^tLIBRARY<9/^ ^lumm-Q^^ ^0FCAIIF0%, ^OFCAIIFOR)^ ^/?AHVH8n-^>J'J<' «^/?JiHv«an-^^ ,5j\FUNIVERS//i vvLOSANCEl %JI1VJJ0^ '^iJOdllVDJO'^ ^^ilJDNVSOl^ v/^a3AINn3WV -^tUBRARYOr, ^0FCAIIF0M(>, ^iotwitlistandin^-. after considerable misgiving, the writer has essayed it, and in folloAving the footsteps of his illustrious countiyuian, Kobekt Burns, from the cottage of his l)irth to the scene of his death and burial, he has called attention nol only to tlie rich natural beauty oi' the \arious districts celebrated by the residence and muse of the Poet, but also to their historical and traditional associations, and to passages in his life and Avritings inseparably connected with them. Having done this, and pointed uut numerous interesting objects, he lays no claim to originality, and a&[)n'es to no higher merit than that of having gathered a posy of other men's flowers and bound it together with a string of his own. in a manner, he fondly hopes, that Avill interest the reader and make it a not un- worthy contribution to the thought-gemmed literary cairn already raised to the memory of the Peasant Poet. A. K. A. 7 Glencaikn Sqltake. Kilmarnock, August, 1879. CONTENTS. Page. CHAPTER!., 1 On the Road to Ayr — The Daisy — Scenery in the Vicinity of Kilmarnock — Craigie Castle — Barnweil Hill — Symington — The Cradle-Land of Burns — The Bramble — A Peculiarly Situated Monument — A Ludicrous Adventure — Monkton. CHAPTER IL Monkton — Its Ruined Oliurch— A Nephew of Robert Burns — The Graveyard and its Memorials — Governor Macrae's Grave — The Story of his Life — A Fortunate Family — "Captain Macrae" — Musings — The Manse — "Lang, Lang Syne." CHAPTER IIL, 19 From Monkton to Ayr — Scenery — Orangetield — James Dalrymple— A Worthy — "The Pow Brig" — Prestwick Kirk and Burying Ground — Interesting Memorials— Prest- wick — Historical Notes — Kingcase Well and Lazarhouse— A Tradition of King Robert The Bruce. CHAPTER IV., 27 Ayr, its Appearance, Trade, and Antiquity — Its Chai'ters, Privileges, Wall, and Castle — The Barns of Ayr — The •Burning of the Barns and Massacre of the English — ' ' The Friar's Blessing " — The Castle Destroyed by Bruce and Rebuilt by the English — Taken by the Townspeople — The Religious Houses of Ayr — The State of Society in Ayr at the Reformation — The Pest — The Fort — Cromwell's Ti'oops —Martyrs. Vlil. C O N T E N T > . /'aye. CHArTEK v., 3« Newton-upon-Ayr — The Constitution of the Burgh — The Church and its Pastors — The Auld and New Brigs of Ayr- Was Burns a Prophet ?— The High Street of Ayr— The Site of the Tolbooth— The Old Church and Graveyard— Provost Ballantyne — Robert Aiken — Heroes of "The Kirk's Alarm " — The Martyrs' Stone — A Curious Epitaph — Daft Kab Hamilton. CHAPTER VI., .V2 The Wallace Tower — The Tam o' Shanter Inn Droutliie Cronies — Scenery in the Vicinity of Ayr — The Chapman's Ford— "The Meikle Stane " — The Cot in which Burns was Bom — Its Appearance and Desecration — Its Erection- - When and How it was turned into a Public-House — Miller Goudie — Curran's Visit— ^Vhat Keats had to say about " The Flunimary of a Birthplace " — The First Burns Club. CHAPTER VII.. - - - (u From "The Cottage" to Mount Oliphant — The Appear- ance of the Steading— Gossip, etc. — Privations Endured by the Parents of Burns when Residing at Mount Oliphant - The Poet's First Sweetheart— The Flitting—" The Festival". .on the Banks of the Deon— Alloway Kirk— A Legend— The Grave of the Poet's Father— Old Stones. CHAPTER VIII., H.-? The Monument nn tlie Banks ut Doon— Its External and Internal Appearance— Relics of the Poet — Highland Mary's Bible— Scenery— The Statues ©f Tam o' Shanter and Souter Johnny— The Scheme for Erecting the Monument and how it Originated— Laying the Foundation Stone— Mr. Boswell's Address, etc. CHAPTER IX.. ^1 The Hotel and Shell Palace— The Auld Brig o' Doon- The New Brig and its Petition— View from the Heights in its Vicinity— Newark Castle— Greenan Castle— The Return Journey. C O N T E ISr T S , IX. CHAPTEfl X., 99 From Kilmarnock to Coilsfield — Eiccarton Graveyard — An Eccentric Miser — A Burns Worthy — Craigie Road — Scargie — Howcommon — A Good Joke — Scenery — The Farm of Lochlea and Crannog — The Old Dwelling-House and New Barn— The Death of the Poet's Father— Wild Flowers— The River Ayr — Failford, etc. CHAPTER XI., Ill The Entrance to tlie Domain of Coilslield — Goilstield Mains — King Coil's Grave and what was found in and near it — The Castle o' Montgomery — ' ' Highland Mary " — "Highland Mary's Thorn " and Associations — From Coils- field to Tarbolton— The Village— Burns— An Old Inn— The Debating Club and Dancing School — The Old Hall, etc. CHAPTER XII., 125 Hoodshill — An Ancient Custom — The Scene of " Death and Dr. Hornbook" — "Willie's Mill" — Grannie Hay's Recollections of Burns and the Miller's Wife — A Souvenir of their Friendship — Tarbolton Church and Churchyard — The Village Smithy — A Walk to Tollcross and its Object — " Brother Burns "—Fail Castle— The Friar— The Warlock Laird and his Cantrips — Adam Hill — Home Again. CHAPTER XIII., 138 Kilmarnock — A Glance at its History, Progress, and Appearance — Kilmarnock House — The Lady's Walk — Burns in Kilmarnock — Friends, and Places Associated with his Name— The Town of his Day— The Laigh Kirk— The Churchyard— The High Church— " Black Jock Russell" and Burns — The Soulis Monument — "Wee Johnie " — The Kay Park — The Burns Monument. CHAPTER XIV., 158 From Kilmarnock to Mossgiel — Notes by the Way — Mossgiel — A Noisy Reception — The Dwelling-House — The Spence — An Interesting Relic — The "Mouse" and "Daisy" — John Blane's Recollections — The Old Dwelling-House — The Poet's Study— The Scene of "The Vision "—The Poet's Personal Appearance and Misfortunes when in the Farm. CONTENTS. Pa-ji:. CHAPTEil XV., 168 Mauchline— The Rise aud Progress of the Box-makiiig Trade— Nanse Tannock's House— The House in which Bums lived after his Marriage— Gavin Hamilton's House- The Parish Church— The Kirk-Yard— The Holy Fair— John Doo and Poosie Nansie— The Public Ureen and Martyrs' Stone : A Word about them— An Anecdote of Burns aud Jean Armour — The Auld Manse and who was seen in its Haunted Room — The Haggis. CHAPTER XVI., 185 Ballochmyle— The Braes— The Lass o' Ballochmyle— Her Account of Meeting the Poet— Burns' Seat— The Poet's Letter to Miss Alexander— Apologies for her Silence— The Bower— Caught by the Gamekeeper— Catrine— An Excur- sion Party— The River Ayr— Ballochmyle Bridge— Haugh — Barskimming Brig— "Man was made to Mourn"— The Railway Station— Back to Kilmarnock. CHAPTER XVII., 194 From Kilmarnock to Newmilns— The Ayrshire Hermit— Loudoun Kirkyard and Ruined Church— The Queir— Lady Flora Hastings — The Scottish Milkmaid — Galston— Loudoun Castle— The Old Castle— Loudoun Manse— Dr. Lawrie and Burns— Loudoun Hill— Newmilns— The Old Tower— The Parish Church and Churchyard. CHAPTER XVIIL, 216 From Kilmarnock to Dumfriesshire— Notes by the Way — Auldgirth and its Scenery— The Hotel— On the Road to Dumfries— Gossip— The Banks of the Nith— Friar's Carse— Friendships of Burns— "The Whistle "—The Hermitage and its Associations. CHAPTER XIX., - 233 Ellisland, its Situation, Appearance, and Associations- Burns as an Exciseman — His Antipathy to the Office— His Humanity, Hospitality, and Industry— The Poet's Favourite Walk— The Composition of " Tam o' Shanter"— The Wounded Hare— The Isle— Holywood Past and Present — Lincluden Abbey. CONTENTS Page. CHAPTER XX., 249 Dumfries— The Old Bridge— Greyfriars' Monastery — The Castle — A House iu which Burns Lived— High Street — The Globe Inn and its Associations — The House in which Burns Died. CHAPTER XXL, 257 The House in which Burns Died— His Circumstances and Last Illness— Goes to Brow— His Anxiety for the Welfare of his Family— An Affecting Anecdote— The Poet's Return to Dumfries— The Anxiety of the Inhabitants— Jessie Lewars— His Death and Funeral — The Family of Bums — The Exemplary Life of the Poet's Widow— Sale of House- hold Effects. CHAPTER XXII., 267 St. Michael's Churchyard— The Erection of the Mauso- leum—The Disinterment of the Poet's Remains — Phreno- logical Description of his Cranium— The External and Internal Appearance of the Mausoleum — Inscriptions— A Grandson of the Poet — Burns' Connection with the Dum- fries Library — Concluding Remarks. ^Embk0 tltroitgh the ^m\b of ^urn^. C H A P T E E I . On the koad to ayr — the daisy— scenery in the vicinity of Kil- marnock — CRAIGIE castle — BARNWEIL HILL — SYMINGTON — THE CRADLE-LAND OF BURNS — THE BRAMBLE — A PECULIARLY SITUATED MONUMENT — A LUDICROUS ADVENTURE — MONKTON. Intent upon a pilgrimage to tlie cottage wherem the immortal poet, liobert Burns, first saw the light, and the interesting places in its immediate vicinity, I left Kilmarnock one beautiful summer morning before its inhabitants were stirring, and having crossed the Irvine by the new bri^ige at Eiccarton, held onward, regardless of " the lang Scots miles" which lay between me and the goal of the journey. Nature was newly waken from the slumber of night — the sun poured its exhilarating rays from the radiant east, and in its strength was quickly dispelling the vapoury mist which hung over the river and floated hizily across the fields, as if reluctant to depart and allow the god to quaff the pearly drops of dew which decked the grass and' hedges. A solemn stillness — which was occasionally broken by the distant lowing of caitle and the chirrup of a lightsome bird — pervaded the scene, for the village was wrapt in slumber, a slumber fated soon to be broken by the deep-Loned bell in the church spire calling the labouring poor to renew the turmoil of life. As the gate of the domain which surrounds Capringtou Castle was neared the scene became m r^' romantic and grand, for the estate of Treesbank, with iis mi'.uor-house peering from. EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. the bosom of its woods, came in view, as also Craigie Hill and the rugged chain of eminences running east. At Peace- and-Plenty the miners were preparing for toil, and several smoked their pipes Avith a gusto which showed how they enjoyed the beauty of the flowers which decked the little plots in front of their dwellings, and the glorious sunlight which the burrowing nature of their employment would shut from their gaze. One sturdy fellow gifted me a " posey," but its radiant gems Avere not so dear to my heart as the simple daisies and buttercups which grew by the dusty wayside and spangled the fields in its vicinity — for, as I trudged along, they were scattered here and there in little clusters, and nodded in the breeze as if courting attention. The daisy has ever been a favourite with poets and children. Chaucer in his cjuaint Avay tells that he loved it, and Wordsworth does the same, but ]\Iontgomery sings of it so sweetly that a stave or two from his address deserves quoting : — " This small flower to nature dear, While moon and stars their courses run, Wreathes the whole circle of the year, Companion of the sun. " It smiles upon the lap of May, To sultry August spreads its charms, Lights pale November on its way. And twines December's arms. " The purple heath, the golden broom, On moory mountains catch the gale, O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume. The violet in the vale : *' But this bold flow'ret climbs the hill, Hides in the forest, haunts the glen, Plays on the margin of the rill, Peeps round the fox's den. " Within the garden's cultured round It shares the sweet carnation bed, And blooms on consecrated ground In honour of the dead. " The lambkin crops its crimson gem. The wild bee murmurs on its breast, The blue fly bends its pensile stem That decks the skylark's nest. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. " 'Tis Flora's page in every place, In every season fresh and fair, It opens with perennial grace, And blossoms everywhere. " On waste and woodland, rock and plain, Its humble buds unheeded rise ; The rose has but a summer's reign. The daisy never dies." Like other Avild flowers, the daisy was a favourite with Burns. In the one that " died to prove a poet's love " on the farm of Mossgiel he saw his own fate poi'trayed. " Even thou who mourn'st the daisy's fate, That fate is thine — no distant date ; Stern Ruin's ploughshare drives, elate, Full on thy bloom. Till crushed beneath the furrow's weight Shall be thy doom." It may be added that botanists class the " bonnie gem " in the order of compositm, or composite-flowered plants, because each head or gowan is composed of a cluster of distinct but minute flowerets, each of which consists of a single petal — a fact doubtless which will astonish many young readers ; but let them, when next out for a ramble, pluck one, and it will be found that none " But He that arched the skies, And pours the dayspring's living flood, Wond'rous alike in all He tries. Could raise the daisy's purple bud, " Mould its green cup, its wiry stem. Its fringed border nicely spin. And cut the gold embosstid gem. That set in silver gleams within. " Then fling it unrestrained and free, O'er hill, and dale, and desert sod, That man, where'er he walks, may see At every step the stamp of God." About a mile beyond the miners' dwellings referred to the road rises over an eminence named Spittalhill, and as the pedestrian nears the summit he has a capital view of Kilmar- nock and its surroundings, and also of a vast track of country along the ceast — indeed, I was so much charmed with the prospect that I leaned on a fence and earnestly gazed on the RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. tranquil landscape unmindful alike of tlie fleeting moments and the melody of a skylark wliich rendered the air musical with its morning lay. Beyond the height a long vista of road came in view, but before entering it I paused beneath the shade of a gigantic -willow which casts its broad arms over the roadway, and admired the rhododendrons and laurels. and their more majestic companions — the larch and spruce firs, which line the pleasant drive to Coodham House, the lesidence of W. H. Houldsworth, Esq. The fragrance was delightful, but the trees bending over the monotonous stone wall by the side of the footpath seemed to beckon me to their shade, and I hastened onward. Beyond Bog- end Toll the country opens up, and on the summit of an eminence called Barnweil Hill the Wallace Monument stands boldly out from a belt of wood ; while to the north, in a hollow near some rising ground, the ruin of Craigie Castle raises its shattered form on the plain. It was long the residence of a branch of the Wallace family, but on their removal to the castle of Xewton-upon-Ayr it gradually got out of repair, and its sculpture-dfckeii halls ultimately succumbed to the ravages of time and decay, and now, with the exception of two gables and some portion of side walls, vaults, and ramparts, it is one mass of weed-covered debris. A stone, bearing a curious heraldic device, was found amongst the ruins some years ago, and may be seen in the wall of an out-house on the adjacent farm. It is well worth the attention of the curious, and the necessary devia- tion from the highway will be amply repaid. The Wallaces of Riccarton and Craigie were a family of •considerable note in Ayrshire, and being a l^ranch of that which gave birth to " The Knight of EUerslne." Burns makes mention of it in a stanza of " The Vision," when referring to Sir John Wallace, a memorable lord of the domain, who was second in command at the b ittle of Sark : — " His country's siviour, mark liim well : Bold Richardton's heroic swell. The Chief on >Sark. who glorious Ml In hi.h command ; And he whom ruthles-s Fates expel His native land." This hero, although borne from the Hell s: -verely wounded, BAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. died of his wounds in the Castle in the 59th year of his age, and his body is interred in the now almost forgotten family- vault in Craigie churchyard. The hill on which the monument stands is said to derive the name of Earnweil, or Burnweel, from the circumstance of Sir William Wallace laconically remarking — " The barns o' Ayr burn weel," as he paused in his flight on its summit to view the flames he so dexterously raised. An excellent view of Ayr is obtained from the site of the monument, but unfor- tunately for the tradition the district bore the descrij^tive Celtic term Barnwiel, or Barnwield, long before the days of Wallace — therefore, as the author of Tlie History of the County of Ayr pertinently remarks, the statement is nothing more than "an unsupported vulgar tradition." Beyond " the half-way" — as a roadside public-house and favourite halting place between Kilmarnock and Ayr is termed — I passed the road leading to Symington, a seques- tered commercially-forgotten village which nestles beneath the shade of some old trees a short distance from the high- way. The little place possesses a curious old church and burying-ground of considerable historic interest, but other- wise calls for little notice. A mile beyond Symington the road makes a sudden descent, and the pedestrian unexpectedly encounters an excellent view of the cradle-land of Burns — indeed, I stood enraptured and mutely gazed on the scene. Away in the distance lay the hills of Carrick — hills on whose brown bosom it may be safely inferred the boy-poet sported, and " pu'd the gowans fine," for it Avas under their shade he first saw the light. More near, and " in a sandy valley spread," Ayr nestled among green fields and patches of woodland, interspersed with gentlemen's residences, near the broad- bosomed Frith, at a point where it bends into a fine bay. As my eye wandered over the delightful scene, it rested on the Castles of Kewark and Greenan, and ultimately on the ruggedly grand heights of Arran, behind which, there is little doubt, the bard of Coila often watched the red sun go down, and that too after having industriously plied the flail on the threshing floor, or followed the plough on the braeside of Mount Oliphant. After enjoying this imperfectly-described scene, I renewed 6' RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. the journey, and having passed the plantation which encircles the mansion-house of Eosemount, reached a wood-fringed pasture field in which a herd of Kyle cows were con- tentedly browsing. There was nothing remarkable in the scene, so far as the cattle were concerned, but a monument of an ancient weather-beaten appearance, partly concealed among trees on a neighbouring height, excited my curiosity to such a degree that I determined to examine it, and for that purpose entered a traffic-worn path in proximity to the wood in which it was embowered. The wild roses with which the hedge was decked, and the bramble bushes trailing their long prickly stems on the grass, looked luxuriant, and called to mind the joyous days of boyhood and the well-known lines of Ebenezer Elliott, which I give out of genial sympathy with their spirit: — THE BRAMBLE. " Thy fruit full well the school-boy knows, Wild bramble of the brake ! So, put thou forth thy small white rose ; I love thee for his sake. Though woodbines flaunt and roses glow O'er all the fragrant bowers, Thou need'st not be ashamed to show Thy satin-threaded flowers ; For dull the eye, the heart is dull, That cannot feel how fair, Amid all beauty beautiful, Thy tender blossoms are ! How delicate thy gaudy frill ! How rich thy braiichy stem ! How soft thy voice, when woods are still, And thou sing'st hymns to them. While silent showers are falling slow. And 'mid the general hush, A sweet air lifts the little bough Lone whisjjeriug through the bush ! The primrose to the grave is gone. The hawthorn flower is dead, The violet by the moss'd grey stone Hath laid her weary head ; But thou, wild bramble ! back dost bring, In all thy beauteous power. The fresh green days of life's fair spring. And boyhood's blossomy hour. Scorn'd bramble of the brake ! once more Thou bidst me be a boy, To gad with thee the woodlands o'er In freedom and in joy." RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, When near the plantation I opened a field gate, held along the side of a tall hedge, and entered a beaten track running zig-zag among the trees. It was an " eerie " place, for the solitude was only broken by the rustling leaves and dry grass under my feet, and the occasional flutter of a startled bird ; but I held ou, and soon reached the object of my search, which proved to be a massive pyramidal block of masonry surmounted by an urn, and embellished with Corinthian pillars and emblematic devices. Being void of an inscription, there is nothing to tell its purport, but I afterwards learned that it covers the burying place of the Dalrymples of Orange- field — a now extinct family — and was erected in 1748 to commemorate ex-Governor Macrae, a gentleman whose curious history forms the subject of another chapter. After examining the pile, I found my way to the verge of the plantation, vaulted a fence, and traversed a field, as it appeared to be the most convenient mode of reaching the highway. ISTear its centre, I paused to examine a ruined pigeon-house, v/hich serves in its wrecked state as a shelter for cattle — a circumstance of which I had ample proof, for a cow rushed out as I was about to enter, and nearly upset me in its hurry. I am not altogether certain as to whether the animal or myself was most frightened, but, if anything, the balance of terror was in my favour — for, in the excitement of the moment, it was mistaken for a sulphurous individual with whom it is not safe to have dealings. However, I soon recovered, and without further adventure reached Monkton — a humble agricultural village, containing no object of interest beyond its ruined ivy-mantled church and grass-covered burying ground ; but if its commercial prosperity had equalled its antiquity, then it would have been a busy place indeed. So early as 1163 the church and village were in existence. In that year the church and lands were, along with the church of Prestwick, gifted to the monastery of Paisley by Walter, the son of Allan, first High Steward of Scotland, and lord of the northern portion of Kyle. Monkton then bore the name of Prestwick, but shortly after coming in the hands of the friars it was termed Presticick Monaclwrum. In course of time, however, the name again changed, and it began to be called " Monktoun," from the circumstance, as many suppose, that a religious RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. liouse existed in the village. But it is not altogether certain that such was the case, for no reference is made to it in any work on the monastic institutions of Scotland, nor does the oldest inhabitant remember of seeing or hearing of the ruins of any building which tradition averred the monks occupied. However, it is nevertheless probable that the Abbot of Paisley would have a bevy of the brotherhood stationed in the district to superintend the possessions of the institution and to look after the interests of mother church ; for it is a "Well-known fact that they were well acquainted with agricul- rure and the construction and management of corn-mills. There is nothing of interest connected with the village, and the parochial registers (which only date back to the beginning of last century) throw no light upon its history ; but it is evident that hard drinking and moral lapses were the besetting sins of the inhabitants somewhat less than a century ago. Tliis is not at all surprising, how- ever, when it is known that along the whole Ayrshire coast smuggling was extensively carried on, and that Monkton was a noted seat of the contraband trade. The suppression of a traffic fraught as it was with such immoral tendencies, was as great a blessing to the people of Monkton as it was to the inhabitants of every town and village engaged in it. In course of time its pernicious influences were entirely removed, and the villagers of to-day, as a rule, are both sober and industrious. The population last census amounted to 467, but from the appjearance of the hamlet one would scarcely think it so large. The parishes of Monkton and Prestwick have been united since the beginning of the seventeenth century, but the object of the union cannot at this date be ascertained with any degree of certainty. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. CHAPTEE 11. MONKTON — ITS RUINED CHURCH — A NEPHEW OF ROBERT BURNS — THE GRAVEYARD AND ITS MEMORIALS — GOVERNOR MACRAES GRAVE — THE STORY OF HIS LIFE — A FORTUNATE F^lillLY — " CAPTAIN MACRAE" — MUSINGS — THE MANSE — "LANG, LANG SYNE." MoNKTON is eight miles from Kilmarnock and four from Ayr, and the weather-beaten thatch-covered buildings which constitute the village line both, sides of the liighway. Upon entering its street, I was struck by its quaint appear- ance, and more so by the picturesque, ivy-clad, ruined church which stands in a grass-covered burying place by the wayside. After avadiug myself of the hospitality which a village inn affords, I turned my attention to it ; but although I rugged and tugged at the rusty iron gate guarding the entrance, it refused to yield, and in a quandary I began to look round. The next best apparent means of entering the sacred enclosure was by scaling the wall, and this I was in the act of doing when a villager drew my attention to an avenue a little farther down the road in which she stated a wicket would be found which would open to the touch. Following her directions it was soon discovered, and also the fact that the residence of the parish minister nestled in a secluded nook at the end of the shady path. Passing throufdi the wicket, I reverently trod on the resting places of "the rude forefathers of the hamlet," and approached the ruined sanctuary adorning the centre of the little Golgotha. The polished ivy clung to the tottering walls, and clasped the stones with its sinewy-like tendrils, as if desirous of binding them together and Avarding off the assaults of time and decay. The modest building appears to have been dedicated to Saint Cuthbert, but when or by whom it was erected is un- known. Blind Harry mentions it in his metrical biography 10 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. of Wallace as the building in which the hero had a wonderful vision, which he narrates with considerable minuteness. In making mention of Monkton church, Chalmers, the celebrated antiquary, says: — "In 1227 Walter, the Bishop of Glasgow, made an ordinance respecting all the churches belonging to the monks of Paisley, within his diocese, whereby it was settled that the vicar of the Church of Saint Ciithbert should have, in the name of vicarage, six chalders of meal yearly, with the alterages In Bagimont's roll, as it stood in the reign of James V., the vicarage of Monkton was taxed £4, being a tenth of the estimated value." At the Eeformation, when church property was very liberally sliced up and divided. Lord Claud Hamilton, the commendator of Paisley, obtained a grant of the patronage of Monkton Church and its tithes, along with other property which belonged to the monks. The old bell hanging in the western gable of the ruin is not only a curiosity, but evidences the Eomish origin of the structure. It bears the following in raised letters: — "sancte cuthbeuti ora pro nobis" (Saint Cuthbert pray for us), but no date. Although this relic has done duty for many centuries, it has not rested from its labours, but may be heard any Lord's day summoning the villagers to the house of prayer. After the parishes of jMonkton and Prestwick were united, Monkton church was looked upon as the parish church proper, but the clergyman of the united parishes preached every third Sabbath in that of Prestwick. In 1834 both churches were suppressed by the Court of Tiends, and authority granted for the erection of a new church equally distant from both places. When this was done the structures were gutted and unroofed, and left to the mercy of the elements. The Eev. Thomas Burns, son of Gilbert, the poet's brother, was the last clergyman who officiated in the old church of Monkton. He was tutor to Sir Hew Dalrymple of North Berwick, and afterwards minister of Ballantrae. For a series of years he so ably discharged the ministerial duties of ]\lonkton that the parishioners still remember and speak of him with the utmost respect. He came out at the Dis- ruption, and was for some time minister of Portobello Free Church, In conjunction with Captain Cargill and others, RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 11 he projected a Free Church settlement in Otago, 'New Zealand, and sailed from Greenock in the end of 1847 as minister of the first body of settlers. He afterwards became minister of the Scottish Church in Dunedin, and died there in the 75th year of his age, on the 23rd January, 1871, leaving a widow with one son and six daughters. From the ruin I turned my attention to the heaving turf around it, and while wandering among the long grass here and there " Eead auld names on aukl grave stanes Grown grey in the auld kirkyard." The majority of the unassuming memorials are comparatively modern, and merely record the fact that the sleeper lived and died — but what of that 1 " Can storied iirn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death ?" Two stones with semi-obliterated inscriptions bear date 1608, but the most ancient has the following in yet legible characters : — " Here lys yin vary honrible mon, Davit Blair of Admontoun, spous to Marget Hamiltoun, quo DECEsiT, Sep., 1577." This relic was discovered buried several feet beneath the sward. It is now reared against the back gable of the old church, and forms not the least of the many curious objects to be met with in its vicinity. When strolling through the tangled grass I stood on the hard turf which covers the dust of tlie once affluent and somewhat famous James Macrae, a favourite of fortune, who, from a state of the most abject poverty, rose to the high position of Governor of the Presidency of Madras. No stone marks his resting place, nor was there at any time anything to protect his grave from desecration. It is situated close to a tombstone to the memory of an individual named Bryden and within a dozen paces of the manse offices, and about the same distance from the wicket which serves as a back entrance to this obscure place of sepulture. Some years ago a sexton met with the defunct Governor's coffin when scooping out a grave, and plundered it of its leaden casing, but in justice to the callous individual it may be stated that the silver plate 12 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. on the lid was delivered up and handed to the Sheriff of Ayr, who, in his turn, handed it to the representatives of the deceased. In the previous chapter a monument to the memory of this remarkable personage is referred to ; but now that mention of his grave is being made, a brief sketch of his life may be appropriately introduced, for its incidents are not only singular, but go a great way to prove that truth in many instances is stranger than fiction. The date of his birth is unknown, but it is generally supposed that he was born about the close of the reign of merry King Charles, and that he was the son of a poor widow who resided in a thatched cot- tage in the vicinity of Ayr, and earned for herself and boy a miserable subsistence by washing v.nd doing other odd work for her well-to-do neighbours. The pittance thus earned was occasionally increased by odd coppers which her son picked up by looking after cattle, running errands, and such like. "While thus employed, and while knocking about in an Arab- like condition, he became acquainted with a Hugh M'Quire,* a jobbing carpenter, and an accomplished player on tlie fiddle, whose musical talent was highly appreciated by the " honest men and bonnie lasses" of the district, for to the strains of his instrument they delighted to whirl on the liglit fantastic toe. This man took a fancy to the boy, and, although poor, put him to school and acted the part of a father towards him for some considerable time. This guardianship would have continued had the protege not been caught in the pardonable offence of pilfering apples from an orchard and severely punished by the authorities. The disgrace being more than his proud spirit could bear, he no sooner obtained liberty than he stowed himself away on board an outward bound ship, and for forty years never set foot in " the auld toon,"' nor, 'it is believed, held any communication with his friends. The events of his seafaring life must for ever remain unknown, for nothing can be ascertained about him until thirty years • Next to nothing is known of tUs individual. Mr. Jolin Shaw, attorney of the High Court of Justiciary, IMadras, considers liini to have been tlie husband ot Isabella Gairdner, a daughter of Macraes mother's brother ; while Mr J- Talboys Wheeler, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the CoUege ot Madras distinctly states, in his "Annals of James Macrae," that he was the husband of Macraes sister. Another writer-the late Dr. Norman M'Leod-states that he was his stepfather ; but the popular opinion is that he was no relation whatever. However, it is a matter of little importr.nce RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 13 after he had so suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from his native place. Then he is referred to in the records of the Madras Government as Captain Macrae, and from this it is surmised that he had risen to be master of a vessel engaged in the trade of that country and had sailed between China, Sumatra, and Pegu. However, by some means he got into the good graces of tlie government of his adopted country a,nd was sent to the West Coast of Sumatra to reform abuses which prevailed in an English settlement. This he did to such good purpose that he effected a saving of £25,000 a year, and remlered services by executing reforms which pro- mised to greatly increase the amount. For this display of business tact he was appointed Governor of Port St David, and shortly afterwards (1724) second member of Council at Fort George. On the l8th January, 1725, the washer- woman's fiitherless boy took his seat as Governor of the Madras Presidency, whicli was at that time, and for half a century afterwards, the chi(;f British settlement in India. The proceeding is thus recorded : — "Monday, 18th January, 1725. — The President, James Macrae, Esq., opened this consultation by telling the Board that as tliis was the first time of their meeting since his taking the chair, he thought it would not be improper to acquaint them with his resolutions, of which the principal was that he would prosecute the Company's interest to the utmost, and endeavour to remove the abuses that had crept into the management of their affairs. He added that he was determined not to interrupt in any manner the commerce of the place ; but that all the inhabitants, both whites and blacks, the free merchants as well as the Company's servants, should have free liberty of trade, anil that he should expect the same freedom from interruption in whatever he should undertake ; that he would endeavour to be as agreeable to the gentlemen as any of his predecessors, but that he was deter- mined to m^aintain the privileges and immunities belon^inc to the President ; and he concluded by saying that he expected a ready assistance from them in the pursuit of the above resolutions, which was accordingly promised." During his tenure of office the trade of the place prospered beyond all precedence, nothing being too insignificant or too arduous for his attention. In 1731, having amassed a vast 14 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. fortune, Governor Macrae sailed for England, and upon his arrival in Ayr sought out his benefactor, " Fiddler M'Quire," and from him learned that his mother had been dead for a considerable time.* The fiddler and his family were in very poor circumstances, and to relieve his immediate necessities his old protege gave him XIOO. The joy of the musician and his better half was unbounded, and to celebrate the event she purchased many delicacies, amongst which was a loaf of sugar and a bottle of brandy. When the banquet was spread, the solid mass of sugar was scooped out and the hollow filled with the generous liquor, which they supped with spoons until they became " owre a' the ills o' life victorious," and soothingly sank on the floor into the arms of Morpheus. Having no heirs, and being gratefid for the kindness bestowed upon him when a boy, Macrae resolved to elevate the fiddler and his family. With this object in view he pur- chased Drumdow, a small estate in the parish of Stair, and presented it to his early benefactor, and afterwards sent his family — a son and three daughters — to the best boarding school he could find. In 1733 he was admitted a burgess of Ayr, and is styled in the records — " James IMacrae, late Governor of Madras." In 1734 he presented the city of Glasgow w^ith the handsome equestrian statue of King William which still adorns its Cross. It is well worth the attention of the visitor, for on its pedestal a long Latin inscription will be found which concludes thus — " PosuiT Civis Stennuus et Fidus Jacobus Macrae, Collonij: Madarassianae Expraefectus. m.d.ccxxxv." This statue cost £3000, which says much for the Governor's admiration of " William of Immortal j\Iemory." It may be also stated that the two old guns which protrude their rusty muzzles out of the causeway at its base blazed at the Battle of the Boyne, and were handled with deadly effect by the " Protestant Boys." In 1736 the old veteran purchased the estate of Orangefield, and in 1739 that of Ochiltree. The latter cost £25,000. The same year he purchased and conveyed to James M'Quire, the fiddler's son, the barony of Houlston, on the condition * I am inclined to think, from the time Macrae had been away, that the indi- vidual on wliom he sliowered his wealth was a son of the violinist, for it is probable that his old friend had paid the debt of nature before Ms return, or he must have married a young woman very late in life. EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BUKNS. 15 that he ever afterwards assumed the name Macrae. The fiddler's three daughters were considered handsome. Eliza- beth, the eldest, was married to William, thirteenth Earl of Glencairn, and. received from the Governor as dowry the estate of Ochiltree and .£45,000. The old gentleman took a deep interest in this match, but being seized with a severe illness before its consummation he sent for his medical adviser and inquired if he could keep him alive until the nuptials were performed. The doctor replying that he could not promise, Macrae raised himself in bed and exclaimed passionately — " Then d you and all your drugs !" He did live, however, for the marriage took place in 1744, and he did not die until 1750. This marriage did not prove happy, for it turned out that the Earl admired his wife's wealth more than her person, and it is supposed that the twittings he received from his equals about her humble birth heightened the dislike. Upon one occasion Lord. Cassillis made some taunting allusions to his wife's origin, and concluded by remarking that he wondered that he so far forgot himself and his rank as to marry a fiddler's daughter. Without the least show of anger at the insidt, the Earl coolly said — " Yes, my lord ; and one of my father-in-law's favourite tunes was ' The Gipsies cam' to Lord Cassillis' yetfc.' " The repartee was pointed, for it will be observed that it referred to a frail but famous Countess of Cassillis who eloped with a gipsy named Johnny Eaa. It is said that the Earl purchased the estate of Kilmarnock with his wife's dowry, and formed the fine street bearing his name. James, the second son of the above marriage, became four- teenth Earl of Glencairn in 1775, and died unmarried in 1791. It was he who befriended the poet Burns, and it was on his death that the bard wrote the cek'1)rated lament which concludes with the pathetic lines: — " Thou found'st me, like the morning sun, That melts the fogs in limpid air ; The friendless bard and rustic song Became alike thy fostering care. " Oh ! why lias worth so short a date ? While villains ripen grey with time ; 16 RAMBLES THUOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. Must thoTi, the noble, generous, great, Fall in bold manhood's hardy prime ! Why did I live to see that day ? A day to me so full of woe ; Oh ! had I met the mortal shaft Which laid my benefactor low ! " The bridegroom may forget the bride Was made his wedded wife yestreen ; Tlie monarch may forget the crown That on his head an hour has been ; The mother may forget the child That smiles sae sweetly on her knee ; But I'll remember thee, Glencairn, And a' that thou hast done for me !'' Margaret, the second daugliter of " Fiddler I^I'Quire," married in 1749 James Erskine of Barjarg, advocate. He was elevated to the bench as one of tlie Lords of Session in 1761, and took the title of Lord Tiuwald. His wife's dowry- was expended in the purchase of the estate of Alva. Macrae M 'Quire, the third daugliter, was married to Charles Dal- rymple, Sheriff-Clerk of Ayrshire, and received from the Governor as dowry the estate of Orangelield and a handsome sum of money. At the death of tlie fiddler's son, the estate of Houlston devolved upon his son, " Captain" John Macrae. He walked not in the footsteps of his father, for he was known in fashion- able circles as a libertine, bully, and professional duellist ; and had ultimately to fly the country fur the killing of Sir George Eamsay of Edinburgh in the settlement of an affair of honour. A story is told which aptly illustrates the char- acter of the man. A servant having committed a mistake, in an outburst of passion he struck him a violent blow in the face. " Were you my equal," said the menial indignantly, " I'd make you smart foi- that." " Wouhl you T' replied Macrae with a scornful sneer. " I Mould," answered the man. " Oh, very well, if it's boxing you mean I'll give il to you to your heart's content ; but renn iii'"m-, you mustn't hit me on the face." i'liis was agreed tu, a,i i b(ith retired to a secluded part of the ganlen, where they fought with much bitterness; but the bully, tin'th ane sadyl, brydyll, gak, steyl bannet, and ane slot stafj'or ane pow ax, suerd, and buckler." RAMBLES THROITGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 23 ■were privileged to elect annually a provost, two bailies, a treasurer, and several councillors, to grant franchises to several trades, and to hold a weekly market, as also a fair on the 6th of December, the feast of St. Nicholas, the patron of the burgh. The records extend as far back as 1470, and throw con- siderable light upon the history of the place, and more especially upon privileges enjoyed by freemen, but lengthy extracts would be out of place here. The original number of freemen is still kept up, but the freeholds have decreased, and at this date do not exceed 700 acres. It is almost needless to add that the privileges so long enjoyed with immunity are now valuable only on account of their antiquity. The cottages skirting the highway have a remarkably tidy appearance, and look so snug with their gardens and flower- plots that town folk are almost tempted to break the tenth commandment by coveting their neighbour's house. The good people of Prestwick, however, render the violation unnecessary by offering to let apartments for a given term, as numerous little cards peering from the folds of snow-white window cur- tains testified. The locality, if not the most picturesque, has at least the advantage of being salubrious, for the children were rompish and rosy, and every countenance beamed Avith health. Eeaching new Prestwick, which is just a continuation of the old village, I was thoughtlessly piTshing onward when the words " Kingcase Cottage " caught my eye. Surely, said I, the ruins of the lazarhouse and the well, whose waters were so potent to cure leprosy, must be at hand. Turning into a rugged unkept road on my right, I tapped with my stick at the door of a humble cottage. After some delay a woman made her appearance, and with the frankness of an old acquaintance informed me that the well and the " pickle ruins," as she termed the remains, lay on the brae face behind her dwelling ; but lest I should not conveniently find them, she singled out a boy from a group engrossed in a game of marbles to be my guide. He proved a nimble chap, for he darted round the corner of the house and led the way up a steep wire-fenced path until he came to an opening. " There," said he, pointing to an old well and a pile of stones lying in a field to the west. " There, there it's," and before I could 24 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. either tender thanks or oifer a gratuity, darted off at the top of his speed to continue the game of "knuckle down." Find- ing myself alone I approached the "vvell, which is ahout a stone-throw from the path referred to, and found it enclosed ■with rude masonry, Stepping down to its brink I drew a drinking cup from my coat pocket, and lifting a dripping bumper of the pure liquid, heroically drank to the memory of King Eobert the Bruce, for tradition tells how that monarch was cured of a leprous disease by imbibing its waters. The draught proved cool and of excellent quality, but the flavour was greatly enhanced by the addition of a little brandy and a snack of bread and cheese. From the well a dozen paces brought me to the " pickle ruins," or, in other words, the meagre remnant of Kingcase Hospital. As a ruin it is of no interest, and only con- sists of a portion of a side wall and some loose masonry, amongst which dock-weeds and long grass luxuriantly flourish. Finding nothing worthy of attention t sat down on a portion of the grass-covered foundation and began to gaze from the elevated position upon the village and fertile district beyond. No tree or shrub adorns the site of this ancient institution or relieves the monotony li the scene in its immediate vicinity. The soil all around is composed of dry loose sand, upon which it is difiicult to walk ; but, notwithstanding its barren appearance, a great portion is under cultivation and excellent crops are raised upon it, as was evident from the fine grain, waving in more than one field on the occasion of my visit. " At Kilcase, which is now called Kincase or Kingcase, on the coast of Kyle, in the Parish of Prestwick," says Chalmers, " there was founded an hospital for leprous persons, which was dedicated to St. Ninian. Tradition relates that the founder of this establishment was King Eobert Bruce, who ■was himself afflicted with leprosy, the result of hard fare, hard living, and hard Avork. This hospital was endoAved with the lands of Robertloan, which is now called Loans, in Dundonald parish, with the lands of Sheles and Spittal Sheles, in Kyle- Stewart, and with other lands which cannot now be specified. As the foundation charter of this hospital does not exist, it cannot be ascertained what number of persons were originally maintained in it. It appears, however, to have been governed hj a guardian or prioi', and it had a chaplain. In the reign EAMBLES THEOUGH THE LAND OF BUENS. 25 of James II., "Wallace of I^ewton acquired the lands of Spittal Sheles -whicli belonged to this hospital, as the name implies, and the hereditary keeper or governor of the hospital and lands belonging to it. In 1515-16 all these were resigned by Hugh Wallace of I^Tewton in favour of his brother Adam, After the whole property of this hospital was thus granted away, the only revenue that remained to it was the feu-duties payable from the lauds, in this manner granted in fee-farm ; and these, amounting to 64 bolls of meal and 8 merks (Scots) of money, with 16 threaves of straw for thatching the hospital, are still paid. For more than two centuries past this diminished revenue has been shared among eight objects of charity in equal shares of eight bolls of meal and one merk (Scotch) to each. The leprosy having long disappeared, the persons who are now admitted to the benefit of this charity are such as labour under diseases which are considered incur- able, or such as are in indigent circumstances. The right of appointing these belonged to the family of Wallace of Craigie for a long time, and was purchased about 1790 [in 1787] by the Burgh of Ayr, which still retains this patronage. The old hospital, which existed in the better days of this charity, has long been in ruins. In the description of Kyle by Eobert Gordon, in the reign of Charles I., he mentions the chapel of this establishment, and says that the persons admitted to the charity were then lodged in huts or cottages in the vicinity." Eeference is repeatedly made to Kingcase Hospital in the records of the Burgh of Prestwick. From these it is evident that leprosy was much dreaded, every precaution being taken to keep the inmates apart from the general community, and fines and imprisonment were in many cases inflicted upon persons brought before the " burro court " for visiting the institution. When the building became ruinous is not exactly known. From the following entry in the above-mentioned records it appears to have been tenanted fo late as 1740 : — " 24th May, 1740. — William Alexander, in King's-case, applys for the liberty of a yeard as now inclosed by their allowance formerly, and a piece oi ground for the house he presently possesses southward to the Coall road. The freemen allow the same during his life, and allow the same to Elizabeth Shearer, his spouse, in case she survive him, and live in the 26 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. hospital of Kingcase altenarly ; for which they agree to pay two shillings sterline yearly." There is a popular juvenile tradition connected with King- case well, which states that King Eobert the Bruce when afflicted with leprosy wandered about the country. When. skulking in the neighbourhood of the then very small village, it avers, he thrust the shaft of his spear into the sand and lay down beside it to rest his weary limbs. Having slept some time he rose to resume his wanderings, but when he withdrew his weapon to his surprise a stream of pure water issued from the indentation. Kneeling, he drank copiously, and shortly thereafter became whole. Attributing the cure to virtue in the water, and wishing others to par- ticipate in its benefits, he built and endowed the hospital, and also as a mark of royal favour erected the village into a burgh, and endowed it with the track of land lying between the Pow Burn and the river Ayr. The tradition may be taken for what it is worth, as also the popidar idea that the hospital was founded by Bruce ; but it is just probable that it existed before his day, for Blind Ilarry tells how Sir William Wallace and his uncle, Sir Eanald Crawford, made a halt at it when on their way to Ayr to attend "the Black Parliament." From the ruin, and tradition-hallowed well, I returned to the wire-fenced path and followed its course to the highway. Prom New Prestwick to Ayr the road runs in an almost straight line, studded here and there with neat cottages and comfortable, capacious mansions. Numerous pedestrians and vehicles passed and re-passed, and several pleasure-seekers from Kilmarnock drove along in holiday glee, and at Tarn o' Shanter speed. Holding on the even tenor of my way, I soon reached the outskirts of Ayr, and at "Tam's Brig " stopped to dust my travel-stained boots and apparel before entering Newton. The bridge referred to crosses a line of railway, and from it one commands a fine view of the county town and its environs. But here I will take leave of the reader, and devote next chapter to a descriptive and historical sketch of the town of Ayr. RAMBLES THROIJGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 27 CHAPTER IV. Ayr, its appearance, trade, and antiquity — its charters, privileges, wall, and castle — the barns of ayr — the burning of the barns and massacre of the english — "the friar's blessing" — THE CASTLE DESTROYED BY BRUCE AND REBUILT BY THE ENGLISH — TAKEN BY THE TOWNSPEOPLE — THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES OF AYR — THE STATE OP SOCIETY IN AYR AT THE REFORMATION — THE PEST — THE FORT — CEOMWELL'S TROOPS — MARTYRS. Ayr nestles in a beautiful valley at. the mouth of the river Ayr, and has a harbour which, in early times, ranked amongst the first ports in Scotland. Of late years it has been improved and deepened, and on its north side a spacious dock, capable of accommodating vessels of heavy tonnage, has been con- structed. The burgh may be said to include IN'ewton and Wallacetown, for all three are under the same local govern- ment, connected by bridges, and included in the same Parlia- mentary constituency. The streets are clean, well built, and for the most part spacious; but its trade, which consists of engineering, shipbuilding, agricultural implement making, plumbing, iron and brass founding, tanning, brewing, and other crafts, is not carried on with any degree of spirit, for its business to a considerable extent depends upon the residence of persons in easy circumstances, and it may be added, upon the thousands of visitors who annually flock to view scenes which the memory and genius of Robert Burns have rendered famous. The population last census amounted to 17,954. The town contains twelve places of worship — viz., four Established, three Free, two United Presbyterian, one Evan- gelical Union, one Episcopal, and one Roman Catholic — and the educational requirements of the community are superin- tended by an efficient School Board. That a settlement of some kind occupied the site of the town of Ayr in prehistoric times is more than probable, and 28 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. that it was a Eoman station is evident from the fact that relics of that wonderful people have been discovered embedded in the soil in and aroiand the town, and also that a road of their construction has been traced from Kirkcudbright to its very centre ; but those wishing further information on this point had better consult the third volume of Chalmers' Caledonia. " There are manifest indications," says the Statistical Account, " that the whole of the lower part along the sea coast from river to river (Ayr and Doon) has been the scene of some great struggle in which the Eomans and the natives were combatants, and that probably in more than one conflict. Throughout the whole of this spacf Roman and British places of sepulchre are found, with Roman armour, swords, lances, daggers, and pieces of mail and brazen camp vessels intermixed with British urns of rude baked clay, hatchet and arrowheads, and other implements of warfare used by the Caledonians." In what form the town existed at that period cannot now be ascertained, but one thing is certain, that although often remodelled, it has witnessed in some shape or other three great eras in the history of our country — viz., the Roman invasion, the war of independence, and the struggle for civil and religious liberty. The charter erecting Ayr into a royal burgh was granted by William the Lion on the occasion of his having built what he terms his new castle of Ayr. The deed conferred extensive property and many important privileges upon the burgh, but when it is considered that the district was an almost impregnable forest at the period, the gift appears the reverse of munificent. Alexander II. confirmed this charter, and in addition to his father's grant, bestowed the lands of Alloway on the burgh, and conferred on the burgesses tlie right of acquiring such portions of land as they might clear of timber, at the rate of twelve pennies yearly for every six acres. Alexander III. frequently held court at Ayr, and from this it may be inferred that it was at that period an important town. To guard against freebooters and the assaults of more deadly foes, it was protected by its castle, and by a strong wall on the east and south, and the sea and river on the north and west. Lord Hailes supposes the castle to have been erected to check the incursions of the men of Galloway, and probably the wall was built for the same purpose. But RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BtTRNS. 29 both had to withstand the assaults of more determined foes — more so the castle, for it was the main point of attack in time of war. It is said to have been stormed by the Norwegians under Haco, but it is more certain that it and the town were occupied by the English during that critical period of Scot- tish history, when the usurper, Edward I., held every town and fortress in the kingdom. According to Blind Harry, Wallace performed some daring and almost improbable ex- ploits in Ayr, but the most noteworthy was the burning of the Barns, a retributive act that the English merited for the treacherous murder of his uncle (Sir Eanald Crawford) and other Scottish nobles. Although Lord Hailes has questioned the truth of this event, yet the veracity of the blind minstrel regarding it has been sufficiently attested by other writers of a less prejudiced disposition, and on that account a brief notice of the transaction is appended. The Barns of Ayr are supposed to have been granaries for the storage of the produce of farms cultivated by the burgh tenantry. That such buildings existed in Ayr is sufficiently attested by the burgh records and by the fact that stacking was but little resorted to by our forefathers and that it Avas customary to store the harvest in buildings for the purpose. From the text of Blind Harry, however, the Barns in question appear to have been a kind of temporary barrack of one apartment for the accommodation of that portion of the English garrison to whom the limits of the castle could not aiford quarters. A kind of parliament, or " justice an-e, to which Sir William Wallace and the leading Scottish nobles were invited, was ordered to be held in the Barns on the 18th June, 1297. They flocked to the place of meeting on the day appointed, but the treacherous English had matters arranged so that every visitor Avas seized and strangled the moment he entered. In the language of the minstrel — " No Scot escaped that time who enter'd in. Unto the baulk they hang'd up many a pair'; Then in some by-nook cast them there. Since the first time that men did war invent To so unjust a death none ever went. ' Thus to the gods of their cruel wrath They sacrificed the Scots and broke their faith ; Such wickedness, each Christian soul must own. Was ne'er before in all the world known. 30 RAMBLES THROUGH THB LAND OF BURNS. Thus eighteen score to death they put outright, Of barons bold and many a gallant knight ; Then last of aU, with great contempt and scorn, Cast out the corpse, naked as they were born," By a fortunate mishap Wallace did not arrive in Ayr until late in the day, hut he had no sooner done so than he was hailed by a Avoman and informed of the foul butcheries at the Barns. He was overwhelmed with indignation at the tidings, and wept when he learned that his uncle and other relatives and friends had been ignoniiniously slain. Burning with revenge, he bade her farewell, and rode to Langlane Wood in the hope of meeting with a band of followers in its recess. In this he was not disappointed, but his joy knew no bounds ■when at dusk he again descried the female who accosted him in Ayr at the head of a band of trusty burgesses, and heard that the English soldiery were rioting and drinking in the Barns in all the recklessness of fancied security. A council of war being held, it was decided that the town should be entered at mid- night, and that tbe Barns and every house in which any por- tion of the enemy resided should be given to the flames. As a preliminary arrangement, the woman and a burgess were sent to chalk the door of every house in which Englishmen dwelt. Twenty men afterw^ards fastened them with ropes ; but while they were so engaged Eobert Boyd of Kilmarnock, at the head of fifty men, passed stealthily into the town and lay in ambush near the castle gate to prevent the garrison issuing forth. The arrangements being complete, Wallace, at a given signal, appeared on the scene, and with a reserved force of two hundred and fifty men surrounded the Barns, and in a twinkling had them and every marked house in the town in a mass of flame. The scene was appalling, but the minstrel's description is so graphic that it deserves quoting — " The buildings great were all bum'd down that night; None there escaped, squire, or lord, or knight, When the great roof-trees fell down them among— O such a sad and melancholy song ! Some naked burnt to ashes all away, Some never rose, but smother'd where they lay ; Others attempting to get to the air, With fire and smoke were burnt and chocked there. Their nauseous smell none present could abide ; A just reward; for murder will not hide. EAMELES THROUGH THE LAND OF BUENS. 