The Original Manuscript of The Battle of Sherramuir
Dissatisfied with the first published version of the song, Burns revised and re-wrote it sometime after 1790. The revised version was published after his death by his editor, James Currie M.D. in The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns: With Explanatory and Glossarial Notes; And a Life of the Author (1800). It is the revised version of the song, published by Currie, that is regarded as the definitive version of the song.
Until recently, the source used by James Currie to publish the revised version of the song was unclear. Equally, the academic, James Kinsley did not disclose the source for his analysis of the differences between the original and revised definitive version. In July 2007, however, the original manuscript containing Burns' revisions and amendments re-surfaced in the manuscript collection of the renowned Swiss manuscript collector Albin Schram. The manuscript was included as one of the most significant items in the auction of the Albin Schram Collection of Autograph Letters at Christie's in London which took place on 3 July 2007. The manuscript was acquired by an anonymous collector.
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