03/09/2026
"This book was the first bought by me after my escape from slavery" - the words penned inside a copy of "The Works of Robert Burns" by Frederick Douglass, who 1838 escaped from slavery in Maryland, going on to become renowned American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. In 1867 he presented the book to his son Lewis, writing on the flyleaf: "To Lewis H Douglass from his affectionate Father Fred Douglass Oct. 15. 1867."
Frederick Douglass arrived in Ayr as part of a tour of Scotland to garner support for the abolitionist cause, in April 1846 and he wrote to abolitionist Abigail Mott: "It is famous for being the birthplace of Robert Burns, the poet, by whose brilliant genius every stream, hill, glen, and valley in the neighborhood have been made classic.""Scarcely a stream but has been poured into song, or a hill that is not associated with some fierce and bloody conflict between liberty and slavery."
Frederick Douglass, after returning to the US, spoke at a Burns Supper, where he said: “I repeat again, that though I am not a Scotchman, and have a colored skin, I am proud to be among you this evening. And if any think me out of my place on this occasion (pointing at the picture of Burns), I beg that the blame may be laid at the door of him who taught me that ‘a man’s a man for a’ that.’”
Frederick Douglas wrote of Robert Burns “The elements of character which urge him on are in us all, and influencing our conduct every day of our lives. We may pity him, but we can’t despise him. We may condemn his faults, but only as we condemn our own. His very weakness was an index of his strength. Full of faults of a grievous nature, yet far more faultless than many who have come down to us in the pages of history as saints.”