3t With sorrow thus, and many a grievous groan, They languish'd till their sinful days were gone. Some sought the door, endeavouring out to get, But Scotchmen them so wisely did beset, Out of the burning flames who ever got Immediately were cut down on the spot, Or driven back with fury in the fire : Such wages got these hangmen for their hire." As the flames shot up and illumined the district, the inmates of the castle threw open the gate with the idea of assistin'f their fellows and the townspeople to subdue the fire, but they had no sooner done so than Eoyd " Won the port and entered with all his men," and put every southerner to the sword before their con- sternation and confusion were allayed. Among the religious houses that existed in Ayr at the period was that of the Black Friars. In it " seven score Southron loons" had taken up their quarters, but the instant the prior learned Avhat was "being transacted at the Barns and throughout the town, he armed himself and brethren and slew his unwelcome guests as they slept. The affair was ever after referred to as " the friars' blessing." According to Blind Harry, 5000 Englishmen perished by fire and sword that night. The awful revenge taken by Wallace did not go unpunished, however, for Edward sent down 4000 men to chastise him and recapture the castle. After a desperate struggle this was accomplished ; but the triumph was brief, for shortly after the event the English were compelled to evacuate this stronghold, being as unable to hold it as they were every other jjlace of strength in the country. In 1299 this castle was held by Bruce, but when forced to retreat before the overwhelming force marching westward to attack him, he burnt it, as that was the only available means of preventing it falling into the hands of the foe. The English, however, deeming it an important stronghold, had it speedily rebuilt, and in spite of all opposition occupied it xintil the decisive battle of Bannockburn, when it was, along ■with other fortresses, surrendered to the victorious Scotch. After the battle of Halidon Hill, it again fell into the hands of the English, but the lads of Ayr, led on by their Sheriff; 32 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. surprised the garrison, and put every Southron to the sword. At this date no vestige of the building remains, and its exact site is somewhat uncertain, but it is generally agreed that it stood behind the present academy, and was swept away by the revolutionizing Cromwell. Besides its castle, Ayr possessed in early times a church and two religious institutions. The first was dedicated to St. John. It had four altars, eight chaplains, and a bevy of monks. In it the Parliament was held which fixed the succession to the Scottish throne on the family of Eobert the Bruce ; but despite this and its consecration, Cromwell in after years turned it into an armoury, and ultimately puUed it down to make room for a fort. Its tower still stands, but is so incorporated with other buildings that it is not easily distinguished. The institutions referred to have completely worn out of the traditional mind, but their positions have been pretty accurately ascertained. One was the Monastery of Domin- icans or Black Friars, and was founded in 1230 by Alexander II. It was possessed of considerable wealth, and frequently received gifts from royalty, especially from James IV. and v., who often visited Ayr ; but its coff'ers were oftener replenished by individuals of less note. For instance, it is stated in the History of the County of Ayr that the lands of Dankeith, in the parish of Symington, belonged to the Dominican friars. This appears from a curious document among the records of the burgh bearing date 4th May, 1411. It is termed — " Ane testificat, witnessing that a noble and worshipful man, Allan Lander, gave in perpetual almonds the lands of Dalnkeith to the friars preachers of Ayr, for the soul of umql, Allice Campbell, his wife, and for the souls of his jDOsteritie, for continued prays of the friars, and for the anniversary of the said Allice, and that the same was honesthe and reverentlie done." When suppressed, nearly the whole property of this house was inherited by the burgh. The other institution was the Monastery of the Franciscan order of Grey Friars, founded by the inhabitants of Ayr in 1472. It also received royal patronage, and was celebrated for a statue of the Virgin IMary — at whose shrine the halt, the blind, the maimed, and the diseased were miraculously cured. When vast wealth, and consequent sensuality, rendered RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 33 the clergy and the laity of the Eomish church intolerable, the social revolution which ensued convulsed Ayr as much as it did every other town in the kingdom. The people, how- ever, although sufficiently daring to break away from the thraldom of the jNIother Church, were at first rather unwilling to submit with any degree of meekness to the rigour of the new faith, and the charge of " wicked " which Burns brings against the town was more than merited at the period. Howie, in his life of John Welch, its first Protestant minister, states that that " worthy " found it in a very wicked state when he first came to it — " so wicked that no one would let him a house to dwell in." " The place," he goes on to say, '' was so divided into factions, and tilled with bloody conflicts, that a man could hardly walk the streets w^ith safety ; wherefore Mr. Welch made it his first under- taking to remove the bloody quarrellings, but he found it a very difficult work ; yet such was his earnestness to pursue his design, that many times he would rush betwixt two parties of men fighting, even in the midst of blood and wounds. He used to cover his head with a head-piece be- fore he went to separate these bloody enemies, but would never use a sword, that they might see he came for peace and not for war, and so, little by little, he made the town a peaceable habitation. His manner was, after he had ended a skirmish amongst his neighbours, and reconciled these bitter enemies, to cause a covered table to be put upon the street, and there brought the enemies together, and beginning with prayer he persuaded them to profess themselves friends, then to eat and drink together, then last of all he ended the work with singing a psalm. And after the rude people began to observe his example, and listen to his heavenly doctrine, he came quickly to such respect amongst them, that he became not only a necessary counsellor, without whose counsel they ■would do nothing, but also an example to imitate." That society in Ayr was in a very disturbed state long after that period is fully borne out by the session books and town records. Street brawls, wife- beating, and drunkenness were of frequent occurrence, and the Sabbath was looked upon as a day of recreation, and people were continually lapsing into the habit of working, buying, selling, and playing at games on that day, but the session stamped out the practices by c 34 EAMBLES THKOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. summary and severe ptmishments. During the ministry of the Eev. Mr. "Welch, the plague or pest, as it was termed, visited the county, and, the better to guard the town against infection, the Magistrates ordered the gates to be closed and closely watched, so that infected persons might be kept out. One day a brace of packmen presented themselves and de- manded admittance. The Magistrates being called, sent for Mr. Welch to obtain the benefit of his counsel, but he promptly told them to send the men away for they had the plague in their packs. This was afterwards verified, says the account, for in Cumnock where they disposed of their goods " such an infection was kindled that the living were hardly able to bi;ry the dead." Notwithstanding precautions adopted, the pest entered the town, but its ravages were more severely felt in after years. In 1610 it is estimated that 2000 persons died of it. and upon another occasion the population was so far reduced by it and famine together that the town was in a measure depopulated. After the battle of Dunbar the troops of the Common- wealth occupied Ayr, and upon its churchyard and some sixteen acres of adjacent ground built a regular fortification (the fort alluded to), with a fosse and an esplanade, which was considered one of the most complete works of the kind in the kingdom. At the Eestoration the whole was dis- mantled and gifted in 1G63 to Hugh, seventh Earl of Eglin- ton, in consideration of Jus father's services (!) during the usurpation. In 1681 it Avas purchased from that noble family by the magistrates of Ayr for the town, but was re-purchased by the same house and a distillery erected within it in 1734-. It afterwards came into the hands of the Culzean family. It is now the property of John Miller, Esq., an enterprising gentleman, who has feued out the grounds and transformed the castle into a handsome residence. A considerable portion is now traversed by streets and terraces of elegant villas, and when the whole is built upon the locality Avill be a fashionable and populous suburb of the old and much-respected town. Although these changes have taken place, a considerable portion of the citadel remains, and fragments of its massive walls are still to be seen. There is a current tradition that Cromwell demolished Ardrossan Castle and shipped the stones to Ayr to aid in the EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 35 construction of the fort. This is prohable, and partly borne out by the fact that a considerable portion of that castle has been removed by some means and for some purpose. " During the Cromwellian period, and while the troops of the Commonwealth garrisoned the fort," says James Paterson in his history of the county, " the session records bear ample evidence that, in morals at least, the soldiers were by no means puritanical. They appear to have arrived in Ayr in 1G51 • There are innumerable instances of Sabbath breaking and uncleanness on the part of Cromwell's troops. One entry records the fact of an English soldier having been scourged through the streets for adultery." During the attempt to force Episcopacy upon the people of Scotland the lads of Ayr stood nobly to the front, and boldly maintained the tenets of civil and religious freedom, and that with their lives, for many suffered martyrdom ; but the sentences of eight were considered so unjust that the hangman fled in dismay, so utterly horrified was he at the idea of having to execute guiltless men. To fill his place the Irvine executioner was applied to, but he stedfastly refused to put the men to death, and although dragged to Ayr and placed in the stocks, and threatened with death, he would not be j)re- vailed upon to perform the odious task. One of the con- demned, however, was tempted by the offer of a free pardon to execute his companions ; " but he," says WoodroAV, *' would have refused at the last had he not been kept partly intoxicated." Beyond the stirring events of early times there is little connected with Ayr calling for particular notice. The advance of the rebel army in 1745 created considerable excitement amongst the inhabitants, and proved their loyalty to the house of Hanover. The Eadical movement also made some stir, but the troops held in readiness to preserve law and order in the event of a rising awed the malcontents, and they never engaged in anything save a war of words. Since then Ayr has been in a measure remodelled, and prosperity has been its constant attendant. 36 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. CHAPTER V. NeWTON-UPON-AYR — THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BURGH — THE CHURCH AND ITS PASTORS — THE AULD AND NEW BRIGS OF AYR — WAS BURNS A PROPHET ? — THE HIGH STREET OF AYR — THE SITE OF THE TOLBOOTH — THE OLD CHURCH AND GRAVE- YARD—PROVOST BALLANTYNE — ROBERT AIKEN— HEROES OF "THE kirk's • ALARM " — THE MARTYRS* STONE — A CURIOUS EPITAPH — DAFT RAB HAMILTON. The situation of I^ewton-upon-Ayr is not striking, nor is its neighbourhood remarkable for beauty. Although con- taining a population of 4686 souls, and forming part of the Parliamentary burgh of Ayr, it has few manufactures and little traffic, and as to its buildings, they are of such a com- mon-place description that a rambler might stray through its streets without harbouring a Avish to linger on his way. The constitution of the burgh, however, is of some interest on account of it being only paralleled by Prestwick, but when it was created cannot, at this date, be ascertained with certainty, its original charter being lost. ^Notwithstanding this, tradition states, and the freemen affirm, that the lands were conferred by Eobert the Bruce upon forty-eight individuals who dis- tinguished themselves at the battle of Bannockburn. This may, or may not have been, but it is certain that the privileges enjoyed by the burghers in early times were re- newed by a charter from James VI., which empowered the ■community — as the forty-eight participators are termed— to " Ye ninth part o' a man." The following humorous fragment of this satire is remembered by a vener- able friend of the writer who knew Eab and appreciated his drollery : — " Once upon a time a tailor neat an' fine Spied a louse on his left shouther bane; He took up his sliears and clippit off its ears ; The louse gi'ed a roar, an' the tailor took the door ; KAMELES THROUGH THE LAM) OF liUBIJS. 51 But he cam hack wi' speed when he thocht the louse was deid: Hit it owre the back wi' an elwand, An' the tailor drew stitch again, again. Noo the tailor being crouse that he had killed a louse. Jumped up an' doon the floor, up an' doon the floor, Crying — 'I kill a louse, I kill a louse,' And what can a poor tailor do more ?" "Blackguard Jamie Jellie," as another of Eab's rhymes was styled, was composed on a small grocer who attempted to raise the price of meal during a period of great scarcity, hut un- Ibrtunately it is irrecoverable, as also " Oswald's Cavalrie," a strain composed in praise of the deeds of the Ayrshire Yeo- manry, who were at the time under the command of Oswald of Auchincruive. The poor demented creature's life was a hard one. He preferred to roam about and pick up a precarious livelihood rather than submit to the restraint of the poor- house. The foxes had holes and the birds of the air nests, but Kab had no lixed place of residence ; he slept anywhere, and was in every sense of the word a child of chance. One night he might pass in a stable among straw, another in a hay-rick, or out of the way corner. Some days he fared sumptuously, and picked up many savoury scraps, and occasional waughts o' "sour yill," but there were others again when he scarce broke his fast. He was the only child of an excise officer, and was " born with a want." His father died when he was a stripling, and his mother — to whom, it is said, he was ardently attached — died some years afterwards. After the latter event there was no one to look after him, and he became a homeless wanderer, going hither and thither through the country as fancy directed. After a contemplative ramble through this highly inter- esting churchyard, I passed through its quaint-looking porched gateway, and continued my journey. EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. CHAPTER VI. -The WALLACE TOWER — THE TAM O' SHANTER INN — DROUTHIE CRONIES — SCENERY IN THE VICINITY OF AYR — THE CHAPMAN'S FORD — "THE MEIKLE STAKE " — THE COT IN WHICH BURNS WAS BORN — ITS APPEARANCE AND DESECRATION — ITS ERKCTION — WHEN AND HOW IT WAS TURNED INTO A PUBLIC-HOUSE — MILLAR GOUDIE — CURRAN'S VISIT — WHAT KEATS HAD TO SAY ABOUT "THE FLUJVIMARY OF A BIRTHPLACE" — THE FIRST BURNS CLUB. The name of Wallace appears to be greatly revered by the people of Ayr, for a little above Kirk Port, at the corner of a lane leading to the Ducat stream — as a ford referred to in " The Bri^s of Ayr " is termed — there is a handsome Gothic tower one hundred and thirteen feet high to his memory. It is a striking object ; but the lank, ungainly figure of the hero, peering from a niche in its front, is a decided failure as a work of art, for it has a closer resemblance to an inebriated individual assuming a sober appearance than to the burly wight who " Dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride." An old tower, with which several juvenile traditions of Wallace are connected, occupied the site, but in an attempt to repair it the walls gave way, and the whole was removed to ensure the safety of the lieges. It was a rude square block with arrow slits, and possibly was some place of strength in former times, for its situation was close to the site of a port or gate of the town. That Wallace was imprisoned in it is possible, but there is no authority but oral tradition for the statement. A short distance above this memorial tower, and on the same side of High Street, an antique thatched-covered public house attracts attention. It is two storeys in height, and has EAMBLES THEOrCH THE LAND OF BTJENS. 53 a large oil painting over its doorAva}'-, the subject of which is Tarn o' Shanter taking leave of his friend, Souter Johnnie. Tarn is mounted on his mare Meg, and is gesticulating with his cronie, who, to all appearance, has somewhat more than " a wee drap in his e'e," while the landlord holds aloft a lan- tern, and the landlady shelters in the doorway. The daub is good enough in its way, but the following announcement is the bait to lure customers : — " The house wherein Tam o' Shanter and the Souter held their meetings. Chairs AND caup are in THE HOUSE." ISTow, what pilgrim to the land of Burns could resist the temptation of having a bicker of ale in what is stated to be the veritable house wherein " the Souter tauld his queerest stories," and Tam o' Shanter got "o'er a' the ills o' life victorious?" So it must be confessed that I yielded to temptation and entered, notwithstanding the fact that I have often looked upon relics which had the appearance of having been manufactured to serve the purpose. Being met on the threshold by a courteous, neatly-attired young lady, I was conducted up a narrow staircase, and ushered into a low- roofed oblong apartment in which a merry group of lads and lasses were seated, who to all appearance were " out for the day." A reaming measure being placed before me, I began to look round, and was not a little surprised to find the walls literally covered with pictures illustrating scenes in the life and writings of Burns, and also with masonic emblems sufiici- ent to satisfy the most enthusiastic brother of " the mystic tie." From these my eyes wandered to the far end of the room, where, in a darkened window, stood a life-sized bust of Burns, and before it a small table with a quaint arm chair on each side, with brass plates affixed to their backs bearing quotations from " Tam o' Shanter," and the affirmation that the one was the favourite seat of the redoubtable Tam and the other that of his friend the Souter. There was also a moderately-sized silver-hooped wooden caup out of which the celebrated topers are said to have quaffed the "reaming swats that drank divinely," which was being merrily pushed about by the company referred to, but not in a selfish manner, for it was handed me, and I had the pleasure of drinking to the memory of Tam and the Souter. In the course of conversation I more than hinted that I was doubtful of the authenticity of the caup and chairs, but my scepticism being scouted, I took 54 RAMBLES TIIR0U(5H THE L\ND OF BURNS. my departure rejoicing that the genius of Robert Burns exercises such an influence over the hearts of his couutryraeu that the remotest thing connected with him and his writings com- mands reverence. That Burns had real personages in his eye when he wrote ^' Tarn o' Shanter" has never been disputed, but who the personages were was long a matter of dispute, and, in fact, various individuals have been vain enough to aspire to the dubious honour of being one or other of the leading -characters in the poem. However, this identity is now fully established, for it is agreed by all parties that Douglas Graham of Shanter — a farm between Turnberry and Culzean — was none other than the redoubtable Tarn, and that his *'droutliy cronie," Souter Johnny, was a shoemaker named John Davidson who dwelt in the immediate neighbourhood of the Shanter farm Besides fanning, Graham dealt in malt (for publicans brewed their own ale at the period) and to the business of shoemaking Davidson added that of a " dealer in leather." Being big men in a small way, their avocations brought them very often to Ayr, which then, as now, was the market town, and on such journeys they generally bore each other company. Davidson, after transacting his own business, often accomiianied his neighbour, the malster, through his customers, for in every shop where he made a sale he vvas in the habit of calling a gill for " the good of the house," and to show gratitude for orders received. Having more liquor on these occasions than he could well make use of, there is little wonder " That frae November till October Ae market day he wasna sober," and was glad of the Souter or any other person to help him to consume it. Now, like all who tipple at the " barley bree," Graham had a favourite call-house — a tav^ern (possibly the one mentioned) at which he regularly put up. It was kept by a Carrick man named Benjamin Graham, who occasirmally shareil the good things of his table with them. To make some slight return for this hospitality, Graham and Davidson resolved to have "a nicht o't " at his house, and give him a treat in return. The time appointed arrived, and found the guidmau o' Shanter KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 55 ' ' Planted tinco richt, Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely, Wi' reaming swats, that drank divinely, And at his elbow Souter Johnny — His ancient, trusty, droiithy crony." The social hours winged past, and about '• the wee short hour ayout the twal " Graham mounted his mare and started home alone, amid a storm of wind and rain. When crossing Car- rick Hills his bonnet blew off, but he was too far gone to recover it, it being as much as he could do to keep on the mare's back. Being " sensible drunk," however, he noted the place it fell, resolving to return and recover it before people stirred, for in its lining were secreted the bank-notes he had drawn the day before. Mrs. Graham was of a very- superstitious turn of mind, and to account for the loss of his bonnet Tarn trumped up a story about having seen a dance of witches in AUoway Kirk, and of being chased by them to the Bridge of Doon, where, thanks to the mare, he escaped with the loss of his bonnet. That there was a row in the farmhouse of Shanter no one need doubt ; but the domestic storm would likely be allayed when the boanet was found in a whin bush next morning with its contents uninjured. This, courteous reader, according to Chambers and local authority, is the myth-divested story of Tarn o' Shanter. Burns knew Graham, and doubtless heard of the exploit when, he resided with his uncle at Ballochneil and attended school at Kirkoswald. Although but nineteen years of age then, he got introduced to the half-farming, half-smuggling class in the district — of whom the guidman o' Shanter was a speci- men, and, to use his own words, " Here he first learned to fill his glass and to mix without fear in a drunken squabble." Upon leaving the Tarn o' Shanter inn I gleefully sped on to the birthplace of Burns, to " Gaze on the scenes he loved and sung, And gather feeliugs not of earth, His fields and streams among." What a din there is at the top of the High Street of Ayr on a fine day ! Every conceivable vehicle, and every skinful of bones about the town resembling a horse, seems to be brought into requisition to convey visitors to and from the monument on the banks of Doon. The car-men have quick 56 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURKS. eyes, and intuitively single out strangers from the passers by, but to their cry of " The Monument, the Monument 1" I turned a deaf ear, and strove to get beyond the precincts of the town as quickly as possible ; for dearer far to rae are the hedge-bordered, foliage-shaded highways and byways of the open country, than the rattling of wheels and the busy hum of life in those hives of industry called towns. Gradually the business portion of Ayr was left behind, and the suburbs reached. Passing the cattle-market, and on through a toll- bar, and by several neat villa residences, a gorgeous natural panorama — which I enjoyed for some time as I strolled along — ^burst upon my vision. In the distance, Carrick Hill spread its brown bosom to the sunshine and formed a most romantic background to the wood-interspersed scene which lay between it and the town. The blue waters of the Frith and the wave-washed isle of Arran in the far distance, and the rugged margin of the bay sweeping into dim perspective, with the old castle of Greenan frowning over the surge " like a monarch, gray and grim," went to make up a scene of beauty which was doubly interesting from its historic and poetic associations. Of course the face of the country and the characteristics of the locality have undergone a great change since Burns wrote the glowing piece of descriptive imagery, but there are sufficient landmarks remaining to indicate the route pursued by worthy Tam o' Shanter, as he " Skelpit on through dub and mire, Despising wind, and rain, and fire ; Whyles holding fast his guid blue bonnet ; Whyles crooning o'er some auld Scotch sonnet ; Whyles glow'ring round wi' prudent cares Lest bogles catch him unawares."' At Slaphouse — a neat farm-steading near the wayside— the road makes a gradual descent and passes over a bridge through which a burnie flows as it wimples on its way to the sea. Some 150 yards below the spot the celebrated "Ford, "Where in the snaw the chapman smoor'd," is still pointed out and ?hows that the road Eurns had in bis mind when penning "Tam o' Shanter" ran in a more westerly direction than the present modern and probably more commodious highway. After resting on the parapet of the RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BUKNS. 57 bridge for a space, I moved slowly forward, but again stopped before proceeding many yards to note another point in the route of " honest Tarn." It was the " Meikle stane Where dnicken Charlie brak's neck-bane." This stone rests in a small garden which lies behind a rustic cottage and is easily perceived from the road, being little more than twenty yards distant. That an individual, who was oftener " the waur o't " than was either good for soul or body, actually broke his neck by stumbling over the obstacle when in such a condition that he could scarce " Free the ditches, Or hillocks, stanes, and bushes, ken aye Frae ghaists and witches," tradition states ; but who or what he was no one at this date knows. Having tarried rather long by the above-mentioned objects, I stepped out to make up for lost time. Machines to and from the Monument passed in quick succession and many pedestrians rubbed shoulders with me on the narrow footpath, " For roads were clad frae side to side Wi' mony a weary body In droves that day." I enjoyed the scenery very much as I plodded slowly along, holding converse with Nature and my own heart, feeling thankful that I was released from the cankering cares of life for the time being. When about two miles from town, the rounding of a slight curve in the road brought me somewhat unexpectedly to a row of humble cottages clustering together on the right hand side of the highway. The clanking of an anvil made known that a " Burnewin " was hard at work, and that some one was bringing " Hard ower hip, wi' sturdy wheel, The strong forehammer, Till block and study ring and ree Wi' dinsome clamour." As I passed his door, I saw tlie flaming forge and heard the bellows blow ; but did not linger, for — by the animated scene in front of a straw-covered cot a few yards off — I knew that I had reached the birthplace of Eobert Burns, the bar^j •58 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. whose name has gone forth throu;'h all countries. Indeed, whilo qazin^ on the bit biggin' an'I the fields which lie around it, I felt that T knew the poet better, and could hold closer converse with him than in his pages. " The Cottage," as it is termed, is a low-roofed, one-storeyed structure of a very humble order, with ruilely-lettered sign- boards on its front, of which the following; is a facsimile : — Burns' Cottage. Robert Burns, The Ayrshire Poet, WAS BOllN UNDER THIS ROOF On the 2riTH January, a.d. 1759. Died 21st July, a.d. 1796, Aged 37-^- Years. A. Hunter, Licensed to Eetail AVines, Spirits, & Ales, The sound of mirth, " And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mmd," issued from the interior as I entered and was shown into a small whitewashed, plainly-furnished apartment on the right, from which a company of holiday seekers were making their exit. The place was impregnated with the fumes of tobacco and whisky, but with my mind full of its associations I threw myself into a chair, laid aside my hat and stick, and began to look round. The tables were strewn with empty measures and glasses, and swam with spilled liquor ; but the most noticeable feature was that every portion of walls and ceiling were covered with names and addresses in pencil. Indeed, the very furniture was cut and initialed with jack-knives in a very wanton manner, and one table was so much hacked that it would have been difficult to have found space for another letter of the alphabet. Notwithstanding this RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 59 scrawling on the walls, and the fact that repeated layers of whitewash concealed coatings of names, the room was scrupulously clean, and presented a rather tidy appearance. A glance at the neath'-attired damsel who entered to attend to my wants was sufficient to convince me we had met before, but where I could not call to mind, nor did I until she mentioned the name of my family physician. In this instance the simple fact of being known was of immense service, for it not only procured a formal introduction to the amiable landlady, but the liberty of viewing the house and gathering such information regarding it and the district as is not usually accorded to strangers. From the room described I passed into the memorial, or shrowroom, for it is fitted up with a counter and glass cases, in which are displayed photographs of the poet, albums, and a great assortment of ornaments " made of wood which grew on the banks of Doon," any of which can be purchased by visitors for a trifle, and carried away as souvenirs of a visit to a Mecca to which thousands of pilgrims annually flock. Here also is kept a ponderous "visitors' book," whose closely- written pages contain names by the thousand, which have been inscribed by individuals in all ranks of life and from all parts of the world. Truly great indeed is the genius of the peasant poet when the noble, the wise, and the beautiful come from all countries as pilgiims to the place of his birth. After looking round the memorial chamber, I was next conducted to the most hallowed part of the cottage — namely, the kitchen, for in it, on a humble pallet, Eobert Burns was ushered into the world. Its walls echoed the first tones of his voice, and its spacious hearth was the altar round which William Burness and his family assembled to hymn the Creator's praise. The bed in which the poet was born is in a recess in the wall, it being in Scotch parlance "set in." The fireplace is in its original form, but otherwise alterations of all kinds have been made in and about the cottage, which have materially interfered with its original appearance. With the exception of an old dresser which belonged to the poet's father there are no relics of importance shown. This lowly kitchen has many associations. In it " A blast o' Jan war win' Blew hansel in on Robin." 60 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, and that so lustily that it threw down the gable of the house and whistled through the apartment in which the new-horn poet lay in his mother's bosom. In it, too, the wayfaring gipsy "keekit" in his tiny loof, and predicted ihat whoever lived would " See the proof — The waly boy wad be nae coof, And thought they'd ca' him Eobin." Yes, and chalked out his future career pretty accurately — that is, if we are to believe what tradition and the " rantin', rovin' boy" have told us about the event. In it he spent the first seven years of his life, and gambr>]led and sported on its floor with youthful companions, and when his mind began to expand listened to old Betty Davidson as she unfolded her legendary store of ghost and witch stories. While standing on the centre of the floor in silent con- templation I felt ashamed and humiliated that this humble but celebrated shrine of genius is converted into a common drinking shop— that it is the resort of the drunken, the thoughtless : yea of people who are incited by no higher feeling than that of vulgar curiosity. One freight of boister- ous visitors no sooner left than another arrived. They wandered unceienioniously through the rooms, smoked, spat, and drank whisky in the kitchen, and behaved in such an unbecoming manner that I felt glad when the obliging hostess beckoned and ushered me int' a handsome apartment de- signated " the hall." This spacious and beautifully fitted up room is an addition to the cottage, and was added with the idea of increasing its accommodation and extending its use- fulness as an inn or house of entertainment. Its first stone was laid with masonic honours by the late much respected Maxwell Dick, Esq., Deputy Grand Master of Mother Kil- winning, on the 25th January, 1849, and since then its walls have rung with the mirth and plaudits of many a social gathering, and echoed many a eulogistic piece of eloquence in honour of the bard. A very notable, and, it may be added, one of the most enthusiastic companies ever assembled in it was that which celebrated the Burns Centenary in 1859. The Eev. Hately Waddell presided on the occasion, and delivered a long and RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAST) OF BURNS, 61 eloquent speech on the genius and character of him who could ' ' alternately impart Wisdom and rapture in Ian page, And brand each vice with satire strong." Besides a copy of the above oration, and six portraits and a bust of Burns, the walls are crowded with pictures illustrative of his writings, and with neatly framed pieces of verse com- posed in his honour or to his memory. Many of these are of considerable merit, but the most noteworthy are, *' To a rose from Ailoway Kirk," by Fitz Green Hallock ; " Stanzas to the memory of Burns," by Eliza Cook ; and " Lines written in Burns' Cottage," by E. S. Bowie, V,D.M., Dunfermline, which I quote, LINES WRITTEN IN BURNS' COTTAGE, O Burns ! the matchless, deathless, and divine, Here in the ' ' cottage " to thy mem'ry dear, We sit and ponder o'er that life of thine Which oft hath made us shed the silent tear, Bard of Scotia ! — nay, of all the earth — Here pilgrims from all lands together meet To do obeisance at the shrine of worth ; Here strangers rest and hold communion sweet With those ne'er known before, because of thee ! O ! how thy songs can melt auld Scotland's faes, And make them in her sons their brothers see ; Aye, e'en the flowers that bloom on Doon's sweet braes Are loved and honoured for the poet's sake. And in our hearts their best emotions wake. * It need scarce be chronicled that I lingered some time in this apartment examining the many interesting objects which it contains, or that 1 drank to the immortal memory of of Burns before leaving. But as " nae man can tether time or tide," I was compelled reluctantly to depart, for several miles had to be traversed before " a blink o' my ain fireside " would be obtained. When taking leave of my new friends at the cottage door, I was surprised at the number of • Besides this neat sonnet, Mr. Bowie is the autlior of many highly meritoriovm pieces of verse, and has given to the workl a small volume, entitled "Fireside Lyrics;" also, a Hymnal " respectfully dedicated to all who believe in the father- hood of God and the brotherhood of man," which contains many pieces from liis pen of a truly graceful and devotional character which will bear favourable com> parison with the productions of our best hymn writers. It is a pity that he is «» little known. 62 EAMBLES THIWirGH THE IJlSD OF BCKXS. visitors passing in and out. and at the number "wrho lovingly lingerftd " ower a wee drappie o't." By a side glance I noticed that the room I first entered was full, and that -while stentorian voices sang '" There was a lad was bom in Kyle," " Drink gaed ronnd in cogs and canps Among the forms and benches ; And cheese and bread frae women's laps Was dealt about in lunches And dauds that day." My thoughts and opinions are of little consequence, but I must give expression to them in this instance. A mauso- leum in St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries, has been reared to the memory of our national poet, as also statues in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and America, not to speak of the beauti- ful monuments on the banks of the Doon and at Kilmarnock. All this has been done by the liberality of his countrymen, but why the cot wherein he first drew the breath of life has not been rescued and raised to something better thau a road-side public house I know not. Englishmen have done for Shake- spere what Scotchmen have failed to do for Bums — they have saved his birthplace from degradation and secured it not only for the present age but for posterity. Why is this ] Can the banks of the Avon be considered more sacred tlian those of " bonnie Doon '' and gurgling Ayr ? Certainly not ; so the sooner the clay biggin' is retrieved from its present position the better, or else people of good taste and feeUng AviU begin to look upon it with disgust. A brief summary of the history of the cottage will form a fitting conclu.sion to this chapter. Some time after settling in Ayrshire, William Bumess, the poet's father, wooed and won the daughter of a Cairick farmer named Agnes Brown. Before being united to her he leased seven acres of land, and budt upon it, with his own hands, a house wherein to lodge his bride. The walls were of clay, and the roof of thatch : but to convey to the reader an accurate description of " the bigginV' it will be as well to quote what Gilbert Bums has said regarding it in a communi- cation to Dr. Currie : — " That you may not think too meanly of this house, or my father's taste in building, by supposing the poet's description in the " Vision " (which is entirely a fancy picture) applicable to it, allow me to take notice to you that the house consisted of a kitchen in one end and a room EAIUBLHS THrOIGH QHE LAKD OF ECE>S. 63- in the other, with a fireplace and chimney ; and that my lather had constructed a concealed bed in the kitchen, -svitli a small closet at the end, of the same materials with the house, and when altogether cast over, outside and in, with lime, it had a neat comfortable appearance, such as no family of the same rank, in the present improved style of living, would think themselves ill-lodged in." To this humble edifice, in December, 1757, William Burness led his bride, and in thir- teen months thereafter, within its precincts, Eobert Burns their illustrious son was born. When William Burness leased the ground, he did so with tlie idea of carrying on business as a market gardener, but this he shortly afterwards abandoned, and became gardener on the estate of Dooiiholm. After an eight years' residence in " the clay biggin'," the worthy man removed with his family to Mount Oliphant, a cold-soiled farm about two miles distant, but after a twelve years' struggle with poverty and a bad bargain, he removed to Lochlea — a more genial farm in the parish of Tarbolton. Either from straitened circumstances or a desire to break his connection with the district of AlloAvay, he then disposed of the cottage and grounds to the corporation of shoemakers in Ayr for £120, and to them it still belongs. * Since the days of Burns the clay cot has undergone may changes, and, as already stated, is now incorporated Avilh other buildings similar in construction and appearance. The idea of turning the cottage into a public-house originated in the fertile brain of a person known as " Miller Goudie." He was born at Pdccarton Mill on the banks of the Irvine, a short distance from Kilmarnock, but at an early^ age left the paternal roof and settled in Alloway, having ob- tained employment in the mill of that district. He married a sharp little woman named Flora Hastings, who made good the old adage, that "The grey mare is often the better horse." After their union they started " The sign of the bush " in a small thatched cottage that stood close to the auld brig o' Doon, and continued in it for a long series of years, but about the beginning of the present century, in response to what was to them a lucky idea, they removed their business to Burns cottage, and turned the interest it possesses in the eyes of * lis present rental is £110 a year. ■€4 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. travellers into a profitable speculation, and since then it has continued to be a house of entertainment. Flora took care of the cash and managed the business, and left her husband no other duty to perform than that of helping customers to con- sume surplus liquor. The consequence was that he was seldom or ever sober, and must have been in his wonted state of inebriety when Curran, the Irish orator, A'isited the cot in 1810. '• We found," says he in his account of the visit, " the keeper of it tipsy. He pointed to the corner on one side of the fire, and, with a most m(xl-a-propos laugh, ob- served — ' There is the very spot where E,obert Burns was born.' The genius and the fate of the man were already heavy on my heart ; but the drunken laugh of the landlord gave me such a view of the rock on which he foundered, I could not stand it, but burst into tears." Since then full many a sympathetic admirer of the poet's genius has shared the same feelings, and left the place overcome with disgust and shame. On a lovely July morning in 1818, John Keats, the poet, walked from May bole to Ayr. As he crossed Carrick hills and came down by the old bridge of Doon, he was fairly enchanted with the scenery ; but, alas ! his enthusiasm received a check when he crossed the threshold of the cottage. " A prophet," he writes, " is no prophet in his own country. We went to the cottage, and took some whisky. I wrote a sonnet for the mere sake of writing some lines under the roof : they are so bad I cannot transcribe them. The man at the cottage was a great bore with his anecdotes. I hate the rascal. His life consists in fuzy, fuzzy, fuzziest. He drinks glasses, five for the quarter, and twelve for the hour ; he is a mahogany-faced old jackass who knew Burns : he ought to have been kicked for having spoken to him. He calls him- self ' a curious old ,' but he is a flat old dog. I should like to employ Caleb Vathek to kick him. Oh, the fluinmary of a birthplace !" " The Miller " appeared sensibly clear on one point, and that was that he had often seen and conversed with the poet. " The last time I saw liim," he used to tell, " was whan he cam' through frae Dumfries to tak' his farevveel o' here awa. We met roun' by the auld kirk-yard dyke there, and he was walkin* unco slow an' dowie like. We gaed down to my bit house beside the auld brig an' had just RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 65 tiiree gills, but I drank the maist o' them, for he spak' little, an' only askit a question noo an' than about auld ne'bours as he sat \vi' his brow restin' on his hand." There was little wonder that the greater portion of the three gills fell to " the miller," for the thoughts that passed through the mind of Burns on the occasion must have been of the most saddening description. *' The miller " died in 1843, at the advanced age of eighty. His wife survived him a few years. Any reader wishing to see what the old couple looked like may turn up Blackie's edition of Burns, where correct portraits of them will be found in the picture of '• John Anderson my Joe, John." The first meeting to celebrate the anniversary of the Poet's Af^ birth was held in the cottage on the 25th January, 1801. * /JL*1 The Rev. Hamilton Paul, who was present, says : — " The ) ^ party was small but select, and formed a most interesting ;>l^/yY^/yy\)Y /JQ] group from the circumstance of nearly one half of the company having their names associated with some of the most gratifying particulars in the poet's history. The meeting consisted of the iollowing friends and admirers of their far famed countryman : — William Crawford, Esq. of Doonside, by whose father the father of Burns had been employed in the capacity of a gardener ; John Ballantyne, Esq., to whom Burns addressed * The Twa Brigs 3' Eobert Aitken, Esq., to whom he dedicated ' The Cottar's Saturday Kight ;' Patrick Douglas, Esq. of Garallan, by whose interest he was to have obtained a situation in Jamaica had he followed out his intention of repairing to that island ; Primrose Kennedy, Esq. of Drumellan ; Hew Ferguson, Esq., Barrackmaster, Ayr; David Scott, Esq., Banker, Ayr \ Thomas Jackson, Esq., LL.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of St. Andrews ; and the Eev. Hamilton Paul." This, the oldest Burns Club, is still in existence, and meets annuallv in the hall attached to "The Cottage" to " Honour Scotia's Bard, And toast his name with feelings warm, For oh ! though many a lyre is heard, 'Tis his that yields the sweetest charm." The business carried on in " the cottage " has changed hands several times since the decease of " Miller Goudie " but no landlord appears to have thriven by it. One is said to 66 EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. have shot himself, and another to have cut his throat. The land helonging to it is curtailed to five acres, and a sum of .£3000, it is affirmed, has been asked for the Avhole. Some gentlemen, I am informed, offered £2000 for the house and land, in order that they may be kept in a creditable manner, and that the cottage of the pious father of the " Cottar's Saturday Night " may be saved from further degradation. Unfortunately, they failed to procure it ; but I trust the time is not far distant when the classic little property will fall into the hands of some respectable person, instead of being continued as a low public house, the disgust of the neigh- bourhood and of all strangers visiting a spot hallowed by so many interesting and affecting associations. [The birthplace of Eurns is now (February 1879) in the hands of Mr Thomas Morley, a retired soldier — and very curiously an Englishman — who deserves more than a passing notice, from the circumstance that he took part in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, and with the last remnant of that ill-fated squadron under his command cut his way through the Eussian lines and rejoined the British forces when the blundering order Avhich almost annihilated his regiment had been fulfilled. Finding that this and other heroic achievements performed by him during the arduous campaign were slightingly passed over by the War Depart- ment, he joined the American Army, and during the civil war of that country rose to the post of Captain. When peace was restored, he returned to this country and became Eegimental Sergeant-JNIajor of the Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and latterly tenant of " The Cottage." Under his judicious management, drink is no longer dispensed within its precincts, but is wholly confined to the adjoining slated house, where all visitors desirous of indulging must consume their potations.] EAMELrS THEOrGH THE LAID OF BURNS. 67 CHAPTER VII. FbOM "the cottage" to mount OLIPHANT — THE APPEARANCE OF THE STEADING— GOSSIP, ETC. — PRIVATIONS ENDURED BY THE PARENTS OF BURNS WHEN RESIDING AT MOUNT OLIPHANT — THE poet's FIRST SWEETHEART — THE FLITTING — " THE FESTIVAL " ON THE BANKS OF THE DOON — ALLOWAY KIRK — A LEGEND — THE GRAVE OF THE POET's FATHER — OLD STONES. Prom December, 1757, to "Whitsunday, 1766, the parents of Robert Burns lived a contented, happy, and comparatively prosperous life in the cottage, and would have continued to do so had they not been ambitious to improve their condition and make a better provision for their famil}'. In an evil hour his father resolved to become a farmer, and with this object in view applied to Mr. Ferguson of Doonholm — to whom he had proved a faithful servant — for a lease of Mount Oliphant^ a then tenantless farm on his estate. The request Avas gener- ously granted, but with its acceptance a series of misfortunes commenced which pursued the worthy man to his grave. Being aware that this farm is only some two miles distant from the poet's natal cot, I resolved to visit it, and for the purpose turned into a pleasant rural lane which branches off the highway some fifty yards beyond the celebrated "biggin'." As the braes over which this old lane winds is climbed, the landscape becomes more varied and picturesque, and a wide expanse of country lies around, which, when once seen, can never be forgotten. Even now I can picture it, and in fancy scan the view. Yonder are the heights of Arran towering from the glistening bay ; nearer are the Heads of Ayr, and the old Castle of Greenan standing out on the verge of the wave, while stretching inland are the brown rugged hills of Carrick, and on the table land below the shady woods of JMewark, Doonholm, and Mountcharles, with their mansion-houses peering above the tree-tops ; but the most interesting of all the objects on which the eye rests is the cottage in which the poet was born, the monument to his memory, and "Alloway's 68 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. auld haunted Kirk," the scene of Tarn o' Shanter's adventure with the witches. There is no saying how romantic one might become over a delightful prospect ; but, suffice it to say, a broad traffic-worn cross road was soon reached by whose side a burnie murmured, and along which a man was driving a flock of sheep. Here I rested on a small stone bridge over which the lane passes, and looking down into a clear brook, listened to its sweet babbling music, and the birds singing in gladsome minstrelsy in the rich foliage draping the bank. After lingering by the delightful scene for a space, a sharp uphill walk brought me to a by-road which proved rugged and steep, and ultimately to Mount Oliphant, the farm on which the parents of our poet toiled and suffered for the long period of eleven years. The humble buildings which constitute this steading are compactly built round a spacious quadrangular courtyard, opening to the road, but there is nothing about them to interest the visitor. A number of hens were gathered round the kitchen door, clucking and cackling over the corn which a rosy-faced, bare-armed milk-girl was throwing them, and a collie, not unlike the one whose " honest, sonsie, baws'nt face, Aye gat him friends in ilka place," lay basking in the sun. As I approached it rose, and after sniffing curiously about me, began to fawn and frisk in such a way that I wished him at a safe distance. How far this familiarity would have extended it is hard to say had not an elderly dame appeared on the scene and told him to "gang an' lie doun " — an order which, to all appearance, he intended to obey when it suited him. To ray question, " Is there aught of interest here in connection with Robert Burns V she replied — *' 'Deed no. There used to be an auld crab-tree at the mouth o' the close there that he used to play below when lie was a bairn, but it was blawn doun ae windy nicht short syne. The house, did you say ? Weel, like every ither thing it's changed too, an' I dinna think there's a stane stan'in' that was in it in his father's time." To all appearance the statement was true, so the reader need not be troubled with more than the burden of our conversation. During the summer months they have many visitors, " raaistly gentry," and one man, she KAMBLES THEOUGH THK LAND OF BURNS. 69 affirmed, ^ho had been sent by some society in America to view the place, was so enthusiastic that he sat in the kitchen and. wrote for upwards of an hour, and told, them things about Burns and his parents that they never knew. " He was an extraordinar' body," she remarked, " an' niuckle ta'en up wi' everything here awa." According to her, the rent of Mount Oliphant is seventy pounds a year. The poet's father had it at forty-five pounds, ajid found it all but impossible to wring the amount from the ungeuial glebe, but now, with an improved system of husbandry, the first-mentioned sum is considered the reverse of excessive. From its elevated situation Mount Oliphant is conspicuous from a great distance, and consequently commands a wide range of scenery Avhich has undergone very little change since the boy poet wandered in its midst. Indeed the eye of man has seldom rested on a more pleasing or extensive prospect than that witnessed from this eminence. Beautiful as it is, however, it brought neither peace nor contentment to the Burns' family. The soil of Mount Oliphant was poor and the rent liigh, and, to add to the discomfiture of a bad bargain, they entered upon it burdened with a debt of a hundred pounds. Hard labour and rigid economy were vainly opp')sed to the tide of misfortune by which they were overtaken, but allow Gilbert Burns, the poet's brother, to tell the sorrowful tale in his candid, simple way. In a letter to Mrs Duulop, he says : '' For several years butcher's meat was a stranger in the house, while all the members uf the family exerted them- selves to the utmost of their strength, and rather beyond it, in the labours of the farm. My brother, at the age of thirteen, assisted in thrashing the crop of corn, and at fifteen was the principal labourer on the farm, for we had no hired servant, male or female. The anguish of mind we felt at our tender years, under these straits and difficulties, was very great. To think of our father growing old (for he was now above fifty), broken down with the long-continued fatigues of his life, with a wife and five other children, and in a declining state of cii'cumstances — these reflections produced in my brother's mind and mine sensations of the deepest distress." ]N'"otwith- standing incessant labour, and the retrenchment of expenses, the worthy father managed to give liis boys several snatches of education, and by the time Eobert was twelve years of age 70 KAJTBLES THROUGH THE LAND OK BURNS. he was " a critic in substantives, verbs, and particles."! It was at Mount Olipbant that our poet first " committed the sin of rhyme." He says — " Amaist as soon as I could spell, I to the crambo-jingle fell. Though rude and rough ; Yet crooning to a body's sel' Does weel enough." And again, in some noble verses, we have the following passage : — " I mind it weel in early date, When I was beardless, young, and blate. And first could thrash the barn, Or baud a yoking at the plough ; An' tho' forfoughten sair enough. Yet unco proud to learn ; When first amang the yellow corn A man I reckoned was. An' wi the lave ilk merry morn Could rank my rig and lass : Still shearing and clearing The ither stookit raw, Wi' clave rs and havers Wearing the day awa, " E'en then a wish (I mind its power)^ A wish that to my latest hour Shall strongly heave my breast, That I for poor old Scotland's sake Some ixsefu' plan or beuk could make, Or sing a sang at least. The rough bur-thistle, spreading wide Amang the bearded bere, I turn'd the weeder-clips aside. And spared the symbol dear." He speaks bere of ranking his " rig and lass." Who was the lass ? Let ns see. In a letter to Dr. Moore he says — " You know our country custom of coupling a man and woman togetber as partners in the labours of harvest. In my fifteenth autumn my partner was a bewitching creature, a year younger than myself. My scarcity of English denies me the power of doing her justice in that language ; but you know the Scottish idiom, 'she was a bonnie sweet sonsie lass.' In short, she altogether, unwittingly to herself, initiated me in that delicious passion which, in spite of acid disappoint- ment, gin-horse prudence, and book-worra philosophy, I hold RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 71 to be the first of human joys, our dearest blessing here below ! How she caught the contagion I cannot tell. You medical people talk much of infection from breathing the same air, the touch, &c. ; but I never expressly said I loved her. In- deed, I did not know myself why I liked so much to loiter behind with her, when returning in the evening from our labours ; why the tones of her voice made my heart-strings thrill like an ^Eolian harp ; and, particularly why my pulse beat such a furious ratan when I looked and fingered over her little hand to pick out the cruel nettle-stings and thistles. Among her other love-inspiring qualities she sang sweetly ; and it was her favourite reel to which I attempted giving an embodied vehicle in rhyme. I was not so presumptuous as to imagine that I could make verses like printed ones, com- posed by men that had Greek and Latin ; but my girl sang a song which was said to be composed by a country laird's son, on one of his father's maids, with whom he was in love; and I saw no reason why I might not rhyme as well as he ; for, excepting that he could smear sheep and cast peats, his father living in the moorlands, he had no more scholar-craft than myself Thus with me began love and poetry." Yes, they were kindled on the braeside of Mount Oliphant, and burned brightly until quenched by the cold hand of death in the little tenement in Mill Street, Dumfries. The damsel, so afi"ectionately referred to in the above ex- tract, was named Nelly Kilpatrick, and although, in after years, he characterised the song in her praise as '* a very puerile and silly performance," it contains several good lines, as the following will show : — " A bonnie lass, I will confess, Is pleasant to the e'e, But without some better qualities She's no the lass for me. " But Nelly's looks are blythe and sweet. An', what is best of a', Her reputation is complete, An' fair without a flaw. "She dresses aye sae clean and neat, Both decent and genteel, An' then there s something in her gait Gars ony dress look weel. " The difficulties and privations undergone by the parents of 72 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKD OF BURNS, the poet while on this farm served to bring out the sterling qualities of their gifted son, for he shrank not from sharing their hardships and doing his utmost to alleviate them. He, the child of poverty and toil, when a mere boy, performed the work of a man, and when his compeers in the towns and villages were attending school and fully occupied with the games and pursuits of youth, he followed the plough, or made the grain dance under his flail on the barn floor. In 1777 the poet's father succeeded in ridding himself of the lease which bound him to the sterile soil of Mount Oliphant, and removed to Lochlea — a farm in the parish of Tarbolton. The Rev. Hately Waddel gives a beautiful imaginative description of the " flitting " in his elaborate edition of the poet's works. It is as follows : — " Best tables, chairs, and presses piled carefully aloft on all available carts or cars about the steading ; friendly neighbours assisting with horses and gear; Agnes and the 'weans' securely nestled among bedding and straw ; Eobert or his father at the horse's head, solemn ; and Gilbert with 'Luath' at his heels contem- plative, like the forerunners of the patriarch, in charge of the 'beiss' before. Thus marshalled in succession, they take leave of Mount Oliphant in the morning — a blossom or two torn off from the old crab tree in the close for a keepsake, as they go ; and pitch, after noon, at Lochlea." There are many pleasant rambles in the vicinity of Mount Oliphant to repay those who have time to seek for them. For my part, I retraced my steps, and in a short time found myself once more in the vicinity of the cottage in which Robert Burns was born. People hurried out and in its door, and flocked past to view the classic scenes in its immediate vicinity, but my mind was too much occupied to notice their various peculiarities, so, with a last fond look at the lowly dwelling, I leisurely strolled towards Alloway Kirk, ■which I found to be something less than a quarter of a mile distant. When it is first sighted, it bears a closer resemblance to a roofless barn than a time-shattered sanctuary ; but with Hew Ainslie it may be said — " Alloway, that night ye were Hell's place o' recreation — Baith heez'd an' dignified ye mair Than a' your consecration. EAMBLES THKOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 73. " The bit whar fornicators sat To bide their pastor's bang Is now forgotten for the spat Whar I^anny lap an' flang. *' The pu'pit whar the gude Mess John His wig did weekly wag, Is lightlied for the bunker seat Whar teatau blew his bag.'