An exploration and history of the verses "The Hermit," "written on a marble-sideboard, in the hermitage belonging to the Duke of Athol, in the wood of Aberfeldy," printed in many mid Victorian editions as being by Burns (cf. Hogg-Motherwell, 1834, II: 48; Egerer, p. 167, item 365b), but generally rejected by later Burns editors, charting a number of earlier occurrences, and identifying the original (non-Burnsian) source. On-line only from the Glasgow AHRC project/Centre for Robert Burns Studies.