131, written on one side only of two octavo leaves of white laid paper (ff. 90, 92), and on both sides of a third (f. 91). Of these, ff. 91 and 92 are conjoined. Watermark 'Joynson / 1871'. The final text found in the MS. differs from that printed on pp. 44-45 of the first edition by five lines and nine individual words, while one line has a different word order. In addition, l. 105 is not found in the MS., while ll. 113 and 114 were added later on f. 91a. In a letter to W. T. Watts[-Dunton] dated 15 Oct. 1881 Swinburne says 'I am well into the second book or canto of your Tristram . . .' (Tristram of Lyonesse and other Poems is dedicated to Watts[-Dunton]). ff. 90, 91-92.

2. 'Quia Nominor Leo'; 1882. Fair copy, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper, watermarked 'J Allen & Sons / Superfine / 1879'. Part II of the poem was added later, the date 'Jan. 1882' at the foot of part I being deleted and rewritten at the foot of Part II. The MS. is entitled 'Quia nominor Leo'. The text found in the MS. is identical with that printed on pp. 226-227 of the first edition. In l. 10 'Rome' is interlined above deleted 'heaven'. First published in the Fortnightly Review for Feb. 1882. f. 93a.

3. 'Adieux à Marie Stuart'; [1880-1882?]. Early draft of sections III and V, written on both sides of an octavo leaf of white laid mourning paper. Watermark '[ ] & Sons / [ ]0'. Section III occupies f. 94a, and section V f. 94b, on which side are also cancelled notes for the rhyme scheme of the sections. Section III appears to have been originally numbered '5' and section V to have been numbered '4'. The final text found in the MS. differs from that printed on pp. 239-241 of the first edition only by two words. In a letter to William Bell Scott dated 17 April 1882 Swinburne says 'I have taken leave of the Queen whom my forefather rode . . . to welcome with homage on her landing from Solway Firth, in some verses which I hope you will like when you read them in my new volume . . .' (C. Y. Lang, Swinburne Letters, iv, 1960, pp. 267-268). This would seem to suggest a date of 1882 for the MS., but in the penultimate stanza of the poem Swinburne says that he took Mary's praise up 'twenty years ago'. His earliest work devoted to Mary was Chastelard, and in the 'Note on the Character of Mary Queen of Scots' first published in the Fortnightly for Jan. 1882 he states 'In the last year of my life as an undergraduate I began my play of Chastelard' that is to say, in 1860 or the last months of 1859. The 'Note', which deals with much the same subject as the poem, seems to have been written in 1881. ff. 94, 94b.

4. 'Twins'; 1881. Part of a fair copy, of which stanzas 1 and 2 only remain, written on one side only of a fragment, 177 x 168mm., torn from a folio leaf of blue laid paper. Watermark figure of Britannia. The MS. contains several revisions. The leaf has evidently been torn after the fair copy was written. The MS. is entitled 'Twins' in another hand, but there is a note in Swinburne's hand 'Written & copied out for WMR. Thursday morning April 28 1881.' The final text found in the MS. is identical with that printed on p. 247 of the first edition. On the other side of the leaf (f. 95b) is an anecdote in Swinburne's hand concerning Bertie Mason, the nephew of W. T. Watts[-Dunton], entitled 'Advice to Mothers', together with pencil notes on the story, also in Swinburne's hand. Part of these are lacking as a result of the tearing of the leaf. ff. 95, 95b.

5. 'A Child's Pity'; [1880?]. Draft, written on one side only of two quarto leaves of white laid paper. No watermark. The final text of stanzas 1-3 and 7-9 found in the draft differs from that printed on pp. 262-263 of the first edition by eleven words. Stanzas 4 and 5 are cancelled in the MS., and differ considerably from the printed text, although they have the same sense. Stanza 6 or an equivalent is not found in the MS. Immediately following l. 1 are nine cancelled lines which represent an abandoned earlier version of the poem, having an entirely different metre and rhyme scheme. In a letter to Mrs Molesworth dated 14 Nov. 1884 Swinburne states that the incident related in the poem occurred four years earlier. ff. 96a, 97a.

A1907 also contains extraneous material in the form of a fragment of a letter from Swinburne to Norman MacColl, [March 1877]. The fragment is printed in C. Y. Lang, Swinburne Letters, iii, 1960, p. 296. ff. 98, 98b.

includes:

• ff. 90, 91-92 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Tristram of Lyonesse II. The Queen's Pleasance', lines 86-131, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1881?]: Autogr. draft.
• f. 93 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Quia Nominor Leo', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1882: Autogr. fair copy.
• ff. 94, 94b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Adieux à Marie Stuart', sections III and V by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1880-1882?]: Autogr. draft.
• f. 95 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Twins', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1881: Autogr. fair copy of stanzas 1 and 2.
• f. 95b Bertie Mason, alias Herbert; nephew of W T Watts-Dunton: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Anecdote, 'Advice to Mothers', by Algernon Charles Swinburne rel. to Bertie Mason: [1881?]: Autogr. draft. Imperf.
• ff. 96, 97 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'A Child's Pity', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1880?]: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 98, 98b Norman MacColl, Editor, 'The Athenaeum': Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Letter to Norman MacColl from Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1877]: Imperf.