* Yes, the old building is hallowed by the muse of Burns, and on that account is better known throughout the civilized "world than Melrose Abbey and other ecclesiastical edifices whose sculpture-bedecked walls lie prostrate at the feet of Time. As I moved towards the celebrated ruin, I passed the field in which the first public demonstration in honour of Burns took place. It occurred on Tuesday, the 6th August, 1844, and was attended by a concourse of 80,000 persons of all ranks and conditions in life, who had come from all parts of the United Kingdom to do honour to the memory of the ploughman poet. A temporary erection of sufficient dimen sions to accommodate 2000 individuals was put up in the field, as also tents wherein visitors could obtain rest and refreshments ; but the gathering together of the greater bulk of the vast assemblage took place in the Low Green, Ayr, at ten o'clock forenoon. There the various societies taking part in the demonstration formed in procession, and with their bands, banners, and devices marched to the place of festivity. To quote from a report of the proceedings published in Glasgow at the time : — " When fully marshalled, the immense body moved on- wards, the bands striking up the well-known air of ' A man's a man for a' that,' along the south side of Wellington Square. The procession was formed three deep, and extended nearly a mile in length. It had a very imposing effect. On going down Sandgate, up the High Street, and on to the May bole road, every window was thronged with onlookers, and the streets were densely crowded. As they proceeded, the bands played the national airs of ' Green grow the rashes,' ' This is no' my ain house,' ' My love she's but a lassie yet,' * Wat ye wha's in yon town,' &c. The road all along was greatly crowded; so much_so that it was with difficidty the mass 74 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. could keep moving. The walls, houses, and gates were every- where lined with anxious observers, and various platforms were constructed for the accommodation of ladies. On approaching the cottage where the poet was born, and where, as already mentioned, a splendid triumphal arch was erected, the bands struck up ' There was a lad was born in Kyle ' and the procession, uncovering, lowered their flags as they passed the humble but much endeared spot As the long extended line approached Kirk Alloway, the bell (which still occupies the belfry) was set a-ringing, and continued so while the procession passed on under the trium- phal arch along the New Bridge. Deploying round towards the Old Bridge, the circling line, partially obscured by the houses and trees, had a truly picturesque effect. The waving banners, the music of the bands, mellowed and echoed by the 'Bank and braes o' bonnie Doon,' imparted an inexpressibly agreeable sensation. On reaching the triumphal arch of the ' Auld Brig,' venerable and grey with age, the bands struck up the air of ' Welcome, royal Charlie,' while the procession, uncovering and lowering their flags, passed over the rustic bridges in front of the platform, whereon the sons of Burns were elevated. On the platform, beside the Earl of Eglinton and Professor Wilson, we observed H. Glassford Bell, Colonel Campbell. Sir D. H. Blair, H. Onslow, R. Chambers, Mrs, General Hughs, W. A. Cunninghame ; A. Boyle, Lord Justice General ; Alexander Hastie, M.P.; A. Buchanan, J. 0. Fairlie, and a number of ladies. The sons of Burns seemed to feel deeply the compliment paid to them, and acknowledged it most cordially. The immense crowd which surrounded the platform seemed highly gratified by the opportunity afforded them of feasting their eyes upon the lineaments of the sons, where they sought to trace those of the father. The procession occupied at least an hour in passing from the New Bridge into the field, on entering which the whole of the bands played the tune of ' Duncan Gray,' followed by 'The birks of Aberfeldy.' A large circle was then formed round the platform for the musicians in the field, and the whole company, led by pro- fessional vocalists, joined in the singing of ' Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,' and 'Auld Langsyne.' The bands were afterwards stationed in various quarters throughout the field — the regimental and Glasi^ow St, Andrew's bands in the RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 75 centre of the field, and the Kilwinning and Cumnock bands at the cottage, the bagpipes playing at a distance from the Pavilion. There were two inclosures for dancing — one towards the head of the field, and the other at the brow over- looking the water of Doon. Immediately after the procession was over, the crowd were astonished by the sudden appear- ance of Tarn o' Shanter, ' weel mounted on his grey mare, Meg,' and a flight of witches in full pursuit of him. Tarn approached from the plantation near the cottage, and jogging along the road, put spurs to his ' noble Maggie ' opposite the * auld haunted kirk,' when ' out the hellish legion sallied. Maggie, of course, reached the ' key stane of the brig ' in safety, but there left behind her ' ain grey tail.' The enact- ment of this characteristic interlude created much amusement. The company began to enter the Pavilion almost immediately after the close of the procession, and the chair was taken about two o'clock." Nearly all the celebrated individuals mentioned in the above extract are now dead, and the great majority of that vast, enthusiastic assemblage have shared a like fate. The late Earl of Eglinton occupied the chair, and among other things said : — " This is not a meeting for the purpose of recreation and amusement ; it is not a banquet at which a certain number of toasts printed on paper are to be proposed and responded to, which to-day marks our preparations ; it is the enthusiastic desire of a whole people to pay honour to their countryman ; it is the spontaneous offering of a nation's feelings toward the illustrious dead, and add to this the desire to extend a hand of welcome and friendship to those whom he has left behind. Here, on the very spot where he first drew breath — on the very ground which his genius has hal- lowed, beside the Old Kirk of Alloway which his verse has immortalized, beneath the Monument which an admiring and repentant people have raised to him, we meet, after the lapse of years, to pay our homage to the man of genius. The master mind who has sung the ' Isle of Palms,' who has revelled in the immortal ' Noctes,' who has already done that justice to the memory of the bard which a brother poet can alone do — Christopher himself — is here, anxious to pay his tribute of admiration to a kindred spirit. The historian who has depicted the most eventful period of the French 76 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. empire, the glorious triumphs of Wellington, is here — Clio, as it were, offering up a garland to Erato. The distinguished head of the Scottish bar is here — in short, every town and every district, every class, and every sex, and every age has come forward to pay homage to their poet. At his name every Scottish heart beats high. He has become a household word alike in the palace and the cottage. Of whom should we be proud — to whom should we pay homage — if not to our immortal Burns !" At the conclusion of the addresses the assemblage joined the noble chairman in pledging one overflowing bumper to " The memory of Burns." When the deafening shouts of applause which followed ceased, Mr. Eobert Burns, the poet's .son (now dead) made a suitable reply, and was followed by the world-famous Professor Wilson of Edinburgh, who gave a long and vigorous speech, which was characterised through- out by masterly eloquence and fervour of feeling. Toasts, songs, and speeches followed in quick succession, which I would fain chronicle did space allow ; but suffice it to say, the " Festival," as this demonstration is commonly termed, was one of the finest attestations to genius ever wit- nessed. A very pleasing glimpse of the Monument to the memory of Burns is obtained by the pedestrian as he nears the flight of steps leading to the stile or opening in the wall which admits visitors to Alloway Kirkyard. I paused on their landing and reverentially viewed the scene, but visitors in general seemed less impressed, for many romped amongst the grave-stones, and others cracked jokes at the expense of an odd- like personage attired in a broken-rimmed straw hat and rather soiled apparel, who, in a good round brogue, recites passages from "Tarn o' Shanter," and exhibits the rather weird objects of interest over which he appears to be the presiding genius. His story is always the same, and, however interrupted, he goes through it like a school-boy rehearsing a psalm. He evidently considers himself a part of the place, and indeed is so much a part of it that it would be unjust to describe it and omit him. Seemingly he picks up a scant livelihood by waiting on visitors, so, far be it from me to pen a word to injure him in their eyes. The ruin consists of two gaunt gables, and a front and back RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 77 wall of rude masonry, some seven feet in heip;lit. The gable fronting the entrance is surmounted by a belfry, which still retains its bell. In its centre is a small window divided by a thick raullion, which Burns refers to as the " winnock bunker in the east." Around the walls are other windows which are built up, but on the south side one is pointed to as that through which Tarn o' Shanter is supposed to have witnessed the witches' carnival and all the horrors of their orgies. One thing, however, struck me forcibly Avhen looking into the interior, and that was the fact that his Satanic majesty must have had an insecure seat and his emissaries a very small place wherein to hold a revelry like that which the poet describes. Every scrap of wood about the building was carried off many years ago. Some half-dozen arm chairs have been made out of its rafters, but when one thinks of the enormous quantity of snuflT-boxes and similar articles said to be made out of the same materials, the wood seems to have strongly resembled that of " the true Cross." The interior is divided by a partition wall and used as a place of burial by the Cathcarts of Blairston, the Crawfords of Doonside, and others. The date of its erection (1516) is inscribed above a doorway, but its history is void of interest. At one time a manse and glebe were attached to Alloway Kirk, but the stipend of the minister being only £32 a year, the parish was added to that of Ayr about the close ot the seventeenth century and the sum divided between its ministers. After that the building became untenanted and ruinous, and on that account was considered to be the resort of witches and things uncanny — indeed, it is on record that people who passed it after dark saw " unco sichts " and heard sounds of a supernatural description. Burns was familiar with many of its legends, and on the following founded the tale of "Tarn o' Shanter":— *' On a market day in the town of Ayr, a farmer from Car- rick, and consequently whose way lay by the very gate of Alloway Kirkyard, in order to cross the river Doon at the old bridge which is about two or three hundred yards further on than the said gate, had been detained by his business tUl, by the time he reached Alloway, it was the wizard hour, between night and morning. Though he was terrified with a blaze streaming from the kirk, yet, as it is a well-known fact that 78 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. to turn back on these occasions is running by far the greatest risk of mischief, he prudently advanced on his road. When he had reached the gate of the kirkyard he was surprised and entertained through the ribs and arches of an old Gothic window, which still faces the highway, to see a dance of witches merrily footing it round their old sooty blackguard master, vrho was keeping them all alive with the power of his bagpipe. The farmer, stopping his horse to observe them a little, could plainly descry the faces of many old women of his acquaintance and neighbourhood. How the gentleman was dressed tradition does not say, but that the ladies were all in their smocks ; and one of them happening unluckily to have a smock which was considerably too short to answer all the purpose of that piece of dress, our farmer was so tickled that he involuntarily burst out, with a loud laugh, ' Weel luppen, Ma""ie wi' the short sark !' and recollecting himself, instantly spurred his horse to the top of his speed. 1 need not mention the universally known fact that no diabolical power can pursue you beyond the middle of a running stream. Lucky it was for the poor farmer that the river Doon was so near, for, notwithstanding the speed of his horse, which was a good one, against he reached the middle of the arch of the bridge, and consequently the middle of the stream, the pursuing vengeful ha"S were so close at his heels that one of them actually sprang to seize him ; but it was too late. Nothing was on her side of the stream but the horse's tail, which im- mediately gave way at her infernal grip, as if blasted by a stroke of lightning, but the farmer was beyond her reach. However, the unsightly, tailless condition of the vigorous steed was, to the last hour of the noble creature's life, an awful warning to the Carrick farmers not to stay too late in Ayr markets."* After leisurely examining the scene of this legend, and listening to the prosy descriptions and nasal recitals of the curious specimen of humanity referred to, I began to stray through the unkept burying-ground, and note the humble CHAPTEE X. From kilmarnock to coilsfield — riccarton graveyard — an ec» centric miser — a burns worthy— craigie road — scarqie — howcommon — a good joke— scenery — the farm of loch- lea and crann06— the old dwelling house and new BARN — THE DEATH OP THE POET'S FATHER — WILD FLOWERS — THE RIVER AYR — FAILFORD, ETC, After visiting " The banks and braes o* bonnie Doon," I resolved upon a pilgrimage to the farm of Lochlea and the various places of interest in its immediate vicinity, for to it, as we have seen, the Burns' family removed after a pro- tracted struggle with adverse circumstances in the locality which formed the goal of last ramble. The day set apart for the journey being favourable, I crossed the old bridge at Eiccarton, and passed up the village street as the clock in the church spire announced the hour of ten. Finding the gate of the churchyard open, I entered and sought out the grave of the Eev. Alexander Moodie, a Eurns hero, " who," as the weatherworn stone states, "died 15th Feb., 1799, in the 72nd year of his age, and the 40th of his ministry." He was a zealous auld light preacher, and figures as one of the herd s in the " Holy Tulzie " — a satire on an unseemly quarrel between him and the Eev. John Eussell of Kilmarnock ; — " Oh, Moodie, man, and wordy Eussell, How could you raise so vile a bustle ? Ye'U see how New Light herds will whistle, An' think it fine ; The L 's cause ne'er got sic a twistle vSin' I hae min'. " 0, sirs ! whae'er wad hae expeckit. Your duty ye wad sae negleckit. Ye wha were ne'er by lairds respeckit. To wear the plaid ; But by the brutes themselves elecket, To be their guide. 100 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. *' What flock -wi' Moodie's flock could rank, Sae hale and hearty every shank ! Nae poisoned sour Arminian stank He let them taste ; Frae Calvin's well, ay clear, they drank — Oh, sic a feast !" In referring to the dispute, Eobert Chambers makes mention of its origin. " It happened," says he, " that a dryness arose between them. The country story is, that as they were riding home one evening from Ayr, Moodie, in a sportive frame of mind, amused himself by tickling the rear of his neighbour's (the Eev. John Eussell's) horse. The animal performed several antics along the road, much to the amuse- ment of the passing wayfarers, but greatly to the discomfiture of black Jock, who, afterwards learning the trick, could not forgive Moodie for it. Afterwards a question of parochial boundaries arose between them. It came before the Presby- tery for determination. ' There, in the open court,' says ISIr. Lockhart, ' to which the announcement of the discussion had drawn a multitude of the country people, and Eurns among the rest, the reverend divines, hitherto sworn friends and associates, lost all command of temper, and abused each other coram pojmlo, with a fiery virulence of personal invective such as has long been banished from all popular assemblies, •wherein the laws of courtesy are enforced by those of a cer- tain unwritten code. This was too much temptation for the profane wit of Burns. He lost no time in putting the affair in allegorical shape." The Eev. Mr. Moodie is also mentioned in " Tlie Kirk's Alarm," and his style of oratory is hit off to a nicety in the following verses of " The Holy Fair " : — " Now a' the congregation o'er Is silent expectation, For Moody spiels the holy door Wi' tidings o' d tion. Should Hornie, as in ancient days, 'Mang sons o' God present him, The very sight o' Moodie's face To's ain het hame had sent him, Wi' fright that day. " Hear how he clears the points o' faith AVi' rattlin' and wi' thumpin' ! RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 101 Now meekly calm, now wild in wrath, He's stampin' and he's jumpin' ! His lengthened chin, his turned-up snout. His eildritch squeal and gestures, Oh, how they fire the heart devout. Like cantharidian plasters, On sic a day." In the vicinity of Hoodie's grave are the biirying-places of the Cuninghames of Caprington and the Campbells of Trees- bank, and many curionsly-carved headstones which will repay attention ; but, with the exception of an eccentric miser who died in East Shaw Street, Kilmarnock, on the 17th July, 1817, and who is interred in an out-of-the way corner near the gate, the unkept sward does not cover any other very celebrated individual. "William Stevenson — as this character was named — was a native of Dunlop, and at one time filled a respectable position in society ; but, owing to some unex- plained cause, he became a professional beggar, and lived wholly upon charity. In the " Book of Days" the following curious account of his death and burial may be found : — "About the year 1787 he and his Avife separated, making the strange agreement that whichever of them was the first to propose reunion should forfeit one hundred pounds to the other. It is supposed that they never met afterwards. In 1815, when about eighty -five years old, Stevenson was seized with an incurable disease, and was confined to his bed. A few days before his death, feeling his end to be near, he sent for a baker, and ordered twelve dozen burial cakes, a large quantity of sugar biscuits, and a good supply of wine and spirits. He next sent for a joiner, and instructed him to make a good, sound, dry, roomy coffin ; after which he sent for the Eiccarton gravedigger, and requested him to select a favourable spot in a dry and comfortable corner of the village churchyard, and there dig for him a roomy grave, assuring him that he would be paid for his trouble. This done he ordered an old woman who attended him to go to a certain nook and there bring out nine pounds to pay all these pre- liminary expenses, telling her not to grieve for him for he had remembered her in his will. Shortly after this he died. A neighbour came in to search for his wealth, which had been shrouded in much mystery. In one bag was found large 102 EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF EUENS. silver pieces, such as dollars and half-dollars, crowns and half- crowns, and in a heap of musty rags a collection of guineas and seven-shilling pieces ; while in a box were found bonds of various amounts, including one for three hundred pounds, giving altogether a sum of about nine hundred pounds. A will was also found bequeathing twenty pounds to the old woman who attended him, and most of the remainder to distant relations, setting aside sufficient to give a feast to all the beggars in Ayrshire who chose to come and see his body lie in state. The influx was immense, and after the funeral, which was attended by a motley group of gaberlunzies, all retired to a barn that had been fitted up for the occasion, and there indulged in revelries but little in accordance with the solemn season of death." When "the decent church which tops the neighbouring hill" was erected, the quaint, weather-worn structure which stood in the centre of the churchyard was demolished, and more the pity, for it was of great antiquity, being in existence, according to Chalmers, so early as 1229. " The chapel of Eicardtoun," he states, " was afterwards established as a parish church, which belonged to the monks of Paisley ; and it remained as such till the Eeformation. The monks, mean- time, received the tithes and revenues, while the church was served b}' a chaplain who was appointed by them. In a rental of Paisley Abbey, which was given up to Government in 1562, it was stated that the monks derived from the church of Piichardtoun 17 chalders, 6 bolls, and 1 firlot of meal yearly." Upon resuming the journey I held along the wall of the manse garden and turned into Craigie Eoad, and after a brisk walk reached Knowehead, an eminence from which an excellent view of the surrounding district is obtained. Stroll- ing onward, I passed through the toll-bar of Shortlees, and soon gained a shady portion of the road near to the entrance gate of Treesbank estate. Here a nameless burnie gurgles through a small plantation and gladdens the heart of the wayfarer Avith its music as it steals from beneath a small bridge by the roadside. Its tone was seductive, but despite it and the picturesque scene, I commenced the ascent of Scargie brae, and soon gained the row of humble thatch- covered cots which present their gables to the highway. BAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 103 There is nothing about the buildings worthy of note, except perhaps the fact that John Burtt, author of "Hora3 Poeticas" and " Transient Murmurs of a Solitary Lyre," spent his early years in one of them may be of interest. Eurtt was for some considerable time a schoolmaster in Kilmarnock, and after- wards a clergyman in America ; but he is best known on this side of the Atlantic as the author of several lyrics, and more especially of the following, which is often mistakenly as- cribed to Eobert Burns, being supposed to have been written by the bard after the death of Highland jMary : — "O'er the mist-shkouded cliffs. ' ' O'er the mist-shrouded cliffs of the lone mountain straying, Where the wild winds of winter incessantly rave, What woes wring my heart while intently surveying The storm's gloomy path on the breast of the wave. Ye foam-crested billows, allow me to wail, Ere ye toss me afar from my loved native shore, Where the flower that bloomed sweetest in Coila's green vale, The pride of my bosom — my Mary's no more. No more by the banks of the streamlet we'll wander, And smile at the moon's rimpled face in the wave ; No more shall my arms cling with fondness around her^ For the dew-drops of morning fall cold on her grave. No more shall the soft thrill of love warm my breast ; I haste with the storm to a far distant shore. Where unknown, unlamented, my ashes shall rest. And joy shall revisit my bosom no more." Leaving Scargie behind, a pleasant walk along the un- dulating, hedge-bordered highway brought me to Knockmar- loch and the little plantation which all but conceals the shattered remnant of its manor house, and ultimately to the base of Craigie Hill, as a rugged uj^heaval forming the terminus of a rocky range of eminences rising to a height of some 550 feet above the level of the sea is termed. The view from the summit of this locally-famous height is very fine, comprising as it does the Firth of Clyde, the Coast of Ireland, the ]\Iull of Kintyre, the Paps of J ura, the heights of Arran, Ben Lomond, and the Grampians. Landward, Loudoun Hill is also distinctly seen, and on the plain the town of Kilmarnock, with its surroundings, is witnessed to great advantage — indeed a better bird's-eye view of the Land of Burns cannot well be had, and the pedestrian will do well 104 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. to avail himself of it. Entering a rude path or cart-track lead- ing past the lime mines of Howcommon, I followed the rugged way until it merged into a substantial parish road, and after- wards steered my course to a farm-house with the intention of making certain doubly sure by inquiring the way to Lochlea. " Doon, ye deevil, doon !" cried the stripling addressed, as with a well-aimed kick he drove away a frolicsome whelp that nearly Tipset me in a mud-hole with its great paws while endeavour- ing to lick my face. " Lochlea ! my certie ye're a braw bit frae it ; but it's a fine day, and you'll manage brawly. Ye'U be lookin' for calves, nae doubt 1" " Yes ; two legged ones," said I, with a significant glance, and without the least suspicion that the joke would penetrate his dull pate and recoil i;pon myself. " Then," said he, with roguish glee, " ye'll be hard to please gin ye judge ithers by yoursel'." He laughed, and I laughed, and the whelp barked, and from that moment we were friends ; and when I left, I did so per- fectly satisfied that if I lost my way the fault would be his, so thoroughly bewildered had I become with his instructions, and the intricate windings of the route he counselled me to follow. Trusting to perseverance I returned to the road, and soon gained the extremity of the heath-covered heights behind which the remote but picturesque village of Craigie nestles. Tor a long way the scene was cheerless and barren, and nought was heard save the cry of the peesweep and the song of the lark ; but gradually the country opened, and a rich agricultural district met the gaze. Arriving at a very con- spicuous farm-house, according to instructions received I rounded a small pond on the wayside and turned into a hedge-bordered road on the right, and held onward, for the sun was in its glory, and the Avhin and the broom -clad banks and the fields and the green pasture lands looked luxuriant in the exhilirating raj^s. At the termination of this road I found myself in that running between Mauchline and Ayr, but turn- ing to the left I took the first on the riglit and held onward. It proved one of the old sort — steep and rugged — but following its undulating windings, a two mile walk brought me to the farmstead of Lochlea, and the fields M'hich Burns furrowed with his plough and reaped with his sickle at harvest time. The fields pertaining to the farm slope gently to the road. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 105 which at this point verges on a low-lying track of mossy- looking land. This at one time formed the hed of the loch from which the place takes its name. In 1839, when the speculative proprietor had the water drained oif, two canoes of rude manufacture were discovered near a mound whose summit had formed a kind of island, but they attracted little attention, and in course of time the circumstance was all but forgotten. Towards the close of 1878 the marshy nature of the soil rendered its re-drainage absolutely necessary, and it was subjected to the operation. When cutting a portion of the mound referred to, the workmen came upon what they considered to be the remains of a house which had rested upon piles systematically driven into the ground. The dis covery coming under the notice of Mr. James Brown of Tar- bolton, a most intelligent and discriminating gentleman, he at once wrote to Mr. J. Anderson, keeper of the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, who communicated with E. W. Cochran-Patrick of Woodside, the respected secretary of the Archaeological Society for the counties of Ayr and Wigtown, and he proceeded to the scene of operations and at once recognised in the remains the remnant of a crannog or lake dwelling. In presence of Mr Cochran-Patrick, Mr Turner (factor for the Duke of Portland), Mr Anderson, and other gentlemen, a series of systematic excavations were begun, which in course of time disclosed rows of rude oaken piles driven firmly into Avhat had been the bed of the loch, and secured by horizontal beams, planks of oak, and young trees, all of which were in an excellent state of preservation, and marked by the indentations of some cutting instru- ments. The area which the piles enclosed was some 60 feet in diameter. Within it were discovered four pavements of stone, which upon investigation were found to rest upon layers of clay, boulders, and logs of oak firmly imbedded and interspersed with charred wood, burnt bones, and ashes. From this peculiar structure three rows of closely-set wooden piles, which had evidently supported a gangway extending to what had been the shore of the loch, Avere also laid bare ; but the most curious circumstance connected with. the discovery was the enormous quantity of bones which the excavators met with. They were strewn about in all direc- tions, and in sufiicient quantities to have filled several carts, 106 RA]\rBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. and when the writer visited the spot every turn of the spade disclosed others which were interspersed with brushwood and small boulders. These bones were evidently the remains of animals which had been used for food by the occupants of the peculiarly situated structure which occupied the spot, but who or what they were can only be conjectured. That they were the primeval inhabitants of the district, and lived in a rnde, barbarous age, however, is evident from the numer- ous articles Avhich the explorers brought to light — such as stone hammers, bone chisels, querns, boars' tusks, and rudely formed instruments made of deers' horns, bone, and wood ; and also a canoe formed out of a solid log ; a knife of metal, with a yellow ferrule adhering to the remains of the haft ; and a variety of iron and flint implements. Dr Munro of Kilmar- nock took a deep interest in the excavations, the success of which was greatly owing to his personal exertions, and to his able and elaborate account of the discovery, which is illustrated with plans, sections, and drawings of the crannog, I must refer the reader. The whole of the articles discovered being found oq the ground of the Duke of Portland, were the property of His Grace ; but through the intervention of Mr Turner, he generously presented them to the town of Kilmarnock, so that they might form the nucleus of a Museum and be open to the insjiection of the curious. Upon entering the farm-yard of Lochlea, a glance was sufficient to show that the hand of improvement had wholly changed its aspect, the buildings surrounding it being modern, substantial, and slated. In the poet's time the steading consisted of a one-storied thatched dwelling house, with a barn on the one side and a stable and byre on the other. The old dwelling is noTfr converted into a stable, and a comfortable residence has been erected in its stead ; and the barn, wliich the poet is said to have roofed with his own hands, has given place to a more modern and shapely erection, which, thanks to the Duke of Portland's factor, Mr Turner, contains at least one stone of tlie old fabric. It bears the following inscription : — " The Lintel of the Poet's Barn. Ee-built 1870." EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 107 While surveying the old dwelling-house strange thoughts passed through my mind. At Whitsunday, 1777, the flitting from Mount Oliphant drew up before its door and the Burns family entered, and for seven years they valiantly strove to avert the crisis that had its beginning at the farm they had left. Eobert was in the nineteenth year of his age then, and to him " life was young and love was new," but the tender passion had no sooner animated his bosom than he biTrst into song and celebrated his amours in verse. Authorship Avith him may be said to have had its beginning at Lochlea. Within the old dwelling he penned many of his early effusions, and, in the language of Dr Currie, " while the ploughshare under his guidance passed through the sward, or the grass fell under the sweep of his scythe, he was humming the songs of his country, musing on deeds of ancient valour, or wrapt in the illusions of fancy as her enchantments rose on his view." Within the old dwelling, also, the poet's father closed his eyes in death. Mrs Begg remembered the event, and affirmed that he had a presentiment of Robert's future career, and more than feared that Eobert would wander into paths from which he had preserved his own footsteps. On the day of his death the old man said that there was one of his family for whose future conduct he feared. " Oh, father ! is it me you mean 1" said Robert. Upon learning that it was, he turned to the window, and, with smothered sobs and scalding tears, acknowledged the reproof ; but why he did so is more than I can understand, for his brother Gilbert assured Dr Currie that his temperance and frugality were everything that could be wished during his residence at Lochlea. John Murdoch, a young man -who at one time acted as tutor to the poet and his brothers, tells us that William Burness was an excellent husband and a tender and affection- ate father, taking a pleasure in leading his children in the path of virtue — "not in driving them, as some parents do, to the performance of duties to which they themselves are averse. He took care to find fault but very seldom, and therefore, when he did rebuke, he was listened to with a kind of reverential awe ; a look of disapprobation was felt, a reproof was severely so, and a stripe with the taws, even on the skirt of the coat, gave heart-felt pain, produced a loud lamentation, and brought forth a flood of tears. He had," 108 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. we are told, " tlie art of gaining the esteem and good-will of those that were labourers under him." In fact, " he practised every known duty, and avoided everything that was criminal ; or, in the Apostle's words, ' Herein did he exercise himself in living a life void of offence towards God and towards men.' " His sons are no less earnest in their expressions of admiration for their father. Gilbert says : — " My father was for some time almost the only companion we liad. He conversed familiarly on all subjects with us as if we had been, men, and was at great pains, while we accompanied him in the labours of the farm, to lead the conversation to such subjects as might tend to increase our knowledge, or confirm us iu virtuous habits." Eobert, again, writing in February, 1784, says: — "On the 13th curt. I lost the best of fathers. Though, to be sure, we have had long warning of the im- pending stroke, still the feelings of nature claim their part, and I cannot recollect the tender endearments and parental lessons of the best of friends and ablest of instructors without feeling what perhaps the calmer dictates of reason would partly condemn." The present guidman of Lochlea is William Sjjiers, Esq., late of kShortlees, in the parish of Eiccarton, a jolly good- natured farmer, who is at all times glad to see visitors. I found him affable, jocular, and hospitable, and will not readily forget the pleasant hour spent with him in his spacious kitchen, nor the courtesy of his amiable daughter, " A dancin' sweet, young, handsome queen, 0' guileless heart." With a lingering look at the walls of the old dwelling wherein Burns spent some of the happiest days of his life, I returned to the road and resumed my journey, having determined to enter Tarbolton by way of Coilsfield — a round-about approach certainly, but nevertheless best suited to my purpose, because it winds through scenery immor- talised by our Poet, and past places associated with the most pathetic passage in the history of his life. Passing up the road, which is somewhat steep and skirted for some distance by a plantation of young firs, I arrived in the highway between Mauchhne and Tarbolton, near to the toll-bar of Mossbog. The country here is unattractive, being composed EAHBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BTJENS. 109 of undulating uplands which rise from the bank of the river Ayr, and slope downwards in the direction of Lochlea. After indulging in a little gossip with the toll-wife, as she sat knitting a stocking by the door of her cot, I turned down a road on the right, and, according to her instructions, held " straught on." The way proved long, hilly, and thoroughly- rustic, being skirted on the left for a considerable distance with a long strip of pleasant woodland, through which the sunshine glinted as if toying with the bramble bushes in its shade. The knolls by the wayside were decked with tufts of fragrant broom and whin, and spangled with many a " bonnie gem" which the summer sun had called from dust to splendour. Dear wild flowers — " Like orphan children silent, lone, I've met you spread o'er wild and moor, Where wand'ring ye have cheer'd me on And sooth'd me, ramble-toil'd and poor. ' ' I've seen you when the matin ray First dawn'd upon the purpling east, Your petals ope, and noiseless pray. More eloquent than cassock'd priest. '* Sweet teachers, you from green hillside Breathe fragrance forth to sooth and cheer The heart of those whose tread of pride Has made thy beauties disappear." At the termination of this really pleasant walk I found myself in the highway between !Mauchline and Ayr, and in the immediate vicinity of Coilsfield. Passing through the toll-bar of Woodhead the scene suddenly changed from the commonplace to that of the most romantic description, for down in a gorge by the wayside, * ' Ayr gurgling kissed its pebbled shore O'erhung with wildwoods thick'ning green," and dashed its waters into foam against fragments of rock as it rolled on its way. The scene was enchanting, and to enjoy it more fully I descended to the water edge and sat down on a mossy bank to rest and gaze on the beautiful scene. How long I remained it is unnecessary to say, but •when the journey was resumed it was with a more elastic step and happier frame of mind, for 110 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. " The saddest lieart might pleasure take To see a scene so fair." Eeacliing Failford — a cluster of neat cottages at the mouth of the rivulet from which the place takes its name — a pleasant walk along a beautiful wood-fringed road brought me to the entrance gate of the grounds which surround Coils- field House, one of the most romantically situated mansions in the county — but it "will be as well to reserve the account of it and King Coil's grave for next chapter. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKD OF BUBNS. HI CHAPTEK XL The entrance to the coMAiii or coilsfield — coilsfield mains — KING coil's grave AND WHAT WAS FOUND IN AND NEAR it — the castle o' montgomery — "highland mary " — " highland Mary's thorn " and associations — from coilsfield to tarbolton — the village — burns — an old inn — the debating club and dancing school — the old HALL, ETC. " The banks and braes and streams around The Castle o' Montgomery " are of the most romantic description, and replete with poetical associations — in fact, the foliage-draped road in which the chief entrance to the estate is situated is sylvan in the extreme, and irresistibly fascinating in the eyes of those who feel that they "tread Where Coila's Bard harmonic sung, And mark with awe around them spread Those scenes which once inspired his tongue." Admiration for the genius of Burns, and a love of everything associated with his name, caused me to pause and ultimately tap at the door of a circular thatch-covered cot which stands in a shady nook by the wayside, as if guarding the gate of the drive which winds through the domain of Coils- field and terminates near the village of Tarbolton. The summons was unheeded, for the goodwife had " thrawn the key in the door " while doing an errand, but a passing country-girl, whose face beamed with health and good humour, came to my assistance and answered my queries in a very amusing and coquettish manner, " Heelan' Mary's Thorn — div I ken it ? aye ! brawly that ! It's yont the big house there, an' an auld stump it is an' no worth gaun aff yer gait to see, but I suppose ye'll be keen to get a glower at it?" "I should like very much." "Weel, weel, then — gang 112 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. through the gate an' hand straught on till ye come to the big hoose an' ye'll see it on yer richt hand a wee bit ayont it. The family's frae hame, an' gin ye're no seen, naebody 'ill sae ocht to you." N'ot very likely, thought I. " King Coil's grave ? aye ! it's in the park at the back o' Coilsfield Mains — the farmhouse 'mang the trees owre yonder ; but there's nocht to see aboot it either but a pickle trees an' a wheen auld stanes, but gin ye ha'e a notion o' gaun to it, yer best plan '11 be to gang alang the road an' up to the farm, an' when ye've seen the grave gang through the slap an' doon the brae to the thorn. It's no ill to fin'." After some further conversation, 1 held along the really beautiful road for a short distance and turned up the avenue to Coilsfield Mains, fairly charmed with the scene and the music of the woods. •' Ye sweet birds of summer that sing from the brakes ; Ye larks that the blue vaulting skim, How the bound of the heart to your melody wakes ; 'Twas your sires that gave rapture to him." Passing the farm-steading I entered a grass park and directed my steps to a cluster of trees that a stripling pointed to, and found in their midst a mound surmounted by three lar^e pieces of rock intersected with moderately-sized boulders. And this is the grave of -'Old King Coil, the merry old soul,'j of nursery celebrity, said I, sitting down on the top of the tumulus. Well, it does not amount to much after all, and if it ever contained the remains of a monarch, then it is true indeed that " The glories of our birth and state Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armour against fate ; Death lays his icy hand on kings — Sceptre and crown Must tumble down And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade." Unvarying tradition points to this spot as the resting-place of one Coil, or Coilus, a king of the Britons, who is said to have fallen in a bloody battle which he fought with Fergus I., King of Scots, in a field in the vicinity which bears the name of " The Dead Men's Holm," and in which pieces of ancient armour and fragments of bones have from time to RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 113 time been unearthed by the plough. This, and the fact that a brooklet close to it is named the "bloody bum," and that the district of Kyle, as antiquaries affirm, derives its name from him, in a measure proves that the tradition has some foundation, or at least that an important battle was at some period of our country's history fought near the place indicated. Buchanan, the historian, who wrote about 1570, affirms that Coilus lived three hundred and tv?enty-five years before the Christian era, and in Bleau's " Atlas " — a work published in the middle of the seventeenth century — the battle is mentioned at some length ; but, on the other hand, Chalmers, the antiquary, scouts the whole story, and modern historians look upon the monarch as a fictitious personage, for the reason that the date assigned him is anterior to the period of genuine history. The accuracy of the tradition will ever remain a matter of dispute ; but that it is not wholly a myth is evident from the following interesting narrative which appeared in the Ayr Observer : — " On the evening of the 29th May, 1837, iu presence of several gentlemen, the two large stones were removed. The centre of the mound was found to be occupied by boulder stones, some of them of considerable size. When the excavators had reached the depth of about four feet, they came on a flag-stone of a circular form, about three feet in diameter. The light had now failed, and rain began to fall in torrents ; but the interest excited was too intense to admit of delay ; candles were procured, all earth and rubbish cleared away, and the circular stone carefully lifted up. The seclusion of the spot, the beauty of the surrounding lawn and trees, the eager countenances of the spectators, and above all, the light and voices rising from the grave, in which there had been darkness and silence (as supposed) for upwards of two thousand years, rendered the scene which at this time pre- sented itself at Coil's tomb a very remarkable one. Under the circular stone was first a quantity of dry, yellow-coloured sandy clay ; then a small flag-stone laid horizontally, covering the mouth of an urn, filled with white-coloured burnt bones. In removing the dry clay by which the urn was surrounded it was discovered that a second urn, less indurated in its texture, so frail as to fall to pieces when touched, had been placed close to the principal urn. Next day the examination 114 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. of the mound was resumed, and two more urns filled with, bones were found. Of these urns, one crumbled into dust as soon as the air was admitted ; the other was raised in a frac- tured state. Under flat stones, several small heaps of bones were observed, not contained in urns, but carefully surrounded by the yellow coloured clay mentioned above. The urns, in shape, resemble flower pots. They are composed of clay, and have been hardened by fire. The principal urn is 7| inches in height, 7| inches in diameter, | of an inch thick. It has none of those markings supposed to have been made by the thumb nail so often to be observed on sepulchral urns, and it has nothing of ornament except an edging or projecting part about half an inch from the top. l^o coins, armour, or im- plements of any description could be found. The discovery of these urns renders it evident that at a very remote period, and while the practice of burning the dead still prevailed — that is to say, before the introduction of Christianity — some person or persons of distinction had been deposited there. The fact of sepulchral urns having been found in the very spot where, according to an uninterrupted tradition and the statements of several historians. King Coil had been laid, appears to give to the traditionary evidence, and to the state- ments of the early Scottish historians (except with respect to the date), a degree of probability higher than they formerly possessed." "In 179G, while some of the labourers about Coilsfield were digging a marl pit in the vicinity of the grave, they came upon a curiously carved stone, a drawing of which Colonel Montgomerie (afterwards Earl of Eglinton) caused to T)e sent to the museum of the Society of Antiquaries, Edin- burgh, where it still remains. Professor Wilson, in his ' Pre- historic Period,' written chiefly from the remains of antiquity contained in the museum of the society, gives an etching of this stone It is worthy of remark that the symbolic slab was not found in the tumulus, but in a marl pit at some distance, where an urn was at the same time dug up, a drawing of a portion of which was also sent by Colonel Montgomerie to the Society of Antiquaries. If the battle happened between the Britons, Scots, and Picts, as Buchanan tells us, the symbolic cist slab may have covered the remains of some Pictish or Scottish chief, though more KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKD OF BUENS. 115 probably Pictish, as these stones are chiefly to be found in the Pictish division of the country, or where colonies of the Picts are known once to have existed."* Musing on " Names once famed, now dubious or forgot, And buried 'midst the wreck of things which were, " I strolled across the field to the fence which separates it from the grounds surrounding Coilsfield House — or " the Castle o' Montgomery," as it is poetically termed by Burns — and in the absence of convenient entrance, vaulted across the barrier and threaded a narrow path along a grassy sward which leads to the gravelled walk in front of the mansion. The verdant carpeting was thickly strewn with wild flowers, and above was a delightful canopy formed of the interlaced branches of trees through which the screened sunlight softly fell. The mansion is an elegant modern building with a portico at the front entrance, but on the whole gloomy and deserted in appearance. It is delightfully situated on a high embankment of the Fail, a rivulet whose music joins in chorus with the song of the birds singing you know not where, but everywhere, in the bosky woods in which it is embosomed. The lands of Coilsfield were purchased from the Eglinton family by the present proprietor, "William Orr, Esq., " wha changed his name to Paterson, in compliance with the will of a relative, which name only he now bears. Ey the same will he was bound to call the estate, purchased with Mr. Paterson's funds, Montgomerie, which is accordingly now the name of Coilsfield. "t l^inety-four years ago Coilsfield House was the residence of Colonel Hugh Montgomery — not a very remarkable fact certainly, but then in this gentleman's service, in the capacity of dairymaid, was a Highland girl, named Mary Campbell^ who won the affections of Burns, and who has been vouchsafed an immortality which rivals that of any other heroine of song, for the verses in her praise are justly ranked among the most finished efibrts of her lover's muse. This * " History of the County of Ayr." t Ibid. 116 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. attachment has been described as the purest and most elevated ever formed by Burns, and its object as " a sweet, sprightly, blue-eyed creature, of a firmer modesty and self-respect than too many of the other maidens he had addressed." This may be, but tradition (which is seldom wholly incorrect) has it that she was neither graceful nor feminine, but was a coarse- featured, ungainly country lass, which may possibly be con- formable to truth, for his brother Gilbert tells us that he was somewhat of an amorist, and that " when he selected any one out of the sovereignty of his good pleasure to whom he should pay his particular attention, she was instantly invested •with a sufficient stock of charms out of the plentiful stores of his own imagination ; and there was often a great dissimili- tude between his fair captivator as she appeared to others and as she seemed when invested with the attributes he gave her." The history of " Highland Mary " — as she is poetically termed — is wrapt in considerable mystery, but thanks to Robert Chambers and others, a few facts have been rescued from oblivion. She appears to have been the daughter of a sailor in a revenue cutter, who had his residence at Campbeltown, and to have spent her early years in the family of the Eev. David Campbell of Loch Ranza (a relative of her mother), in the island of Arran. In early womanhood she was induced to come to Ayrshire and take a situation as a domestic servant, but her movements on her arrival could never be traced. However, it is almost a certainty that she was serv- ing in the family of Burns' friend, Gavin Hamilton, writer, Mauchline, in 1784, and removed to Coilsfield in 1785. About fifty yards from Coilsfield House I paused before an aged but shattered and decayed thorn which grows by the side of the drive leading to the Tarbolton entrance of the domain. The stately trees by which it is guarded overlook a steep bank clothed with verdure and dense masses of shrubs which screen the rippling Fail as it gurgles on to mingle its water with winding Ayr. There is nothing remarkable about the appearance of the thorn, nothing to attract attention, yet curiously enough its rotten moss-grown trunk is chipped and hacked, and its remaining limb disfigured with rude initials and gashes which wanton relic-hunters have inflicted with pocket knives, "What is the cause of all this ? and why is KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 117 the grass round about it trampled and bare ? Well, tradition states that it is the identical tree beneath which Eoberk Burns took the last farewell of his sweet Highland Mary. " How sweetly bloomed the gay green birk, How rich the hawthorn's blossom. As underneath the fragrant shade, I clasped her to my bosom ! The golden hours, on angel wings, Flew o'er me and my dearie : For dear to me as light and life, Was my sweet Highland Mary. " Wi' mony a vow, and lock'd embrace, Our parting was fu' tender ; And, pledging aft to meet again, We tore ourselves asunder ; But, oh ! fell death's untimely frost, That nipt my flower sae early ! Now green's the sod, and cauld's the clay. That wraps my Highland Mary !" In all likelihood the tradition is correct, for the position of the thorn and its nearness to the mansion makes it more than probable that the parting took place beneath its shade — in fact, Burns was by far too great a gallant to part from his mistress at any great distance from her home. The parting took place on the evening of " the second Sunday of May," 1786. In a note to " the Highland lassie," Burns gives us a little insight into this episode. He says — " My Highland lassie was a warm-hearted, charming young creature as ever blest a man with generous love. After a pretty long tract of the most ardent reciprocal attachment, we met by appointment on the second Sunday of May in a sequestered spot on the banks of the Ayr, where we spent the day in taking a farewell before she should embark for the West Highlands to arrange matters among her friends for our projected change of life. At the close of autumn she crossed the sea to meet me at Greenock, where she had scarce landed when she was seized with a malignant fever before I could even hear of her illness." Mr. Croraek tells that " their adieu was performed with those simple and striking ceremonials which rustic sentiment has devised to prolong tender emotions and to impose awe. The lovers stood on each side of a purling brook — they laved 118 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LA.KD OF BURNS. their hands in the limpid stream — and holding a Bible be- tween them pronounced their vows to be faithful to each other." As already stated, they exchanged Bibles, but what became of that which Burns received was never known; the half-Bibles presented to Mary are, as the reader will remember, preserved in the monument on the banks of Doon. Mary appears to have left Ayrshire about Whitsunday, 1786, and to have spent the summer at her father's house in Campbeltown, but whether she made arrangements for the "projected change in life" Burns speaks of there is no evidence to show. Robert Chambers thinks that she had agreed to accept a situation in Glasgow in the family of a Colonel M'lvor, and that she was proceeding thither when she sickened and died. He also mentions as a tradition that her friends believed her illness to be caused by the cast of an evil eye, and at their suggestion her father went to a spot where two burns meet, selected seven smooth stones, boiled them in milk, and gave it her to drink. She was buried in the West Kirkyard of Greenock. Her resting-place is marked by a handsome monument, the cost of which (£100) was raised by subscription. In a little work entitled " Much about Kilmalcolm," by Alexander S. Gibb, there is an interesting traditional narra- tive, entitled "A Story of Greenock," which may interest the reader. It was originally told many years ago by a M'orthy soul named Johnnie Blair, and refers to Iligliland Mary. Of course, it may be taken for what it is worth. He says : — " While I was looking at the country side, the river, and Greenock dow^n the water's edge, and hearkening to the whirr o' tlie moor fowl as they settled in a black flock on the farmer's stooks, I saw a braw buxom lass coming down the Kilmalcolm Iload. She was a well-faur'd dame, wi' cheeks like roses. She had on a tartan shawl, and was carrying some things wi' her. I offered to help her to carry them, which she gladly assented to, for she was tired wi' a long journey. She had come frae Ayrshire, she said, and got a drive to Kilmalcolm, and was gaun first to Jamie Macpher- son, the shipwright's, whase wife was her cousin, and syne to Argyle, where her folk belanged. I kent Jamie as w eel's I ken you, Davie ; we were gude cronies and gude neebors. Twa or three days after this I chanced to forgather wi' Jamie. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 1 119 * Man, John,' says he to me, ' ye're aye speaking about books and i^oetry ; ye'U come doun by tlie iiicht an' I'll let you see some richt poems.' 