Script for the Video:

Trance Poet & Mayflower Descendant Lizzie Doten-a Supernatural Thread of Art & Robert Burns's Poetry

What Is a Trance Poet?

A trance poet is someone who composes or delivers poetry while in an altered state of consciousness, often believing the words are inspired or communicated by spirits or other unseen forces. In the nineteenth-century Spiritualist movement, trance poets such as Mayflower descendant Lizzie Doten claimed to serve as channels through which the spirits of deceased individuals could express themselves.

Script:

Trance Poet and Mayflower Descendant Lizzie Dotten and a Supernatural Thread of Art and Robert Burn’s Poetry

To kick off the season, we’re going to follow a supernatural thread through Robert Burn’s work and influence that intersects with poetry and art. Robert Burns was a literary giant whose impact has lasted beyond the years of his life.

We’ll begin with Tam o’ Shanter, one of his most famous supernatural poems and how Tam O’Shanter was reimagined through illustration, engraving, and painting.

Then we’ll take that supernatural thread one step further through Mayflower descendant Lizzie Doten, a nineteenth-century trance poet and Spiritualist, who claimed that Burns himself inspired poetry through her from beyond the grave.

Robert Burns was one of Scotland’s greatest poets, born in 1759. He wrote in both Scots and English about ordinary people, love, freedom, humor, hardship, and Scottish life. His best-known works include Auld Lang Syne — pronounced ‘old lang zine’ — and Tam o’ Shanter.

And it is Tam o’ Shanter that begins our supernatural thread.

In the poem, Tam stays out drinking too long and rides home through a storm. Along the way, he comes upon Alloway Auld Kirk, an old ruined church in Scotland.

Inside, he sees a supernatural gathering: witches and warlocks dancing while the Devil plays the bagpipes.

Tam watches from outside, completely fascinated by what he sees. One of the witches, Nannie, is dancing in a very short shift or chemise, which Burns calls a ‘cutty-sark.’

Tam gets so carried away that he suddenly shouts, ‘Weel done, Cutty-sark!’ — essentially cheering her on.

That one outburst gives him away.

The witches immediately turn on him and begin the chase. Tam races toward a bridge because, according to the folklore in the poem, supernatural beings cannot cross running water.

He escapes, but Nannie manages to grab his horse and tear off its tail.

That dramatic scene was later visualized by the English artist John Masey Wright.

Wright lived from 1777 to 1866 and became known for turning literature into dramatic visual scenes. He illustrated works by Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, and other major writers.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy and later became a member of the Watercolour Society. His work is represented today in major institutional collections, including the British Museum.

Wright created a composition for The Witches’ Dance in Tam O’Shanter, and Samuel S. Smith engraved it for publication in Allan Cunningham's The Complete Works of Robert Burns.

An 1839 impression of this exact composition is held in the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection.

The Mayflower Descendants Museum holds an 1842 impression of the same image.

It appears to be quite rare; so far, we have not been able to locate another 1842 impression online.

We also have another one of his compositions from the same poem of Tam trying to get away from the witches on his horse, Meg.

Then now we come to another figure in the Museum’s collection: the mysterious Charles Winter.

In 1851, Winter painted The Witches’ Dance in Tam o’ Shanter.

He painted it after John Masey Wright's illustration for Burns' narrative poem Tam o'Shanter. But Winter himself remains much more difficult to trace.

Very little about his artistic career appears to have survived, and only four of his artworks are known to exist. Three are portaits and found in NYC in the Brooklyn museum and this is the fourth his only known scenic composition.

The Mayflower Descendants Museum now holds both the earlier 1842 engraving and Winter’s 1851 painted interpretation, having two together like this gives us a unique opportunity to study them together.

And now we take that supernatural thread one step further.

Decades later, Burns appears again in a very different part of our collection through Lizzie Doten.

Doten was a nineteenth-century poet, lecturer, trance speaker, and Spiritualist from Plymouth, Massachusetts. She was also a Mayflower descendant.

In her 1863 book, Poems from the Inner Life, Doten said that some of the poetry she delivered came under what she believed was direct spirit influence.

She described herself as being ‘like a harp in the hands of superior powers,’ saying that these unseen intelligences supplied the inspiration while she gave it voice.

And she spoke specifically about Robert Burns.

Doten wrote that ‘The influence of Burns was pleasant, easy, and exhilarating,’ and said that it left her in a cheerful mood.

She also described him, as she experienced him in spirit, as genial and kind with a love of simple truth.

Two poems in her book are explicitly identified as having been given under the inspiration of Robert Burns.

One is For A’ That.

In that poem, the voice reads almost as though Burns himself is speaking from the afterlife with his dialect represented. The poem reflects on suffering, justice, mercy, and Heaven.

At one point, the speaker says that Heaven is now his home, making the poem feel very much like Burns speaking from beyond the grave.

The second poem is Words O’ Cheer.

That one reads more like Burns speaking back to the living, offering comfort and encouragement to people dealing with grief, hardship, and sorrow.

These supernatural connections will be shared soon in the Museum for people to look at further along with the poetry from Burns during his life and his afterlife representation by Doten.

Historical Clarifications:

• Illustration vs. Painting: John Masey Wright's depiction of The Witches’ Dance in Tam o’ Shanter originated as an illustration, which Samuel S. Smith translated into an engraving. Charles Winter later created his 1851 oil painting based on Wright's composition.

• The Bridge in Tam o’ Shanter: Tam races toward a bridge spanning running water because, according to the Scottish folklore reflected in Burns's poem, supernatural beings cannot cross running water. It is the water beneath the bridge—not the bridge itself—that provides protection from the pursuing witches.