Robert Burns at Mossgiel: With Reminiscences of the Poet by His Herd-Boy (Large Print Edition) Book

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This is an OCR edition with typos.
Excerpt from book:
in.— Htyt dParmer-$oet JtmseW at iflossgtrl. " Though he was bred to kintra wark, And counted was baith wight and stark, Yet that was never Robin's mark. "4 |HE old herd's reminiscences of the poet himself give vivid glimpses of the man. He described him as smart, manly, and good-looking; liked by every body, except by a few of the "stricter sort," who feared his reputed " wildness." He never once saw him "the worse o' liquor," and on this he laid special emphasis, repeating it strongly several times; Burns's drinking, throughout life, being never done merely for the sake of indulgence, but only in company when warmed by congenial or witty friends. As he says of himself then— 4 " Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux " a French form of his own name, written in Mossgiel, in 1784. " It's no I like to sit and swallow, But gie me just a true guid fallow Wi' right ingine, And spunkie ance to make us mellow, And then we'll shine, "5 The above might seem inconsistent with the abundant references to indulgence in liquor to be found in his poems; but these poetical, not practical, licences will be found on examination to be quite compatible with real sobriety. On this point, his judicious brother is equally emphatic, declaring that "his temperance and frugality were every- s "Epistle to Mr. John Kennedy," written from Moss- giel in 1786. thing that could be desired " and that he "did not recollect, during these seven years, to have ever seen him intoxicated, nor was he at all given to drinking." And he gives sufficient evidence of this by stating that " his expenses never in any one year exceeded his slender income," though this was only £], during his whole residence at Mossgiel!6 He was, Willie said, "a guid kind maister," being liked, if not bel...