1 gaed doun by accordingly, an' got a sicht o' the book he spak o'. It was a volume o' poems by Robert Burns, printed at Kilmarnock. ' It was Mary Campbell, Jean's cousin,' Jean explained, ' wha brought the book wi' her frae Ayr ; it's juist new out, you see. She's awa to Argyle to see her friends, and she's coining back in a week or twa to be married. And wha do you think till V I said I couldiia guess. ' Well, it's juist to the chiel wha made that book. She said he had been fechtin' wi' the ministers, and was thinking o' gaun awa to the West Indies ; but she didna care, she was willing to gang wi' him.' Jamie read a lot o' the poems ower, and we held at them till twal o'clock. Jamie said he didna a'thegither like the way the chiel spak o' the kirks, but he thocht ' the lassie micht help to hand him straught ; and he sudna be the man to mak' strife amang sweethearts.' He let's see a wee sang the lass had brocht wi' her, beginning — ' Will ye gang to the Indies, my Mary, And leave auld Scotland's shore?' which Mary had shown as a great secret to his wife, and which was written upon herself. Mary returned across the Firth the week after. It was a cold, rainy, muggy day that she had got to cross and she had gotten a dreadful chill. The fever was then raging in Greenock, for ye ken wi' our houses a' hauled thegither, an' the ill water we had then, and the foul air that hangs about our W3'nds and closes, we never hardly want fever. Puir Mary onyway took it ; whether it was the chill she had gotten, or the foul air of Minch Gallop Glose, baitli thegither that brocht it on I canna say, but Mary sickened and grew worse day by day. Jamie Macpherson's wife nursed her like a sister ; a doctor was called in, but nothing wad do. Her time was come. Jamie's wife tell'd me a' aboot it. She lay in a wee room aff the kitchen ; there was a chest o' drawers an' a clock in't ; three or four stuffed birds, and a picture of a naval battle between French and British ; also, twa models of ships. There was a wee window that neither opened up nor down ; but the air outside was that foul wi' vapours that it was maybe better it didna. Nae 120 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF EUENS. doubt, to her coming out o' the country, the close air that the dwellers' lungs had got used to wad no be beneficial. Man, I whiles think that thae fevers are juist brocht on by the air a'thegither. Whiles the poor sufferer was a wee raivell'd ; whiles she repeated verses out o' the Bible, ane in particular — ' Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall per- form unto the Lord thine oaths ;' and ance she cried out, ' for a drink o' caller water !' but it was thocht at the time that water was ill for fevers. But afore she died she was quite sensible, an' said to her cousin Jean, ' If it had been God's will I wad hae liked to be Robert Burns' wife ; but I ken I'm deein' an' I'm quite willing.' ' Dinna speak that ■way, Mary,* said Jean, ' or ye'll break my heart ; ye'Il get better yet, lassie, for a' this.' But she did not get better; an' the night following her spirit took its flicht from this world of sin and misery, to the great sorrow of all her friends, and, was kent some years after, to that of her admirer, Robert Burns. Ye ken his sang ' Highland Mary ' was written about her, and ither sangs o' his, gin I could mind them." With a lingering look at " the Castle o' Montgomery " and the old thorn tree, I passed down the drive and began to walk briskly in the direction of Tarbolton. On my left was a beautiful lawn studded here and there with fine specimens of natural wood, and on my right a highly romantic scene, through which the Fail glided " Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle," as if anxious to escape from the shade of the trees on its banks and gain the open glade in the distance. Passing through a dilapidated gateway I entered a shady avenue, and in the course of twenty minutes arrived at the ancient village, which stands on some rising ground, and occupies a place in the heart of one of the sweetest localities in the west of Scotland. It is a quaint little place, chiefly consisting of one long street, from which short thoroughfares branch, but, with the exception of weaving and the manufacture of fancy woodwork, no trades are carried on save what are incidental to all rural settlements. The population last census was 829, but it has considerably diminished, very many individuals, and in some instances whole families, having been compelled to remove to the large centres of industry to procure employ- BAMBLES THEOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, 121 ment. Tarbolton contains three places of worship, a Mechanics* Institute, and a handsome school, which is more than adequate to the requirements of the community. It is governed by two bailies and twelve councillors, who are elected annually, and was created a burgh of barony by Charles II. in 1671. Although Tarbolton is an ancient village, there is nothing of historical interest connected with it, and it is only on account of it having been a favourite resort of our poet when residing in the farm of Lochlea that it has become famous. It was the scene of several of his early amours, and in it he spent some of the happiest hours of his brief life. Thirty years ago the sojourner experienced little dithculty in meeting and conversing with people in this village who had known the bard ; but now they are all gone, and with his associates and boon companions rest from their labours in the churchyard. However, it is gratifying to note the pride some middle-aged people take in telling that their grand- fathers " kenned Kabbie weel, an' ran wi' him i' their young days." They appear gratified to identify their "forebeers" with his name, and have it in their power to relate anecdotes of him and them. The following extract from David Sillar's account of the poet when he frequented the village will be of interest : — " His social disposition easily procured him acquaintances ; but a certain satirical seasoning, with which he and all poetical genius are in some degree influenced, while it set the rustic circle in a roar, was not unaccompanied by its kindred attendant, suspicious fear He wore the only tied hair in the parish ; and in church his plaid, which was of a particular colour, 1 think tillemot, he wrapped in a particular manner round his shoulders After the commencement of my acquaintance with the bard we frequently met upon Sundays at church, when, between sermons, instead of going with our friends or lasses to the inn, we often took a walk in the fields. In these walks I have frequently been struck by his facility in addressing the fair sex : many times when I have been bashfully anxious how to express myself, he would have entered into conver- sation With them with the greatest ease and freedom ; and it was generally a deathblow to our conversation, however agreeable, to meet a female acquaintance. Some of the few 122 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. opportunities of a noontide walk that a country life aflFords her laborious sons, he spent on the banks of the river, or in the woods, in the neighbourhood of Stair, a situation peculiarly adapted to the genius of a rural bard. Some book he always carried and read when not otherwise employed." The main artery of the village possesses a very rural appearance, being lined on either side with unassuming dwellings, most of which are of one storey and thatch-roofed. At the Cross — a rather confined j)lace of the kind — there is an old-fashioned two-storied house that to all appearance has seen better days. The signboard above its door intimates that James M'Connachie retails spirits, porter, and ales in the interior ; but there is something of a deeper interest associ- ated with it. It was the principal inn in the village when our Poet resided in the farm of Lochlea, and was kept by John Richard, who was an intimate friend of the bard. In a hall attached to this house Burns often " presided o'er the sons of light," and " spent the festive night " with the " brethren of the mystic tie." In it he took his tearful farewell of the fraternity, and bade them " a heart-warm fond adieu " when about to proceed to Jamaica. When Robert Chambers visited Tarbolton he conversed with a shoemaker named John Lees, who recollected the parting. " Burns," he said, " came in buckskin breeks, out of which he would always pull the other shilling for the other bowl, till it was five in the morning. An awfu' night that." The debating club and dancing school in which Burns took an active part were also held in this house. In the " History of the rise, proceedings, and regulations " of the club, I find that the first meeting was held in the house of John Richard, upon the evening of the 11th of November, 1780, commonly called Hallowe'en, and that Robert Burns was chosen president for the night. The club met every fourtli Monday night to debate questions raised by the mem- bers ; and as no one was allowed to spend more than three- pence at one sitting, the potations must have been scant indeed. The poet and his brother Gilbert continued members till they left the parish. When attending the dancing school. Burns made sad havoc among " the Tarbolton lasses," or rather they made sad havoc ■of him. To one reigning predominant in his affections at the RAJIBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS 123 time, he addressed the beautiful song of " Mary Morison." " Yestreen -when to the trembling string The dance gaed through the lighted ha', To thee my fancy took its wing — I sat, but neither heard nor saw. Though this was fair, and that was braw. And yon the toast of a' the town, I sighed, and said amang them a' Ye are na Mary Morison." ]Mrs Begg, the poet's sister, had a vivid recollection of the dancing school. Robert Chambers says : " There could not well be any objection on his father's part to his acquiring this accomplishment (dancing), for Gilbert and the two eldest sisters, Agnes and Annabella, besides their ploughman, Willie Miller, all attended likewise On a practising ball occurring, Burns paid Willie's expenses, that he might have Janet Brown as a partner, so as to enable the bard to have as his partner some other lass who was then reigning in his affections." Being anxious to see the interior of this humble hostel, I entered, and was cordially received by the landlady, a lively little Irishwoman, but learned nothing beyond the fact that she had heard that Burns frequented the liQuse " in oulden times," and that he attended the Lodge St. James when it met in a room up stairs. The information was meagre in- deed, but I felt gratified to be in a place where he had been, and jjerhaps this caused me to linger longer in the little low-roofed apartment into which I was shown than I other- wise would have done. Upon leaving the hostel, I sought the back of the premises, ascended an outside stair, and tapped gently at a porched door. It was opened by a neatly dressed woman, who invited mo in, with all the frankness of an old acquain- tance, the instant the name of a Kilmarnock friend was men- tioned. " So this is the old dancing hall," said I, by way of introduction. " 'Deed is't, and but little altered since Kabbie danced in't," said she ; " but to make it habitable, a par- tition was run through it, as you see, an' noo it serves for baith room an' kitchen." "And a comfortable one, too, to all appearance," I rejoined ; " but what proof have you that Burns danced on this floor and presided over the sons of light 124 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. within these walls?" "Plenty o' proof," she replied, smiling — " my great grandfather, John Richard, kept the inn in the front there, in the time of Burns, an' was weel acquaint wi* him. Besides, my grandfather, William Dick, ran wi' Rahhie, and the only wonder is that he's no mentioned in ony o' his poems, for he blackfitted him to Highland Mary an' a lass in the Bennels ca'd Leezie Paton, who had a wean to him, and to whom he addressed the sang beginning — ' From thee, Eliza, I must go, And from my native shore ; The cruel fates between us throw A boundless ocean's roar.'" " Really !" I replied, " but the heroine of that song is sup- posed to have borne the name of P)etty Miller — she figured as one of the Mauchline belles." " That may be," she sharply ansvvered, " but her name was Paton." And Paton my friend stuck to, and perhaps she is right after all, for, according to Motherwell, some discrepancy of opinion exists as to the heroine of the song. Cunninghame affirms that she was an Elizabeth Black, who early became acquainted with Bums and made no small impression on his heart, and pos- sessed several love epistles he had addressed to her. Despite this, I have more faith in family tradition than in any printed statement. During the time I remained in the old hall, my friend entertained me with many anecdotes of " Rabble," and showed me a flagstaff which the lodge St. James owned when Burns took an active part in it, and also the Bible of her great grandfather, a curiosity in its way. It bears the following : — " John Richard, his book. God gave him grace to make a good use of it." I spent a pleasant hour in the snug dwelling, and will not readily forget the hospitality and kindness of the good lady. KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 125 CHAPTER XII. hoodshill— an ancient custom — the scene of " death and dr. hornbook" — "Willie's mill" — grannie hay's recollec- tions OF BURNS AND THE MILLER'S WIFE — A SOUVENIR OF their FRIENDSHIP — TARBOLTON CHURCH AND CHURCHYARD — THE VILLAGE SMITHY — A WALK TO TORRCROSS AND ITS OBJECT — "BROTHER BURNS " — FAIL CASTLE — THE FRIARS — THE WARLOCK LAIKD AND HIS CANTRIPS— ADAM HILL — HOME AGAIN. Few streets are more intimately associated with the memory of Robert Burns than that which branches off Tarbol- ton Cross. It very appropriately bears his name, and was often traversed by him when residing at Lochlea and Mossgiel. In fact, it was and still is the direct line of communication between these farms and the clachan, which, as we have seen, was a favourite resort of his when residing in the neighbour- hood. Being aware that the poet toddled down it when returning from the Masonic meeting at which he had the famous dispute with the village pedagogue that provoked the satire of "Death and Dr. Hornbook," I did the same, and soon arrived at a humble thatched cottage which stands at the right hand corner of its extremity. It is now occupied as a dwelling-house, but it was at one time a portion of a noted inn, and is now memorable as the house wherein the brethren of St. David's lodge of Freemasons held their meetings and initiated the bard into the mysteries of their craft. Mr. Neil Murchy, who is in possession of the chair, toddy ladle, and drinking glass of this the mother lodge of Robert Burns, kindly allowed me to inspect the old minute- book of the society, and from it the following interesting extract is taken: — "Sederunt for July 4th (1781) — Robert Burns, in Lochly, was entered an apprentice. — Signed, Joseph Nor- man." "Sederunt, October 1st, 1781. — Robert Burns, in Lochly, was passed and raised, Henry Cowan being master, 126 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. James Humphrey being senior warden, and Alexander Smith, junior; and Eobert Wodrow, secretary; and F. Manson, treasurer ; and John Tannock, James Taylor, and others of the brethren being present. — Joseph JS'ormau, W.M." At the cot referred to, a road turns abruptly to the right and winds round the base of a lofty green mound from which the village takes its name.^' Paterson afl&rms in his history of the county that it was used as a place of Pagan worship long before the era of Christianity, and goes on to say that it would seem, from the remains of trenches, that it had been, used as an encampment, probably by the ancient Britons, or during the Scoto-Irish wars. It is more certain, however, that it was the hill on which the open Courts of Justice, or Justice-aires of the district, were regularly held, and that fire worship was practised on it is probable from the immemorial custom of the annual kindling of bonfires near its summit. " On the evening preceding the Tarbolton June Fair a piece of fuel is demanded [by the boys of the village] at each house, and is invariably given by the poorest inhabitant. The fuel so collected is carried to a particular part of the hill where there is an altar or circular fire-place of turf about three feet in height, and is placed upon the altar. A huge bonfire is kindled, and many of the inhabitants, old and young, men and women, assemble on the hill and remain for hours apparently chiefly occupied with observing a feat per- formed by the youths who are to be seen leaping with inde fatigable zeal upon the altar or turf wall enclosing the ashes of former fires and supporting the present one."t Instead of going " round about the hill," as Burns tells us he did when, he had the imaginary interview with Death, I turned into a path fronting a row of unpretentious dwellings and ascended to the top of the mound, for from it an excellent view of Willie's Mill and its surroundings is obtained. This cele- brated building stands in a vale on the banks of the Fail and is little more than three hundred yards from the village, but, saving the name, it is wholly changed since the days of the poet, and I suppose no more like the place he frequented than the farm-steading is where he dwelt and composed the • Tor, or Thor-Bol-ton, or town, is the Town at Baal's hill, i.e, the town at the hill where Baal was worshipped.— iVew Statistical Account. i Ibid. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 127 verses which have made it so widely known ; but nevertheless^ although only in a slight degree associated with his name, visitors come from all quarters and gaze with a kind of reverence upon it and the humble thatch-covered cots by its side. From the elevated position, I descended to the main road which sweeps round the base of the hill, and toddled down to Willie's Mill, passing on my way the spot where Burns and Death are supposed to have " eased their shanks " and held the memorable conversation about "Jock Hornbook i' the Clachan," and the means he employed to foil the dread spectre of his prey. The seats are situated about half- way between the hill and the mill, and consist of a portion of rock which juts out from beneath a high hedge by the wayside, but whether it is due to enthusiastic visitors sitting. down or the exertions of the boys that mould is prevented from gathering and grass growing on them I am not pre- pared to say, but I am a little suspicious that it is owing to the latter that they are so well preserved. At the foot of the brae a small stream of water foamed from beneath the road and surged onward to a waterwheel laboriously revolving behind the mill a short distance olf. Passing a byre and a thatch-covered dwelling-house I entered the mill, and found the miller and his man busy among sacks of grain ; but in answer to the question, "Have you anything connected with Burns here V they at once left ofi" their labour and entered into conversation. " We have a barrow that was about the place when the friend of Burns leev'd in't," said a dusty denizen as he produced an old- fashioned two-wheeled hurly, whose moth-eaten spokes and trindles bespoke the tear and wear of former years. " In what way is it connected with Burns 1" said I. "Atweel, I dinna ken," was the reply, " but there's little doubt that Burns has often had it in his hand." " yes," added the miller, " an' a lady frae America Avanted to buy it, an' gin I'd selt it she'd taen it hame wi' her." " And what on earth would she have done with it V I enquired. " 0, she said that she would place the poet's portrait in't." " What !" I exclaimed,. "place the portrait of the bard in a wheelbarrow!" and I laughed at the absurdity of the proposal. The miller proved racy of speech and very obliging. After pointing out that the mill was not wholly rebuilt as supposed, and showing 128 BAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. me the water wheel, he accompanied me to the road and bade me a cordial good-bye. The parish mill of Tarbolton— or " Willie's Mill," as it is called — was for many years tenanted by Mr. William Muir, an intimate friend of the Barns family. The poet frequented it when residing in the neighbourhood, and on many occasions assisted his friend in the mill, and doubtless often used the barrow referred to in the laborious operation of shifting sacks from place to place. In fact, this is borne out by the interesting gleanings of the Rev. Hately Waddel, for, in referring to his gift of eloquence and story-telling, he says: — ^' When assisting at the mill at 'hand-sifting* of the meal in trough, all hands got so absorbed in listening, that no sifting could proceed ; in consequence of which the machinery in. producing overtook the folks in removing, and a general block-up took place." " The late Mrs. Grannie Hay, aged 94 in 1866," he also states, ^' was servant at ' Willie's Mill ' at the age of 14 to 15. Her sister also followed her in the same place and situation. She remembered Burns distinctly as a tall, swarthy, and at that time rather spare young man, with long black hair on his shoulders, accustomed to ride to Tarbolton from Lochlea or Mossgiel on Freemason lodge nights or other special occasions. He rode booted ; he used to stable his hor^e at the mill; was remarkably kind, pleasant, and affable, and ' straiket her head wi' his hand on the last occasion when she was there.' Her mistress, Mrs. Muir, Avas a superior woman ; could read, write, and cipher easily ; and was fit to maintain discourse with Burns on all topics, even on poems occasionally rehearsed by him at the tea-table a*, the mill : ' aye took his tea when he cam' about four hours.' He ' was a great fre- quenter o' kirks and preachings, baith at Tarbolton and round about, on which occasions he was often, almost invariably, accompanied by the ' miller himsel',' who had a taste for pulpit oratory, and was ' an unco judge o* doctrine.' ' Burns would speir in for him as he gaed by, and the twa gaed awa thegither.' On one special occasion Grannie Hay remembered well that Burns complained to the mistress of not being able to finish some song that had occurred to him on a Sabbath morning, in consequence of which he was afraid he could not attend church that day — ' it wouldna be richt ; he couldna RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 129 hearken when he was fashed.' In despair, he rambled out by some dykeside, where he strolled alone ' till he got the sang a' right,' when he repaired to church as usual with the cheerfulness of relief and of a good conscience. This diffi- culty and deliverance, it appears, he related in Mrs. Hay's hearing with the simplicity of a boy ' that very mornin' at the mill afore they gaed up to the kirk !' One would give much to know what very song that was. His conversation then and always was cheerful, entertaining, and correctly pure." When the result of Jean Armour's second intimacy with the poet was discovered, she was driven from the dwelling of her incensed parents, and was left in a manner friendless and destitute. Finding her, says Burns in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, *' literally and truly cast out to the mercy of the naked elements," he took her under his charge, and, accordmg to the writer from whom the above is quoted, secretly conveyed her to Tarbolton Mill, where she gave birth to twins under the superintendence and care of his friend and admirer, the miller's wife. She was a kind, motherly woman ; and Avhen .Jean's marriage was made public went to Ellisland to " brew the first peck o' maut " for the family and celebrate the home-coming. Grannie Hay had a vivid recollection of the circumstance, and informed the writer quoted above that " the visit was protracted for a fortnight, and was the cause of much offence to the old miller, who did not know of his wife's departure, and threatened to ding her wi' a stick when she cam hame. jS'a, he keepit his stick by the chimla-lug for twa or three days on purpose, but when he saw her coming down the road his han' trummilt, and he set by the stick, and didna ken what to do wi' her when she cam ben. But she was angry when he spiered at her afterhin' what way she gaed awa without telling him or. asking his leave, and syne mair angry words cam on baith ban's, and she Avadna speak to him ony mair that night ; but she spak' to me, and they war never sic guid friends after.' The miller, in fact, was much older than his wife, and her conduct in undertaking such a visit without his knowledge or permission was decidedly reprehensible. She left the mill, it appears, one afternoon when the old gentleman was asleep on the * deas,' ' for fear he wad hinder her frae gangin' if he I 130 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BCENS. waukenit.' Grannie Hay, who was an accomplice in the mistress's manoeuvre, was charged with the responsibility of appeasing his wrath when he aAvoke, and 'had ill doin' o't' !" Burns kept up correspondence with Mrs Muir after his settlement in Ellisland, and, in recognition of her kindness to his Jean, presented her with a pair of silver sugar tongs, which she long treasured. On her death-bed, she gave them to Mrs Humphrey of Tarbolton. They afterwards came into the possession of her niece, Miss Ann Humphrey, but for a consideration she was induced to part with them, and they are now the property of Mr J. S. Gregory, Kilmarnock. Having had the pleasure of seeing them and hearing their history narrated, I may add that they are of plain make, and of the ordinary size. Over the bow the Poet's name is en- graved in facsimile of his hand-writing, and on each blade the names of the several possessors ; and the dates on which the relic changed hands are inscribed in the same manner. Upon returning to the village, I entered the Crown Inn for the purpose of recruiting my energies and enquiring about the memorahilia in possession of the brethren of St James' lodge. Here I was shown the chair Burns occupied when Depute- Master, and also the minute book in which his bold signature repeatedly occurs as such. The jewel, or badge to Avhich he alludes in his " Farewell" to the lodge, was put into my hand, as also another interesting relic in the shape of an autograph letter, dated Edinburgh, August 23rd, 1787. These, with a flag and a mallet, I think constitute the whole of the Burns relics in the possession of this lodge, and the brethren are justly proud of them, as they have every right to be. After a rest, "a crack" (well, I may as well write it down), and a toothful of good malt liquor, I thanked the brethren in attendance for their courtesy, bade them good-bye, and crossed over to the Churchyard. Like most places in the locality it has undergone a great change since the days of Burns. The dingy little building in which he worshipped is wholly removed, and a neat modern edifice, with an elegant spire and clock, erected in its stead. In pensive mood I wandered among the grassy hillocks and read semi-obliterated memorials of the now forgotten dead, for many of the tombstones are old and not a few bear curious and interesting devices. One near the church door deserves KAMBLES TUKOUGH THE LANI> OF BURNS. 131 more than passing notice, because it testifies that Tarbolton, like other districts in Ayrshire, shared in the perils of the Persecution. It bears the following inscription : — " Here lys William Shillaw who was shot at Wood- head BY Lieut. Lauder for his adhereancb to the Word OP God and Scotland's Covenanted work of Eeformation. 1688. Erected 1729. Renewed, 1810, by William Drinning." Shillaw's name occurs in a list of Lieutenant Lauder's victims in the appendix to " The Cloud of Witnesses," but in no other work to which I have had access is it mentioned, and curious enough, the circumstances of the martyr's death appear to have entirely worn out of the traditional mind. Upon leaving the churchyard I commenced my homeward journey, but had not proceeded far when the ringing tones of an anvil smote my ear, and brought to mind the well- known lines of the poet — " When Vulcan gies the bellows breath, And ploughmen gather wi' their graith." Being anxious to see if this village blacksmith was aught like the one Wordsworth describes, I looked in at the open door. He lifted his dusky visage, and with several onlookers glanced enquiringly at me. " Is this the smithy where Burns got his plough irons sharpened?" I jocularly enquired. "Deedis't," he replied, " an' he made a poem sittin' on that hearth there, an' wrote it on the slate on which my grandfather juarked his jobs." This was an unexpected discovery. " Do you know the name of that poem 1" "Deed I dinna, though I should hae a copy o't somewhere; but the way it was, my father was for opening a shop, an' he askit Burns to make him twa or three lines mentioning the things he was gaun to sell, so that he might get them set owre his door — for it was customary in thae days to hae a verse o' poetry on a body's sign — so he sat doon an' wrote him afif a screed in which was named maist everything you could think on." "Aye," broke in a friend of the smith, " an' there's a poet here that's maist as guid as Burns himsel'." •' As Burns !" said I, " then I'd go a good way to see that chap — Where is he V " 0, he leeves about a mile up that road; gin ye gang up you'll likely fin' him — he aye carries a pickle o' his poetry i'e his pouch." After some further con- 132 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. versation with the smith about the verses composed on the hearth, I bade him goodbye, and set out to make the acquaint- ance of the man that promised to be " maist as good's Burns." Having held along the road indicated, in due time I arrived at the farm-steading of Torrcross, and found my man on the top of a stack filling a cart with sheaves of grain. Having accused him of " committing the sin of rhyme," he frankly admitted the charge, and in proof of his guilt handed me a copy of the Freemasons' Journal containing one of his pieces, which, I must say, flowed smoothly, but to give the reader an idea of John Campbell's poetic abilities, the following masonic song, which was composed for and sung in the lodge St. James, is subjoined : — BROTHER BURNS. " If e'er there was an honoured name To Masonry and Scotia dear, ' 'Twas his who gave our lodge to fame, And oft has worn the 'jewel ' here. Then surely 'tis our duty here, Whene'er his natal day returns, To pledge his memory with ' a tear ' — The memory of Robert Bums. " On Coila's plains he first drew breath, 'Twas Coila's maids he loved and sung, He won the bard's immortal wreath, Lone wand'ring Coila's woods among. And Coila's sons shall honour now — For sadly still old Scotland mourns — The mighty minstrel of the plough, The gifted mason, Brother Burns. * ' His songs are sung on Ganges' side, Zambezi's banks his strains have heard, Siberian forests wild and wide Have echoed strains of Scotia's bard. The broad St. Lawrence hears his voice — Where'er the Scottish wanderer turns, His name can make the heart rejoice — The deathless name of Brother Bums. * ' But here within our native vale. On every glen and flowery brae. On classic Ayr and winding Fail His fame hath shed a brilliant ray — And here shall reign his glorious name Until the grave its dead unums, For every craftsman here can claim Reflected fame from Brother Bum*. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OP BURNS. 133 " Then brethren of the lodge St. James, And sister lodges gathered here, One silent round his memory claims — The round requested with ' a tear. ' Let's be upstanding to the call Of him, the bard whom Scotia mourns. To pledge in solemn silence all — The memory of Brother Burns. " Upon taking leave of my poetic friend, I struck through the fields and steered my course to Fail Toll. It is situated on the Kilmarnock road about a mile distant from Tarbolton, at the entrance of a little village — if it may be dignified by that name — and near to the ruins of v/hat is locally termed Fail Castle, but which is nothing more than the remains of the manor-house of Fail monastery — founded and dedicated to Saint Mathurine in 1252. It was inhabited by a tribe of monks, styled "Fathers of Redemption," who wore a white habit with a red and blue cross upon the shoulder, and religiously devoted themselves to the humane task of redeeming captives from slavery; but, notwithstanding their sanctity, they appear to have been a merry lot, who knew what was good for them — that is, if there be any truth in the following traditional rhymes : — «' The Friars of Fail Gat ncTer owre hard eggs, or owre thin kail, For they made their eggs thin wi' butter. And their kail thick wi' bread ; An' the Friars of Fail they made good kail On Fridays when they fasted. An' they never wanted gear enough As lang as their neighbours' lasted," " The Friars of Fail drank berry-brown ale, The best that ever was tasted ; The Monks of Fail they made gude kail On Fridays when they fasted." However, the jolly fathers have passed away, and no portion of their house now remains save the shattered gable and side- wall of the residence of the prior or chief minister. But a word may be said regarding its last occupant — a notorious warlock laird — who was said to possess an evil eye, and to have the faculty of charming milk from cows, butter from the churn, cheese from the dairy tub ; and to be able not only to 134 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF HORNS. fortell future events, but to control human actions — spreading disease and death among men and cattle by the simple exercise of his will. One of his acts is made the subject of the following ballad : — "the warlock laird of fail. " As Craigie's knight was a hunting one day Along with the Laird of Fail, They came to a house, wherein the gudewife Was brewing the shearers' ale. " Sir Thomas alighted at the door Before the Laird of Fail, ' And will ye gi'e me, good wife,' quo he, ' A drink of your shearers' ale ?' ** ' I will gi'e thee. Sir Thomas,' quo she, ' A drink of my shearers' ale ; But gude be here how I sweat and fear At sight of the Laird of Fail !' " ' What sees auld lucky the Laird about That may not be seen on me ? His beard so long, so bushy, and strong, Sure need not afifrighten thee !' " ' Tho' all his face were cover'd with hair. It never would daunten me ; But young and old oft have heard it told That a warlock knight is he. *' ' He caiised the death o' my braw milk cow, And did not his blasting e'e Bewitch my barn, cowp many a kirn, And gaur my auld doggie die ?' " Sir Thomas tells the laird of the goodwife's tremor and asks liim to " put in the merry pin." This is agreed to, and the result is somewhat ludicrous. " He put then a pin aboon the door And said some mysterious thing. And instantly the auld wife she Began to dance and sing *' ' O good Sir Thomas of Craigie tak' The warlock laird of Fail Awa frae me, for he never shall pree A drap of our shearers' ale !' . " The Laird he cried on the auld gudeman And sought a drink of his beer ; ' Atweel, quo he, ' kind sir you shall be Welcome to all that is here. ' RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BITRNS. 135 " But just as he passed under the pin, He roared out — ' Warlock Fail, Awa frae me, for you never shall pree A drap of our shearers' ale.' " The laird and the knight watch the sport, and as the reapers drop into dinner, they are asked for a drink of the ale, but they no sooner pass under the merry pin than they take up the strain of the goodwife and join in the dance, and, according to the poet, ' ' They would have sung the same till yet Had not the Laird of Fail Drawn out the pin before he went in To drink of the shearers' ale." The laird does not appear to have been very malicious, for many of his cantrips are of a humorous cast. "One day a man. leading an ass laden with crockery ware happened to pass the castle. The laird, who had a friend with him, offered for a wager to make the man break his little stock in pieces. The bet was taken, and immediately the earthenware dealer, stop- ping and unloading the ass, smashed the whole into fragments. When asked how he had acted so foolishly, he declared he saw the head of a large black dog growling out of each of the dishes ready to devour him. The spot where this is said to have occurred is still called ' Pig's Bush.' On another occasion, the laird looked out of the upper south window of the castle. There Avas in sight twenty going ploughs. He undertook upon a large wager to make them all stand still. Momentarily eighteen of them — ploughs, ploughmen, horses, and gadmen — stood motionless. Two, however, continued to work. One of them was ploughing the Tarbolton croft. It was found out afterwards that these two ploughs carried each a piece of rowan-tree — mountain ash — proverbial for its anti- warlock properties. ' Kowan-tree and red thread Keep the devils frae their speed.' In what year the death of the warlock took place is unknown ; but circumstances lead us to believe that it must have been near the close of the seventeenth century. When about to depart, he warned those around him not to remain in the castle after his body was carried out ; and it being autumn, he further recommended them not to bury him 136 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BtTRNS. until the harvest was completed, because on the day of his interment a fearful storm would ensue. He was accordingly kept as long as the state of his remains admitted. Still the harvest was not above half-finished. True as the laird's prediction, the moment the body, on the funeral day, had cleared the doorway, a loud crash was heard — the castle roof had fallen in. The wind rose with unexampled fury, the sheaves of corn wore scattered like chaff, and much damage was sustained all over the land.* Passing Fail IMill I held along the road, and after a long walk reached a spot where two ways meet. The one to the left — as the milestone states — leads to Kilmarnock and the other to Galston. Although anxious enough to reach home, I decided upon a circuitous approach, and held along the Gal- ston highway. The country in this district is almost wholly under cultivation, and the pedestrian as he trudges onwards finds little to engage his attention beyond the chirping birdies that flit in the hedges and the wild flowers whose fragrance is wafted on the wings of the wind. After a mile of weary thoughtful plodding, I reached the avenue leading to the farmhouse of Adamhill, which occupies a rather romantic situation, being planted near to a stripe of woodland and close to a row of stately trees, whose arms, in all probability, have often shaded Eobert Burns when he came to visit the "rough, rude, ready-witted Eankine " of poetic memory, who had his residence here. According to Chambers, " he was a prince of boon companions and mingled a good deal in the society of the neighbouring gentry, but was too free a liver to be on. good terms with the stricter order of the clergy. Burns and he had taken to each other no doubt in consequence of their community of feeling and thinking on many points. The youngest daughter of Eankine had a recollection of the poet's first visit to their house at Adamhill, and related that on his coming into the parlour he made a circuit to avoid a small carpet in the centre, having probably at that time no acquain- tance with carpets, and too great a veneration for them to tread upon them with his ploughman's shoes." The farmhouse is well built, and the present occupant, Mr. A. G. Parker, is well known for his genial hospitality. • This ballad and some very Interesting information regarding the monastery and the Warlock Laird will be found in " Songs and ballads of Ayrshire." From this excellsDt but scarce work the above anecdotet are takto. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 137 A little beyond Adamhill, I entered a pleasant byeroad which winds over hill and dale, and terminates near the village of Craigie, but before it was traversed " The sun was out o' sight, And darker gloamin' brought the night." Nevertheless, " my heart rejoiced in Nature's joy " as I trudged along enjoying the solitude and watching "the glimmering landscape " fading on the sight. Having passed Craigie Mause, the snug residence of the Eev. David Stirling, the respected parish minister, I soon reached the summit of the rocky ridge over which the highway passes and beheld the lights of Kilmarnock gleaming in the distance. The reader may rest assured that their appearance was most cheer- ing, and that I stepped out with renewed vigour. After a brisk but lonely walk, I arrived in Eiccarton, and shortly thereafter received a hearty welcome from my bits o' bairns. Laying aside my hat and stick, I sat down by the ingleside a tired but better man from having visited scenes rendered famous by the poet Burns. 138 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. CHAPTER XIII. Kilmarnock — a glance at its history, progress, and appear ANCE — KILMARNOCK HOUSE — THE LADY'S WALK — BURNS IN KILMARNOCK — FRIENDS, AND PLACES ASSOCIATED \\arH HIS NAME — THE TOWN OF HIS DAY — THE LAIGH KIRK — THE CHURCHYARD— THE HIGH CHURCH — "BLACK JOCK RUS5ELL " AND BURNS — ^THE SOULIS MONUMENT— " WEE JOHNIE" — THE KAY PARK — THE BURNS MONUMENT. At this stage it will be as well to pause and say a word about Kilmarnock, for it is not only as intimately associated with the Poet's name as any spot visited, but the centre from, which these Eambles are taken. The town is beautifully situated in a valley through which the rivers Marnock and Irvine flow, and is, as Chambers' describes it, " the largest and most elegant town in Ayrshire." Two centuries ago it was a mere hamlet under the jurisdiction of a baronial lord who dwelt in Dean Castle, a now ruinous stronghold in its vicinity. In 1591 it was created a burgh of barony, and in 1672 a second charter was conferred upon it which endowed it with farther privileges. In 1700, the Magistrates received a grant of the whole Common Good and Customs of the burgh from the superior, and from the date of that transaction its prosperity has been marked beyond all precedent. For a long period it was celebrated by the manufacture of the broad, flat worsted bonnets and striped cowls at one time universally worn throughout Scotland ; and also for tanning, shoemaking, weaving, calico-printing, and the manufacture of carpets — but now the snort of the steam engine, and the roar of machinery in numerous workshops and factories, proclaim a new era in its history, and announce that these crafts are superseded by engineering and other mechanical industries. With an increase of trade came the remodelling and extension of the town. Old streets were reconstructed or swept away altogether — in fact, as its historian (Archibald M'Kay) states, RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS 139 *' SO numerous are the additions which have been made to Kilmarnock since about the year 1816, that it may now be considered an entirely new town when compared with what it was at that period." True, and it may be added that it now exhibits a series of broad modern streets little inferior to those of Glasgow and other cities, and that its 24,000 of a popu- lation are noted for industry and thrift. To facilitate the various businesses carried on, it has seven banking establishments ; and, consistent with its old character, it abounds with " the means of grace," there being no fewer than nineteen churches within a short distance of each other. Verily, the words of Burns are as applicable as ever — " Now, auld Kilmarnock, cock thy tail, And toss thy horns fu' canty ; Nae mair thou'It rowt out owre the dale, Because thy pasture's scanty ; For lapfu's large o' gospel kail Shall fill thy crib in plenty, An' runts o' grace, the pick and wale, No gi'en by way o' dainty, But ilka day," The modern buildings throughout the town are of a superior order, but those which may be termed " public " are few, and contain little to interest the stranger. The Corn Exchange, however, is a most imposing structure, and in an antiquarian point of view Kilmarnock House is worth attention. It is situated in what is now St. Marnock Street, and is easily distin- guished by its quaint old-fashioned appearance; but before the town encroached on its privacy it was surrounded by exten- sive well wooded policies, and was the residence of the Boyds, Earls of Kilmarnock, after the destruction of Dean Castle by fire. The fourth and last Earl crossed its threshold one blustry December morning to join the standard of Prince Charlie, but never returned to the quietude of its baronial shade. He fought at the battle of Falkirk, and materially assisted the Prince in gaining the victory, but at the disastrous battle of Culloden his brief career of adventure was brought to an abrupt close. When the army of the Prince had been defeated, and was seeking safety in flight, "the Earl of KLlmarnock,'being half blinded with smoke and snow, mistook a party of Dragoons for the Pretender's horse, and was accordingly taken. He was soon after led along the lines of 140 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. the British Infantry, in which his son, then a young man, held the commission of ensign. The Earl had lost his hat ia the strife, and his long hair was flying in disorder around his head and over his face. The soldiers stood mute in their lines, beholding the unfortunate nobleman. Among the rest stood Lord Kilmarnock, compelled by his situation to witness, without the power of alleviating, the humiliation of his father. When the Earl came past the place where his son stood, the youth, unable to bear any longer that his father's head should be exposed to the storm, stepped out of the ranks, without regard to discipline, and taking off" his hat, placed it over his father's disordered and wind-beaten locks. He then returned to his place without having uttered a word, while scarcely an eye that saw his filial affection but confessed its merits by a tear."* It is only necessary to add that he was convicted of high treason, and was beheaded on Tower Hill, London, on the 18th August, 1746. A portion of a shady avenue, known as " The Lady's Walk," may still be seen in the vicinity of this sad memento of the fallen house of Boyd, which is said to have been a favourite resort of Lady Kilmarnock after the tragic and melancholy end of her lord. There she is said to have wandered and given vent to the grief which ultimately broke her heart. A strolling player, named Ashton Carle, composed the following highly meritori- ous lines during a visit to the locality : — "the lady's walk " A wild, wierd look has the ' Lady's Walk,' And the trees are stripp'd and old ; They solemn bend in mute-like talk, In the twilight grey and cold. ' ' Each gaunt and rugged sinewy root Starts up along the way — Memento sad of the lady's foot That erst did mournful stray. ' ' Ghost-like the boughs loom in the sky, And, skeleton-like, they meet ; The very pathway, white and dry. Curves like a winding-sheet. ' ' The rustlmg leaves that Autumn weaves In wither'd hillocks lie, • Chambers's " History of the Rebellion." RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 141 And the chilly wind soughs just behind Like the lady's tearful sigh. ' Heavil}' rolls the evening mist, And the rising night- winds throb By root and shoot, just where they list, Till they sound like the lady's sob. " And the nightly shadows come and go, And the gaunt trees bow and wave, Like weeping mourners, to and fro Over a dear one's grave. " Then this is the far-famed ' Lady's Walk,' And walketh she there to-night ? Holdeth her spirit silent talk With that moon so sickly white ? " I hear no sound but the rushing bound Of the sweU'd and foaming river. That seems to say : I cannot stay, But must on for ever and ever, " So much for the famous town of Kilmarnock. Famous did I write ? Yes. Well, it is famous for many things, but more especially for being the poetical birthplace of Eobert Burns. "When residing at Mossgiel he was often to be seen standing in its Cross on market-days, and from the shop of John Wilson, the only printer and publisher in the town at the time, the unpretentious first edition of his poems was given to the world. In it, too, he was introduced to individuals who were in every way superior to the rustic class amongst whom the circumstances of his birth compelled him to mingle, and it is no exaggeration to state that it was mainly owing to the assistance and encouragement he received from Kilmar- nock men when " skulking from covert to covert " in its vicinity, that his poems were printed and himself prevented from bidding " farewell to dear old Scotland, and his ungrate- ful, ill-advised Jean." It is stated in an article in the Contemporaries of Burns — a now scarce work — that John Goudie, whom Burns styles " terror of the Whigs," had the honour of bringing this about. It appears that he called at Mossgiel during harvest, and that Burns went out with him, and while sitting behind a stook read to his visitor several of his poems. " Goudie, delighted with what he heard, threw out hints of a desire to get the 142 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKD OF BURNS. poems published and invited the bard to visit him at Kilmar- nock. There, it is said, Burns met at Goudie's table a group of the better class of people living in the town — the town clerk Paterson, a Dr. Hamilton, Major Parker (banker), Dr. William Moore, and Mr. Robert Muir (merchant). He appeared amongst these respectables in his simple hodden grey, but doubtless astonished them by his wit and verses. As visitors of Goudie we cannot doubt that they were most of them partisans of the new light. What immediately followed from the visit to Goudie we cannot tell ; apparently, any wish that may have been formed either by the arch-heretic himself or any of his friends to get the poems published did not come to any immediate efl'ect." John Goudie lived in the second flat of the building now occupied by the Messrs Stewart, ironmongers, Cross, and was next door neighbour to Bailie Gregory, father of Mr. J. S. Gregory, registrar. Burns was on intimate terms with both families, corrected many of his proofs in the house of the first, took " pot luck " occasionally in that of the second, and delighted to listen to the tones of a piano which Mrs. Gregory occasionally played for his entertainment. This piano was the first instrument of the kind in Kilmarnock, and probably the first Burns ever saw or heard. It is in good preservation, and has found an asylum in the house of her now aged sou, who cherishes it as a souvenir of loved ones gone before. Goudie was a man of considerable learning, held advanced ideas, and was the author of several heterodox publications. One of these — Essays on various important subjects, moral and divine, being an attempt to distinguish true from false religion — attracted considerable attention, and was designated " Goudie's Bible." " Happening to go into a bookseller's shop one day in Ayr he met a clergyman of his acquaintance at the door. ' What have you been doing here?' jocularly inquired Goudie. 'Just buying a few ballads,' retorted the minister, ' to make psalms to your bible.' " He died in 1809 at an advanced age. The Kilmarnock friends of Burns were all gentlemen of refined intellectual tastes and social standing. Gilbert Burns says : — " Mr, Robert Muir, merchant in Kilmarnock, was one of those early friends that Robert's poetry procured him, and one who was dear to his heart." Seemingly his affection for this friend was not misplaced, for he subscribed for RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 143- seventy-two copies of the first edition of his poems, and forty of the second. Mr. Thomas Samson of elegiac fame was another warm friend of our poet. He carried on the business of nursery and seedsman, was an ardent sportsman, and altogether a jolly good fellow. Eurns visited at his house, sat at his table, and was intimate with his family and friends ; indeed, the glass out of which he was in the habit of drinking is an heirloom in the family. The worthy sportsman's nephew Ml'. Charles Samsou, TurnbuU the poet, William Parker, and other early friends and patrons of the Ayrshire ploughman in Kilmarnock, might be enumerated to show how his manly worth and poetic ability were appreciated. On the 26th October, 1786, Burns was honoured by being elected an honorary member of St. John's Masonic Lodge, Kilmarnock, and from the circumstance there is little doubt of his having spent many "festive nights" with the brethren. The following extract from a chapter in Mr. M'Kay's Histot'y of Kilmarnock, which is entirely devoted to " Burns and his Kilmarnock friends," is quite appropriate: — "The house of Nanse Tinnock, in Mauchline, has been much talked of; and the Edinburgh taverns of Johnnie Dowie and Lucky Priugle, where he (Burns) often met Nichol of the High School and others, have also been noticed by some of his biographers ; but nothing has been said, so far as we are aware, respecting the house of Sandy Patrick, in which the poet was wont to spend many merry evenings in Auld Killie, with the hero of one of his happiest poems, namely — Tam Samson, and other boon companions. Sandy, who was married to a daughter of Mr. Samson, brewed within his own premises the cajp ale which the old gentleman used to drink with Burns and other social cronies after a day's shooting. Sandy's Public, which con- sisted of two storeys, and which was famed ' Thro' a' the streets an' neuks o' Killie ' for its superior drink, was situated at the foot of Back Street (at the time one of the principal thoroughfares of the town), and was called ' The Bowling-green House,' from being near the old Bowling-green, which lay immediately behind it, in the direction of the present George Inn. But like Sandy himself, and other jolly mortals who were accustomed to 144 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. assemble -within its walls, the house which the presence of genius had hallowed, and which would have been an object of interest to many at the present day, is now no more, having been taken down about the time that East George Street was formed. In our humble opinion, however, the name of Sandy Patrick is worthy of a place in the biographies of the poet, along with those of ISTanse Tinnock, Lucky Pringle, and Johnny Dowe." When Burns frequented Kilmarnock it had only some 6000 of a population, and its streets were few, narrow, and intricate. Indeed, according to the History already quoted, " the town presented a mean and inelegant appearance," and the Cross was " somewhat contracted in form compared with the spacious appearance it now presents." At the widening of the Cross many old buildings were removed, and amongst them the one which contained the shop of John Wilson, the printer of the first edition of the poems of Burns, It is stated in the above work that it stood "where Portland Street now opens into the Cross," and that '' the printing-office in which the poems were first put into type was in the attic storey of that land on the left of the Star Inn Close, as entered from Waterloo Street," The writer goes on to say that " the property then belonged to Mr. James Eobertson of Tankardha', whose sister, the late Mrs. Buntine, used to tell his informant that, when living in the Star Inn Close, she noticed frequently the visits of Burns to the printing premises when his work was in the press." The premises of Mr. James M'Kie, the enterprising publisher, who has done so much for the literature of Burns, and who lately issued a perfect fac-simile of the unpretentious first edition of the poet's works, are within a few yards of the humble tenement referred to, in which the wooden press of " Wee Johnie," with many a jolt and creak, gave out printed sheets which were destined to make Kilmarnock famous, and waft the name of Burns over the Avorld, As INIr, M'Kie is an enthusiastic admirer of the Poet and collector of Burnsiana, and as his name is inseparably associ- ated with the Burns Monument movement in Kilmarnock, a brief notice of his career may prove acceptable, seeing that he is in every sense of the word a self-made man, and that the position he has attained is wholly due to indomitable RAMBLKS THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 145 perseverance. On the 7th of October, 1816, he made his appearance on the stage of life, but not having been gifted ■with the proverbial " silver spoon," he was at the tender age of eleven-and-a-half years apprenticed to Mr. Hugh Crawford, Printer and Bookseller, Kilmarnock, at the munificent sum of one shilling weekly for the first year. At the conclusion of his apprenticeship he set off to Glasgow, and there received a six months' engagement to work at his trade in Elgin. At its fulfilment he removed to Saltcoats to manage a bookselling establishment, and remained there for nine years, during which time he succeeded to his employer's business, and entered into the married state; but like most Kilmarnock men, he sighed for his native town, and upon the old-established business of Messrs Hugh Crawford & Son coming into the market he purchased it and settled in the place of his birth in I'^ovember, 1844. In October, 1839, Mr. M'Kie com- menced a periodical, consisting almost wholly of poetry, entitled the Ayrshire Insplrer, and in 1843, a meritorious annual, entitled the Ayrsluro Wreath. In October, 185G, he started the Kilmarnock WeeJdy Post, and sustained it for several years. In May, 1878, he was entertained to dinner by a large number of friends on the occasion of his having completed the fiftieth year of his active business life, and was highly complimented on its success. Few men have done more to disseminate Burns literature than Mr. M'Kie. He is at all times zealous in everything concerning the memory and fame of the Bard, and may be said to have been the life and soul of the movement so successfully carried out for the erection of a monument to the Poet's memory in Kilmarnock. The spacious Cross of Kilmarnock is the great point of attraction to strangers and residents. Seven streets branch off it, and in its immediate neighbourhood are the only antiquities and places associated with the name of our poet of v/hich the town can boast. " Swith to the Laigh Kirk ane and a', Aud there tak' up your stations ; Then aff to Beyhle's in a raw, An' pour divine libations For joy this day." " Begbie's " is now the Angel Inn. It is situated in IMarket Lane, is as attractive as ever, and presided over by as accom- j 146 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. niodatins a host as it was in the days of "Burns ; but the Laigh Kirk, to which he refers, and in which the " Ordina- tion" which provoked his satire took place, was taken down, and the present edifice somewhat enlarged occupies its site. The massive square tower which belonged to the old church, however, still stands, and bears date 1410, The church- yard is of peculiar interest, and the rambler will find much in it to cause him to linger. At the north-west corner of the church will be found the graves of Mv. Thomas Samson, the Eev. Dr. Mackinlay, and the Eev. John Robinson, dramatis 'persona' of our poet, who curiously enough lie within a few inches of each other, and are mentioned together in the first stanza of the worthy sportsman's elegy. " Has auld Kilmarnock seen the Deil ? Or great M'Kinlay thrawn his heel ? Or Eobinson again grown weel To preach an' read ? ' Na, waiir than a' ?' cries ilka chiel, ' Tam Samson's dead.' " These worthy clergymen rest side by side, and the " weel- worn clay " of Mr. Samson at the head of their graves under a freestone tablet on which the epitaph by Burns is graven. Kear to the graves of these contemporaries are the resting places of several local martyrs. A stone behind the church bears the following : — " Here lie the heads of John Eoss- AND John Shields, who suffered at Edinburgh, Dec. 27th, 1666, AND HAD THEIR heads SET UP IN KiLMARNOCK." " Our persecutors mad with wrath and ire, In Edinburgh members some do be, some here ; Yet instantly united they shall be, And witness 'gainst this nation's perjury." These martyrs were found with arms in their possession, and were executed on suspicion of being in town to watch tho movements of the King's troops. Another stone of like interest, which was renewed by the inhabitants in 182.3, is to the memory of John IS'isbet, the only martyr executed in the town. The particular spot in the Cross where the gallows stood was for many years marked by the initials of his name, but during the recent repairing of the causeway the white stones which formed the letters were RAMBLES THROUGH THE LANK OF BURNS. 147 removed and a circular block of granite substituted. It was indented into the causeway by Mr. Charles Eeid, road surveyor, a gentleman wliose antiquarian taste has prompted him to preserve many old landmarks and nick-nacks at once interesting and curious. It will be found near the kerbstone a little to the east of Waterloo Street. It bears the follow- ing : — " John Kisbet was executed here on 14th April, 1683." The humble memorial to the memory of this martyr bears this inscription : — " Here lies John jSTisbet, who was TAKEN BY MaJOR BaLFOUR'S PARTY, AND SUFFERED AT Kilmarnock, 14th April, 1683, for adhering to the Word of God and our Covenants." " Come, reader, see, here pleasant Nisbet lies. His blood doth pierce the lihjh and lofty skies ; Kilmarnock did his latter hour perceive, And Christ his soul to Heaven did receive. Yet bloody Torrence did his body raise. And buried him into another place ; Saying, ' Shall rebels lie in graves with me ? We'll bury him where evil doers be.' " The only other martyrs' stone is close to the former, and in the following simple language tells the mournful tale of those whom it commemorates : — " Sacred to the memory of Thomas Findlat, John Cuthbertson, William Brown, Eobert and James Ander- son (natives of this parish), who were taken prisoners at Bothwell, June 22nd, 1679, sentenced to transporta- tion for life, and drowned on their passage near the. Orkney Isles. Also, John Findlay', who suffered JIARTYRDOM 15tH DeC, 1682, IN THE GrASSMARKET, Edinburgh." " Peace to the church ! when foes her peace invade, Peace to each noble martyr's honoured shade ! They, with undaunted courage, truth, and zeal, Contended for the church and country's weal ; We share the fruits, we drop the grateful tear, And peaceful altars o'er their ashes rear." The stones referred to are the most noteworthy, but there are others to the memory of the honoured dead which will also prove interesting. 148 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BOEJfS. Tradition has it, and excavation has proved, that this graveyard was of mucli greater extent, and included part of the ground now forming surrounding streets. Indeed, the writer has seen human bones exhumed in the centres of the now populous thoroughfares on its west and south sides. In 1731, the Low Church became too small, and a new church or chapel-of-ease was erected to accommodate the increasing population. It is also situated within a short distance of the Cross, and deserves the rambler's attention, as it was the building in which the Rev. John Eussell, a well- known Burns' hero who figures in the The Holy Fair, The Twa Herds, and Tlie Kirk's Alarm, officiated. " But now the Lord's ain trumpet touts, Till a' the hills are rairin', And echoes back return the shouts — Black Russell is na sparin' : His piercing words, like Highland swords, Di%'ide the joints and marrow ; His talk o' hell, where devils dwell, Our vera sauls does harrow VVi' fricht that day." And again — " He fine a mangy sheep could scrub, Or nobly fling tbe Gospel club. And New-Light herds could nicely drub. Or pay their skin ; Could shake them o'er the burning dub. Or heave them in." A correspondent of Eobert Chambers wrote — " He was the most tremendous man I ever saw. Black Hugh Macpherson was a beauty in comparison. His voice was like thunder, and his sentiments were such as must have shocked any class of hearers in the least more refined than those whom he usually addressed." It is stated in the History of Kilmarnock that " his appearance completely harmonized with his severity of manner, for he was uncouth and robust in person, remarkably dark-complexioned, and stem and gloomy in countenance. On Sabbaths, during the intervals of divine services, he ■would frequently go through the streets, and even to the out- skirts of the town, with a large walking stick in his hand, Avatching for disorderly boys and other stragglers ; and such as he discovered, he would rebuke for their ungodliness. In RAMBLES THKOUGII THE LAND OF BURNS. 149 short, he was such a terror to the inhabitants, especially on the Sabbath, that the moment the sound of his ponderous staff was heard upon the streets the doors that chanced to be opened were instantly closed, and every countenance assumed an air of the deepest sanctity. In theological knowledge few of his companions were more deeply versed ; and, in religious controversy, he was not easily driven from his position. Even Burns, beneath whose strokes of satire the clergy of Ayrshire Avere wont to lie prostrate, was on one occasion defeated, it is said, by his determined mode of arguing. They had met accidentally in a barber's shop in Fore Street, and whether Mr Paissell knew the poet and meant to chastise him for his reputed heresy we know not, but they soon became engaged in a warm discussion respecting some particular point of faith ; and, according to our informant, who was present, the jjoet, with all his ingenuity and argumentative powers, was so baffled by his opponent that he became silent, and left the shop in a hurried manner." The High Church is now a parish church, is beautifully titted-up internally, and contains handsome stained-glass " memorial " Avindows, though externally it is a plain-looking edifice. It is surrounded by a neatly kept churchyard, enclosed by a high wall. In a niche in this wall, near the gateway in Soulis Street, there is a fluted pillar surmounted by an urn, which commemorates an English nobleman named Lord Soulis. Tradition states that he was killeil by an arrow which one of the JJoyds of Dean Castle shot at him from a distance. On the front of the pediment .surmounting the niche is the following : — " To THE Memory of Lord Soulis, A.D. 1444. Erected by Subscription A.J). 1825. ' The days op old to mind I call.' " The graveyard contains many handsome tombstones ; but the most noteworthy is to the memory of John Wilson, the cautious, close-fisted printer of tlie first edition of the poems of Burns. He was the son of a Kilmarnock bailie, and at- tained the same civic position himself in the town of Ayr, where he settled and in company with his brother Peter established the Ai/i- Advertise!- shortly after giving the 150 RAMBLES TUROITOH THE LAND OF BURNS. Mossgiel ploughman's poems to the world. The epitaph — " Whoe'er thou art, oh reader, know That death has murder'd Johnnie ; And here his body lies fu' low — For sax;l he ne'er had ony " — which Burns hurled at him, and made him print by way of joke, has been considered too severe ; but if the statement that the poet " pocketed, all expenses deducted, nearly twenty pounds " from the sale of his Kihnarnock edition be true, and there is no reason to doubt it, it is not a whit. Indeed, when Wilson's account for printing is looked into stronger language would be justifiable. The following fac-simile of this curious document, and the remarks appended to it, are taken from Chambers's excellent edition of the poet's works : " Mr. Robert Burns. To John Wilson. Dr. Aug. 28, 178G.— Printing 15 sheets at 19s, ... £14 5 19 Reams 1.3 quires paper at 17s, 16 4 Carriage of the paper, ... ... 8 9 Stitching 612 C'opies in blue paper at l|d, .. ... ... 4 9 3 Aucr. 19.— By Cash, "28 By 70 Copies, By 9 Copies, Oct. 6th. By cash in full, Kilmarnock. Settled the above account. John Wilson. "It appears that Mr. Wilson had here, by an error in his arith- metic, undercharged the Poet Ten Shillings, the second item in the account being properly £16 14s., instead of £16 4s. "Six hundred Copies at 3s. each would produce £90; and if there were no more to be deducted from that sum than the expenses of paper, print, and stitching, there would remain upwards of £54 as profit. The Poet, however, .speaks of i-ealising only £20 by the speculation." £35 17 .. £6 3 .. 14 13 .. 10 10 — £31 6 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, 151 Wilson died at Ayr on the Gth May, 1821, and by his will left a share in a property in Kilmarnock, to accumulate until there was sufficient funds to build a school in which poor children were to be taught "reading, writing, and Arithmetic only." In the vicinity of the Cross also is the Kay Park — an ornamental piece of ground well adapted for recreation and healthful enjoyment, which was gifted to the town by the late Alexander Kay [born March 1795, died January 18G6] — a Kilmarnockonian who amassed a fortune of £70,000 in Glasgow as an insurance broker. Of the £16,000 bequeathed to his native place £6000 was set aside by the trust for the erection and endowment of two schools, and the remainder for the purchase and maintenance of this place of public resort. On a height witliin these grounds, overlooking the town, stands the handsomest tribute to the poet's memory yet erected. It is built of red sandstone hewn from rock on the banks of the Ayr near to the spot where the poet viewed the bonnie lass of Eallochmyle, and towers to a height of sixty-five feet. It is Gothic in design, and represents a baronial tower of the olden time. At its front, stairs lead up to an alcove fiiteen feet in height, in which stands a chaste statue of the poet cut froin a block of the finest Sicilian marble by the eminent sculptor, W. G. Stevenson of Edinburgh. The figure — which is eight feet from foot to head — represents the poet, attired in a tight- fitting coat and knee-breeches, leaning against the trunk of a tree, with a book in the one hand and a pencil in the otliei'. The head is turned slightly to the right, which gives the spectator in front of the figure the view of the features as they are shown in the now familiar portrait by Naysmith. Hound the base is a walk three feet wide, and in the interior of the building is a room devoted to relics and articles associated with the life and writings of the poet. From the top of the tower — which is reached by a winding stair — a most gorgeous and extensive view of the land of Burns is witnessed. At the spectator's feet is the town of Kilmar- nock, hemmed in as it were by verdant slopes and distant rugged hills, which rigorously preclude a glimpse of " Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a toiin surpasses For honest men and bonnie lasses." 152 KAMELES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. To the north is the ruin of Dean Castle — a sad memento of the fallen house of Boyd— nestling in a beautiful vale through which the Marnock glides : and beyond it the moors of Fen- wick and Eaglesham, famed lurking places of the Covenanters during the era of the Persecution. To the east there is a fine far-stretching view backed by Loudoun Hill, "Loudoun's bonnie woods and braes,'' and the moors of Galston, on which the poet witnessed the glorious light of the rising sun on the morning of "The Holy Fair" — a pleasing reminiscence ; but they also recall a sad passage in his history, for when tra versing them on a bleak blustry afternoon he measured the last song he ever expected to measure in Caledonia. A little to the southward the position of the farm of Mossgiel can be indicated with considerable distinctness, as also other places which the poet loved and celebrated in song. There is also, when the weather is clear, a magnificent prospect of Arran and the Frith of Clyde. On the whole, the view is one of great natural beauty ; but no word picture can convey an adequate idea of the hills, woods, plains, and fells which lie around in panoramic magnificence. It was long considered a blemish on the reputation of Kil- marnock that it contained no memorial of the poet. Although a statue to his memory was long talked of by the town's people, no practical step for its erection was taken until the movement received an impetus by the unveiling of a statue to the poet's memory on the 25th of January, 1877, in Glasgow. " On the evening of the day following a public demonstration was held in the George Inn Hall, Kilmarnock — Provost Sturrock in the chair, and Mr Andrew Turnbull (president of the Burns Club), croupier — at which it was proposed, and unanimously a^^rced to, that a statue be erected in some suitable place in Kilmarnock in honour of the poet. The following were appointed a committee to carry out the proposal : — Provost Sturrock, Bailie Craig, Bailie Muir, Bailie Wilson, Dean of Guild Andrews ; Messrs John Baird, John Gilmour, Thomas M'Culloch, George Humphrey,- James Stirling, John A. Mather, Alexander Walker, William Mitchell, John G. Hamilton, James Robertson, Hugh Shaw, David Phillips, Andrew Christie, James Arbuckle, Ninian Anderson, Dr M'Alister, Andrew Turnbull, James M'Kie, and James Piose — Andrew Turnbull, convener ; Hugh Shaw, KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 153 treasurer ; James Eose and James M'Kie, joint-secretaries. At a meeting of the committee on February 23rd, 1877, the Convener, Treasurer, and Secretaries, with Messrs John liaird, Ninian Anderson, Thomas M'Culloch, and James Arbuckle were appointed a sub-committee to carry out the details of the movement, and it was intimated that the sum of six hundred and fourteen pounds (£G14) had already been subscribed. At a meeting of the general committee on April 6th, 1877, a re- port from the subcommittee recommending open competition by sculptors was agreed to — two premiums, one of £50 and one of £25, being olFered for the best and second best models. The amount of subscriptions at this date was twelve hundred and eighty-two pounds (£1282). On June 7th, 1877, it was suggested at a meeting of the general committee that, as the subscriptions had far exceeded expectations, an orna- mental building and a marble statue of the poet in it should be erected. At a general meeting of the subscribers held in the Town Hall on September 8th, 1877, the sub-committee recommended that a marble statue to cost eight hundred pounds (£800), and an ornamental building estimated at fifteen hundred pounds (£1500), should be erected in the Public Park — a site for the building having been granted by the Kay Trustees. This was agreed to, and the sub-committee instructed to carry out the decision. At a meeting of sub- committee on October 9th, 1877, Mr Robert S. Ingram, architect, on behalf of Messrs J. & E. S. Ingram, submitted amended design of ornamental building, which was accepted, and he was instructed to prepare drawings and specifications of the same. On December 6th and 7th, 1877, the compet- ing models, 21 in all, were publicly exhibited in the George Inn Hall, and on December 14th the committee awarded the commission for the statue to Mr W. G. Stevenson, 2 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh ; the premium of fifty pounds (£50) to Mr D. W. Stevenson, 2 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh ; and the premium of twunty-five pounds (£25) to Mr Chas. M'JBride, 7 Hope Street, Edinburgh. On the Burns Anniversary, Jan. 25th, 1878, a Burns Concert was held in the Corn Exchange Hall, which was crowded to overflowing. On March 29th, 1878, the contract between the sub-committee and Mr. W. G. Stevenson, Edinburgh, for the marble statue was duly signed. In the months of March, April, and May the sub- 154 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. committee got working plans and estimates for the erection of the ornamental building in the Kay Park. These, after modifications, were finally agreed to, and at a meeting of June 4th, 1878, Mr Ingram, architect, intimated that Mr. Andrew Calderwood had signed contract for the erection of the build- ing, the entire cost of which was estimated at fourteen hundred and fifty pounds (£1450)."* When the building was partlj'" constructed it was agreed that the Memorial Stone should be laid with full JMasonic honours by R. W. Cochran-Patrick, Esq. of Woodside, Depute Provincial Grand ]\raster for Ayrshire, and on the 14th of September, 1878, about fifteen thousand people of all classes and conditions of life assembled to do honour to the Poet's memory. Kilmarnock was moved to its depths, and excitement ran high as a highly imposing procession moved along the streets to the scene of operations in the following order : — Body of Police, the Bums Monument Sub-Committee, Carters, Town Council and County Gentle- men, Burns Monument General Committee and Burns Club, 5th Battery Ayrshire Artillery Volunteers, ist Ayrshire Rifle Volunteers, Iron Trades, Good Templars, Oddfellows, Tailors, Free Gardeners, Foresters, Joiners and other Wood Workers, Operative Masons, Chimney Sweeps, Operative Gardeners, and one hundred Masonic Lodges. The following account of the procession is taken from the report of the proceedings in the Kilmarnock Standard of September 21, 1878: — "The procession was exceedingly well organised and presented a most imposing appearance. Immediately behind the pioneers, as usual, came the carters, who undoubtedly formed the most note-worthy feature of the display. They numbered no less than 106 — the largest turn-out of the kind ever seen in Kilmarnock — and were mounted on strong, well-built, and gaily-decorated horses. Each man wore a Kilmarnock bonnet, decked with blue ribbons, and also a blue rosette on the breast of his coat. The calvacade as it passed along the streets attracted great attention, and the hearty cheers which greeted the men showed how favourable was the impression they created. Another noted group was the Foresters. Each lodge was preceded by three mounted men dressed in the picturesque * From " Short Sketch of the Monument Movement," deposited in the Memorial Stone of the Monument. RAMBLES THEOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 155 garb of the craft, having the bow slung over the shoulder Avith the quiver by the side. The Free Gardeners also ap- peared in a very pleasing costume. Foremost among the trades by rightful position, though the order of them had been determined by the accident of the ballot, marched the iron trades, which now form the chief element of our local industry They carried some beautifully finished models, including a locomotive, two carriages and a van, forming a railway train with every appliance complete. The joiners excited the interest of the crowd by appearing with a lorry which had been fitted up with a double bench, at which two men in white aprons carefully planed away at a piece of wood, and seemed to b' so intent on their work as to be altogether ignorant of the panorama of which they formed a part, or of the thousands of eager eyes under whose gaze they were passing. The Oddfellows as usual presented a highly respectable appearance, and the Good Templars also turned out well, among them being a goodly sprinkling of feninles. Almost hid in tlie general mass Avas a small band of chimney-sweej^s, whose presence Avould have passed un- noticed had it not been for the banner which they carried and on which was inscribed in large letters, ' By dirt we live.' Their appearance did not bear out the motto, as for once, at least, they hatl cleaned all the dirt away from them- selves, and come out in presentable fashion like the others to honour the Ayrshire bard. It is impossible to notice in detail all the component parts of the procession, but it may not be out of place to refer to the presence among the Free- masons of the Lodge 133 — St. David's of Tarbolton. This is the mother lodge of the poet, which from some cause lay dormant for 42 years, and was only resuscitated by the Mauchline brethren in January of last year in order that it might take a part in the Burns demonstration in Glasgow. Alongside of this lodge was 135 — the St. James Kilwinning of Tarbolton — which the poet joined on his leaving the St. David, and in which he occupied the second highest post. It is estimated that about 4000 people took part in the pro- cession." When the j^rocession was mai'shalled round the monument, the ceremony of laying the Memorial stone was proceeded with amid a dead impressive silence. The following account 156 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. of the ceremony is taken from the newspaper report already quoted : — " The Eev. Mrlnglis of Kihnaurs. Provincial Grand Chaplain, offered up a brief, appropriate and impressive ])ra3'er, after which the Depute Provincial Grand Master having directed the Provincial Grand Secretary (Bro. Wylie) deposi- ted in the cavity of the stone a glass bottle, hermetically sealed, containing : — Short sketch of the monument move- ment. Alphabetical list of subscribers showing subscriptions to the extent of two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds. Copy of Burns' poems (Mr M'Kie's fac-simile edition.) Copy of the Kilmarnock Standard, the Glasgoio Herald, N.B. Daily Mail, Glasgow News, Scotsman, Bevieiv, Ajv and Ardrossan newspapers ; all of date, September 14th, 1878. Eegistration statistics of the parish of Kilmarnock for 1858 ; digest of census of 1871 for the parish, Avith registration statistics ; vital statistics from the registers of the parish, for 1876 and 1877, by Mr James Smith Gregory, registrar. The current coins of the realm from a farthing to a sovereign. Standard measure of one foot and standard weight of 1 lb. Monograph on a new genus of rugose corals from the carboni- ferous lime-stone of Scotland by Jamos Thomson, F.G.S. The Provincial Grand Secretary then read the inscription on the brass plate placed over the glass boltle. The inscription is as follows : — ' By the favour op ALrriOHTY God, ox the 14th DAY OF September, Anno Domini Eighteen Hundred an]> Seventy-eight, and the era of Masonry 5878. and in the Forty-second year of the reign of our beloved Sovereign, Victoria First, the jNIemorial Stone of this Monument, erected by Public Subschiption in honour of the genius op Egbert Burns, Scotland's National Poet, was laid by R. Wm. Cochran-Patrick, Esq. of Woodside, Beith, PiIGht Worshipful Deplte Provincial Grand Master for Ayr- shire (attended by numerous IVIasonic Lodges), according to the Ancient usages of Masonry.' After the Kilmarnock Brass Band had played ' Old Hundred,' the necessary workmen were then brought forward, and these having completed the operative part of the ceremony, the Depute Provincial Grand Master spread the mortar in a most workman-like fashion with the silver trowel, and the stone was lowered. The acting Provincial Grand Wardens, under orders from the Provincial Grand Master, severally applied the level and the plummet. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS 157 The Substitute Provincial Grand Master, under like orders, applied the square, and the Depute Grand Master then said : * Having, my Riglit Worshipful Brethren, full confidence in your skill in our Royal Art, it remains with me now to finish this work,' v/hereupon he gave the stone three knocks, saying : * May the Almighty Architect of the Universe look down with "benignity upon our present undertaking, and on the happy ■completion of the work of which we have now laid the memorial stone, and may this monument be long preserved from peril and decay.' The band then jilayed the Masons' Anthem. On the music ceasing, the Substitute Provincial Grand Master then delivered to the Depute Grand Master a cornucopia, and to the acting senior and junior Provincial Grand Masters, silver vases with wine and oil. The Depute Provincial Grand Master then spread corn on the stone, and poured thereon Avine and oil, conformably to ancient custom, saying : " Praise be to the Lord, immortal and eternal, who formed the Pleavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and extended the waters beyond it : Who supports the pillars of the nations, and maintains in order and harmony surrounding worlds. We implore thy aid : and may the Almighty Euler of events deign to direct the hand of our gracious Sovereign, so that she may pour down blessings upon her people : and may that people, living under sage laws in a free Government, ever feel grateful for the blessings they enjoy.' Three hearty cheers on the part of the crowd, and ' Pule Britannia' by the band, completed the ^Masonic part of the ceremony." After an eloquent address had been delivered by Mr. Cochran-Patrick, and a few remarks made by Provost Stur- rock, the procession re-formed and marched back to town, where it dispersed. In the evening a public dinner was held in the George Inn Hall, at which Provost Sturrock presided. It was numerously attended, and amongst those present were several distinguished personages and local celebrities. More need not be said regarding the quiet town of Kilmar- nock, so I will conclude this chapter by reiterating the wish of George Campbell, a local poet, who flourished about 1787 : — " ! happy Marnock, lasting be thy peace ! May trading flourish and thy wealth increase ! Still may the loaded axle press the sand, And commerce waft thy wares to ev'ry land ! Happy returns fill every heart with joy, And poor industrious never want employ !" 158 RAMBLES THROUGH THE L\ND OF BURNS. CHAPTER XIV. From kilmarnock to mossgiel — notes isy the way— mossgiel — A NOISY reception — THE DWELLING-HOUSE — THE SPENCE — AN interesting relic — THE " MOUSE " AND " DAISY" — JOHN blank's RECOLLECTIONS — THE OLD DWELLING-HOUSE — THE poet's STUDY— the SCENE OF "THE VISION" — THE POET's PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND MISFORTUNES WHEN IN THE FARM. Haying roved Ly bonnie Doou and winding Ayr, and sketched the town of Ivilmarnock, I Avould now, courteous reader, ask you to accomjiany me in a ramble to Mossgiel and the places of interest in its vicinity, which are inseparably associated with the poet's name, for he removed there in May, 1784, and with his brotlier Gilbert began life anew with the little the family had been able to wrench from the avaricious grasp of the Lochlea landlord. The day set apart for the journey being favourable, I left Kilmarnock at an early hour, and after a pleasant walk reached Crookedholm, an unpretentious hamlet chiefly occu- jjied by miners, who find employment in numerous coalpits in its vicinity. Unimportant as it now is, it was at one time a place of some note, and, according to a work lately pub- lished,* possessed a " flour mill, a cloth factory, and a place of worship near the beginning of the eighteenth century." Ijeyond it I passed two handsome Churches, crossed a sub- stantial stone bridge, and entered Hurlford, another mining settlement which has assumed the proportions of a town within the memory of persons still living. This transition is owing to the presence of rich seams of coal in the vicinity, to the opening of the Portland Ironworks, and to its connection with a line of railway which bears away the produce, and brings the village into direct communication with the large centres of industry. The village possesses the churches referred to, a mechanics' institute, a Post and Telegraph Ofiice, a flourish- *" Hurlford Sixty Years Ago," 'r) OF BURNS. 167 most beautiful poems and songs. Passing along a narrow Linfenced road, I soon reached the highway, and after a Avalk of something like a mile entered Mauchline — a place to which Burns was often decoyed on " a nicht at e'en " to " pree the clachan yill " or perchance " the mou' o' some bonnie lass " — but more of him and it in next Chapter. 16S RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OE BURNS. CHAPTEE XV. MaXTCHLINE — THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE BOX-MAKING TRADE — NANSE TANNOCK's HOUSE— THE HOUSE IN WHICH BURNS LIVED AFTER HIS MARRIAGE — GAVIN HAMILTON'S HOUSE— THE PARISH CHURCH — THE KIRK-YARD — THp HOLY FAIR — JOHN DOO AND POOSIE NANSIE — THE PUBLIC GREEN AND MARTYRS' STONE : A WORD ABOUT THEM— AN ANECDOTE OF BURNS AND JEAN ARMOUR — THE AULD MANSE AND WHO WAS SEEN IN ITS HAUNTED ROOM — THE HAGGIS. Mauchline is situated ia a beautiful district, and although somewhat scattered and irregularly built is a town of neat appearance and considerable bustle. Like many places in the shire it owes its origin to its church and priory, of which the tower behind the burying ground is the only remnant. "In 1510 a charter, erecting Mauchline into a free burgh of barony, was granted by James IV. ; and by the act of 1606 it will be observed that Mauchline was again constituted a free burgh of barony. The charteis, however, are said to have been destroyed at the burning of the Register Office in Edin- burgh, upwards of a hundred years ago, and they have never been renewed.'""' Otherwise, tliere is nothing of historical interest connected with the place. The Aveaving of cotton goods at one time formed the chief support of the inhabitants, but, alas ! that trade has received an irreparable shock, and the sound of the shuttle is nc longer heard in the streets. The staple industry at present is the manufacture of fancy ornanicnts, snufif boxes, card cases, &c. It is curious how this industry originated, and still more so how .it has de- veloped itself, and made Mauchline known throughout Great Britain, America, and the Continent of Europe. A French gentleman, on a visit to Sir Alexander Boswell at Auchinleck House, having the misibrtune to break a handsome curiously- hinged snuff-box, sent it to the late Mr Wyllie, the village ' Historj- of the County of Ayr." KAMELES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 169* watch-maker, to be repaired. During the process, the work- man into Avhose hands it was given inadvertently allowed some solder to run into the joint, and consequently rendered it useless. To remedy the mishap he taxed his ingenuity, and tried every possible means to remove the obstruction, but without success. Latterly he succeeded in making an instru- ment that answered the purpose so well that the difficulty Avas overcome, and the hinge put in working order. Being pleased with his success in repairing, the workman — a Mr Crawford — next conceived the idea of making a/ac simile of the Frex^chman's box and presenting it to Sir Alexander. The magical or secret hinge taxed his mechanical skill, but by the aid of the instrument he had made he succeeded in imitating it, and that so well that orders flowed in, and the manufacture of such boxes became his sole occupation. To monopolise the trade, both master and man kept the formation of the hinge a secret, and that for twelve years ; but a misunder- standing arising between them, they separated, and each carried on the box-making business on his own account. Crawford settled in Cumnock, and introduced the trade there ; but, having employed a watchmaker to make a hinge- forming instrument like unto what he made himself, its use was suspected, and the secret in a short time ceased to be private : one firm after another sprang up in neighbouring towns until the industry assumed considerable proportions. On this hinge — of which a bed-ridden Laurencekirk cripple named Steven is said to have been the inventor — the fancy wood trade in Mauchline is founded ; but the honour of its introduction belongs to the late Andrew Smith, a genius who, though bred a stone-mason, raised himself by energy, self- culture, and perseverance to a very respectable position. Having, like others, discovered the secret of the snuffbox hinge, he put it to practical use, and opened a small manu- factory in the village, in which he employed three men as box-makers. This venture i)roving a success, Andrew took his brother William into partnership, and his business habits, combined with liis own creative genius, did much to make the industry the staple of the place. It is now fully sixty years since this species of manufacture was introduced into Mauchline, but during that period it has undergone many changes, and snuff-boxes are now the least of its products — 170 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. beautifully-fashioned articles of ornament and use being turned out in great variety. Tlie trade is so far developed by the application of steam and mechanical science that an article can now be purchased for a couple of shillings which at one time would have cost as many pounds. There are at present three factories in the place, and close on 400 people find constant employment in them. When residing in Mossgiel, Burns found many attractions in Mauchline, not the least of which were the lasses, the Masonic Lodge, the debating society, and the delusive plea- sures of the ale-house. Ijut at this stage it will be as well to resume the narrative and call attention to what is deemed worthy of regard. The walk from Mossgiel to Mauchline proved pleasant and enjoyable. Upon entering the town I passed up a long street of clean, comfortable dwelling-houses, and in a very short time arrived in what may be appropriately termed the Cross, but not without being honoured with many a " glower" from chatty village belles, gossiping wives, and garrulous dames of one description and another who idled at doors in the seemingly earnest discussion of some all-important subject. Many of the houses in the vicinity of the local centre are modern ; but one old-fashioned thoroughfare which branches off it and steals between two rows of venerable thatched cottages is of peciiliar interest, being associated with the Poet's name. Accosting a middle-aged man, he kindly, and in a somewhat self-satisfied manner, pointed to an old house on the left, in which there is at present a tuismith's shop, and said, " This was Nanse Tannock's place, and that two-storeyed red-stone building on the other side is the one in wliich Burns began housekeeping with his Jean ; that is the auld kirkyard in which the ' Holy Fair ' was held, and yonder is the house in which Gavin Hamilton lived, and the window of the office in which Burns and Jean were married." What was at one time the howf of Nanse Tannock is a rickety thatched building of two stories, with a wooden stair going up from the street door to the upper apartments — which, by the bye, have an entrance into a small yard adjoining the burying-ground, which was at one time unenclosed. Nothing remains to indicate this judicious ale Avifie's residence but the nails which secured her signboard above the door, and these are pointed RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF I'.rRXS. 171 to as objects of curiosity by the residents — a circumstance certainly which indicates that the most is made of everything pertaining to the poet. It is prett}^ evident that Burns frequented i^anse Tannock's change-house, and that its Avails have often rung with the laughter which followed his sallies of wit. In it he promised to drink the health (" nine times a week ") of those M.P.'s who would devise some scheme to remove the " curst restriction on aqua vitae ;" but when ^anse heard of it she is reported to have said " that he might be a very clever lad, but he certainly was regardless, as, to the best of her belief, he had never taken three half-mutchkins in her house in all his life." This may be, bnt facts are very much against her. The Eev. P. Hately Waddell says—" Mrs :N"eny Martin or Miller, who died December 22, 1858, aged 92, and was originally sweetheart to the Poet's brother William, was intimately acquainted also with the Poet himself, and con- firmed in the most earnest and emphatic manner, as if living over again in his society the scenes of her youth, the rumours of the extraordinary gift of eloquence with which he was even then endowed. According to her account, to escape from his tongue, if once entangled by it, was almost an impossibility. ' He was unco, by-ordinar engagin' in his talk.' For which reason he was an invaluable vi.^itor at the -change-house, where Nanse Tannock had a Jesuitical device of her own for detaining him. JS'^anse carried a huge leather pouch at her side, slung from her waist (as old Scotch land- ladies used to do), filled with keys, pence, 'change,' and et ceferas. "When application for Eurns was made at her door — as was often the case, ' for aLweel he was uncolie in demand' — by personal friends of his or rivals of her own — ' Is Rab here V or ' Is Mossgiel here V — ^anse would thrust her hand into her capacious leather j^ouch, and, jingling ostentatiously among keys and coppers, would solemnly and fraudulently declare ' that 'he wasna thei'e (in her pouch) that night !' — Eab, in reality, being most probably engaged at the very moment in rehearsing his last poetical effusion, ' The Holy Fair' or ' The Twa Herds,' to an ecstatic audience in the par- lour." The same writer goes on to say that it was in Nanse Tannock's parlour that " the first reading of ' The Holy Fair' took place, when there were present Eobert and his sweet- 172 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. heart, Jean Armour ; William and his sweetheart, Nelly Miller; and 'anitherlad ortwa and their sweethearts. Robin himsel' was in unco glee. He kneelit ontil a chair in the middle o' the room, wi' his elbows on the back o't, and read owre " The Holy Fair " frae a paper i' his ban' — and sic laughin' ! we could hardly steer for laughin' ; an' I never saw himsel' in sic glee.' It must be observed, however, that both the quantity and the quality of 'refreshment' on this, as on other similar occasions, were very moderate indeed — ' three ha'penny yill, twa or three bottles for the company ' being the average reckoning, with a glass or two of whisky at most Miss Brown, Mauchline, states that her father well remembered Iloburt Burns, and has seen him frequently at Nanse Tannock's after his marriage, carrying his eldest son aloft on his hand, balancing and tossing the child in paternal pride towards the kitchen ceiling. Very beautiful indeed is this homely picture ; and Jean herself undoubtedly would be there." The house in which Burns resided is nearly opposite that of Nanse Tannock. It is a substantial two-storied thatched building containing several apartments. The one up stairs on the left is that in which the Po .t and his darling Jean spent their honeymoon — a fact which induces many visitors to call and stare with a kind of re^ erence at the walls of the room and at the set-in-bed in which the happy pair slept ; indeed some strangers — but more especially American — are so enthusiastic that they beg pieces of the wood, and several, I was informed, were so foolish as to get into it altogether. Holding along a path which skirts the churchyard wall, and winds round the back of what was the residence of Gavin Hamilton, the eaily friend and patron of the poet, I crossed a rude bridge which spans a trickling narrow stream at the base of the hoary remnant of the priory already mentioned, and after some little difficulty entered a shady lane. This brought me to the gate of the nea'ly laid out grounds which front the now celebrated and almost classic abode which is quaint and old-fashioned in appearance and highly picturesque from its situation. Gavin Hamilton was a legal practitioner of high respecta- bility, and is described as having been a " man of spirit and RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 173 intelligence — generous, afflible, and enlightened." Gilbert Burns says — " The farm of Mossgiel, at the time of our coming to it, was the property of the E;irl of Loudoun, but was held in tack by Mr. Gavin Hamilton, writer in JVEauch- line, from whom we had our bargain ; who had thus an opportunity of knowing and showing a sincere regard for my brother before he knew that he was a poet. The Poet's esti- mation of him, and the strong outlines of his character, may be collected from the dedication to this gentleman. When the publication Avas begun, Mr. H. entered very warmly into its interests and promoted the subscription very extensively." It is almost unnecessary to add that he and Burns were on the most intimate terms, and that he liad the poet's warmest sympathy when subjected to the petty annoyances of the kirk- session for digging a few potatoes in his garden on a Sabbath morning. In his office— which is still shown — J^urns was married to Jean Armour, not in a ceremonial way, but according to the law of the land and as surely as if the con- tract had received the sanction of a benchful of bishops. It appears from the session record that the ceremony was per- formed on the 3rd August, 1788, and also that the poet generously gave a guinea to the poor of the parish on being told that it was customary for the bridegroom to pay a small fine when an irregular marriage was contracted. This room is also memorable as that in which "The Calf" was com- mitted to paper. Burns called on liis friend one day when going to church, and finding him suffering from gout, jocularlj'' promised to return and give him the text. He did so, and the humorous satire was the result. Upon leaving what is commonly termed " Gavin Hamilton's house," I found my way to the gate of the chuj'cliyard, which is close by, and luckily found it open. The church is a handsome edifice in the Gothic style, with a turreted square tower ninety feet in height. It occupies the site of the old barn-looking building in which " Daddy Auld " held forth. Hew Ainslie describes it in his Pihjrimage to the Land of Burns as having been as ugly an old lump of consecrated stone as ever cumbered the earth. " It seems," he says, (" if one might judge by the arched lintels that attempted to peep through the rough plaster), to have been set up by Gothic hands ; and if so, Presbyterianism has really been tolerably 174 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURKS, successful in beating it into its favourite model — a barn. The interior is, if possible, more dismal. Cold, damp, dark, and dirty, looking dissolution, and smelling deca}'-, and a fitter place one could hardly imagine for crying ' tidings of dam- nation ' in. Besides the ground floor it contains two wonder- ful looking things called lofts. One stretches from the east aable down into the body of the kirk ; the other sticks out from the wall opposite the pulpit, supported by two wooden pegs, which gives it quite the dangerous look of that cunning engine, the mouse trap. Beneath this queer canopy, Jasper pointed out the ' cutty stool ' where Burns sat when ' Mess John, beyond expression, fell foul o' him ;' ' But,' said the bellman, ' tho' that's the bit whar he sat, it's no the seat. It's been made into a twa-armed chair, for behoof o' a society here wha hand his birthday.' " It is stated in SpottiswooJ's Church History that George Wishart, the celebrated martyr of the Scottish Eeformation, was invited to preach in Mauchiine Church in 1554. " On his arriving at the place it Avas found that the Sheriff of Ayr, an enemy to the new faith, had placed a guard of soldiers in the church to keep him out. Some of the country people offered to force an entrance for him, but he would not suffer . them, saying : ' It is the word of peace I preach unto you ; the blood of no man shall be shed for it this day ; Christ is as mighty in the helds as in the church ; and he himself;, ■when in the flesh, preached oftener in the desert and upon the sea shore than in the temple of Jerusalem.' Then walking along to the edge of the moor, on the south side of Mauchiine, he preached for three hours and upwards to the multitude that flocked about him." At one time "tent preachings" and common fairs were held in the churchyard of ]\Iaucliline, but it has undergone an alteration for the better, and is now enclosed by a high wall, and compares favourably with the best kept village burying-grounds in the shire. After inspecting the church, I began to stray among the grass-covered graves, and conjure up the scene so graphically described by the poet—a by no means difficult task when one is acquainted with the incidents of The Hohj Fair and remaining landmarks. The back of Gavin Hamilton's house forms part of the boundary. A little further along, the upper portion of Xanse Tannock's EAMELES THROUGH THE LAKD OF BURNS. 175- house, and two or three old rickets, serve the same purpose ; but the first has tlie accommodation of a back door which, m the good dame's time, opened into the churcliyard, and through which droves of drouthy saints poured, " To gie the jars and barrels A hft that clay." In front, the Cowgate retains a streak or two of its original appearance, for the house which Poosie JSTansie occupied is but little changed, and that in which Jean Armour's father lived has luidergone no very great alteration. The same, however, cannot be said of "the holy spot," for it is thickly studded with modern tombstones, and very few specimens of ancient sculpture are to be met with. Despite this it is interesting to ramble among the hillocks and scan the memorials of individuals who were associates of the bard or themes of his muse. Entering a gravelled walk that winds round the church, I turned to the left, and at a short distance from the tower paused before a plain upright stone which bears the following inscription : — " In memory of A. J). J. John Morrison, of the 104th Eegiment, who died at Mauchline, 16th April, 1804, in the 80th year of his i^t AGE. Also, his Daughter, Mary, the Poet's BONNiEv^^yV Mauy Morrison, who died 29th June, 1791, aged 20 ^ AND HIS second Spouse, Ann Thomlieson, who died September, 1831, aged 76." So this is the resting place of the amiable girl who made such an impression on the youth- J^ ful poet's heart when attending the dancing school at Tarbol-^^ ton, thought I, and yet she is pronounced unknown. The song in Mary's honour was a juvenile production, but not- withstanding it is considered to be the most pathetic of the poet's love effusions. " Oh Mary, at thy window be, It is the wished, the trysted hour ! Those smiles and glances let me see, That make the miser's treasure poor. How blithely wad I bide the stoure, A v/eary slave frae siui to sun, Could I the rich reward secure. The lovely Mary Morison." A little to the south of the church "Holy Willie's weel-worn clay " has " ta'en up its last abode." JS^othing marks the 176 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. spot, but the best and most enduring memorial of this individual is his well-known prayer; it will survive the wreck of many things, and keep his memory green when obliteration has wiped the inscription off every stone in the yard. The holy man was no better than the poet said he was : that he was an arrant hypocrite the events of his life testify. After being convicted of pilfering money from the church offerings, his morals did not improve, and he ultimately ended his days in a roadside ditch, having been jolted out of a cart wlxich was conveying him and other inebriates home from a country fair. The carter — who appears not to have been altogether compos mentis himself — never missed Willie, or knew of the accident, until the dead body of the unfortunate man was discovered next morning. So ended the life of a practical dissembler ; but, unfortunately, specimens of his class are not rare, for individuals are still to be found who ' ' display to congregations wide, Devotion's every grace, except the heart." A short distance from "Willie's narrow bed the remains of Nanse Tannock and Racer Jess are stowed away under the sward. The first died in comfortable circumstances, and, like a judicious browster wife, maintained to the last that Burns never drank twa half-mutchkins in her house in a' his life, and that what he stated in his poems was just a wheen " leein' blethers." Perhaps she was right after all, for it is evident — at least to the writer — that he exercised the poetic license in the matter of dram-drinking. Jess, poor lass, closed her mortal race somewhat suddenly on the 15th February, 1813. jShe was the daughter of Poosie Nansie, a dame of whom something will be presently said, and was remarkable for her pedestrian powers and the running of errands: hence her cognomen. In an out-of-the-way corner of the churchyard, which appears to be a repository for rubbish, I stumbled across a massive stone tablet. Having my attention attracted by the name Auld, I set to work and cleared the moss and dirt from the inscription, and made out the following : — " The Rever- end Mr. William Auld, Minister of the Goseel at Mauchline, died 12th December, 1791, in the 50th year OF his ministry, and the 81st of his age." Little need RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 177 be said regarding Daddy Auld. That Burns satirised him, and that he rebuked Burns before the congregation for a certain moral lapse, is well known. He was a good man, but somewhat over zealous, and doubtless too severe on Gavin Hamilton for digging a few potatoes on the Sabbath ; but what else could he be when hounded on by men like Holy Willie 1 Holding along the back of the church, I came to the burying-place of the Armour family. At its head there is a very handsome tombstone, and over the grave a common flag, much worn and scratched, which bears the following faded, inscription : — " Elizabeth Riddle, daughter op Egbert Burns and Jean Armour, born at Dumfries 21st IvTovember, 1793, died at Mauchline in the autumn of 1795." A short distance from this burying-place there is a humble tombstone to the memory of an obscure Covenanter, which states that '• Here lies Interred the corpse of James 8mith, who was wounded by Captain Inglis and his Dragoons at the Burn OF Ann in Kyle, and thereafter died of his wounds in Mauchline Prison, for his adherence to the Word of God and Scotland's Covenanted work op Reformation. — A.D. 1682." Every reader is, or at least should be, aware that Mauchline Churchyard is the scene of The Holy Fair. On it the poet met Fun, his cronie dear, and in " fine remarkin' " put an effectual stoi> to practices which Avhere a disgrace to Scotland. *' Holy Fairs " have happily passed away, but Robert Burns, by his " priest-skelping turns," and the scathing, withering sarcasm of the poem referreel to, caused their expulsion, and worked a much needed reformation in the ecclesiastical afiairs of Mauchline parish. In his day, the time appointed for the dispensation of the Lord's Supper was looked forward to by the peasantry as a kind of festival, and farm servants, v/hen taking " a fee," were in the habit of making an agreement that they would be allowed to " gang to the preaching " on .such an occasion during their period of service. All this wanted reforming, and it was only a satirist like cur poet who could apply the lash and make the victim writhe under every stroke. This he did ; but, to the eternal honour of his name, he never ridicules the ordinance itself, nor utters a sneer at the " worship of God in spirit and in truth." I^o. Althoudi often 178 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURN?. " Misled by Fancy's meteor ray," he had a sincere regard for religion, and believed — in fact, he states in a letter to Mrs Dunlop that " 'Tis this that streaks our morning bright, 'Tis this that gilds the horror of our night. When wealth forsakes us, and when friends are few, When friends are faithless, or when foes pursue, 'Tis this that wards the blow or stills the smart, Disarms affliction or repels his dart, Within the breast bids purest raptures rise. Bids smiling conscience spread her cloudless skies." Mauchline Holy Fair was an event of no small importance in the district. People came long distances to be present at it, and while it lasted the public houses did a thriving business. " Now but and ben the change-house fills Wi' yill-caup commentators, Here's crying out for bakes and gills, And there the pint-stoup clatters ; While thick and thrang, and loud and lang, Wi' logic and wi' Scripture, They raise a din that in the end Is like to breed a rupture 0' wrath that day." The Communion was celebrated in the church, but the churchyard, in which there was a rostrum or moveable pulpit and " a shed to fend the showers and screen the country gentry," presented an animated appearance. The scene is graphically described by the Poet, but a still more racy picture is given in a pamphlet bearing date 1759, which purports to be A Letter from a Blacksmith to the Ministers and Elders of the Church of Scotland, in which the manner of jjuhlic worship in that church is considered, its inconveniences and defects jjointed out, and, methods for removiny them humbly proposed. " At the time of the administration of the Lord's Supper upon the Thursday, Saturday, and Monday," says the writer, " we have preaching in the fields near the church. At first you find a great number of men and women lying together upon the grass ; here they are sleeping and snoring, some with their faces towards heaven, others with faces turned downwards, or covered with their bonnets ; there you find a knot of young fellows and girls making assignations to go home together in RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 179 the evening or meet in some aleliouse ; in another place you see a pious circle sitting round an ale-barrel, many of which stand ready upon carts for the refreshment of the saints. The heat of the snmmer season, the fatigue of travelling, and the greatness of the crowd naturally dispose them to drink, which inclines some of them to sleep, works ap the enthuiasm of others, and" contributes not a little to produce those miraculous conversions that sometimes happen at these occasions — in a word, in this sacred assembly there is an odd mixture of religion, sleep, drinking, courtship, and a confusion of sexes, ages, and characters. When you get a little nearer the speaker, so as to be within reach of the sound though not the sense of the words — for that can only reach a small circle — you will find some weeping and others laughing, some pressing to get nearer the tent or tub in which the parson is sweating, bawling, jumping, and beating the desk ; others fainting with the stifling heat, or wrestling to extricate them- selves from the crowd ; one seems very devout and serious, and the next moment is scolding or cursing his neighbour for squeezing or treading on him ; in an instant after his countenance is composed to the religious gloom, and he is groaning, sighing, and weeping for his sins — in a word, there is such an absurd mixture of the serious and comic that were we convened for any other purpose than that of worshipping the God and Governor of Nature the scene would exceed all power of face" Hoav like the poet's description ! From this we know he did not exaggerate, but drew his picture from the life, and poured out the phials of his indignation against the cant and hypocritical humbug of his time. " Here sits a raw of tittling jades Wi' heaving breasts and bare neck, And there a batch o' wabster lads Blackguarding frae Kilmarnock, For fun this day. " Here some are thinking on their sins, And some upon their claes ; Ane curses feet that fyl'd his shins, Anither sighs and prays ; On this hand sits a chosen swatch Wi' screwed-up, grace-proud faces ; On that a set o' chaps at watch, Thraug winking on the lasses To chairs that day. S80 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BtTRNS, ' ' happy is that man and blest ! (Nae wonder that it pride him !) Wha's ain dear lass that he likes best Comes cliukin' doun beside him ! Wi' arm repos'd on the chair back, He sweetly does compose him ; Which, by degrees, slips round her neck, All's loof upon her bosom, Unkenned that day. " Now a' the congregation o'er Is silent expectation : For Moodie speels the holy door Wi' tidings o' d tion. Should Horiiie. as in ancient daj'S, 'Mang sons o' God present him, The vera sight o' Moodie's face To's ain het hame had sent him Wi' fright that day, " Hear how he clears the points o' faith Wi' rattlin' an' wi' thumpin' ! Now meekly calm, now wild in wrath, He's stampin' an' he's jumpin' ! His lengthen'd chin, his turn'd-up snout, - His eldritch squeal and gestures. Oh, how they fire the heart devout, Like cantharidian plasters, On sic a day !" Opposite the churchyard gate is the street along which ^'Common Sense took the road" on a certain minister making his appearance at The Holy Fair. At one corner is the house in which " Poosie Nansie " resided, and the entry at which " Eacer Jess," and two or three ladies of questionable virtue, stood " blinking," while the people were gathering to celebrate " the Fair," and at the other a substantial building Avith the following inscribed on its front chimney : — " This is the house, though built anew. Where Burns came weary frae the plough. To ha'e a crack wi' Johnny Doo On nicht at e en, Or whiles to taste his mountain dew Wi' bonnie Jean." Why a house can be the same after being rebuilt is ditficult to understand, but I suppose the poet must be awarded the usual license. The building, however, which occupied the RAMBLES THKOUGII THE LAND OF BURNS. 181 site when Burns walked the streets of Mauchline, was an inn, and if tradition is to be trusted, it was a favourite resort of his. On the back window of an upper room he scribbled the following amusing epitaph on John Dow, the landlord, which was doubtless more truthful than pleasing to that worthy : — " Here lies Johnny Pidgeon ; Wliat was his religion ? Whae'er desires to ken, To some ither warl' Maun follow the carl, For here Johnny Pidgeon had nane. " Strong ale was ablution, Small beer persecution, A dram was mementi mori ; But a full flowing bowl Was the joy of his soul, And port was celestial glory." The gable of Jean Armour's father's house adjoined the back of the premises, and Burns, it is said, often sat at the Avin- dow referred to and conversed with her in the language of the eyes — a language, by the by, which" lovers aptly under- stand and appreciate. The house in which Jean's parents resided is a lowly thatched cottage, but from the fact that it sheltered her and them, it possesses peculiar interest. Observing that the house celebrated by the residence of " Poosie Nansie " is " licensed to retail spirits, porter, and ales," I entered for the double purpose of weetin' my whistle and seeing the relics in possession of the occupants. I was shown a caup supjwsed to have been used by the " randie gaugrel bodies " who ' ' held the splore To drink their orra duddies," and also an old engraving representing the merry crew in the midst of their festivities. Poosie Xansie was a Mrs. Gibson, who lodged vagrants and other questionable characters. The halt, the blind, and the lame found shelter beneath her roof, and her kitchen was not unfrequently the scene of frantic mirth and bouts of drunkenness. Here Burns studied humanity in its lowest forms, and his "Jolly Beggars" is supposed to have been 182 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. founded on a scene which he witnessed in the establishment. Chambers says — " In company with his friends, John Rich- mond and James Smith, he dropped accidentally at a late hour into the humble hostelry of Mrs. Gibson After witnessing much jollity among a company who by day appeared abroad as miserable beggars, the three young men came away. Burns professing to have been greatly amused with the scenes, but particularly with the gleesome behaviour of an old maimed soldier. In the course of a few days he recited a part of the poem to Richmond, who informed rae that, to the best of his recollection, it contained, in its original complete form, songs by a sweep and a sailor which did not afterwards appear." Having strolled to the Cross, I turned up a lane which terminates at the public green — a triangular piece of ground on which the seven annual fairs of the district are held. It is memorable on account of tbe five martyrs " who suffered for Christ and their adherence to the Covenanted work of Reformation " buried in it, and also for being the spot where Burns had his second interview with Jean Armour. " There was a race at the end of April," says Robert Chambers, "and there it was customary for the young men, with little cere- mony, to invite such girls as they liked off the street into a humble dancing hall, where a fiddler had taken up his station to give them music. The payment of a penny for a dance was held by the minstrel as guerdon sufficient. Burns and Jean happened to be in the same dance, but not as partners, when some confusion and a little merriment was excited by his dog tracking his footsteps through the room. He play- fully remarked to his partner that ' he wished he could get any of the lasses to like him as well as his dog did.' A short while after, he passed through jMauchline washing green, where Jean, who had overheard the remark, was bleaching clothes. His dog running over the clothes, the young maiden desired him to call it off, and this led them into conversation. Archly referring to what had passed at the dance, she asked ' if he had yet got any of the lasses to like him as well as his dog did V From that time their intimacy commenced." Of course, Jean was one of the " Mauchline .belles," and according to the poet's notion was " the flower o' them a'." After he was married to her, he veiy sensibly and RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 183 justly said, that he could easily fancy a more agreeable com- panion in his journey tlirougli life, but had never seen the individual instance. From the public green I strolled down an avenue and paused before the old manse. It is a quaint, curiously formed building, and was the residence of the celebrated Daddy Auld. Daddy's wife was supposed to be a witch, and according to tradition kept queer company — indeed, it is handed down that a servant girl saw the devil warmiag his hoofs at a fire in one of the rooms. The old gentleman sat with his tail twisted over his knee, but the moment the maid screamed and let fall the shovelfull of fuel she carried, he vanished. Perhaps it was wrong, but I went up and saw " the haunted room," and the spot where his devilship enjoyed a short respite from ' ' Spairgin about the brunstane cootie To scaud poor wretches," but beheld nothing remarkable, and came away somewhat disappointed, for instead of it being clad with cobwebs and dust, like the haunted chambers we read about, it was scrupulously clean, and Avore an air of quiet comfort. From the old manse, a short walk brought me to Balloch- niyle road, and ultimately to the upper end of the Cowgate. Here I again paused, and while thinking on the flight of " Common Sense " from the " Holy Fair," looked upon a snug thatched cottage with a porched doorway, which stands near some mean buildings a little way down the celebrated thoroughfare. It is pointed to as the house in which Burns composed his exquisite address to " a Haggis," and on this account possesses a peculiar interest in the eyes of those who see a charm in everything associated with the poet's name. It was at one time occupied by a Mr. Eobert Morri- son, a great crony of the poet when he resided at Mossgiel, and it is said that he was in the habit of spending the interval between the church services on the Sabbath-day at this gentleman's fireside. On one of these occasions, Mrs. Morrison invited the bard to partake of a haggis " whose hurdles like a distant hill " almost concealed "the Lrroanincr trencher." Having done so to his evident delight and inward satisfaction, he wrote the " address," and well he might, for 1S4 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BL'RNS. a proper haggis is wortliy of a " grace as lang's my arm " at any time. From Mauchline I pushed on to Ballochmyle, but what wass seen and heard there and at J3arskimming will be reserved for next chapter. EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 185 CHAPTER XVI. BaLLOCHMYLE — THE BRAES — THE LASS o' BALLOCHMTLE — HER ACCOUNT OF MEETING THE POET — BURNS* SEAT — THE POET's LETTER TO MISS ALEXANDER — APOLOGIES FOR HER SILENCE — THE BOWER — CAUGHT BY THE GAMEKEEPER — CATRINE— AN EXCURSION PARTY — THE RIVER AYR— BALLOCHMYLE BRIDGE — HAUGH — BARSKIMMING BRIG — "MAN WAS MADE TO MOURN "—THE RAILWAY STATION — BACK TO KILMARNOCK. Ballochmtle, the seat of Colonel Claud Alexander, M.P.. for South Ayrshire, is situated on the Catrine Eoad, some mile and a half from Mauchline. Although the scenery through which the road winds cannot be termed enchanting, it is at least pleasiiig, and I enjoyed it and the fragrance of the hay and flowers which the breeze bore from the uplands and wafted across the fields as I strolled on my way. Groups of happy, brown-faced, bare-legged children, who seemingly were returning from school, were gathering posies of daisies and golden dandelions here and there along the wayside in the vicinity of the town, and it made my heart glad to watch them and listen to their innocent laughter as it waked the echoes and mingled with the music of the birds. When I reached the entrance to the estate I found the gate fast, and it was not until I gave a few authoritative raps with my stick that a maiden issued from an antique flower-embowered cot, which nestles beautifully beneath some old trees, to admit me With many thanks for her courtesy, I passed along the fine drive which winds through dense masses of wood and shrub : bery, and in due time arrived in front of the mansion. All was quiet, and save the birds that flitted and chirruped in the trees or sought food on the lawn, no sign of life was to be witnessed. Although surrounded by a scene of bewildering beauty, a sense of loneliness weighed me down, for as yet I was an unauthorised visitor. To remedy this I set oft' in quest of my friend the keeper, and in my explorations stum- 186 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, Vtled into a secluded path in the shrubbery which leads down to the river Ayr. The solitude was peculiarly impressive. There was a cloudless sunshine, but nothing was heard save the murmuring of the current as it made its way among stones and pieces of rock impeding its progress. Steep banks and precipices, draped in most luxuriant natural wood, rose from the water edge in majestic loveliness, and cast long shadows on the ripples and smooth glassy spaces of the stream. Here the grass and herbage extended close to the brink, and trees bent over and laved the tips of their boughs in the current ; there a wall of rock rose from the be-1, which looked as if it had been hewn by rough, careless workmen, who in their liaste had left many a shelf protruding. On these, and in the intervening spaces, ferns and shrubs grew, and far up on the top of all, on the very brink of the chasm, trees clung to crag and tightly grasped pieces of rock with their knotty fingers. It is a never-to-be-forgotten scene, and I am not at all sur- prised that the poetic fancy of Burns was roused by witnessing it. Following the path, I entered the thicket, and in its intricate windings over the braes was soon lost among confused stems, bushes, branches, and clustering green leaves which had succeeded those which lay withered and dead on the verge of tlie rustic footway. Several times I was nearly tripped up by moss-grown tree roots, and more than once startled by rabbits which my unexpected appearance had surprised while bask- ing in gleams of sunshine which fell on the green sward through openings in the trees. Having threaded this narrow path for some considerable distance, I came to a broader but not less romantic one, for the leafy canopy of interlaced branches continued, and the wild grandeur of the scene, if possible, became more fascinating. Having followed it a short distance, I reached a rustic bower or grotto of ornamental twig work and moss. It was a familiar object, and I at once knew that I had reached the spot where Burns unexpectedly met " The Lass o' Ballochmyle," wlio, as the reader is probably aware, was a Miss Wilhelmina Alexander, a sister of Mr Claud Alexander, a gentleman who had realized a fortune in India and purchased the estate from Sir John Whiteford, the friend of Burns, and the representa- tive of a once powerful Ayrshire family. The bard sung the departure of the kind gentleman in a set of plaintive verses, KAMBLKS THROUGH THK LAND OF BURNS. 187 in which he makes his daughter Maria take farewell of the lovely braes. ■" Through faded groves Maria sang, Hersel' in beauty's bloom the while, And aye the wildwood echoes rang, Fareweel the braes o' Ballochmyle." Those lovely braes were a favourite resort of the poet when residing in the farm of ]\Iossgiel. One July evening, when walking on them, he somewhat suddenly met Miss Alexander. The lady's account of the interview — if inter- view it can be called — is that she encountered the poet, whom she describes as " a plain-looking man," musing with his shoulder against one of the trees, and that the evening being far advanced and the grounds forbidden to strangers, she was startled, but recovering herself, passed on and thought no more of the matter. Burns, however, was impressed with the glimpse he got of the beaut}', and according to the tradition of tiie district, remained and composed the song in which her charms are celebrated. The place where he is said to have sat and strung the lovely lyric is only a few paces from the grotto. It is situated at the extreme end of a narrow neck of laud, jutting out into the ravine through which the river flows, and is in every way a lovely situation for poet or painter to muse in. A few old trees cluster together, and by their interlaced branches form a kind of bower over " the seat," while down below the river joins in chorus with the aoug of the birds. When I stood there, I did so with a deep sense of enjoyment to the soft buzzings of the insects around and of the myriads of blue-bells which dyed the dell as they kept nodding in the balmy breeze that swayed their fragile stems. All around was life — fresh, delightful, enjoyable life — and as I stood motionless, " The merry, young rabbits came leaping Over the crest of the hill, Where the clover and corn lay sleeping Under the sunlight still." Some months after the incident. Burns Avrote the lady, and in a very beautiful letter asked i^ermission to publish the song he had composed in her honour. He says: — "I had roved out, as chance directed, in the favourite haunts of my 188 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. muse on tlie banks of the Ayr, to view nature in all the gaiety of the vernal year. The evening sun was flaming over the distant western hills; not a breath stirred the crimson opening blossom, or tlie verdant spreading leaf. It was a golden moment for a poetic heart. I listened to the feathered warblers pouring their harmony on every hand, with a con- genial, kindred regard, and frequently turned out of my path lest I should disturb their little songs, or frighten them to another station. ' Surely,' said I to myself, ' he must be a wretch indeed, who, regardless of your harmonious endeavours to please him, can eye your elusive flights to discover your secret recesses, and to rob you of all the property nature gives you — your dearest comforts, your helpless nestlings.' Even the hoary hawthorn twig that shot across the way, what heart at such a time but must have been interested in its welfare, and wished it preserved from the rudely browsing cattle or the withering eastern blast 1 Such was the scene, and such was the hour, when, in a corner of my prospect, I spied one of the fairest pieces of nature's workmanship that ever crowned a poetic landscape or met a poet's eye ; those visionary bards excepted who hold commerce with aerial beings ! Had Calumny and Villainy taken my walk, they had at that moment sworn eternal ])eace with such an object. What an hour of inspiration for a poet I It would have raised plain, dull, historic prose into metaphor and measure." To this letter — of which the above is a portion — the bard received no reply. Dr. Currie says : — " Her modesty might prevent her from perceiving that the muse of Tibullus breathed in this nameless poet, and that her beauty was awakening strains destined to immortality on the banks of the Ayr. It may be conceived also that, supposing the verse duly appreciated, delicacy might find it difficult to express its acknowledegments." Chambers, on the other hand, says : — " The apology now presented by the family for Miss Alex- ander's conduct is, that she unfortunately fell amongst those who entertained an unfavourable opinion of his character. Feeling it to be necessary to decline yielding to his request, she thought that that resolution would be intimated most deli- cately towards him, as well as in the manner most agree- able to herself, by simply allowing the letter to remain un- answered. It is easy to enter into the feelings of a sensible RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 189 woman of thirty in adopting this course, and even to make some allowance for others not acknowledged, which might cause her to shrink from the acquaintance of a humble tenant of her brother (for Mossgiel now belonged to Mr. Alexander) Avho, in the exercise of an assumed poetic privilege, dared to imagine her as his mistress. However this might be, Miss Alexander and her kindred learned afterwards to think the woods of Eallochmyle classic, and herself immortal through the genius of Burns. On a question occurring many years after as to the disposal of the original manuscript of the song, Miss Alexander said that there could be no dispute on that point: 'wherever she went it must go.'" Miss Alexander died unmarried in 18-43, in the eighty-ninth year of her age. The rustic bower, erected in commemoration of tlie abrupt meeting, is a neat circular erection with an open front. It contains a row of seats and an oaken board, on which the following is inscribed in fac simile of the poet's hand- %yriting : — " 'Twas even, the dewy fields were green, On every blade the pearls hang, The zephyr wantoned round the bean, And bore its fragrant sweets alang : In ev^ery glen the mavis sang. All Nature listening seemed the while, Except where greenwood echoes rang Amang the braes o' Ballochmyle. *' With careless step I onward strayed, My heart rejoiced in Nature's joy, When, musing in a lonely glade, A maiden fair I chanced to spy : Her look was like the morning's eye, Her air like Nature's vernal smile ; Perfection whispered passing by, Behold the lass o' Ballochmyle !" After sitting in the bower listening to the music of the woods and holding communion with my thoughts, I rose to depart, but had not taken many steps when I was confronted by a man with a double-barrelled gun under his arm. " Ho," said he, "what are you doing here?" A glance was sufficient to show that I stood face to face with the vigilant head keeper, and that a proinpt answer was absolutely necessary. This I made, and drew his attention to the fact that we had met 190 RAMBLES THROUdH THE LAND OF BURNS. before. In an instant he AViis at my service, and i^rofFered to assist me in any way. Being now an authorised visitor, I took leave of my friend after some pleasant conversation, and commenced the journey to Mauchline railway station. As I moved forward I had an excellent view of the wooded precipitous banks of the Ayr, and of the village of Catrine — a circumstance which brought to mind the fact that it was there that Professor Dugald Stewart, the expositor of the Scottish system of metaphysics, had his residence, and that it was at his table Burns " dinner'd wi' a lord." The professor narrates that the manners of the poet on the occasion were " simple, manly, and independent ; strongly expressive of conscious genius and worth, but without anything that indicated forwardness, arrogance, or vanity." The small but startling incidents of the route added a sort of piquancy to the enjoyment of the scene. At one time I startled a partridge, at another a blackbird, which flew with a sudden flutter and a wild cry from a thicket where its nest was hid. The rustling grass and fern fronds, too, bespoke the sudden flight of rabbits — indeed, numbers of them hurried ofi" in timorous haste at my approach, while almost uncon- sciously muttering — " Tell me, fellow-creatures, why At my presence thus you fly ? Why disturb your social joys, Parent, filial, kindred ties ? Common friend to you and me. Nature's gifts to all are free." A sudden turn in this secluded walk brought me to a neat foot-bridge which spans a broad macadamised road. Here I paused and listened to a party of homeward-bound excursion- ists who made the wildwood echoes ring, as with stentorian voices they bade a heart-fond adieu to the lovely scenes they were leaving behind. The words of their song were peculiarly appropriate, and, as the sound of their voices became faint by distance, the followiug snatch smote my ear : — " But here, alas ! for me nae mair Shall birdie charm, or floweret smile ; Fareweel the bonnie banks of Ayr, Fareweel, fareweel ! sweet Ballochmyle !'' Upon crossing the bridge I found myself on the verge of EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 191 the river and near to a vast wall of red sandstone towerincr from its channel. The scene is most imposing, hut why the stream is thus imbedded I am unable to say — possibly the rock has been rent asunder by some great convulsion, or (though very doubtful) the water has worn a passage for itself. Upon descending some steps cut in the rock, I came upon an angler straying along the brink of the water casting and trailing his line in hopes to catch a trout, but, although he tried every artifice, the finny tribe remained sh}', and he disappointed. However, it was not for want of fish, for several rose farther down the stream in a dark, deep pool to snap at unwary flies hovering near the glassy surface. Keeping in the shade of the massive rocks which rise from the river bed, I soon reached the stupendous erection called Ballochmyle Bridge. It makes a gigantic sweep across the ravine through which the Ayr flows, and rises to a height of 184 feet above its channel. It has an imposing appearance, and eclipses everything of the kind in Great Britain in point of magnitude and elegance. Its foundation stone was laid with Masonic honours on the 10th of September, 1846, and the structure was completed in the month of August, 1848. 'Neav it is the celebrated quarry from which the beautiful red sandstone is procured that makes buildings throughout Ayrshire so conspicixous. The stone is worked to a great depth, but its bottom has not been reached, and the supply appears to be as inexhaustible as it was when operations first began. Beyond the bridge a beautiful path winds along the foot of the verdant precipices and steep descents which line the river bank. Holding along it, I soon reached "the never-fail- ing brook " which propels the wheel of " the busy mill," and entered Haugh, a very small village consisting of a group of cottages, an agricultural implement maker's shop, a wooUeh and a curling stone factory. Finding nothing here worth a sentence, I enquired my way to Barskimming Bridge, and was directed to a small roadway at the end of the village. Out of it, according to instructions, I entered a stile road or beaten track which winds through a couple of fields. Cattle were browsing in them. At my approach they lifted their heads and looked at me with long and wary observation ; but being satisfied that my mission 192 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, was peace, they again bent their heads and began to crop the pasture. At the termination of the carpet-like path, I found myself in the highway between Mauchline and Stair, and close at the old bridge of Barskiraming, a spacious structure of one arch which spans the Ayr a little below the confluence of the Lugar. Its situation is peculiarly romantic and pleasing. Immediately above it, on the soutli side of the stream, Bar- skimming Mill nestles beneath the shade of an immense wall of sandstone, which appears to have been hewn by the hand of man to make room for the diminutive structure. Below, a curve conceals the river from sight, but beyond it, it flows through a perfect chasm of towering rocks which are decked and crowned by the most luxuriant vegetation. Over this ■wildly romantic gulf, a bridge connects the lands of Barskim- raing and gives access to the princely mansion which nestles in the beautifully laid ofl" grounds of the estate. While leaning on the parapet of the bridge enjoying the scenery, I accosted a passing wayfarer, and asked to be shown the holm where Burns composed, " Man was made to Mourn." *'• Man, it's no here," said he, " its on the Doon." "Na, na, John," said a middle-sized, pleasant-featured old woman who Avas standing near with a bundle of faggots in her apron, "you are wrong, far wrong, it was no such thing, but it was owre in that holm there, where my kye are, that the poet made ■* Man was made to Mourn.' Often have I heard my old father speak about it ; he knew Burns and them all, but they are all gone." " And what were the circumstances ?" said I, for I must confess that I was somewhat fascinated with her tragic manner and fluent language. " Well, young man," she continued, " I will tell you, for I love to speak about Burns. That is my house at the end of the brig there. Well, in Burns' time, a man lived in it o' the name o' Kemp, wha had a daughter ca'd Kate — Kate Kemp. Well, you know, Burns had an e'e to Kate, and came from Mauchline ae afternoon to see her, but it so happened that the coo was lost and she had gone to look for't. Well, you see, the poet made up his mind to go and look for them baith, but he had gotten no farther than the other side of the brig there when he met the miller. ■* Well, Miller, what are you doing here V said he. ' Deed,' said the miller, ' I was gaun to speer that question at you.' RAMBLES THEOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 193 ' Well, then,' said Burns, ' I was doon to see Kate Kemp, but she and the coo's lost.' Weel, ye ken, they cracket awa', but Burns began to get fidgety an' left the miller like a knotless thread, an' gaed awa doon the holm there. But tlie next time they met he said, ' Miller, T owe you an apology for leaving you so suddenly when we last met.' ' Oh, there's nae need o' that !' said the miller, ' for I suppose something was rinnin' in your head.' ' You are right,' said Burns, ' and here it is ;' an' sae wi' that he read ' Man was made to mourn.' Yes, John, that is the Holm where Burns made ' Man was made to mourn,' I can assure you." John heard her statement, intimated his surprise, and moved off, and left the old lady and I to ourselves. She informed me that she had spent the whole of her life in the locality, and entertained me with many reminiscences of her early years. " In the days of Burns," she said, " aye, and in my day to," she added with a sigh, *' all round by the holm there was covered with beautiful trees in which the craws biggit their nests, but they are all down ; and a beautiful oak that stood 'yont the road a bit, ■which was admired by everj'body, and was drawn by many an artist, is down too. My heart bled to see the noble monarch lying low — but it was not so in the days of Lord Glenlee. No, he would not allow a tree on the estate to be touched, and when one at the big house was blown down, he said ' if a ten pound note will put it up I will gladly pay down the money.'" After enjoying a hearty draught of milk in this intelligent lady's dairy — which, by the by, is cut out of the solid rock — I reluctantly bade her good-bye and pushed on to Mauchline, for train time was nigh, and my step was not so elastic as it was in the morning. The scenery on the road be- tween Barskimming bridge and Mauchline is romantic enough, but it is tame, tame, when compared with the wooded slopes of Ballochmyle. When I reached Mauchline station the train •was due. It is needless to add that Kilmarnock was speedily and safely reached. 194 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. CHAPTER XVII. From kilmarnock to newmilns — the Ayrshire hermit — LOUDOUN KIRKYARD AND RUINED CHURCH — THE QUEIR — LADY FLORA HASTINGS — THE SCOTTISH MILKMAID — GALSTON — LOUDOUN CASTLE— THE OLD CASTLE — LOUDOUN MANSE — DR. LAWRIE AND BURNS — LOUDOUN HILL — NEWMILNS — THE OLD TOWER — THE PARISH CHURCH AND CHURCHYARD. " I love not man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the Universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal." It is delightful to stroll along a hedge-bordered country road on a radiant summer day, listening to the hum of the treasure-ladened bee and the song of the lark. It is truly exhilarating, and I never enjoyed Nature's beauties to greater advantage than I did when walking from Kilmarnock to ^Newmilns. The road I selected is not only secluded, but one of the old sort, winding over heights and through hollows in a manner very pleasing to the pedestrian who has an eye for the picturesque. Any little toil, therefore, which I encoun- tered on the way was amply repaid by the extensive and beautiful prospects obtained from the heights, and especially of that district, " Where Loudoun Hill rears high its conic form, And bares its rocky bosom to the storm." After a walk of two miles or so I reached the river Irvine at a point where it sweeps round a curve and rushing along its channel through some beautiful scenery, again emerges and passes triumphantly on its way to the sea. For a short distance the road winds along its bank, but it soon diverges and rises over the brow of a steep hill on which stands a handsome villa. Behind it, in a beautiful holm on the bank of the stream, is an ivy-mantled, ruined cottage, which was RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 195 at one time the residence of Thomas Eaeburn, the Ayrshire hermit — a personage whose eccentric habits and peculiar appearance will not readily be lorgotten. His story is as curious as it is brief. It appears that he inherited the house and a few acres of land from his father, but, strange to say, the small property was surrounded by that of other people, and there was no road into it unless one which skirted a field belonging to a neighbour. In course of time the neighbour closed the road, but Raeburn, under the impression that " use and wont " constituted a right, sued him for a restitu- tion of the privilege of passing through his ground, and, as might have been expected, lost the case. The result of the trial preyed upon his mind and made him morose and gloomy. He declared that he had been harshly dealt with, and vowed that he would neither shave his beard, cut his hair, nor renew his clothing until justice was done him, and this vow he solemnly kept until the day of his death. His hair grew long and matted, and his beard, likewise unkempt, hung in tangled masses down his breast. His clothing, too, soon lost its identity, and became so patched and darned that it was ultimately a matter of difficulty to discover an original piece of any garment. His strange appearance naturally attracted many visitors, and in course of time a favourite rural walk with the young people of Kilmarnock was to his residence and back, for he was no recluse, but made all comers wel- come. To accommodate such he dealt in lemonade and ginger-beer, and occasionally in a more stimulating beverage, although his infringement of the excise law did not go unpun- ished. He was parsimonious in his habits, lived sparingly, and drank nothing but water when better cheer could not be procured at the expense of others. He made many attempts at wit in private conversation, of which the following are said to be fair samples : — Upon being asked if his clock was with the town, he replied — " J^o, it's twa mile and a half aff't." If a visitor asked for a light to his pipe, he was generally told that " There's no as muckle fire i' the house as wad licht a pipe, but ye may licht your tobacco." Upon being asked if he was ever drunk, he replied — " There's naebody wi' a throat big enou' to swallow me." He had a strange influence over animals, and more especially over the songsters of the grove. Often would he go into his garden for the "rati- 196 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. fication of visitors and call the robins from the trees to perch on his beard and take crumbs from between his lips. He was never married. An old woman kept house for him and managed his dairy, for he had several cows, and was famed for makint,' cheese of excellent quality. He died in June, 1843, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and the money he so avariciously gathered was divided amongst relatives who speedily put it into circulation, and his plot of ground now belongs to a cattle dealer in Newmilns. Above the ruined residence of the Ayrshire hermit are Milton Mill, and the miller's house and garden, beautifully situated on the bank of the stream, and beyond them. Grougar Row, a collection of miners' dwellings. One obtains occasional glimpses of Galston and the moors beyond it as he plods onward, but there is little else on the landscape to attract attention, and the river is soon lost sight of by a sudden divergence of the road. The first place of consequence reached is Loudoun Kirk- yard, an ancient place of burial surrounded by a wall and a row of sombre-looking trees. It nestles in a picturesque nook by the wayside at a point where a burnie jinks beneath over- han^in" bushes and steals under a rude bridge with a gurijlinjr sound which seems to say — " Men may come, and men may go, But I flow on for erer." The iron gate being securely chained and padlocked, I sought and gained admittance by a wicket in a cottage garden hard by. The secluded spot is small, unkept, and the memorials of the departed few and scattered. In its centre stands a shattered gable and a portion of the old kirk called the " queir," which is kept in repair on account of it having been the sepulchre of the Loudoun family for nigh four hundred years. It is a venerable square block with a sloping roof, and is embellished with the Loudoun arms and other curious devices, and also has a small barred window through which the coffins of the defunct barons are seen. Here lie the remains of the gifted but unfortunate Lady Flora Hastings, who is said to have died of a broken heart on account of a cruel and unmerited slander which was raised against her by one of the ladies of the bedchamber to H.E.H. the Duchess of Kent. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 197 Had her detractors heeded the advice of Burns — ' ' Gently scan your brother man, Still gentler sister woman " — she would not have been "a flower phicked in its bloom." She was an accomplished poetess, and shortly after her death — which occurred at Buckingliam Palace in July, 1839 — her poems, which are distinguished by much purity of thought^ sweetness, and grace, were collected and published. Indeed, as an able reviewer remarked, " such a deep love of the beauti ful, the exalted, and the holy reigns through them all that it is impossible to repel the conviction that her actions accorded with her words, and that her words gave but the utterance to the calm and sinless feelings of her heart." There is a curious old stone at the door of the queir worth attention. It states that it is " In memory of Matho Fultun, MAISTER MASON ANE RIGHT HONEST MAN WHO DIED IN THE YEAR OF God, 1632." According to the semi-obliterated inscription, " Matho " went to his grave as to his bed, with the intention of rising at the Eesurrection. Within a few yards of it, and near to the gable of the old kirk, is the grave of the " Scottish Milkmaid," Janet Little, author of a small volume of poetry which never gained any great or lasting popularity, but who is now well known as the poetical correspondent of Eobert Burns. The plain slab, which marks the spot, bears the fol- lowing in yet legible characters : — "In Memory of John Eiohmond, who Died August 10, 1819, Aged 78 years; and Janet Little, his Spouse, who Died March, 15, 1818, Aged 54 years ; and Five of their Children." Janet belonged to Ecclefechan and came to Ayrshire to serve in the capacity of a domestic servant in the family of Mrs Hendrie, daughter of Mrs Dunlop, the distinguished friend of our poet, when she resided in Loudoun Castle. Having met with a copy of the Kilmarnock edition, she was so captivated by it that she conceived a partiality for Burns, and wrote him a poetical address, of which the subjoined is part : — " Fair fa' the honest rustic swain, The pride o' a' oor Scottish plain ; Thou gi es us joy to hear thy strain, And notes sae sweet ; Old Eamsay's shade revived again In thee we greet. 198 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. " Lov'd Thalia, that clelightfii' muse, Seem'd long shut up in a recluse ; To all her aid she did refuse Since Allan's day ; Till Burns aro-'e, then did she choose To grace thy lay. " To hear thy sang all ranks desire, Sae weel you strike the dormant lyre ; Apollo with poetic iire Thy breast does charm ; An' critics silently admire Thy art to charm. " Cffisar and Luath weel can speak — 'Tis pity e'er their gabs should steek, But into human nature keek, And knots unravel ; To hear their lectures once a week Nine miles I'd travel. "In the latter part of March (1791), Burns had the misfor- tune to come down with his horse and break his right arm. Janet Little, tlie poetical milkmaid, had come to see liim, and was waiting at Ellisland when the bard returned in the dis- abled state to which he had been reduced by the accident. She has related in simple verse her own painful alarm when the sad intelligence resounded through his hall, the sympathy with which she regarded the tears of his affectionate Jean, and the double embarrassment she experienced in greeting at such a crisis the illustrious poet whom she had formerly trembled to meet at all."* Little else regarding Janet is known. The cottage where she resided is within a stone-throw of the kirkyard, and from this it appears that she married and settled in the district after quitting the service of Mrs Hendrie. l^ear Janet's grave there is a handsome monument to the memory of the late Rev. James Allan, minister of Loudoun, and a very chaste stone which Mr Robert Mackie has raised to the memory of his sister, Janet, who died at Loudoun Cottage, 24th September, 1872, in the sixty-third year of her age. With the exception of these, and a humble slab com- memorating " Thomas Flemming of Loudoun Hill, who, for HIS ArPEARANCE IN ArMS IN HIS OWN DEFENCE, AND IN THE • Contemporaries of Burns. rambles through the land of burns. 199 Defence of the Gospel, according to the Word of God, WAS shot in an encounter atDrumclog, 1st June, 1679, by Bloody Graham of Claverhouse," there are no stones of special interest, but several may be found decked "with uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture," which implore " the passing tribute of a sigh." Beyond Loudoun Kirk the road is very beautiful and the scenery most sylvan and picturesque. From the height which the road attains before entering the policies of Loudoun Castle, there is an excellent view of Galston, nestling sweetly on the bank of the river Irvine at the foot of a range of uplands studded with farmsteads and patches of woodland, which Burns refers to in the opening stanza of the " Holy Fair." Although it cannot be called flourishing, it is at least a com- fortable country town, with some four thousand inhabitants, but there is little in it to stay the feet of a rambler — its an- tiquities being few, and its buildings lowly. Its chief objects of interest are its church — which stimds above the town and is a prominent object for a great distance — and Barr Castle, an old square tower at the top of one of its streets. It also boasts a " boss tree," as the rotten hollow stump of a gigantic willow is termed. The tradition regarding it is that Sir Wm. Wallace concealed himself in its branches when pursued by a detachment of Southern soldiers, a statement which verges on the probable, for from its girth it is of seeming great age. The old tower possesses no history. It is said to have been the residence of a powerful family named Lockhart, and that the reformer, John Knox, addressed the people of Kyle from one of its windows. It was a favourite haunt of John Wright, a gifted but erratic local genius, who made some stir in literary circles in his day. In some verses which he addressed to it, he says : — " Proiid edifice ! no annals tell * What thou hast brooked, what thou hast been. Who reared thee in this lovely dell, What mighty baron — lord, I ween, Of hardy Kyle ; no bordering tower Possessed more independent power." Amongst the many excellent things John wrote is a song entitled " Kiss the goblet and live," which I am almost tempted to reproduce. Unfortunately for him, he kissed it 200 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. too often and died in tlie prime of life, and had it not been for the generosity of a few friends would have filled a pauper's grave. The quaint byroad which we have followed from Kilmar- nock terminates at the sylvan avenue leading to Loudoun Castle, the ma^aiificent residence of the Loudoun family. The present Earl succeeded to his mother, the late Countess of Loudoun, who took up the Scotch title at the death of her brother, the Marquis of Hastings. The grounds are thickly wooded, and contain many beautiful aged trees. Indeed, in the vernal season of the year, the woods and braes around this famed residence are unsurpassed for grandeur, and are in every way worthy of the compliment which the poet Tannahill paid them. To John, fourth Earl of Loudoun, belongs the merit of having made the scenery what it is, for he not only devoted himself to improving the estate in many ways, but planted upwards of one million trees which he brought from various parts of the globe. Passing up the shady avenue I soon arrived in front of the Castle, which may be described as combining the gracefulness of modern architecture with the massive strength of early times. One battlemented square tower was erected in the twelfth century, and another, which overlooks the entire building, in the fifteenth. To these antiquated structures Sir John Campbell, who was created Lord Chancellor in 1642, made an extensive addition, and in 1811 the whole was augmented by a large and stately portion which gives to the pile quite a palatial appearance. The interior is fitted up with great magnificence, and the walls of several apartments are literally covered with finely-executed portraits of the Loudoun and Eowallan families. Many of these pictures are dimmed with age. and recal to one's mind stirring events of the good old times when plain speaking and hard blows were in fashion, and when the four feet of cold steel which dangled by every gallant's side settled ditferences and enforced arguments. A picture of Charles I., which is disfigured and patched-looking, is associated with an incident worth relating. It appears that the troops of Oliver Cromwell visited the Castle, and that a company of officers, "when straying through its rooms, stopped before the king's EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BUENS. 201 picture, and out of contempt for his majesty made thrusts at it with their swords by way of joke. The library is said to contain over 10,000 vohimes, and very many ancient manuscripts and curious documents. It may be added that few families can boast a more honourable pedigree, or a more lengthened possession of their property, than that of Loudoun. Indeed, the whole line, or rather lines, of the noble house have been distinguished for deeds of patriotism and valour. A notice of this beautiful domain, be it ever so brief, would be incomplete without some reference to the old yew-tree ■which grows beside the castle wall. Although ages have fled, and generations of men have passed away since it was planted, it spreads its umbrageous boughs over the lawn, and seems as likely to withstand the blast as any tree on the estate. One of the family charters was subscribed under its deep shade in the reign of "William the Lion, and when Scotland and England became united, Lord Hugh Campbell chose the same place to sign the deed. It is also memorable for the trifling incident of James, second Earl of Loudoun, having addressed letters to it, when secretly communicating with his lady during the period of his banishment. " To THE GUDEWIFE AT THE AULTON, At THE Old Yew Tree, Loudoun, Scotland," was the manner in which they were inscribed, and there is little doubt that they reached the hand intended. There are many pleasant rambles to be had amongst " Loudoun's bonnie woods and braes," and not the least of them is from the Castle to JSTewmilns by the private road. "When traversing it I was delighted with the bosky scene. At one part the rustic way passes a stripe of woodland, and is overshadowed by the foliage of stately trees ; at another, it merges into the open glade, and winds along a verdant bank, or dips into a dell where some tiny streamlet murmurs among the brackens, and ultimately pursues a zig-zag course until it reaches the brow of an almost perpendicular height over- looking the picturesque hamlet. Eor a reason which will be 202 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. apparent, I left the sequestered roadway at a point where it is crossed by the Hag Burn, and turned into a bypath which skirts the stream as it bickers through a beautifully wooded glen. On the one hand a dark wood stretches away towards the Castle, and on the other a steep slope — almost a cliff — which is clad with trees, and tangled masses of briar and bramble rise from the path in wild grandeur. To ascend this cliff is a work of some little difficulty, but it can be managed from several points by planting the foot in ledges or on jut- ting pieces of rubble and holding tightly to roots which curl and twist in fantastic shapes, or to tufts of long hardy grass which grow here and there within reach. When the laborious ascent is made, the intrepid rambler will have the gratification of standing on the site of the Old Castle of Loudoun — a building anterior to any portion of the present magnificent structure, but of which nothing remains save shattered fragments of masonry and portions of the foundation, which are partly covered by the mouldering dustof centuries, and clad here and there with ivy. Curiously enough, the history of the ancient stronghold is wrapped in the shadow of night, and all that tradition has preserved regarding it is the simple statement that it was burned by the clan Kennedy. This may have been, for it is an historical fact that a deadly feud existed between the Campbells of Loudoun and the Kennedys of Carrick about the year 1527, and that the Earl of Cassillis was slain during a foray which the former made into the territory of the latter. Also, that in retaliation, and to avenge this nobleman's death, the Kennedys devastated the district of the Campbells, and characterised their raid by deeds of rapine and blood. The stronghold of the hostile chieftain wouhl most probably be attacked, and therefore it is within the range of possibility that this Castle of the Campbells succumbed at that period. A ballad, which was at one time popular in the district, ascribes the destruction of the Castle to " Adam o' Gordon and his men," but there is nothing to bear out the statement. The following descriptive extract, however, is not without interest : — •'Out then spake Lady Margaret, As she stood upon the stair — The fire was at her goud garters, The low was at her hair — RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 203 " 'I would gie the black,' says she, ' And so would I the brown, For a drink o' yon water That rins by Galston town. ' " Out then spake fair Annie, She was baith jimp and sma', ' row me in a pair o' sheets And tow me down the wa'.' *' ' hold thy tongue, fair Annie, And let thy talkin' be. For thou must stay in this fair castle, And bear thy death with me.' " ' I would rather be burnt to ashes sma', And be cast on yon sea foam, Before I'd give up this fair castle, And my lord so far from home. '* ' My good lord has an army strong, He's now gone to the sea. He bade me keep this gay castle Sae lang's it would keep me. ' ' ' I've f our-and-twenty braw milk kye Gangs on yon lily lee, I'd give them a' for a blast of wind To blaw the reek from me.' ' ' pittie on yon fair castle, That's built o' stone and lime, But far mair pittie for Lady Loudoun, And all her children nine." The bosky bypath winds along the bank of the wimpling burnie and terminates in the highway at no great distance from the quaint village of JS'ewmihis, and near to "the Hag Brig turn" where the late liev. Dr. Lawrie " guddled in the burn, and was late for the schule in the morning." Some boys engaged in the same pastime — or possibly in the more questionable one of bird-nesting — made the woods echo with shouts and peals of laughter in such a manner that a pair of jays jabbered round the summit of a tall fir tree, and a flock ot crows wheeled about in evident alarm. A blackbird ruffling out his feathers on a rail also uttered a loud cry at the unusual sounds and fled to the security of the thicket, and the warblers drinking from the stream with dainty sips as though its waters were the richest wine followed his example. 204 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. The highway which connects Galston with Newmilns — and in which the lane traversed terminates — is draped with hanging houghs, and fringed on the one hand by the grounds of Loudoun Castle, and on the other by stripes of plantation through which the waters of the Irvine gurgling sing a con tinual farewell to " Loudoun's bonnie woods and braes" as they roll on to the mighty deep. As one nears the village, and just at a point of the road where a turn brings it into full view, a snug tree-embowered old-fashioned looking house with a lawn in front stands on a height a little to the left. Below the second floor windows is the following hieroglyphical inscription, which may be intelligible to some readers:— "PL. 1768. M.C. JEHOVAH. IJ liEH." The place is called St. Margaret's Hill, and the residence is that of the Eev. John Robertson, minister of the parish of Loudoun ; but for many years it was that of the Eev. George Lawrie, D.D., the early friend and patron of Eobert Burns. Robert Chambers describes him as having been " a remarkably fine specimen of the old moderate clergy of the Scottish establishment — sensible, upright, kind- hearted, and with no mean taste in literature." By what means this worthy clergyman and Burns became acquainted I have been unable to learn, but on<; thing is certain, no person was received with greater cordiali.y at St. Margaret's Hill than the poet. " The first time Lobert heard the spinnet played upon," says Gilbert Burns, " was at the house of Dr. Lawrie Dr. Lawrie has several daughters ; one of them played ; the father and mother led down the dance ; the rest of the sisters, the brothei-, the poet, and the other guests, mixed in it. It was a delightful family scene for our poet, then lately introduced to the world. His mind was roused to a poetic enthusiasm, and the following stanzas were left in the room where he slept : — ' O Thou dread Power who reign'st above, I know Thou wilt me hear ; "When for this scene of peace and love I make my prayer sincere ! ' The hoary sire, the mortal stroke, Long, long be pleased to spare ! To bless his little filial fiock, And show what good men are. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 205 ' She, who her lovely ofiFspring eyes With tender hopes and fears, Oh, bless her with a mother's joys, But spare a mother's tears ! ' Their hope, their stay, their darling youth, In manhood's dawning blush ; Bless him, thou God of love and truth, Uj) to a parent's wish ! ' The beauteous seraph sister-band, With earnest tears I pray, Thou knowest the snares on every hand. Guide Thou their steps alway ! ' When soon or late they reach that coast, O'er life's rough ocean driven, May they rejoice, no wanderer lost, A family in Heaven !' " It is recorded tliat Burns was a good dancer, and on this occasion " kept time admirably ;" also, that he remarked to the fair musician that she knew the magic way to a poet's heart. This entertainment took place during the most melancholy- period of the poet's history. Being driven to despair by the consequences of his imprudence, he was about to relegate himself from his native land and seek a home in the West Indies, or at least an asylum, in the hope that fortune would smile and enable him to atone for past errors. When he bade this honoured family farewell, he most likely crossed the Irvine at a point opposite their residence, and ascended the slopes of Lanfine, which at the time, and long after, were nothing more than a range of barren, bleak uplands, and steered his course to Mossgiel. " In his way home," says Professor Walker, " he had to cross a wide stretch of solitary moor. His mind was strongly affected by parting for ever with a scene where he had tasted so much elegant and social pleasure, and depressed by the contrasted gloom of his pros- pects. The aspect of nature harmonised with his feelings. It was a lowering and heavy evening in the end of autumn. The wind was up, and whistled through the rushes and long spear-grass which bent bef )re it. The clouds were driving across the sky ; and cold pelting showers at intervals added discomfort of body to cheerlessness of mind." As he plodded onward, doubtless " holding fast his guid blue bonnet," his 206 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. melancholy thoughts shaped themselves into verse, and despite his ungenial surroundings, he composed what he con- sidered to be " the last song he should ever measure in Caledonia." Here it is :— "THE GLOOMY NIGHT IS GATHERING FAST. " Time — ' Roslin Castle.' *' The gloomy night is gathering fast, Loud roars the wild inconstant blast j Yon murky cloud is foul with rain, I see it driving o'er the plain ; The hunter now has left the moor, The scattered coveys meet secure ; While here I wander, pressed with care. Along the lonely banks of Ayr. " The autumn mourns her ripening corn By early winter's ravage torn ; Across her placid azure sky She sees the scowling tempest fly : Chill runs my blood to hear it rave ; I think upon the stormy wave, Where many a danger I must dare, Far from the bonnie banks of Ayr. " 'Tis not the surging billow's roar, 'Tis not that fatal deadly shore ; Though death in every shape appear, The wretched have no more to fear ! But round my heart the ties are bound, That heart transpierced with many a wound. These bleed afresh, those ties I tear, To leave the bonnie banks of Ayr. " Farewell old Coila's hills and dales. Her heathy moor and winding vales. The scenes where wretched fancy roves, , Pursuing past, unhappy loves ! Farewell, my friends ! farewell, my foes ! My peace wath these, my love with those, The bursting tears my heart declare ; Farewell the boRnie banks of Ayr !" Dr. Lawrie was a sincere friend of Burns. He seems to have "ently scanned his youthful follies, and to have esteemed him for his talents and the many good qualities which con- stituted his generous temperament. According to J. G. Lock- hart he gave him "much good counsel, and what comfort he RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKD OF BURNS. 207 could, at parting ; but prudently said nothing of an effort which he had previously made in his behalf. He had sent a copy of the poems (the Kilmarnock edition was then pub- lished), with a sketch of the author's history, to his friend, Dr. Thomas Blacklock of Edinburgh, with a request that he would introduce both to the notice of those persons whose opinions were at the time most listened to in regard to literary productions in Scotland, in the hope that, by their intervention, Burns might jet be rescued from the necessity of expatriating himself. Dr. Blacklock's answer reached Dr. Lawrie a day or two after Burns had made his visit, and composed his dirge ; and it was not yet too late. Lawrie forwarded it immediately to Mr. Gavin Hamilton, who carried it to Burns." In that letter Dr. Blacklock characterises the perusal of the poems sent him as " one of the finest and per- haps one of the most genuine entertainments of which the human mind is susceptible, and breathes words of approbation and encouragement which must have lighted up the gloomy surroundings of the poet like a gleam of sunshine. Let him describe his circumstances : — ' ' ' Hungry ruin had me in the wind, ' " says he, "I had been for some days skulking from covert to covert, under all the terrors of a jail, as some ill-advised people had uncoupled the merciless pack of the law at my heels. I had taken the last farewell of my few friends ; my chest was on the road to Greenock ; . . , when a letter from Dr Blacklock to a friend of mine overthrew all my schemes, by opening new prospects to my poetic ambition. The Doctor belonged to a set of critics for whose applause I had not dared to hope. His opinion that I would meet with encouragement in Edinburgh for a second edition fired me so much that away I posted for that city, without a single acquaintance or a single letter of introduction. The baneful star that had so long shed its blasting influence in my zenith for once made a revolution to the nadir." " Blacklock received him," says a celebrated writer, " with all the ardour of affectionate admiration ; he eagerly introduced him to the respectable circle of his friends; he consulted his interest; he emblazoned his fame ; he lavished upon him all the kind- ness of a generous and feeling heart, into which nothing 208 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. selfish or envious ever found admittance." It is scarce necessary to add that before he was many- weeks in Edinburgh his society was courted by the polite and the learned, and sought after by individuals moving in the most elevated circles of society. In short, he became the lion of the season, and had the second edition of his poems published under the most favourable auspices. " The atten- tions he received during his stay in town from all ranks and descriptions of persons," says Professor Dugald Stewart," " were such as would have turned any head but his own. .... He retained the same simplicity of manners and appearance which had struck me so forcibly when I first saw him in the country, nor did he seem to feel any additional self-importance from the number and rank of his new acquaintances." No, his sterling common-sense told him ■ that he had but lately left the stilts of the plough and was fated to return to them again. In replying to a letter which he received from Dr. Lawrie during the meteor-like blaze of reputation which he experienced, he says, " I thank you, sir, with all my soul, for your friendly hints, though I do not need them so much as my friends are apt to imagine. You are dazzled with newspaper accounts and distant reports ; but, in reality, I have no great temptation to be intoxicated with the cup of prosperity. Novelty may attract the attention of mankind a while — to it I owe my present eclat — but I see the time not far distant when the popular tide which has come to a height, of which I am perhaps unworthy, shall re- cede with silent celerity, and leave me a barren waste of sand to descend at my leisure to my former station." He expresses himself in like manner to Mrs Dunlop and others — but there, space is beginning to fail, and so will the reader's patience if I digress at this rate. A few steps beyond the garden gate of the old and now almost classic manse of Loudoun, the respectable and ap- parently flourishing village of Newmilns comes into view. It is beautifully situated in a narrow vale through which the river Irvine flows, and from which broad hills ascend on each side. On the right are the wooded slopes of Lanfine, and on the left the green braes of Loudoun ; while in the far distance, at the top of the hilly pass in which the village nestles, is Loudoun Hill looming heavily against the sky. The scene is KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 209 one of extreme beauty, and if transferred to canvas would form a striking picture. I have no intention of going so far as Loudoun Hiil in this ramble, but I can assure the reader who wishes to undertake the journey that he Avill be amply repaid for the toil and trouble en- countered by the extensive and interesting view from its summit, including the scenes of decisive struggles which assisted, in a great measure, to secure Scottish independence. !N'ear its eastern base Sir William Wallace and a handful of co-patriots attacked and routed a troop of English soldiers who were con- veying waggon loads of provisions from Carlisle to Ayr, and near the same spot, in May, 1307, Bruce gave the Earl of Pembroke battle, and with six hundred followers is said to have defeated six thousand trained Englishmen. These associations are brimful of interest, but one which remains to be mentioned gives the locality, if possible, still greater interest. On a fair Sabbath morning in June, 1679, a sentinel, in the garb of a peasant, who was stationed on the top of the hill, sprang from the green sward on observing a company of horse men crossing the heights from the direction of Strathaven, and having tired off his carbine, ran towards a group of worship- pers on the plain. " We had met," says one of the assembly, " not to fight but to v/orship the God of our fathers. We were far from the tumult of cities — the long dark heath waved around vis, and we disturbed no living creature save the peesweep and the heather cock." When it became known that Claverhouse and a detachment of troopers were approach- ing, the preacher, who had been telling his hearers ' ' How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed ; How He, who bore in Heav'n the second name, Had not on earth whereon to lay His head," hastily concluded his discourse, and said: — "I have done. You have got the theory — now for the practice. You know your duty. Self-defence is always lawful." The little com- pany being armed, they formed themselves into lines under various leaders, and waited the approach of the foe — first, however, taking the precaution of sending away their women, and children. Refusing to lay down their arms and deliver up their ringleaders, Claverhouse cried — " Their blood be upon their own heads," and sounded the attack. The battle no KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. of Drumclog then commenced and waged fiercely for some time. The following wonderfully graphic account of this engagement is taken from a letter penned by Claverhouse : — " They were not preaching, but had got away all theu" women and children. In the end they, perceiving that we had the better of them in skirmish, resolved on a general engagement, and immediately advanced with their Foot, the Horse follow- ing. They came through the loch : the greatest body of all made up against my troop : we kept our fire until they were within ten paces of us : they received our fire and advanced to the shock: the first they gave us brought down the Cornet, Mr. Crawford, and Captain Beith ; besides that with a pitch- fork they made such an opening in my roan horse's belly that his guts hung out half an ell, and yet he carried nie off a mile, which so discouraged our men that they sustained not the shock, but fell into disorder. Their Horse took the occasion of this, and pursued us so hotly that we had no time to rally. I saved the standards, but lost on the place eight or ten men, besides wounded ; but our dragoons lost many more. The town of Stra'von drew up as we were making our retreat, and thought of a pass to cut us off ; but we took courage and fell to them, and made them run, leaving a dozen on the place. What these rogues will do yet I know not, but the country is flocking to them from all hands. This may be counted the beginning of the rebellion, in my opinion." In the words of Hugh Brown, a poetical native of I!^ew- milns, and author of " The Covenanters," " The lover of freedom can never forget The glorious peasant band — His sires that on Scotia's moorlands met, Each name like a seal on the heart is set — The pride of his Fatherland." Kewmilns is a very nice rural town. The houses are mostly small and plain, but pleasant looking and free from squalor. Weaving is the staple of the place, and the inhabitants — some 3000 — are mostly engaged in it. Male and female take to the loom as naturally as ducks to water, but I cannot help expressing regret with Hew Ainslie " that any bonnie Ayrshire lass should be condemned to make her bread by such thumping and kicking." However, it is only the probationary state with them, for, like their sisters in RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 211 Darvel, they generally exchange the "box and bobbins," when married, for a " baby and a blanket." Possibly Newrailns had its origin from grain mills erected on the bank of the river. ^' About the centre of its quaint, old-fashioned looking main street a massive square tower may be seen in a courtyard which possesses several interesting associations. It was at one time a residence of the Loudoun family,t and at another the headquarters of Captain Inglis, a notorious scourge of the Covenanters, The writer of the Loudoun article in the Statistical Account in mentioning the tower says — " In one of the expeditions of Inglis's troops in the search of conventicals, eight men who were discovered praying in the Blackwood, near Kilmarnock, were taken prisoners. One of them', it is said, was immedi- ately executed, and the soldiers in mockery kicked his head for a football along the JSTewmilus public green. Inglis was about to shoot the others when it Avas suggested to him that it would be prudent to get a written order from Edinburgh for their execution. The seven men in the meantime were confined in the old tower. But while the troop Avas absent on one of its bloody raids, with the exception of a small guard, a man named Browning, from Lanfine, Avith others who had been Avith him at Aird's Moss, got large sledge hammers from the old smithy (still in existence), Avith Avhich they broke open the prison doors and permitted the Cove- nanters to escape. John LaAV (brother-in-law to Captain ISTisbet) was shot in this exploit, and is buried close to the wall of the tower. The dragoons soon Avent in pursuit of the prisoners, but they had reached the heather, and where no cavalry could pursue them. The soldiers, hoAA^ever, having ascertained that John Smith of Croonau had given the run- aways food went to Smith's house, and meeting him at his own door shot him dead ! Within a short period his grave was to be seen in the garden of the old farmhouse." Tradition states that only one soldier played football with the martyr's head, and that he shortly afterwards fell from * Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun had a charter of the lands of Newmilns, with the mill and granary, dated 4th October, 1533.— Patersojt's Ayrshire Families. t The Master of Loudoun died in March, 1612. His latter will was made at " the Newmylnes, the sevint day of Merche." His lady also died the same month and year. Her latter will was made also at " Newmylnes, the penult day of Merche." They seem thus to have resided at the tower of Newmilns.— /6irf. 212 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. the top of the tower into the court below and broke his neck. There is a tablet in the gable of an old building to the memory of the man shot which bears the following inscription : — " Eenewed in 1822, Here lies John Law, who was SHOT AT NeWMILNS, AT THE RELIEVING OF ElGHT OF ChRIST's Prisoners who were taken at a Meeting for Prayer at Little Blackwood in the Parish of Kilmarnock, in April, 1685, BY Captain Inglis and his party, for their adherence to the Word of God and Scotland's Covenanted work of Eeformation. " Cause I Christ's prisoners relieved I of my life was soon bereaved, By cruel enemies with rage, In that encounter did engage ; The martyr's honour and his crown Bestowed on me ! O high renown ! That I should not only believe. But for Christ's cause my life should give." l^eav the old tower is " The Institute," as a handsome two- storied building is termed which Miss Brown of Lanfine pre- sented to the inhabitants. It contains a librar}', a reading and a recreation room, and has a very nice bowling green attached. Close by also is the Parish Church, a more hand- some edifice than is often met with in country towns. The late Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod preached in it for some time as minister of the parish, and by the side of its pulpit there is a beautiful monumental marble tablet to his memory, which the church officer will be glad to show visitors. The churchyard is small and unkept, but contains many interesting monuments. When pensively wandering over its uneven sward I stumbled upon the family burying-place of Dr. Lawrie, the friend and patron of the poet Burns. The tablet covering his grave bears a very just estimate of his character. Here is the inscription : — " Under this Stone are deposited the Remains of the Rev George Lawrie D.D., Late Minister of this Parish, who Died 17th October, 1799, in the 71st year of his AGE and the 36th of his Ministry. "He discharged the duties of his ministerial office with a RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. ] 213 judgment and firmness of mind which no situation could shake. His piety loas exemplary and sincere, devoid of all ostentation. He was an able scholar, and learned divine. His temper cheerful and steady. His heart warm and affectionate. Kind and hospitable to strangers, sincere and hearty in friendship), and fulfilled the duties of husband and parent with the most indulgent and tender affection." By his side rests his son and successor, Archibald, a man of great worth. He had twelve children — four sons and eight daughters. One son died in infancy, but the others rose to distinction, and proved themselves worthy of such a parent. The late Eev. Dr. Lawrie became minister of Monkton, and the late James A. Lawrie, M.D., professor of surgery in the University of Glasgow. Francis R. H. Lawrie entered the army in 1822, and retired as Major in 1846. The churchyard bears ample evidence that the inhabitants of JS'ewmilns shared the struggle for civil and religious liberty. A plain slab bears the following : — " To THE Memory of John Xisbet op Hardhill, who SUFFERED MaRTYRDOM AT THE GrASSMARKET, EDINBURGH, 4tH December, 1685. Animated by a spirit to which genuine RELIGION alone COULD GIVE BIRTH, THE PURE FLAME OF CIVIL and religious liberty alone could keep alive, he man- fully struggled for a series of years to stem the tide of national degeneracy, and liberate his country fftom the tyrannical aggressions op the perjured house of Stuart. His conduct in arms at Pentland, Drumclog, AND BOTHWELL BrIDGE, IN OPPOSITION TO PRELATIC ENCROACH- MENTS and in defence OF Scotland's Covenanted Reform- ation, IS recorded in the annals of those OPPRESSIVE times. His remains lie at Edinburgh, but the inhabi- tants OF his native Parish and friends to the cause for which he fought and died, have caused this stone to BE erected." This martyr was born in JS'ewmilns about the year 1627. When Claverhouse was advancing against the Cove- nanting army at Drumclog, a message was despatched to Hardhill to apprise him of the fact and induce him to join the little band. Although he had suffered much from prelatic 214 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. persecution, he mounted a horse at once and rode with all possible speed to the scene of action, njerely stopping on his way through Darvel to induce John Morton, the village blacksmith, to accompany him and assist with his brawny arm to discomfit the foe. Both were of immense service to the Covenanters, for they fell into their ranks in time to take part in the successful charge which decided the fate of the battle. In the thick of the fight, the smith encountered a dragoon entangled in the trappings of his wounded horse, and was about to despatch him, but being moved by the man's piteous appeal for mercy, he disarmed him and led him from the field a prisoner. Many of the Covenanters, however, were less humane, and demanded the dragoon's life, but this the smith strongly objected to, and declared that whoever touched a hair of his head would suff"er, for having given the man quarter he would defend his life at the risk of his own. None feeling inclined to cross swords with the resolute blacksmith, he was allowed to have his own way, and to this day the dragoon's sword is preserved by his descendants in Darvel. Besides the above, there are rude memorials of Cove nanting times to the memory of John Gebbie, John Morton, and others. Gebbie fought at Drumclog, and was carried off the field mortally wounded, and, like the mighty Nelson, died with the shouts of victory ringing in his ears. Morton was shot by Claverhouse at the same engage ment. After spending a reflective hour in the churchyard, and en- joying a look through the town, I sought out the terminus of the Galston branch of the South-Western Eailway. Near it is the scene of Eamsay's popular song, " The Lass o' Patie's Mill." The mill is modern, and occupies the site of the erection which graced the bank of the Irvine in Eamsay's day, but the field wherein the rustic beauty was making hay when she attracted the attention of the Earl of Loudoun is still pointed out, and although one hundred and fifty years have passed since the event the stranger still stops by the brink of the stream and enquires for the song-haUowed scene. The story is well known. It appears that the poet and the Earl were riding along the highway when it occurred to the latter that the comely appearance of the " lass " would form a fit subject for Allan's muse. At the suggestion the bard RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF RURNS. 215 lagged behind, composed the ditty, and produced it the same afternoon at dinner. The train being due, I bade "Loudoun's bonnie woods and braes " a fond and somewhat reluctant farewell, and in a short time reached Kilmarnock, for a seven mile journey is a mere nothing in these days of railways and telegraphs. 216 EAMBLESi THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. CHAPTER XVI IT. From kilmarnock to Dumfriesshire — notes by the way — auld- girth and its scenery — the hotel — ok the road to DUMFRIES — GOSSIP — THE BANKS OF THE NITH — FRIAR's CARSE — FRIENDSHIPS OF BURNS — "THE WHISTLE" — THE HERMITAGE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. Having realised £500 by the sale of the Edinburgh edition of his poems, Burns was enabled to live for a time on his means, and to indulge in tours through Berwick- shire and the North of England ; and also, the Highlands, by Inveraray, Lochlomond, Dunkeld, Castle- Gordon, and Inverness, In the course of these excur- sions he was received by men of rank and taste, and by the people generally with the most gratifying marks of respect for his iDrilliant talents, frank manners, and fluent conversa- tion secured him many friends. In referring to his return to Mossgiel, Dr Currie says, " It will easily be conceived with what pleasure and pride he was received by his mother, his brothers, and sisters. He left them poor and compara- tively friendless ; he returned to them high in public estima- tion and easy in circumstances. He returned to them un- changed in his ardent affections, and ready to share with them to the uttermost farthing the pittance that fortune had bestowed." "With characteristic generosity of heart he handed his brother Gilbert ,£180 to relieve him from the embarrassment in which he was involved by the sterile soil of an ungenial farm, and, despite the seductive power of " Clarinda " — a talented lady of fashion whose acquaintance he made in Edinburgh — married his much-loved Jean, and began to look about for the means to earn daily bread. In this Avorld every man is left to work out his own fate, and it depends greatly upon the course he steers what that fate is. Burns at this period of his history was still " without an aim," and still far from the enjoy- RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 217 ment of " the glorious privilege of being independent," even although he had amassed a little money and had become famous by dint of his giant intellect. As a means of subsistence he endeavoured to procure a situation in the Excise, but ulti- mately abandoned the idea for that of returning to his original occupation of farming. After some deliberation, he entered into negotiations with his patron, Mr Patrick Miller of Dal- swinton, respecting the farm of Ellisland, and having procured it on favourable terms, set about preparing a home for his young- wife on the banks of the IS^ith. Thither, reader, we will fol- lew him, and while tracing his footsteps in Dumfriesshire, it is to be hoped that my gleaning will prove at once instructive and entertaining. On the afternoon of a bonnie summer day, I availed myself of a short respite from business, and left Kilmarnock by rail with the intention of wandering at leisure amid the scenery of Nithsdale, and visiting places celebrated by the residence or muse of Eobert Burns. As the train glided on the ever- changing scenery had a peculiar charm for me, not only on account of the fact that it was from it the bard drew inspira- tion, but because its every rood is hallowed by brave men who fought and bled for freedom and Scotland, when might was con- sidered right, and liberty of conscience and action the property of those in power. A short stoppage occurred at Mauchline, and another at the quaint village of Auchinleck, near to which is Auchinleck House, the residence of Lady Eoswell. Dr Samuel Johnson made a grumbling, discontented stay at it in the month of JSTovember, 1773. The Lugar was then un- sung, and the " moors and mosses many " had not been cele- brated by the bard of Coila, for he was but in his fifteenth year, and had concluded a grand session of three weeks at the grammar school of Ayr to return to Mount Oliphant to swing the " Aveary Hingin'-tree " in the old barn. The doctor and his biographer have now a very small share of the affec- tion and gratitude of mankind, but the name of the poor boy Eobert Burns, Avho worked hard and fared hard, and received his education by snatches, fame has wafted over the whole world, and his immortal verses are the solace and delight of. his countrymen in every land where their lot is cast. The illiterate, the learned, the rich, and the poor admire them, and speak of the poet as of one with whom they were intimate — 218 EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. in fact, the birch-fringed, amber -flooded streams he has sung appear to murmur more sweetly and rush more proudly to the notes of his lyre — ' ' Nor skill'd one flame alone to fan ; His country's high-soul'd peasantry What patriot pride he taught — how much To weigh the inborn worth of man ! And rustic life and poverty Grow beautiful beneath his touch." Auchinleck House was also the residence of that enthusiastic admirer of Burns, Sir Alexander Boswell, to whose energy the erection of the monument on the banks of the Doon is due. He was a poet of great merit, and it is no small honour to his muse that several of his songs have been mistakenly ascribed to Burns, and have found a place in London editions of his works. A branch line leads from Auchinleck to Muirkirk, a village famous in Covenanting annals. John Lapraik, author of the song, " When I upon thy bosom lean," resided there when in receipt of poetical epistles from Burns. The poet first heard the song at a roch'mg held in the kitchen of Mossgiel on Fasten e'en, 1785, and was so taken with it that he ad- dressed the author in verse, and in flattering terms solicited his friendship. Lapraik speedily replied, and sent the letter by the hands of his son, who, upon arriving at Mossgiel, found the poet in a field engaged in sowing. " I'm no sure if I ken the hand," said Burns as he took the letter ; but no sooner had he glanced at its contents than unconsciously letting go the sheet containing the grain, it was not until he had finished reading that he discovered the loss he had sustained.* Ever afterwards Burns and Lapraik became fast friends, and had frequent and familiar intercourse. Lapraik was born in 1727. He published a volume of poetry at Kilmarnock in 1788, and died in the eightieth year of his age, on the 7th May, 1807. Eobert Chalmers some- what rashly states in his edition of Burns that he must have stolen the ideas and nearly all the diction of his song from a poem in Euddiman's Weekly Magazine, October, 1773. That Lapraik's song, and the poem referred to, have more than a suspicious similarity is not to be disputed, but whether Lap- * " Contemporaries of Burns," p. 26 RAMBLES THROUGH THK LAND OF BURNS, 219 raik or the anonymous contributor to that periodical be the plagiarist has yet to be proved. As the train rushes from the sweet village of Auchinleck it crosses a lofty viaduct which spans the Lugar, a stream cele- brated in "My Nannie o' " — a song which is, and ever will be, an universal favourite — and in a short time passes the town of Old Cumnock, beautifully embosomed among the hills. Peden, of Covenanting memory, is buried in its churchyard ; and in Breezyhill Cottage — a snug residence in its vicinity — resides Mr Adam E. Todd, author of " Poems, Lectures, and JVIiscellanies," and other nipritorious literary productions. Like Eurns he was bred to farm work, and like him also he culti- vated literature under many difficulties. The following extract is from one of his tributes to the memory of tlie ploughman bard : — " A chequered lot was thine, Burns, to bear, Though short thy course, thy struggles were severe ; But now life's thorny path has long been past, Weary the way, but sweet the rest at last, And thou art not forgotten in the clay — Thy fame increaseth with each opening day. Seasons may pass as Time sublimely steers His onward course, still heaping years on years ; But while the history of our isle is read, Thy name shall rank among the honoured dead." Beyond New Cumnock — a modest village extending on both sides of the line — the country, if possible, becomes more fascinating. In the distance is Glen Afton and the green swelling braes by which it is enclosed, and also the infant Mth coursing along. It issues from the Black Loch, as a dark sheet of water in the upper part of New Cumnock parish is termed, and traverses twelve miles of Ayrshire soil before entering the county of Dumfries. This loch is also the source of the Glaisnock, and in reference to this fact the writer of the Statistical Account of the parish of Old Cumnock points out the possibility of a trout crossing the mainland. Were it, he supposes, to enter the Ayr at Ayr harbour it might pass into the Lugar at Barskimming, and from thence into the Glaisnock at Old Cumnock, by which it could reach the Black Loch and issue therefrom into the Nith, and eventually drop into the Solway Firth. The Nith has many tributaries in Ayrshire, but the most important is the Afton — a rapid and 220 RAMBLES TIIKOUOH THE LAND OF BURNS. beautiful stream which traverses Glen Afton and joins it on the east side of the village of New Cumnock. The reader need not be reminded that this stream is celebrated by Burns in the song beginning — " Flow gently sweet Afton amang thy green braes, Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise." For a long distance beyond New Cumnock the railway skirts the Nith, and as the train dashes along, many a bosky scene, and many a green hillside, which cannot fail to impart pleasure, catches the eye. I just caught a glimpse of Kirk- connel as the train rushed past. It is a nice little village, and likely to be notable in future years as the birth-place of Alexander Anderson, author of " Songs of Labour ;" " The Two Angels, and other Poems;" &c. Mr Anderson, although a surfaceman or " common navvy" on the line, has found leisure not only to educate himself and become conversant with the French, German, and Italian languages, but to woo the muses with such success that he is within a stride of being classed in the front rank of Scottish poets. The following homely verses from his pen will be read with interest : — "cuddle doox. " The bairnies cuddle doon iit nicht, Wi' muckle faucht and ilin ; try and sleep ye wauki ife rogues, Your faither's comin' in. They never heed a word I speak ; I try to gie a froon, But aye I hap them up and cry, ' 0, bairnies, cuddle doon. ' " Wee Jamie wi' the curly held — He aye sleeps next the wa' — Bangs up an' cries, ' I want a piece ' — The rascal starts them a'. 1 rin an' fetch them pieces, drinks. They stop awee the soun', Then draw the blankets up and cry, ' Noo, weanies, cuddle doon. ' " But ere five minutes gang, wee Rab Cries oot frae 'neath the claes, ' Mither, mak' Tarn gie owre at ance. He's kittlin' wi' hia taes.' RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 221 The mischief's in that Tarn for tricks, He'd bother half the toon ; But aye I hap them np an' cry, ' 0, bairnies, cuddle doon.' * ' At length they hear their f aither's fit, An' as he steeks the door, They turn their faces to the wa'. While Tam pretends to snore. ' Hae a' the weans been guid ?' he asks, As he pits aff his slioon. ' The bairnies, John, are in their beds, An' lang since cuddled doon.' " An' just afore we bed oursel's, We look at oor wee lambs ; Tam has his airm roun' wee Rab's neck. An' Rab his airm roun' Tarn's. I lift wee Jamie up the bed. An' as I straik each croon, I whisper, till my heart fills up, ' 0, bairnies, cuddle doon.' " The bairnies cuddle doon at nicht Wi' mirth that's dear to me. But sune the big warl's cark and care Will quaten doon their glee. Yet, come what will to ilka ane. May He who sits aboon. Aye whisper, though their pows be bauld, '0, bairnies, cuddle doon.' " Eeyond Kirkconnell the scenery wears a moorland aspect, but the train speedily tears through it, and in an amazingly short space of time reaches Sanquhar — a compact, neatly built town with which Burns was familiar vvhen journeying between Dumfries and Mauchline. We have an account of one of his visits in a letter to Dr Moore. " In January last, on my road to Ayrshire," says he, " I had to put up at Bailie Wigham's in Sanquhar, the only tolerable inn in the jjlace. The frost was keen, and the grim evening and howling wind were ushering in the night of snow and drift. My horse and I were both much fatigued with the labours of the day, and just as my friend, the Bailie, and I were bidding defiance to the storm over a smoking bowl, in wheels the funeral page- antry of the late great Mrs Oswald ; and poor I am forced to brave all the horrors of a tempestuous night, and jade my horse, my favourite horse, whom I had just christened 222 KAMBLES THKOUGir THE LAND OK UURNS. Pegasus, twelve miles farther on through the wildest moors and hills of Ayrshire, to Xew Cumnock." Sanquhar also figures in the " Five Carlins," a political ballad by Burns, and is referred to as " Black Joan, frae Chrichton Peel, 0' gipsy kith an' kin." " Peel" is an old Scotch term for a castle or fortalice, and refers in this instance to the ruined stronghold of the Chrichtons, Lords of Sanquhar, which stands in a field at the end of the town, and is seen to great advantage from the railway. During the War of Independence it passed through many vicissitudes and was the scene of many sanguinary engagements between the English and Scotch, There are many curious traditions connected with it, and one is that Sir William Douglas wrested it from an English garrison in the following ingenious manner : — It appears that he and his men concealed them- selves in Crawick Glen, while John Dickson, disguised as a carter, approached it with a load of wood. Having succeeded in disposing of it to the Governor, the portcullis was raised to admit him, but he no sooner entered than he jammed his cart within it, and sounded the onset with might and main. The English being off their gi;ard, Sir William and his men obtauied an easy victory. When possessed by the Scotch on one occasion, Ptobert de Clifford and Sir Henry Percy at- tempted to reduce it by starvation, and would have succeeded had not the valiant Wallace come to the assistance of the garrison. The besiegers fled at his approach, but they were overtaken near Dalswinton, and in the engagement which followed 500 of them were slain. Beyond Sanquhar the railway passes through a track of country unsurpassed for picturesque beauty. Having passed Carronbridge and Thornhill— both quiet villages— Closeburn is reached. Streaching away on the east side of the line are Closeburn Hills amid which is the fine waterfaU, Crichope Linn, and a cave which tradition states was used by the Cove; nanters. Sir Walter Scott seems to have been aware of its associations, for in " Old Mortality " he portrays it as the hiding place of Balfour of Burley. Burns was iamiliar with Closeburn. He used to visit an inn at Brownhill, and made the landlord, whose name was Bacon, the subject of an im RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 22S promptu effusion. His friend, Kirsty Flint, also resided in Closeburn. She was Avell acquainted with old music and ballads, and nothing delighted the poet better than to hear her sing his songs — indeed, he generally got her to " lilt " over any new effusion before giving it to the world, A short distance from Closebnrn is Auldgirth station. Upon the train drawing up at it, I stepped on to the platform, a pilgrim in the land. However, this added piquancy to the excursion, and was just the thing to gratify my love for adventure and sight-seeing. Following the straggling passengers down a rather steep roadway, I entered the village — if village it can be called, for it only consists of a Gothic-like building called Auldgirth Hotel, and some two or three one-storeyed houses — and beheld a scene of bewitching beauty. In front lay a fine alluvial holm through which the Nith winds like a silver thread, and from which verdant wood-draped, sheep-speckled hills rise in rugged grandeur. Enraptured with the scene I wandered down a broad tree-shaded road, and in an ecstasy of delight listened to the water rij)pling beneath a stupendous ivy-mantled bridge and to the wild notes of a mavis and a blackbird, which sang an accompaniment in a neighbouring- thicket and with other warblers of the grove bade a vocal farewell to departing day. The lowing of cattle and the shouts of a group of rompish children sounded in the distance with a strange captivating solemnity which lured me onward all unmindful of the fact that I had omitted to secure a lodging for the night. Eeturning to the village, I entered the hotel and was delighted to find that the accommodation, although homely, was good, and completely belied the external appear- ance of the building. Mr Emerie (for such is the name of the landlord), and his lady proved aftable, obliging, and kindly, and I experienced no difficulty in being " put up " for the night ; but the hours of the evening wore slowly away, and I was only too happy to be shown to the chamber assigned me. I slept soundly, and when morning returned awoke to find that the sunbeams had entered the apartment and were streaming across the floor. After partaking of a substantial, well-served breakfast, I took leave of mine host and started, to visit those scenes in Dumfriesshire which the residence or muse of Eobert Burns has rendered famous, but will not readily forget the hospitality of the inmates of Auldgirth Hotel. 224 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, I lingered a wtile at the bridge referred to, to take a fare- well look at the lovely scene, A short distance above it is the tree-embosomed mansion-house of Blackwood, the resid- ence of an ancient Dumfriesshire family, Avho claim descent from Sir John Copland, a Northumbrian knight, Avho took David II. prisoner at the battle of INTeville's Cross in 1346, and knocked out the monarch's front teeth with the haft of his dagger in the struggle. The father of Allan Cunningham, the celebrated Scottish poet, was gardener on this estate, and the house he lived in and in which his illustrious son was born stood under one of the fine yew trees lining the approach to the princely residence. Small wonder it is that the boy mbibed the spirit of poesy in such a retreat, for dull the eye must be that cannot behold the grand, the lofty, poetry of nature in the scenery. The clear pebbly-bottomed stream glistened in the sunshine and purled from among the woods which stud the vale and deck the sides of the steep uplands, rolling on until concealed from view in a cleft of the verdant hills in the distance. '* How lovely, Nith, thy fruitful vales, Where spreading hawchorns gaily bloom ! How sweetly wind thy sloping dales, Where lambkins wanton through the broom !" *' Birds sang love on ilka spray," and everything Avas fresh with the dew of the morning, but business and time were pressing and would not permit me to linger long in the locality. Moving slowly along the road I tapped at a cottage door to make sure that the right direction was being pursued. It was opened by a smart girl, who, in answer to a query, called her father, a blythe old shoemaker, with spectacles on brow and a huge leather apron in front of him. He was the real prototype of a village souter, and just the sort of man I was desirous of seeing ; therefore, without formality, I made him aware that I was a stranger and anxious to gain information regarding the district, but more especially of the Poet's resi- dence in it. Drawing himself up and pushing the spectacles higher on his forehead he said — " AYeel, if it's Burns you're speerin' aboot, there's Friar's Carse, the Hermitage, and Ellisland, doun the river there a bit, but there's naething here about, I'm sorry to say, connected wi' him. Of course he was often here, and gaed alang this road when riding to RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 225 or frae Mauchline, but that's a'. Auld ruins ? Weel, there's nane hereawa' except the tower whaur Lagg, the persecutor o' the Covenanters, leeved ; it's aiuang the hills yonder, but there's nocht to be seen about it. But up in yon wood by the river-side there's the remains o' a Druidical temple ; gin ye hand doun the bankin' to the Carse it will be on your way, an' ye should gang an' see it. Antiquarians dispute about it, for you see Glenriddle spoilt it by completing the circle wi' new stane, but I'm inclined to think it genuine, for the basin that received the blood of the victim and let it rin into the earth is aye there. You can get a glint o' the Carse yonder at the bend o' the river, so gin ye baud alang the bankin' you'll come to it, and anybody '11 let you see the Hermitage and Ellisland, for they're a' close thegither — 'deed if it hadna been ' Preaching Saturday' I'd gane wi' you my- sel', but I canna very weel gee awa'." I was sorry for this, for such a companion would have been invaluable. This specimen of the old man's conversation is given that readers who may be inclined to follow my footsteps may have a know- ' ledge of the route to be pursued and a slight idea of the au tiquities to be met with. Shoemakers are highly intelligent as a class, but this one, " remote from towns," and who " never changed nor wished to change his place," is except- ionally so. He proved himself conversant with the life and writings of Burns. On no account will he allow the one or the other to be disparagingly spoken of, and woe betide the man who in his presence dares " To draw his frailties from their dread abode." In illustration of the Poet's magnanimity and kindness of heart, he told me that his grandmother, who lived in the vicinity of Ellisland, " selt a dram without a license," and carried on a very fair illicit trade. This coming to the ears of the authorities. Burns received notice to call and make a seizure. Before doing so, however, he sent a few hanks of yarn to the old lady with the intimation that she was to wind it speedily, for the gauger would call for it in the after- noon. He went, but all exciseable commodities were removed and he found nothing to reward the search. This act of course lost a fine to the government but saved the woman. Following the path recommended, I held along the bank of 226 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LA>D OF BURNS. the river until the plantation containing the Druidical remains was reached. It crowns the summit of a high em- bankment overlooking the stream, and commands a charming prospect of hills, dales, and leafy woods. The place was somewhat " eerie," and the dead leaves rustled strangely beneath my tread, but I had no difficulty in finding the whereabouts of the supposed temple, which consists of a circle of rudely-hewn stones set on end. They are some five feet in height and ten apart, and surround a central one of somewhat larger proportions. Passing through the plantation, greatly to the dismay of its inhabitants, who sounded their notes of alarm as they flew from branch to branch, or bounded away in timorous haste to seek refuge in their burrows, I came to a low stone wall, which I cleared with a bound, and landed in a field. Holding along its edge, I entered a roadway, and after a short walk reached Friars' Carse. The mansion — a beautiful Gothic building — occupies the site of a monastic house, and is pleasantly situated in a wood- • embosomed dell on the banks of the I^ith. The present proprietor has made an extensive and tasteful addition to the old residence, imjjroved the grounds in its vicinity, and by the restoration of the Hermitage evinced an appreciation of the poetic genius inseparably associated with the estate. When Burns tilled the soil of Ellisland, Friars' Carse was the residence and property of Captain Paddle, a gentleman of taste, and an antiquary of some note, whose social disposition won many friends, but none were more welcome to his home than his gifted but less affluent neighbour, the Poet. At his table Burns made the acquaintance of Captain Francis Grose, the antiquary — " A line fat fodgel wight, 0' stature short, but genius bright" — and was introduced to Maria Woodley, daughter of a governor of Berbice, and the wife of Glenriddle's young brother, " a lady," says the Eev. Hately "Waddell, " of great beauty and spirit, with some fashionable foibles and perhaps follies incident to her sex, but many gifts and accomplishments also — one of the most favoured correspondents and heroines of our author, his friend, his adversary, and his eulogist." She gives a graphic and affecting account of her last interview RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 227 with the poet, which will be noticed in its proper place. Another lady of culture, whose society was enjoyed by Burns at Friars' Carse, was a Miss Deborah Davis, a relative of Glenriddle, and the heroine of two of the poet's songs. She was of short stature, and from this circumstance was made the subject of the following epigram, which the bard uttered on being asked by a friend why God made her so little and the lady beside her so large — " Ask why God made the gem so small, And why so huge the granite ? Because God meant mankind should set The higher vahie on it." A rather romantic incident in the life of this lady deserves notice. At an early age she fell in love with a Captain Delany, who, to all appearance, reciprocated the passion. " He made himself acceptable to her by sympathising in her pursuits and writing verses on her, calling her his Stella, an ominous name, which might have brought the memory of Swift's unhappy mistress to her mind." Says Allan Cun- ningham : — " An offer of marriage was made and accepted, but Delany's circumstances were urged as an obstacle; delays ensued ; a coldness on the lover's part followed ; his regiment was called abroad : he went with it ; she heard from him once and no more, and was left to mourn the change of affection — to droop and die. He perished in battle or by a foreign climate soon after the death of the young lady, of whose love he was so unworthy. The following verses on this unfortunate attachment form part of a poem found among her papers at her death. She takes Delany's portrait from, her bosom, presses it to her lips, and says — ' Next to thyself, 'tis all on eartli Thy Stella dear doth hold ; The glass is clouded with my breath, And as thy bosom cold — That bosom which so oft has glowed With love and friendship's name, Where you the seed of love first sowed That kindled into tlame. ' You there neglected let it burn ; It seized the vital part, And left my bosom as an urn To hold a broken heart. 228 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. I once had thought I should have been A tender, happy wife, And passed my future days serene With thee, my James, through life.' " Beside these and other friendships, the mansion-house of Friars' Carse is celebrated on account of a bacchanaliaa contest which took place in one of its rooms on the 16th October, 1789. The prize was a little ebony whistle which a Danish champion of Bacchus in the train of Annie of Den- mark brought to this country. There was many a contest for its possession, for it appears that he was in the habit of laying it on the table at the commencement of a drinking bout, and whoever outdrank his companions and blew it when they were all under the table carried it off as a trophy. After proving victor on many occasions, this champion of the bottle encountered Sir Robert Lawrie of Maxweltown, and was defeated by him after three days and three nights' hard drinking. The whistle afterwards came into the possession of Captain Biddle, who decided upon having a friendly con- test for it at Friars' Carse. For that purpose he challenged Mr. Ferguson of Craigdarroch, and Sir Eobert Lawrie of Maxwelton, and invited Burns to witness the fray. The following affidavit graphically describes the proceedings : — "Closeburn Hall, Dec, 2, 1841. "I, Wm. Hunter, blacksmith, in Lake-head, parish of Closeburn, was, for three years and a half previous to my being apprenticed to -John Kilpatrick, blacksmith in Burniand, parish of Dunscore, ser- vant to Capt. Robt. Riddle, of Friars' Carse, in Dumfriesshire. I remember well the night when the Whistle was drunk for at Friars' Carse by the three gentlemen — Sir Robert Lawrie, Mr. Ferguson of Craigdarroch, and Captain Riddle. Bums the poet was present on the occasion. Mrs. Riddle and Mrs. Fergiisou of Craigdarroch dined with the above gentlemen. As soon as the cloth was i-emoved the two ladies retired. When the ladies had left the room. Bums with- drew from the dining table, and sat down in the window looking down the river Nith ; a small table was before him. During the evening Burns nearly emptied two bottles of spirits — the one of brandy, the other of rum — mixing them in tiimblers with warm M'ater, which I often brought to him hot. He had paper, pen, and ink before him and continued the whole evening to write upon the paper. He seemed, while I was in the room, to have little conversation with the thi'ee gentlemen at their wine. I think from what I could observe he was composing the ' Whistle' as he sat with his back to the gentle- men, but he occasionally turned towards them. The corks of the RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 229 wine were all drawn by me, and it was claret the three gentlemen drank. As far as I can recollect, I did not draw more than fifteen bottles of claret. It was about snnrisewhen the two gentlemen were carried to bed. Craigdarroch never during the course of the night fell from his chair. The other two gentlemen often fell, and had to be helped, with the assistance of Burns and myself, on to their chairs. After Burns, myself, and the other servants now dead, had carried upstairs Sir Robert Lawrie and Captain Riddle, Craigdarroch walked himself upstairs without any help. Craigdarroch then went into one bedroom where Sir Robert Lawrie was and blew stoutly the whistle; next he entered Captain Riddle's bedroom and blew the whistle as stoutly there — Burns being present. Burns, after he had seen and assisted the two above-named gentlemen to bed, walked home to his own farm-house of EUisland, about a mile from Friars' Carse. He seemed a little the worse of drink, but was quite able to walk and manage himself. Burns often afterwards talked to me of the evening that was passed at Friars' Carse when tlie whistle was drank for, and he told me again and again that he wrote the whole poem of the ' Whistle ' that evening at Friars' Carse. Indeed, he filled that evening, I well recollect, four sheets of paper larger than the present one (large post) with writing, all of which he took liome with him. As I was apprentice to Kilpatrick, the blacksmith, who always shod Burns' horses when he was at EUisland, I often saw Burns while I was shoeing his horses. All the above particulars I am willing to verify on oath. (Signed) " William Hunter. " December 2nd, 1841." It seems strange at this date that " three jolly good fellows " — one an elder of a church and another an M.P. — could in- dulge to such excess, but then it was considered no breach of decorum to be " as drunk's a gentleman," or to fall from one's chair overpowered by liquor at the festive board ; and there is no apology required for Burns being present at such an orgie. I would have had a peep at the room in which the contest took place and in which " The Whistle " was com- posed, but upon learning that the family were from home, I contented myself with a stroll through the grounds, and a right enjoyable one it was. Accosting a man engaged in mowing grass, I enquired for the Hermitage. Being told that its situation was on the verge of a neighbouring wood, I acted on his advice, and sought out the head gardener. He proved of a cheerful disposition, and so extremely obliging that he proifered to accompany me to the spot and give what information he could regarding it. ■230 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. After climbing a steep ascent we entered the wood in question, but as we threaded a narrow path among the trees, a colony of crows in the branches over our heads began to caw ! caw ! caw I and raise a clamour as if indignant at the intrusion of their privacy. I rather liked their din, and stopped now and again to watch their circuitous flight far above our heads, guessing the cause of their alarm to be that some cruelly- disposed person had been making them objects of his murderous aim, for here and there among the grass lay numerous stiffened sable members of the fraternity. Poor things ! many had the appearance of having died in great agony, and lay crouched and cramped as they were when mercifully relieved from suffering by death. I lifted a live but disabled one, but not before it seized my finger with its bill, being accustomed to look upon man as a common enemy. I did my utmost to assure it of the kindness of my intentions, but it Avas no use, and as I could not do anything for it I laid it down saying — ' ' Seek, mangled wretch, some place of wanted rest, No more of rest, but now thy dying bed ! The sheltering rushes whistling o'er thy head, The cold earth with thy bloody bosom pressed." Crows are certainly thieves, and, despite their black attire and gravity of mien, are not so just and upright as farmers desire, but if the safety of crops demand their partial destruction it should be gone about in a humane and efficient manner. The Hermitage is situated in an obscure corner of the wood, and looks as sombre as if it had not been visited for months. It is a small modern-looking building of one storey with an inscription over its doorway stating that it was re- stored in 1874. Previous to its restoration it was in ruins, and it says much for the present proprietor of Friars' Carse that it is in the present tidy condition. The original build- ing measured ten and a-half feet by eight, and was erected by Captain Riddle. When Burns came to Ellisland he delighted to wander by the Nith and through the grounds and woods of Friars' Carse, a circumstance which probably induced the Captain to provide him v/ith a key for the Hermitage, so that he could go in and out when he felt it convenient to do so. He often retired to this retreat, and in its solitude under the IIAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 231 character of a bedesman, composed " Verses in Friar's Carse Hermitage." He inscribed the first six lines on the window- pane, but this — Eobert Chambers informs us — "was removed on a change of proprietors, and being brought to sale at the death of an old lady in 1835 was purchased for five guineas." When the gate of the railed enclosure of the present retreat is thrown open, the first thing that attracts attention is the rigid form of a monk, with shaven crown, chipped nose, and folded hands, lying on its back at the entrance. Possibly it is a remnant of the " auld nick-nackets " which belonged to honest Glenriddle, and commemorates some holy friar whose name and qualifications are alike forgotten. The little building contains a chair and small table, and is sup- plied with two windows and a fireplace. The glass of one window bears the following in fac-simile of the poet's hand- writing : — " To Kiddle, much lamented man, This ivied cot was dear ; Header, dost vahte matchless wortli ? This ivied cot revere." The glass of the other is inscribed in like manner, and bears the following lines : — " Thou whom chance may hither lead, Be thou clad in russet weed, Be thou decked in silken stole, Grave these counsels on thy soul. Life is but a day at most. Sprung from night, in darkness lost ; Hope not sunshine every hour. Fear not clouds will always lower. Stranger, go ! Heaven be thy guide, Quod the bedesman of Nithside. " EUisland is a couple of fields distant from the Hermitage, and the instant I took leave of my obliging guide, I hastened towards it by way of the river bank, for it is close by, and accessible by scaling a low stone wall which appears to be as old as the wood it encloses. The Nith winds along its shallow pebbly shore, and the wide swelling verdant uplands which rise from its brink looked so fresh that they appeared like a portion of a newly-created world. Despite a sense of loneliness I felt happy — happy as the bird in the brake, and 232 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. why 1 Because Burns traversed the same ground, and enjoyed the same scenery. Holding along a beaten path run- ning through the grass I crossed a purling burnie by a rustic bridge, and passed along the margin of the river. The diffi- culties of the way were many, but in spite of trailing bramble bushes which seized hiy legs and laid liold of my clothes, and of branches which brushed my face, I succeeded in reaching a steep tree-shaded path. Ascending it I entered the farm- vard of Ellisland, and looked curiously around. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 23J CHAPTEE XIX. ElLISLAND, its situation, appearance, and associations — BURNS AS AN exciseman— HIS ANTIPATHY TO THE OFFICE — HIS HUMANITY, HOSPITALITY, AND INDUSTRY — THE POIT's FAVOUR- ITE "WALK — THE COMPOSITION OF " TAM O' SHANTER " — THE WOUNDED HARE — THE ISLE — HOLYWOOl) PAST AND PRESENT — LINCLUDIN ABBEY, Finding Ellisland deserted by man and beast, I went up to the open door of the dwelling house and " cannily keekit ben." The apartment was in the utmost confusion, and the scene which met my gaze odd in the extreme. A young woman, with a handkerchief bound round her head, was decorating the walls with indiscriminate dashes of a white-wash brush, while a portly, pleasant-looking woman, whose features were almost hid in the folds of a sun-bonnet, busied herself among the furniture in an endeavour to put matters straight. In the midst of all this sat a man deeply engrossed in the con- tents of a newspaper ; but I am sorry to record that he never lifted his eyes off the page nor in any way recognised the presence of a stranger — a breach of good manners certainly which a previous tenant named Robert Burns would never have been guilty of. The gudewife — for such I understood the dame in question to be — was communicative enough, and although answers drawn from her were generally monosyllabic, yet they were clear and respectful, and made some amends for the reserved demeanour of her lord. Among other things, I learned that the dwelling-bouse and offices around the court- yard are in the same condition as they were at the time our agricultural Apollo and his bonnie Jean went in and out amongst them. This in itself was something, and, despite the freezing reception experienced, I felt gratified to stand in a door-way through which those near and dear to his heart had often passed, and look upon walls which sheltered him from the blast and upon a floor of stone which echoed the tread of his manly footstep. Having it proven in this particular in- •234 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. stance that a conversation cannot be carried on between a less number of persons than two, I withdrew, and commenced an exploration, during which imagination and a previous know- ledge of the premises supplied what the occupants declined to communicate. The farmstead of Ellisland is situated on the verge of a high cliff or scaur overlooking the Nith, and com- mands a prospect which no sordid-minded farmer would care to look upon. The dwelling-house is a humble but com- modious one-storied building, and the offices attached to it are of a commonplace description, and appear — with the exception of a barn — to have been erected since the poet's day. "When Burns entered on the farm (Whitsunday, 1788), the dwelling-house was in a ruinous condition — a circumstance which compelled him to leave his Jean in Mauchline until he got one in readiness for her reception. This was built by his brother-in-law, and according to Allan Cunningham, the poet had to " perform the duty of superintending the work ; to dig the foundations, collect the stones, seek the sand, cart the lime, and see that all was performed according to the specification," and, I inay add, the plan he had drawn out. During the progress of the work he lodged with the outgoing tenant in a hovel which was pervious to every blast that blew and every shower that fell ; but more of it by and by. When Burns fixed on Ellisland, the shrewd factor remarked that he had made a good choice as a poet but a bad one as a farmer. From what I saw of its soil he was correct, for it is perfectly astonishing that he ever thought of devoting his time to its cultivation. He was in the habit of saying that after a shower had fallen a newly-rolled field reminded him of a paved street, but I can assure the reader that one turned over with the plough has a closer resemblance to a macada- mized road dug with a pick-axe than anything yet witnessed — in fiict, such a mixture of boulders and loam is rarely to be met with beyond the precincts of a dried up water-course. There is nothing under cultivation to equal it in Ayrshire ; nevertheless, with the present system of agriculture, excellent -crops are grown on it, and the tenant can pay more than four times the rent Burns did Avhen he tilled its acres, and that too with less difficulty." • Burns paid £50 a year, the present tenant pays £230. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 235 "When straying about the steading I entered the barnyard, and leaning on my stick mused. Here, thought I, is the veritable spot where the poet, in an agony of soul, composed the sublime ode " To Mary in Heaven." ' ' Thou lingering star, with lessening ray, That lov'st to greet the early morn, Again thou usherest in the day My Mary from my soul was torn. Oh Mary ! dear departed shade ! Where is thy place of blissful rest ? Seest thoii thy lover lowly laid ? Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast ? That sacred hour can I forget ? Can I forget the hallowed grove, Where by the winding Ayr we met, To live one day of parting love ! Eternity will not eliace Those records dear of transports past ; Thy image at our last embrace, Ah ! little thought we 'twas our last !" Although married to his Jean — and all the Avorld knows he loved her — he could not forget Mary Campbell, nor " the golden hours " he spent with her in " the hallowed grove " on the banks of the "gurgling Ayr." No, though "green was the sod and cold the clay" which wrapt her form, he cherished her memory ; and ou the third anniversary of her death — a few days after the carnival mentioned in last chapter — " as the twilight deepened he appeared to grow ' very sad about something,' and at length Avandered out into the barnyard, to which his wife, in her anxiety for his health, followed him, •entreating him in vain to observe that frost had set in, and to return to the fireside. On being again and again requested to do so, he always promised compliance, but still remained where he was, striding up and down slowly and contemplating the sky, Avhich was singularly clear and starry. At last Mrs Burns found him stretched on a mass of straw, with his eyes fixed on a beautiful planet ' that shone like another moon,' and prevailed on him to come in. He immediately, on entering the house, called for his desk, and wrote exactly as they now stand, with all the ease of one copying from memory, the verses ' To Mary in Heaven.' "* * Lockhart's "Life of Burns." 236 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. The first ye"ar of Burns' occupancy of Ellisland passed pleasantly away. He was frugal and temperate, and paid every attention to his farm, but his seclusion did not obtain privacy. Lockhart states that " his company was courted eagerly, not only by his brother farmers, but by the neighbouring gentry of all classes ; and now, too, for the first time, he began to be visited continually in his own house by curious travellers of all sorts, who did not consider, any more than the generous Poet himself, that an extensive practice of hospitality must cost more than he ought to have had, and far more money than he ever had at his disposal." The farm under these circumstances could not pay, and to make matters better he applied to his patron, Air. Graham of Fintry, to use his interest in pjrocuring him an appointment in the Excise. This was done, and " the golden days of Ellisland," as Dr. Currie calls them, began to wane, " He might indeed still be seen in the spring," says that author, "directing his plough — a labour in which he excelled; or with a white sheet, containing his seed-corn, slung across his shoulder, stridmg with measured steps along his turned-up furrows, and scattering the grain in the earth ; but his farm no longer occupied the principal part of his care or his thoughts. It was not at Ellisland that he was now in general to be found. Mounted on horseback, this high-minded poet was pursuing the de- faulters of the revenue among the hills and vales of Niths- dale, his roving eye roving over the charms of nature, mut- tering his wayward fancies as he moved along." This new occupation brought Burns a paltry £35 a year, but the amount of drudgery it imposed on him overtasked his energies, and did much more to undermine his constitution than the hard drinking his traducers say he indulged in. He had ten parishes to survey, which formed a tract of fifteen miles each way. These had to be continually ridden over. On an average he rode from thirty to forty miles every day, stopping at all the breweries, public-houses, tanneries, and grocery shops on the route to take note of exciseable stock, and enter the same in the memorandum book he carried for the purpose. Burns disliked the unpopular occupation, and was always apologising to his friends for engaging in it — RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 237 " Searching auld wives' barrels, Och hon ! the day ! That clarty barm should stain my laurels ; But — what'll ye say ! These moving things ca'd wives an' weans Would move the very hearts o' stanes !" Despite his antipathy to the office, Burns faithfully dis- charged his duties. Sometimes, however, he was wilfully deaf, dumb, and blind to petty infringements of the law. Allan Cunningham tells how he and a brother exciseman one day suddenly entered a widow woman's shop in Dunscore, and made a seizure of smuggled tobacco. "Jenny," said the poet, " I expected this would be the upshot. Here Lewers, take note of the number of rolls as I count them. IS''ow, Jock, did you ever hear an auld wife numbering her threads before check reels were invented 1 Thou's ane, and thou's ane, and thou's ane a' out." As he handed out the rolls he went on with his humorous enumeration, but dropping eyery other roll into Janet's lap, Lewers took the desired note with much gravity, and saw as if he saw not the merciful consideration of his companion. A late Professor of St. Andrew's remembered seeing Burns on a fair day in August, 1793, at the village of Thorn- hill, where, as was not uncommon in those days, a poor woman, named Kate Watson, had for one day taken up the trade of a publican — of course, without a license. " I saw the poet enter her door, and anticipated nothing short of an immediate seizure of a certain greybeard and barrel which, to my personal knowledge, contained the contraband commodi- ties our bard was in quest of. A nod, accompanied by a significant movement of the forefinger, brought Kate to the doorway or entrance ; and I was near enough to hear the fol- lowing words distinctly uttered : 'Kate, are you mad 1 Don't you know that the supervisor and I will be upon you in the course of forty minutes 1 Good by t'ye at present.' Burns was in the street and in the midst of the crowd in an instant, and I had access to know that the friendly hint was not neglected. It saved a poor woman from a fine of several pounds for committing a paltry oftence by which the revenue ■was probably subjected to an annual loss of five shillings."" * Edinburgh Literary Journal, 1829. 238 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. "I had an adventure with him in the year 1790," says Mr. Eamsay of Ochtertyre, in a letter to Dr. Currie, " when passing through Dumfriesshire on a tour to the south, with Dr. Stuart of Luss. Seeing him pass quickly near Closehurn, I said to my companion — 'That is Burns.' On coming to the inn, the hostler told us he would be back in a few hours to errant permits ; that where he met with anything seizable he was no better than any other guager ; in everything else he was a perfect gentleman. After leaving a note to be delivered to him on his return, I proceeded to his house, beinw curious to see his Jean, &c. I was much jileased with his uxor Sabina quails and the poet's modest mansion, so unlike the habitations of ordinary rustics. In the evening he suddenly bounded in upon us, and said as he entered — ' I come to use the words of Shakespeare, steioed in haste.' In fact, he had ridden incredibly fast after receiving my note. We fell into conversation directly, and soon got into the viare magnum of poetry. He told me he had now gotten a story for a drama, which he was to call ' Eob Macquechan's Elchon,' from a popular story of Eobert Bruce being defeated on the 'water of" Caern, Avhen the heel of his boot having loosened in his flight he applied to Eobert Macquechan to fix it, who to make sure ran his awl nine inches up the king's heel. We were now going on at a great rate, when Mr S popped in his head, which put a stop to our discourse, which had become very interesting. Yet in a little while it was resumed ; and such was the force and versatility of the bard's «-enius that he made the tears run down Mr. S 's cheeks, albeit unused to the poetic strain. From that time we met no more Poor Burns ! we shall hardly see his like attain. He Avas in truth a sort of comet in literature, irregular fn its motions, which did not do good proportioned to the blaze of light it displayed." These pleasing anecdotes might be extended. Burns rose early, and before starting on his long rides busied himself with the work of the farm. Mrs. Burns stated that she has walked with a child in her arms on the banks of the Nith, and seen him sow after breakfast two bags of corn for the folk to harrow through the day.'"- When • Memoranda by Mrs. Burns-see the Kev. P. H. Wacldells edition of the poet's works. RAMBLES THKOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 239' he returned at iiiglit — tired and weary no doubt — he was not inactive, but burned the midnight oil in making up his report for the Excise, in writing letters to friends, or trans- cribing some lilt he had composed for " Johnston's Musical Museum" when in the saddle. Eeader, take down your Chambers from your shelf and glance at the Ellisland period of his existence, and you AviU feel astonished at the number of songs, poems, and letters he wrote under such circumstances,, in the brief space of two and a half years. There are many glimpses of the poet in his social and domestic sphere to be had during his existence at Ellis- land, but suffice it to say that the calls upon his hospitality exceeded the limits of his income ; so, owing to this, and his inability to superintend his workpeople throughout the day, the little scheme of having two strings to his bow, or, in other words, of securing an income apart from the profits of the farm, failed, and he was forced to accept an appointment in the Excise in Dumfries, at a salary of £70^ per annum. Experiencing little difficulty in getting rid of the lease which bound him to Ellisland, he sold liis stock and implements and bade it adieu, " leaving nothing," says Allan Cunninghame, " but a putting stone, with which he had loved to exercise his strength — a memory of his musings that can never die, and £300 of his money sunk beyond redemption in a speculation from which all had augured happiness." After lingering about the fields and steading of Ellisland for some time, I cast a wastful look at the open door of the dwelling-house and sought the bank of the river. The view up and down is exquisite, and the green swelling slopes of Dalswinton on the opposite bank are very beautiful. The grass and herbage extend close to the Avater edge, and trees leaning at an angle over the pure pebbly-bottomed channel and the rich drapery of distant woods and dales, go to make up a picture at once charming and delightful. The lands of Dalswinton belonged to the Comyns, a once powerful family who sternly oj^posed Eobert Bruce. Allan Cunningham, who spent his boyish days in the neighbour- hood, remembered seeing the ruins of their castle, and speaks of a tradition which stated that it Avas burnt by the hero- knig after he had given the Comyn " the perilous gash " and 240 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. Kilpatrick had " makit siccar " by plunging liis dagger into his breast in the church of Dumfries. In 1792 part of the Avails were standing, but no portion of them now remains. " The Mth," says Cunningham, " instead of circling the Scaur of EUisland, dii'ected its course by Bankfoot, and came elose to the castle." He remembered a pool near the old house of Dalswinton called Comyn's Pool, Avhich belonged to the old watercourse, and connected itself with the back water in the Willow Isle, by the way of the Lady's Meadow. Here Comyn is alleged to have sunk his treasure-chest before he went to Dumfries, leaving it in charge of the water sprite. A net, it is said, was fixed in this pool, to which a small bell in the castle was attached, which rang when a salmon was in the snare. When Burns came to EUisland, Dalswinton was the pro perty of Mr Patrick Miller, an inventive genius, who not only patronised him immediately after his arrival in Edin- * burgh, but maintained a kindly disposition towards him while he resided in the district ; and, curiously enough, while Burns on one side of the river was composing lays destined to have a lasting influence on the Scottish heart. Miller on the other was trying to elucidate a scheme which has given an impetus to commerce and facilitated navigation to an undreamt of degree. The idea of propelling vessels by machinery originated with him, and it was on a lake in the vicinity of Dalswinton house that he conducted a series of experiments which proved the practicability of his theory. Unfortunately, however, some obstacles occurred which he failed or neglected to surmount, and the fame of perfecting steam navigation was bestowed on others. It is generally admitted that it was from his boat that Fidton and Henry Bell took the plans which they respectively realised on the Hudson and the Clyde. The path down the furze-clad bank of the river is not only delightful but interesting to the admirers of Burns, on account of it having been a favourite walk of his. While pacing it he composed " Tarn o' Shanter " and committed it to paper, making a sod-dyke do duty for a desk. Mrs Burns remem- bered the circumstances. " He spent most of the day on his favourite walk by the river, where, in the afternoon, she joined him with some of her children. He was busily engaged RAMBLES THKOUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 241 the scene will not be readily forgotten. "VVe have an account of one of his visits in the following verses : — " As I stood by yon rootless tower, Where the wa'-flower scents the dewy air, There the howlet mourns in her ivy bower. And tells the midnight moon her care. " The winds were laid, the air was still, The stars they shot alang the sky ; The fox was howling on the hill, And the distant-echoing glens reply. " By heedless chance I turned mine eyes, And by the moonbeam shook to see A stern and stalwart ghaist arise, Attired as minstrels wont to be. " Had I a statue been o' stane, His darin' look had daunted me ; And on his bonnet graved was plain. The sacred posy, ' Libertie !' 248 RAMBLES TIIROUGU THE LAND OF BURNS. " He sang wi' joy the former day, He weeping wailed liis latter times ; But what he said it was nae play : I winna venture't in my rhymes." His caution in this instance is commendable. Howeveiv he was not so guarded on all occasions, but uttered his political sentiments fearlessly, and in such an open manner that his superiors in the Excise were doubtful of his loyalty and regarded him with suspicion. With many a glance at the architectural adornments of the old pile, I strolled to the summit of a small Avooded hill in its immediate vicinity and rapturously gazed on the beautiful scene it commands. At my feet lay the Abbey, a little beyond it the birch and alder-fringed banks of the limpid Cluden, and gleaming through the trees were the broad waters of the ifith and a vast track of the lovely scenery through which it winds. Little wonder, thought I, that Burns loved to wander here, for most assuredly the surroundings are eminently calculated to invite the footsteps of a poet. Time, however, did not permit me to linger, so, reluctantly with- drawing my gaze, I descended the slope to the bank of the river, and " with measured steps and slow " began to pace the path which the poet loved to traverse. It winds along the verge of a series of fields, and is within the sight and sound of the rushing stream. A pleasant walk brought me to its termination, which, by the by, is neither romantic nor savoury. Passing along a narrow old-fashioned looking street I crossed the ]SI"e\v Bridge and entered Dumfries. iOs. RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 249^ CHAPTER XX. Dumfries — the old bridge — greyfriars' monastery — the CASTLE — a house IN WHICH BURNS LIVED — HIGH STREET — THE GLOBE INN AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS— THE HOUSE IN WHICH BURNS DIED. Dumfries is a town of pleasing aspect, its streets being regularly built and its outskirts studded with handsome villas. It possesses a provost, three bailies, and a town council ; and its population, including that of Maxweltown — a suburb separated from it by the Nith, but connected by bridges, parliamentary interest, and trade — is 19,500. For- merly it was only notable as a great rural mart and a place of residence for the gentry of the district, but since the Glasgow and (South- Western Railway, and the southern section of the Caledonian, have brought it into connection with the entire railway system of the country, its commercial prosperity has been marked, and it is now one of the chief seats of tweed manufacture in Britain. Besides this industry, engineering, ironfounding, basket-making, tanning, and other trades are carried on with great spirit, and afford employment to hundreds of the inhabitants. The river being navigable ■ until within a short distance of the town, an extensive coast- ing trade is carried on by vessels of a good size, and also a foreign trade, which is chiefly in timber from America. The imports are principally hemp, tallow, coals, iron, tea, and wine ; and the exports cattle, sheep, barley, oats, potatoes,, wool, woollen goods, and freestone. Dumfries contains thirteen places of worship, nine banking establishments, and many really handsome buildings. It also forms the scene of many a border story, and not a few interesting historic incidents ; but as a minute account of these would be out of place, I will resume the narrative and merely call the reader's attention to notable objects and places met with in the course of a walk to the grave of him ' ' Who lives upon all memories, Though with the buried gone." ■250 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OT BURNS. Entering Dumfries from the Maxweltown side of the river by the New Bridge one cannot fail to be impressed with the magnificent street in front and the beautiful buildings by which it is lined. Being more intent in this instance, how- ever, on viewing the ancient than the modern portion of Dumfries, I turned into an open space on the bank of the river which leads to the Dock Green, a once favourite pro- menade of our poet. The scene, although commonplace, is pleasing. Spanning the river a little below the new is the old bridge, a ponderous old-fashioned narrow structure resembling the Auld Brig o' Ayr, not only in appearance but from the circumstance that it has withstood the floods and weathered the blasts of six centuries and is now fated to bear no heavier burdens than what may be imposed by occasional pedestrians. Devorgilla, daughter of Allan, Lord of Galloway, and widow of Baliol, Lord of Barnard Castle, has the merit of its erection, and also the founding of a monastery for Grey Friars, which she endowed with the bridge customs. This institution stood at the top of Friars' Vennel (an antique thoroughfare opposite the bridge), and is historic on account of Bruce having slain Comyn beside its high altar. Xear to it was the Castle of Dumfries, a stronghold of great importance which underwent many vicissitudes in the olden time owing to its nearness to the debateable ground between England and Scotland ; but, like its ecclesiastical neighbour, no vestige of it remains, and its site is now occupied by a building dedicated to the worship of God and the brotherhood of man. After gazing curiously up the vennel, and watching the water of the river as it tvimbled over a beautiful weir and churn- ed itself into fleecy foam in its haste, I entered Bank Street, and paused before a humble three-storied tenement near its left corner and read the following on a stone tablet on the front of its second floor : — " Robert Burns, the National Poet, Lived in this House with his Family on coming TO Dumfries, from Ellisland, in 1791." Venturing into the low-roofed, causewayed, narrow pas- sage, leading into its interior, I climbed a badly-lighted ricketty stair, and tapped at the front door on the landing, and while I did so, wondered why Burns and his Jean began life anew in such an abode. Receiving no response, I re- RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 251 newed the tapping, 'but this time in a more authorative manner, " She's no' in," said a Avoman whom I passed in the entry. " Is this the house in which Burns lived ?" said I. " aye, an' gin ye come doon you'll see the windows," she replied, as she led the way and pointed them out. " It was at that aue," she went on, pointing to the mid one, " that he wrote a lot o' his sangs an' poetry, an' mony a look folk has at it on that account, but mair especially since the stane wi' the readin' on't was put up." " Do you not think this a very humble dwelling for such a great poet as Burns to have lived in 1" I enf|uired. " There's nae doubt o' that," she replied, " but ye see Burns was never weel aff, an' had but little to come an' gang wi' when he left Ellisland — hoo- ever, the house is no what it was when he leeved in't, for it's a' gaun tae wrack for want o' repair." Chambers states that " the first eighteen months of Burns' life in Dumfries present him occupying a very small dwelling on the first floor of the house in Wee Vennel (now Bank Street). He has three small apartments, each with a window to the street, besides, perhaps, a small kitchen in the rear. The small central room, about the size of a bed closet, is the only place in which he can seclude himself for study. On the ground- floor, immediately underneath, his friend John Syme has his ofiice for the distribution of stamps. Overhead is an honest blacksmith, called George Haugh, whom Burns treats on a familiar footing as a neighbour ; on the opposite side of the street is the poet's landlord. Captain Hamilton, a gentleman of fortune and worth, who admires Burns and often asks him to a family Sunday dinner." While re- siding in this tenement, Burns composed some of his most popular dities, among which may be enumerated — "The Soldier's Return," ''Duncan Gray," " Mickle thinks my love o' my beauty," " What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man V " Last May a braw wooer cam' doon the lang glen," " My heart is sair, I daurna tell," " Wandering Willie," " j\Iy wife's a winsome wee thing," " Flow gently, sweet Afton," " My love is like a red, red rose," " Scots wha ha'e," " Auld Langsyne," " A man's a man for a' that," and a host of others, which in themselves would have been suffi- cient to stamp him a lyric poet of the first order. John Syme's office is now that of a grain mill in the vicinity, and HA.MBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. the house of Captam Hamilton has given place to a handsome modern building. After lingering by this song-hallowed building, I passed up Bank Street, and entered the main artery of the town. Notwithstanding its irregular construction it is spacious, and contains buildings and places of business equal to any in the principal streets of large cities. (Jne distinctive feature in the scene is a church-like erection termed '• The Mid Steeple,"^ which appears to stand most inconveniently in the centre of the street. So far as I could learn, its history is void of interest, and to all appearance, it is of no great antiquity. While viewing this populous thoroughfare my eye caught the signboard of the King's Arms Hotel, a house that Burns occasionally frequented, and in which he scrawled the follow- ing verselet on a pane of glass wliile irritated by some sneering remarks which a company of gentlemen made in his presence about officers of the excise : — " Ye men of vrit and wealth, why all this sueei-ing 'Gainst poor excisemen ? Give the cause a hearing. What are your landlords' rent-rolls ? Taxing ledgers. What premiers, what ? even nionarchs' mighty gangers. Nay, what are priests, those seeming godly wisemen ? ^V^lat are they, pray, but spiritual excisemen ?" A short walk along High Stree' brought me to a quaint looking building in which there is a narrow, dark, uninviting passage surmounted by a gilded globe and a portrait of the poet bearing the superscription — " Burns's Howff." It was the celebrated Globe, a tavern fatally familiar to him, whose name is by far too often made use of to stimulate trade. Venturing up the subterranean-like retreat I beheld a long strip of a dimly lighted causewayed path, in which two men niiglit with difficulty walk abreast. On either side rose lofty, black-looking buildings, but one close to the entrance, with a flight of stone steps leading to its open door, rivetted my attention. Mounting the steps — steps often pressed by the poet's feet — I found myself in a gloomy, kitchen-like apartment, partly lighted by the gleam of a tire burning in a cosy corner ; but had scarce time to look round when a smart, neatly-dressed lady made her appearance, and ushered me into a room on the left, in which two young men were compla- cently chatting over their beer. liefreshments being placed RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, 253 before me, I began to look roimd. The apartment appeared to be some eighteen feet by twelve, and the ceiling and paint- faded paniielled walls dingy and dim. In the centre of the floor stood a table, surrounded Avitli common chairs, but the most interesting feature was an old-fashioned armed chair by the fireside, directly beneath an inscription informing visitors that it stands in what was, and still is, " Burns's corner." Often has the wainscoating of this apartment rung with his laughter and echoed the melody of his midnight song when seated in his favourite corner — the life, the soul, the alpha, and the omega of the company. Thousands visit the tavern annually, and few leave the premises without sitting down in the poet's chair. Many do so with levity, but for my part, I did it with reverence and sorrow for him who ' ' Was quick to learn and wise to know, And keenly felt the friendly glow And softer flame" of love and universal brotherhood. I have a peculiar habit of making mj-self at home wher- ever I go, and some how or other I found my way into the kitchen and the good grace of the worthy landlady — indeed, like Tarn o' Shanter and the browster wife in Ayr, we " grew gracious,'' and the result was that she conducted me up stairs and showed me everything in her possession associated with the poet's name, and for her courtesy I tender thanks. On a pane of glass in the window of a bedroom on the second floor, the following verse is inscribed in the unmistakeable hand- writing of the poet : — ' ' lovely Polly Stewart, charming Polly Stewart, There's not a flower that blooms in May That's half so fair as thou art." And on an adjoining one in the same manner : " Gin a body meet a body, Coming through the grain ; Gin a body kiss a body. The thing's a bodie's ain." The inscriptions quoted are believed genuine, but one on another pane, as being of a doubtful character, I decline to 254 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF UURNS. give. The Globe Tavern has undergone very little change since the days of Burns ; indeed, the doors, windows, floors, and panelling are unaltered, and it may be stated that the present hostess — who is in her way an enthusiastic admirer of the poet — has collected several relics of him and his family which she exhibits with pardonable pride ; but as an enumeration of them is unnecessary, it will be sufficient to state that they chiefly consist of two jugs and a basin bought at the sale of the poet's household effects, and a punch- bowl recently purchased by her for the sum of ten guineas. Like the before-mentioned vessels, it is common earthenware, but so much shattered that it is held together by ten clasps — a number, as I jocularly remarked, symboli- cally representing the price paid for it. When Burns frecpiented the Globe it was kept by a John Hyslop and his wife jNIeg. Their frail niece, whom the poet has celebrated in the song " Yestreen I had a pint o' ^vine," acted as barmaid, and in that capacity became familiar with him. This familiarity, however, it is to be deplored, exceeded the bounds of chastity during a temporary residence of Mrs Burns in Mauchline, and resulted in the birth of a child. No event in the whole course of Mrs Burns' life displayed the noble qualities of her mind to greater advantage than this trying incident, for she not only forgave her repentant husband, but took the helpless babe home and brought it up as one of her own children. In fact, when her father glanced at the cradle and asked in surprise if she had again had twins, she screened her husband by the statement that the second baby Avas that of a sick friend.* To redeem this sad association of the Globe, another of a humorous cast may be narrated. " Xicol and Masterton had come to spend a week of their vacations at Dumfries, for the purpose of enjoying the society of their friend Burns. The scene of the Peck o' Maut was renewed every evening in the Globe Tavern. Excepting, indeed, that Burns attended to his duty in the forenoon, and that Willie and Allan took a rattling walk before dinner, to give themselves an appetite, it might be said that the week was one entire chrysolite of •This child was named Elizabeth, and resided with Mrs Burns until her marriage. She became a Mrs Thomson, and lived to see the celebration of licr father's Centenary. KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 255- merry-making. One day, when they were to dine at the Globe, they found on coming in at three that no dinner had been ordered. As Burns had taken on himself this duty, the fault was his, and the other two gentlemen were wroth with him accordingly. ' Just like him,' quoth Mrs Hyslop ; ' ye might hae kent that he's ne'er to lippen to.' ' Weel, but can we have anything to eat 'i You know that we must dine somehow.' Mrs Hyslop, or as Burns called her, Meg, proved propitious. There was a tup's head in the pot for John and herself ; and, if they pleased, they might have the first of it. Now a good tup's head with the accompanying trotters — seeing that, in the Scottish cuisine, nothing is taken off but the wool — is a dish which will amply satisfy six or even eight persons, so it was no contemptible resource for the hungry trio. When it had been disposed on the board, ' Burns,' said j!!^icol, ' we fine you for neglect of arrangements : you give us some- thing new as a grace.' Our poet instantly, with appropriate gesture and tone, said : — ' O Lord, wheu hunger pinches sore, Do thou stand us in stead ; And send us from thy bounteous store, A tup or wether head ! Amen . ' They fell to and enjoyed the fare i^rodigiously, leaving, how- ever, a miraculously ample sufficiency for the host and hostess. * Now, Burns, we are not done with you. We fine you again, Ecturn thanks.' He as promptly said :■ — ' O Lord, since we have feasted thus, Which we so little merit, Let Meg now take away the llesh, And Jock bring in the spirit ! Amen.' "* Upon taking leave of the inmates of the Globe Inn, I held along the gloomy, unsavoury passage, and in a short time emerged into a commonplace thoroughfare named Shakespere Street. Pausing, I accosted a young man and asked in what part of the street Burns was found lying on the fatal morning he quitted the Globe Inn. " There," said he, as he pointed to a portion of the roughly-causewayed footway at the mouth of the passage, "that is said to be the place." He spoke in a careless, matter-of-fact manner ; but to me the spot was invested with a very painful interest, and I gazed upon it 'Chambers. 25G RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, with feelings of the deepest regret for this humiliating inci- dent in the Poet's life. It appears that early in the month of January, 179G, when barely recovered from a severe illness, Burns ill- adviaedly joined a jovial party in the Globe Inn, and tarried till about three in the morning. " Before returning home," says the writer quoted above, " he unluckily remained for some time in the open air, and, overpowered by the effects of the liquor he had drunk, fell asleep. In these circumstances, and in the peculiar condition to which a severe medicine had reduced his constitution, a fatal chill penetrated to his bones. He reached home with the seeds of a rheumatic fever already in possession of his weakened frame. In this little accident, and not to the pressure of poverty or disrepute, or wounded feelings or a broken heart, truly lay the determining cause of the sadly shortened days of our great National Poet." Nearly opposite the entrance of the Globe Inn passage in Shakespere Street is a crooked, common-looking narrow thoroughfare named Burns's Street. Entering it I rounded an abrupt turn, and having paced a few yards of a steep roadway, stopped in front of a respectable two-storied house on the left, which I at once recognised as that in which Burns died. In the wall of the building next to it there is a bust of the poet and a stone bearing this inscription : — " In the Adjoining House, to the North, Lived and Died The Poet op his Country and of Mankind, ROBERT BURNS." ^^(^^^^^^ KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 257 CHAPTER XXT. The house in which burns died — his circumstances and last illness — goes to brow — his anxiety for the welfare of HIS FAMILY — AN AFFECTING ANECDOTE — THE POET'S RETURN TO DUMFRIES — THE ANXIETY OF THE INHABITANTS — JESSIE LEWARS — HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL — THE FAMILY OF BURNS — THE EXEMPLARY LIFE OF THE POET's WIDOW — SALE OF HOUSE- HOLD EFFECTS. Alter a timorous tap and a nervous pause at the door of the house in which Burns died, it was opened by a neatly-dressed lady, who, upon learning the nature of my business, invited me in, and most obligingly conducted me through the various apartments, referring as she did so to numerous little incidents associated with each. " This," said she, " is now the parlour, -but it was used by Eurns as a sitting room, and in it he wrote many of his songs. That is the kitchen, a place much frequented by him ; and up here," she continued, as she led the way up a narrow staircase, " is the room in which he died." It proved a small oblong apartment, some fifteen feet by nine. Its appearance and associations caused very many saddening thoughts to well up in my mind, and as I stood on its threshold, fancy conjured up shadows of the dear ones who surrounded the poet's bed when his spirit forsook its casket of clay. On the same floor there is a room of larger dimensions, as also a closet in which the poet secluded himself during hours of inspiration, or when he had any particular business to perform, and above them a couple of attic bedrooms in which the children slept. This is the ac- commodation of what constituted the home of Eobert Burns and it will readily bo admitted that it is of a superior order to the majority of middle-class people's houses, and that his circumstances at the time of his death were much better than reported. His official income was £50 a year, but extra allowances generally brought it up to £70. "Add to all this," says Chambers, " the solid perquisites which he re- Q 258 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS, ceived from seizures of contraband spirits, tea, and other articles, which it was then the custom to divide among the othcers, and we shall see that Burns could scarcely be con- sidered as enjoying less than £90 a year. This, indeed, is but a small income in comparison with the deserts of the bard ; yet it is equally certain that many worthy families in the middle ranks of life in Scottish country towns were then supported in a decent manner upon no larger means." The poet's eldest son informed the same writer that this house was one of a good order, such as was used in those days by the better class of citizens, and that his father and mother led a comparatively genteel life. " They always had a maid- servant, and sat in their parlour. That room and the two principal bedrooms Avere carpeted and otherwise well fur- nished, and the dining table was of mahogany. There was much rough comfort in the house not to have been found in those of ordinary citizens ; for, besides the spoils of smugglers, presents of game and country produce were received from the rural gentlefolks, besides occasional barrels of oysters from Hill, Cunningham, and other friends in town." Despite this " rough comfort" the associations of the house are saddening. The poet never recovered from the exposure mentioned in last chapter, and in a brief month after it we find him telling his woeful tale to jNFrs Dunlop. He says — "I have lately drunk deep of the cup of atliiction. The Autumn robbed me of my only daughter and darling child, and that at a distance, too, and so rapidly, as to put it out of my power to pay the last duties to her. I had scarcely begun to recover from that shock when I became myself the victim of a most severe rheumatic fever, and long the die spun doubtful, until, after many weeks of a sick-bed, it seems to have turned iip life, and I am beginning to crawl across my room, and once indeed have been before my own door in the street." Some time after this Miss Grace Aiken, a sister of Eobert Aiken, Ayr, met him in the street, but he was so much changed that she did not know him, and it was only by his voice that he was recognised. "It was hoped by some of his friends," says Dr. Currie, " that he would live through the months of Spring and that the succeeding season might restore him." But they were disappointed. The genial beams of the sun infused no vigour into his languid frame ; EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 259 the summer wind blew upon him, but produced no refresh- ment. As a last resource he determined to try sea bathing, and for that purpose removed to Brow, a watering place on the shores of the Solway, ten miles from Dumfries. Before setting out he told his Jean that he thought himself dying and in a kind of prophetic spirit added : " Don't be afraid ; I'll be more respected a hundred years after I am dead than I am at the present day." On his arrival at Brow, Mrs Walter Eiddle, who had been estranged from him for some time, and who was staying in the vicinity, sent her carriage for him. He went to see her, and her account of the intervieAv is of such interest that I may be excused for transcribing it in full. " I was struck," says this lady, " with his appearance on entering the room. The stamp of death was impressed on his features. He seemed already touching the brink of eternity. His first salutation was, ' "Well, madam, have you any commands for the other world ]' I replied that it seemed a doubtful case which of us should be there soonest, and that I hoped that he would yet live to write my epitaph. He looked in my face with an air of great kindness and expressed his concern at seeing me look so ill, with his accustomed sensibility. At table he ate little or nothing, and he complained of having entirely lost the tone of his stomach. We had a long and serious- conversation about his present situation, and the approaching termination of all his earthly prospects. He spoke of his death without any of the ostentation of philosophy, but with the firmness, as well as the feeling, of an event likely to happen very soon, and which gave him concern chiefly from leaving his four children so young and unprotected, and his wife in so interesting a situation- — in hourly expectation of lying-in with a fifth. He mentioned with seeming pride and satisfaction the promising geniu.s of his eldest son, and the flattering marks of approbation he had received from his teachers, and dwelt particularly on his hopes of that boy's future conduct and merit. His anxiety for his family seemed to hang heavy upon him, and the more perhaps from the reflection that he had not done them all the justice he was so well qualified to do. Passing from this subject he showed great concern about the care of his literary fame, and particularly the publication of his posthumous works. He 260 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. said he was aware that his death would occasion some noise, and that every scrap of his writing would he revived against him to the injury of his future reputation ; that letters and verses he had written with unguarded and improper freedom, and which he had earnestly wished to have buried in oblivion, would be handed about by idle vanity or malevolence, when no dread of his resentment would restrain them, or prevent the censures of shrill-tongued malice, or the insidious sarcasms of envy, from pouring forth all their venom to blast his fame. He lamented that he had written many epigrams on persons against whom he entertained no enmity, and whose characters he should be sorry to wound ; and many indifferent poetical pieces, which he feared would now, with all their imper- fections on their head, be thrust upon the world. On this account he deeply regretted having deferred to put his papers into a state of arrangement, as he was now quite incapable of the exertion. The conversation was kept up with great evenness and animation on his side. I had seldom seen his mind greater or more collected. There was frequently a con- siderable degree of vivacity in his sallies, and they would probably have had a greater share bad not the concern and dejection I could not disguise damped the spirit of pleasantry he seemed not unwilling to indulge. We parted about sun- set on the evening of that day (the 5th of July, 1796). The next day I saw him again, and we parted to meet no more." In the midst of these dejecting circumstances the dying bard continued to sing. "Witness his last song, the " Fairest maid on Devon's banks," which accompanied the piteous letter to Mr Thomson imploring the loan of five pounds to satisfy the demands of "a cruel scoundrel of a haberdasher" who threatened him with proceedings. After remaining a fortnight in Brow he sent the following to his devoted wife : — " My dearest love, — I delayed writing until I could tell you what effect sea-bathing was likely to produce. It would be injustice to deny that it has eased my pains, and I think has strengthened me ; but my appetite is still extremely bad. !No flesh nor fish can I swallow ; porridge and milk are the only things I can taste. I am very happy to hear by Miss Jessie Lewars that you are all well. My very best and kindest compliments to her and all the children. I will see you on Sunday. — Your affectionate husband, E. B." RAMBLES THROUGH THE LMs'D OF BURNS. 261 Before he left Brow he drank tea with the minister of Euthwell's widow, and elicited much sympathy by his altered appearance. The evening being beautiful, the sunbeams streamed through the window and illumined the apartment. Fearing that the light would be too strong, her daughter rose to let down the blinds, but the bard observing her intention gave a look of great benignity, and said — " Thank you, my dear, for your kind attention ; but oh, let him shine ! he will not shine long for me !" Mr. James Gracie, banker, Dumfries, offered to send his carriage to bring him home, but the poet did not avail him- self of the kindness. According to AUan Cunningham, he "returned on the 18th in a small spring cart. The ascent to his house was steep, and the cart stopped at the foot of the Mill-hole brae. When he alighted he shook much, and stood with difificulty ; he seemed unable to stand upright. He stooped as if in pain, and walked tottering towards his own door ; his looks were hollow and ghastly, and those who saw him then expected never to see him in life again." The writer goes on to say that "Dumfries was like a besieged place. It was known that he was dying, and the anxiety not only of the rich and learned, but of the mechanics and peasants, exceeded all belief. Wherever two or three people stood together, theu' talk was of Burns, and of him alone. They spoke of his history, of his person, of his works, of his family, of his fame, and of his untimely and approaching fate, with a warmth and an enthusiasm which will ever endear Dumfries to my remembrance His differences with them on some important points were forgotten and forgiven ; they thought only of his genius, of the delight his compositions had diffused ; and they talked of him with the same awe as of some departing spirit whose voice was to gladden them no more." The condition his wife Avas in, and the future of his family, gave him much anxiety, and in an agony of mind he penned the following to his father-in-law : — " My dear sir, — Do, for Heaven's sake, send Mrs. Armour here immediately. My wife is hourly expected to be put to bed. Good God ! what a situation for her to be in, poor girl, without a friend ! I returned from sea-bathing quarters to-day, but I think and feel that my strength is so gone that the disorder Avill prove fatal to me. — Your son-in-law, R. B." 262 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BtJRKS. Jessie Lewars, the daughter of Mr. John Lewars, super- visor in Dumfries, who resided opposite the poet's dwelling, hovered by his bedside, and attended to his wants like a ministering angel. She was the subject of at least two songs, and even on the bed of death he fancied himself her lover, and wrote the following on the back of a menagerie bUl, which his physician handed her upon entering the room : — " Talk not to me of savages From Afric's burning sun ; No savage e'er could rend my heart As, Jessie, thou hast done. But Jessie's lovely hand in mine, A mutual faith to plight, Not even to view the Heavenly choir Would be so blest a sight. " Upon another occasion, when she was attending upon him, he took up a crystal goblet containing wine and water, and wrote on it : — " Fill me with the rosy wine, Call a toast — a toast divine ; Give the poet's darling flame, Lovely Jessie be the name ; Then thou mayest freely boast Thou hast given a peerless toast." When she became slightly indisposed, he proffered to write her epitaph, and on another goblet inscribed : — " Say, sages, what's the charm on earth Can turn Death's dart aside ? It is not purity and worth, Else Jessie had not died." When she recovered he said there was " a poetic reason for it," and wrote as folloAvs : — " But rarely seen since Nature's birth The natives of the sky ; Yet still one seraph's left on earth, For Jessie did not die." In the " memoranda " already quoted, Mrs. Burns states that before his death he was " scarce himself for an hour to- gether," that is, his mind wandered. He was aware of this, and told her to touch him, and remind him that he was going wrong. The day before he died, he called very RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 263 ({uickly, and with a hale voice, " Gilbert, Gilbert !" On the morning of the 21st (July, 1796) the children were brought into the chamber to take a last look of their illustrious parent, "They stood round the bed," says Cham- bers, " while calmly and gradually he sank into his last repose." The eldest son (he was ten years of age) retained a distinct recollection of the scene, and has reported the sad fact that the last words of the bard were a muttered exe- €ration against the legal agent by whose letter, wittuigly or unwittingly, the parting days of Burns had been embittered. These Avords were very probably uttered while unconscious. On the 25tli the remains were removed to the Town Hall preparatory to the funeral, which the Volunteers had resolved to make public and conduct with military honours. On the day following the funeral took place. " A party of the Volunteers, selected to perform the military duty in the churchyard," says Dr. Currie, " stationed themselves in front of the procession, with their arms reversed ; the main body of the corps surrounded and supported the coffin, on which were placed the hat and sword of their friend and fellow- soldier ; the numerous body of attendants ranged themselves in the rear ; while the fencible regiments of infantry and cavalry lined the streets from the Town Hall to the burial ground in the southern churchyard— a distance of more than half a mile. The whole procession moved forward to that sublime and affecting strain of music, ' The Dead March in Saul,' and three volleys fired over the grave marked the return of Burns to his parent earth. The spectacle was in a high degree grand and solemn, and accorded with the general sentiments of sympathy and sorrow which the occasion called forth." The same writer adds : — '•' It was an affecting cir- cumstance that on the morning of the day of her husl^and's funeral Mrs. Burns was undergoing the pains of labour, and that during the solemn service we have just been describing the posthumous son of our Poet was born." Burns had nine children by his Jean — five sons and four daughters. Two of the former and the whole of the latter died in childhood. The eldest son (Eobert), Chambers tells us, " excited admiration by his general intelligence during his attendance of two sessions at the University of Edinburgh and one at Glasgow." He inherited in no slight degree his 264 KAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. father's temperament and poetical taste, and wrote verses, of which the following may serve as a specimen : — " Hae ye seen, in the calm, dewy morning, The redbreast wild warbling sae clear. Or the low-dwelling, snow-breastsd gowan Surcharg'd wi' mild e'ening's soft tear ? Oh ! then ye hae seen my dear lassie, The lassie I lo'e best of a' ; But far frae the hame of my lassie I'm raony a lang mile awa'. " Her hair is the wing of the blackbird, Her eye is the eye of the dove. Her lips are the ripe blushing rose-bud. Her bosom's the palace of love. Though green be thy banks, O sweet Clutha ! Thy beauties ne'er charm me ava ; Forgive me, ye maids o' sweet Clutha, My heart is wi' her that's awa'. *' O love, thou'rt a dear fleeting pleasure ! The sweetest we mortals here know ; But soon is thy heaven, bright beaming, O'ercast with the darkness of woe ; As the moon on the oft-changing ocean Delights the lone mariner's eye, Till red rush the storms of the desert, And dark billows tumble on high." Mrs. Bums continued to reside in the house which had been hallowed by her husband's presence. She used to relate that shortly after his death she thought he came to her bedside, and, upon drawing the curtains, said — " Are you sleeping ? I have been permitted to return and take one look of you and the child, but I have not time to stay." The vision was so vivid that she started up and ever after thought it a reality. Perhaps it was, for there are many similar occurrences on record which cannot be altogether explained awaj'. By the proceeds of a public subscription, and the publication of a posthumous edition of her husband's works, Mrs. Burns was enabled to bring up her sous in a creditable way and main- tain herself in comfort. Mr. M'Diarmid of Dumfries states that "hers was one of those well-balanced minds which cling instinctively to propriety and a medium in all things. . . . In her tastes she was frugal, simple, and pure ; and delighted in music, pictures, and flowers. In Spring and RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 2Gt) Summer it was impossible to pass her windows without being struck with the beauty of the floral treasures they contained ; and if extravagant in anything it was in the article of roots and plants of the iinest sorts. Fond of the society of young people, she mingled as long as able in their innocent pleasures, and cheerfully hlled up for them the cup ' which cheers but not inebriates.' Although neither a sentimentalist nor a ' blue stocking,' she was a clever woman, possessed great shrewdness, discriminated character admirably, and frequently made very pithy remarks." She survived her husband nearly thirty-eight years, and died of paralysis, in the room in which he breathed his last, on the 26th of March, 1834, in the 70 th year of her age. At her death, the household effects were sold by public auction, and no sale ever created such an excitement in Dumfries. People were so anxious to possess relics of the celebrated family that they paid fabulous prices for mere trifles. According to the Dumfries Courier, the auctioneer commenced with small articles, and when he came to a broken copper coffee-pot, there were so many bidders that the price paid exceeded twenty-fold the intrinsic value. A tea kettle of the same metal succeeded and reached £2 sterling. Of the linens, a table-cloth marked 1792, which, speaking com- mercially, may be worth half-a-crown or five shillings, was knocked down at £5 7s. Many other articles commanded handsome prices, and the older and plainer the furniture the better it sohl. The rusty iron top of a shower bath which Mrs Dunlop of Dunlop sent to the Poet when afflicted with rheumatism was bought by a Carlisle gentleman for £1 8s ; and a low wooden kitchen chair, on which the late Mrs Burns sat when nursing her children, was run up to £7 3s. The crystal and china were much coveted, and brought, in most cases, splendid prices. Even an old fender reached a figure which would go far to buy half-a-dozen new ones, and every- thing towards the close attracted notice, down to grey-beards, bottles, and a half-worn pair of bellows. The poet's eight-day clock, made by a Mauchline artist, attracted great attention from the circumstance that it had frequently been wound up by his own hand. In a few seconds it was bid up to £15 or guineas, and was finaHy disposed of for £35. It was understood that the purchaser would liave advanced, if necessary, to £60. 266 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF IJURNS. Such, reader, are some of the associations of the house in whicli Burns died. Sorrowfully I lingered on the threshold of the room where the last sad scene in the drama of his life was enacted, and when 1 took my leave and descended the steps at the front door, I felt as if they were consecrated by the footsteps of him who will tread them no more. " Rear high thy bleak majestic hills, Thy shelter'd valleys proudly spread, And, Scotia, pour thy thousand rills, And wave thy heaths with blossoms red. But never more shall jjoet tread Thy airy height, thy woodland reign. Since he, the sweetest bard, is dead. That ever breathed the soothiusr strain." -^i^^^^;!£f0, ^(f^ C^-^y'^-i^^ [l^^:'^-^ RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 267 CHAPTER XXII. St. Michael's churchyard — the erection of the mausoleum — THE disinterment OF THE POET's REMAINS — PHRENOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF HIS CRANIUM — THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL APPEARANCE OF THE MAUSOLEUM — INSCRIPTIONS — A GRANDSON OF THE POET — BURNs' CONNECTION WITH THE DUMFRIES LIBRARY — CONCLUDING REMARKS. Strolling along Burns Street, I soon arrived at the gate of St. Michael's churchyard, and finding it open passed along the gravelled walk to view the church, a neat structure with a hand- some spire some 1 30 feet high. The churchyard, although barely three acres in extent, is estimated to contain over 3000 monu- mental stones of one description and another. Many are beautiful specimens of the sculptor's art, and not a few are interesting on account of their anticjue appearance and inscriptions. Amongst the latter are three weatlier-worn slabs to the memory of three stubborn Xithsdale Covenanters, who suffered death rather than submit to the tyranny and injustice so prevalent in their day. All honour to the Dumfries folks for erecting a more enduring memorial to their memory, and also for commemorating the 420 victims of cholera, who perished during its reign in Dumfries in 1832. In meditative mood, I strolled towards the east corner of the churchyard to view the spot that holds the Poet's dust, for ' ' Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines — Shrines to no code or creed confined — The Delphian vales, the Palestines, The Meccas of the mind." At a public meeting held at Dumfries on the 6th of Jany., 1814, it was determined that "a Mausoleum ouglitto be reared over the grave of Burns." A committee being formed, sub- scriptions were solicited, and in a brief space sufficient funds were obtained to carry out the proposition. The foundation stone was laM with masonic honours on the othof June, 1815, 268 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. and the building completed the year following. The remains of Burns were originally interred in an out-of-the-way place at the north corner of the churchyard which remained undis- tinguished until his widow covered the grave with a plain slab bearing an unambitious inscription. The Mausoleum being erected in a conspicuous part of the churchyard, it was decided to exhume the bodies of the Poet and his two sons, and place them in the vault in its interior. For this purpose a company of gentlemen proceeded to the lowly grave " before the sun had risen, and made so good use of their time that the imposing ceremony was well-nigh com- pleted before the public had time to assemble, or in fact were aware of the important duty in which the others had been engaged. On opening the grave, the coffins of the boys were found in a tolerably entire state, placed in shells, and conveyed to the vault with the greatest care. As a report had been spread that the principal coffin was made of oak, a hope was entertained that it would be possible to transport; it from the north to the east corner of St. Michael's without opening it or disturbing the sacred deposit it contained. But this hope proved fallacious. On testing the coffin, it was found to be composed of the ordinary materials, and ready to yield to the slightest pressure ; and tlie lid removed, a spectacle was un- folded which, considering the fame of the mighty dead, has rarely been witnessed by a human being. There were the remains of the great poet, to all appearance nearly entire, or retaining various traces of vitality, or rather, exhibiting the features of one who had newly sunk into the sleep of death : the lordly forehead, arched and high, the scalp still covered with hair, and the teeth perfectly tirm and white. The scene was so imposing that most of the men stood bare and un- covered — as the late Dr. Gregory did at the exhumation of the remains of the illustrious hero of Bannockburn — and at the same time felt their frames thrilling with some undefin- able emotion, as they gazed upon the ashes ol" him whose fame is as wide as the world itself But the effect was momentary, for when they proceeded to insert a shell or case below the coffin, the head separated from the trunk, and the whole body, with the exception of the bones, crumbled into dust."** The remains being caretully placed in a new coffin, it was * M'Diarmid. EAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 26&^ deposited in the vault and closed in. This took place on the 19th of September, 1815. Nineteen years afterwards it was again opened to receive the remains of the poet's widow, and on the occasion it was resolved to raise the skull of the bard and submit it to a phrenological examination. The consent of the nearest relative being obtained, a company of gentlemen entered the vault at midnight ; but the following by Mr. Archibald Blacklock, surgeon, one of the party, will sufficiently describe the proceedings. He says : — *' The cranial bones were perfect in every respect, if we except a little erosion of their external table, and firmly held together by their sutures ; even the delicate bones of the orbits, with the trifling exception of the os unguis in the left, were sound and uninjured by death and the grave. The superior maxillary bones still retained the four most posterior teeth on each side, including the dentes sapientiae, and all without spot or blemish; the incisores, cuspidati, &c., had in all probability recently dropped from the jaw, for the alveoli were but little decayed. The bones of the face and palate were also sound. Some small portions of black hair, with a very few grey hairs intermixed, were observed while detaching some extraneous matter from the occiput. Indeed, nothing could exceed the high state of jDreservation in which we found the bones of the cranium, or offer a fairer opportunity of supj)Iying what has so long been desiderated by phrenologists — a connect model of our immortal poet's head ; and in order to accom- plish this in the most accurate and satisfactory manner, every particle of sand, or other foreign body, was carefully washed off, and the plaster of Paris applied with all the tact and accuracy of an experienced artist. The cast is admirably taken, and cannot fail to prove highly interesting to phren- ologists and others. Having completed our intention the skull, securely enclosed in a leaden case, was again com- mitted to the earth precisely where we found it." The cast havingbeen transmitted to the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh, Mr Geo. Combe drew up an elaborate paper on the development of the Poet's brain. It concludes with the following remarks : " K'o phrenologist can look upon this head and consider the circumstances in which Burns was placed without vivid feelings of regret. Burns must have walked the earth with a consciousness of great superiority over his -270 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. associates in the station in whicli he was placed, of powers cal- culated for a far higher sphere than that which he was able to reach, and of passions which he could with difficulty restrain and which it was fatal to indulge. If he had been placed from infancy in the higher ranks of life, liberally educated, and employed in pursuits corresponding to his powers, the inferior portion of his nature would have lost its energy, while his better qualities would have assumed a decided and permanent superiority." Il^otwithstanding this criticism, " Bums — though brief the race he ran, Though rough and dark the path he trod — Lived — died — in form and soul a man, The image of his God. ' ' Through care, and pain, and want, and woe, With wounds that only death can heal. Tortures the poor alone can know, The proud alone can feel — ' ' He kept his honesty and truth, His independent tongue and pen, And moved, in manhood as in youth. Pride of his fellow-men. " Strong sense, deep feeling, passions strong, A hate of tyrant and of knave, A love of right, a scorn of wrong, Of coward and of slave : ' ' A kind, true heart, a spirit high, That could not fear and would not bow, Were written in his manly eye And on his manly brow." The Mausoleum closely resembles a Grecian temple, being formed of pillars supporting a dome-surmounted cornice. On the whole, the building is graceful and worthy of the object to which it is devoted, but its effect is much marred by the sheets of rough glass necessarily inserted between the pillars to protect the interior from the weather. While mutely surveying the surroundings, an old man, possessed of much official importance and overwhelming politeness, appeared on the scene, key in hand, and, in response to my desire, opened the door and led the way into " the lone — the last abode of Burns." Uncovered, I stood on the threshold, and with feelings which cannot be described sur- veyed the interior. In front was a piece of sculpture repre- RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. 271 senting Burns at the plough and the genius Coila — an ungainly female figure hanging in a ridiculous manner from a slate slab on the back wall — throwing her mantle of inspiration over him. Although the statuary embodies one of the Poet's conceptions it is not of a high class order, and from it I turned to the plain tombstone w^hich marked his first resting place, for to it and other objects the exhibitor drew my attention Avith a hilarious volubility which ill-accorded with the sanctity of the place. Beside this relic of domestic aftection there are tliree marble tablets bearing the following inscriptions : — I. " In Memory of Egbert Burns, who died 21st July, 1 796, IN the 37th year of his age, and Maxwell Burns, who died 25th November, 1799, aged two years and nine months, Franois Wallace Burns, who died July, 1803, aged 14 years — HI8 sons. The remains of Burns removed into the vault below, 19th September, 1815, and his sons also. The remains of Jean Armour, relict of the Poet, born, 1765 ; DIED, 26th March, 1834. And Egbert, his eldest SON, who died 14th May, 1857, aged 70 years." II. " This tablet is erected by Lieut.-Colonel Kichol Burns, E.I.C.S., to the Memory of his Wife, Catherine Adelaide Crone, who died at Calludheb in the East Indies, on the 29th June, 1841. Colonel Wm. Nichol Burns, born at Ellisland, 9th April, 1791, died at Cheltenham, 21sT February, 1872. His remains rest in the vault BENEATH THIS TABLET." IIL " This tablet is erected by Major James Glencairn Burns, E.I.C.S., to the Memory of Sarah Egbinson, his Wife, who died at Neemuch, East Indies, 7th Nov., 1821, aged 24. Jean Isabella, his daughter, died at Sea, 5th OP June, 1823, aged 4 years and 5 months, EobertShaw, his son, died in Neemuch, 11th Dec, 1821, aged 18 months. Mary Beckett, his Wife, died at Gravesend, Kent, 13th JSToyember, 1844, aged 52, Lieut.-Col. James G. IJurns, born at Dumfries, 12th August, 1794, died at Cheltenham, l^H Noveiviber, 1865. His remains rest in the vault beneath this tablet." 272 RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BURNS. Descending the steps of the Mausoleum, I handed the exhihitor the customary fee, and thoughtfully passed out of the churchyard. Opposite is a curious old building erected and endowed by two brothers named Moorhead for the pur- pose of providing homes for aged natives of the burgh in reduced circumstances. Amongst the inmates is a son of Eobert Burns, the eldest son of our national poet. He was a schoolmaster in Dumfries for thirty-five years, but owing to the infirmities of age and the changes which the new Education Act brought about, his circumstances have become so reduced that he is forced to avail himself of this charity. I had the pleasure of conversing with him, and found him to be not only intelligent but proud that the blood of Burns flows in his veins. Farther along the street is another old building adjoining the Mechanics' Institute. In it there is a library established by the citizens in 1792, of which Burns was an honorary member. A minute in its records states that on the 5th March, 1793, '• the committee, by a great majority, resolved to offer to ]\Ir Burns a share in the library, free of any admission money [10s 6d] and the quarterly contributions [2s 6d] to this date, out of respect and esteem for his abilities as a literary man ; and they directed the secretary to make this known to Mr Burns as soon as possible, that the applica- tion which they understood he Mas about to make in the ordinary way might be anticipated." This is a pleasing testimony of the esteem in which Burns was held, and says much for his conduct as a member of society. Reciprocating this kindness, Burns presented four books to the library, namely — " Humphry Clinker," " Julia de Eoubigne," " Knox's History of the Eeformation," and " Delolme on the British Constitution." On the back of the frontispiece of the last-named volume he wrote — "Mr. Burns presents this book to the Library, and begs they will take it as a creed of British liberty — until they find a better. — R. E." This seems to have been penned on the spur of the moment, but Burns was soon alive to the indiscretion com- mitted, and called at an early hour in the morning after the presentation upon the custodian of the books, and asked to be shown " Delobne," stating as a reason that he feared he had RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAND OF BUENS. 273 •written something upon it " which might bring him into trouble." "When handed the volume, he looked at what he had written, and then carefully pasted the fly-leaf to the back of the frontispiece in such a way as completely to conceal the writing. The volume is still to the fore, and anyone holding the frontispiece up to the light can read the seditious passage without difficulty. In this library there is still another book bearing the handwriting of Burns. It is the thirteenth volume of Sinclair's " Statistical Account of Scotland." In a notice of the martyred Covenanters of the parish of Bal- maghie, an inscription on a tombstone to the memory of a worthy buried in the churchyard is given. Burns appears to have been impressed with the force of its simple but expressive language, for the following verse appears on the margin of the page, pencilled in his striking handwriting : — " The Solemn League and Covenant Now brings a smile, now brings a tear ; But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs — If thou'rt a slave indulge thy sneer." Dum^-ies and its neighbourhood possess many attractions to the rambler and tourist besides memorials of Eobert Burns, but it is these which specially engage the visitor's attention and induce thousands to visit the ancient burgh annually. Few towns are planted in a more lovely situation, and in none can a holiday be spent to greater advantage, there being so many places of interest within easy access. To the south- east is the romantic little village of Glencaple, where the foam-crested billows of the Solway may be seen flowing with race-horse speed ; and also at no great distance from it the magnificent ruins of Carlaverock Castle, the supposed Ellan- gowan of Scott's " Guy Mannering." In Carlaverock Church- yard, too, rests " Old IMortality," the enthusiastic amateur sculptor who wandered the length and breadth of Scotland renewing the lettering on the grave-stones of the Covenanters. Messrs A. & C. Black, of Edinburgh, the publishers of the Waverley ISTovels, have erected a neat monument to his memory. Then there is Cromlongan Castle, once the residence of the Earls of Mansfield, with Euthwell Cross near by, which is considered the most important Runic monument in Britain ; and also Sweetheart Abbey, a fine ruin, near which 274 KAMBLE.S THROUGH THE 1.AXD OF BURNS. one could linger a whole summer day. Everywhere round Dumfries the country is replete with natural beauty and historic interest ; but my task is accomplished, I have followed the footsteps of Burns from the place of his birth to the scene of his death and burial, so it only remains to be stated that after visiting the Dock Park, the Observatory, and other places within easy reach, I sought the railway station, and was soon on my way to Kilmarnock. Header, adieu ! and in taking leave of the subject and of each other, let us exclaim with Thomas Campbell : — " Farewell, high chief of Scottish song ! That couldst alternately impart Wisdom and raj^tiire in thy page, And brand each vice with satire strong ; Whose lines are mottoes of the heart, Whose truths electrify the sage. " Farewell ! and ne'er may envy dare To wring one baleful poison-drop From the crush'd laurels of thy bust ; But while the lark sings sweet in air. Still may the grateful pilgrim stop To bless the spot that holds thy dust !" DUNLOP & DRENNAN, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS, KILMARNOCK. ^^\iE uNivERiy^ jo>^ '^.yojnvjjo'^ <4cOPCAUFOI?^ MJ7•^MVMll^•:^^3^