Show WAKEMANS wadym wanderings SON AV AYR S scotland bijos aug 26 1893 ul in that broad x pug and aiu measureless sense ut n which the aai poet of jo the people knits 11 his sq personality adorably icia A into elul the alp hearts ot jo jonii of 10 grand p pid scotia UE an entire nation ile all 41 is truly the land of JO suing burns ul in a 8 closer where q both al geographical respect 1 1 IS alt have been personality pug and genius hand pervading pus and have left on every some memory of jo association pug and enduring reminder of jo the bards actual presence leatia there provincially distinctively are A 1 two burns lands in U bonnie scotland pue these are ale ayrshire on the firth o of 0 clyde 9 PUN and Dumfries shire on the alp solway firth adjoining counties of JO southwestern as scotland prom ul the top doi of jo mountain ill in the northern part lied of jo ik kirk which wedges a strip duis of jo glorious hill country up to 01 the north between the two former shires to 04 which I 1 have tramped pa to 03 wander down the doon from its SI very A source the sight wea can traverse aja the entire breadth of jo both ajo the JAV ayr hire purt land of jo suing burns pule and the gep land pus of 10 stung burns of jo Dumfries shire there is s not IOU another scene ul in ile all the world more I 1 fraught with glowing natural beauty not IOU another one atio more mournfully sweet PUB and tender ut in gentle PUB and pathetic memories to oil the atil eye aaa the panorama of jo lie all the lovely land ul in which A the brief life of jo the q bard 18 P was SEA passed si is practically complete to the mind ile all the vast host of JO his poetic creations lea I 1 buol the aad penury aln struggle glory PUB and despair from birth i to ol death 2 are aile here massed with overwhelming impressiveness to OL the atil west isam sl is ayrshire at first by the birth spot lods near avau mol low beside the pug and sea leas V ayr sunny then following the atil vale of the doon it I 1 comes ile all the way arm to 01 your feet ut in gentle uplands then ui in rugged hills pug and ldes shadowy aalop burns PUB and finally ni in the huge mountains pull and savage glens passing over into Dumfries shire jwj the mountains ds spread peal into broad luxurious salia vales one where the murmuring nith winds to 01 the solway st is a dream o of 0 opulence pue and rest then so as the spires solids of 10 PIO old uinI dumfries town blend with the ragged solway edge hoary Aile Criff jai el looms lai threateningly IV at last isel a glint of jo ania blue shows where is s brow boig well from which qa the poet p close esol to oi death was carried back to 01 the little aill dumfries cottage pug and his loyal jean 7 pug and like a tiny aup dazzling of jo white st is seen the dome of JO the cone a huge mausoleum where plo old Sc otias dearest 11 19 ISO bard I 1 is S le at rest isal ui in eternal peace ajl the 1 two shires pug and their very topography u the western sea leas FIVE and its 91 soft shores the vales the uplands the mid shire rugged heights haq the sweet valley where the bards most fecund uv and p his happiest hours were alam passed re at Ell illg island uvis p beside the VIN nith the OER lowering mountain again the glint of JO the sea gas PUB and a iou nations stion grave d powerfully aado alani suggest the two epochs joda st of jo ing burns SU eventful life ayrshire all saw his alno his j feverish fervent early aliva struggles Dumfries shire gave the salci blessed pas wig calm he knew the axil sad pus PUB and sap des jact later days pug and yet lax it 11 was SUAN ul in Dumfries shire that the i imi great livili heart grew still Arys isAly bire allt glories saw in uz his birthplace scenes sauas of 10 his youth the aill unfolding of jo sel his benius the first acknowledgment av N of his fame atuu atau MCI Dumfries shire si is glorified by his riper fame his loci better lal i accomplishment even by the atil pathos of jo his later days pui and by the atil precious heritage of jo cherishing his mortal remains bhough here haq a to ol wander by the doon to 01 which the mind cullu unconsciously reverts at 39 mention of JO the atil poets name while the countless shrines pil griming J 1 ULI gal among created by his living presence ut in these two omi shires pug and looking op down um along the at naming shaft of jo light that links his r genius I 1 ug and world A aljo girding human love PUT and magnanimity 3 to 0 the fadeless immortality inci but feel that the atil of his name I 1 cannot which roost breathe to 91 the atil beholder bethe scenes the spirit auids of egaw ineffable pathos PUT and tenderness belong to ol the atil ioas second pu epoch o of 0 q his ST life PUB and lie all along the nith instead pual of clustering about the banks pule and braes 0 bonnie at doon true lanix from where you noa may stand here with me on merricks heights jal the V ayrshire shrines almost within the aai limit jo 0 vision aai are rich pug and countless you noa may not IOU sip dis with the naked eye inq but scean a each ye 14 one DUO ma can plainly s see 00 where lir all may autu be vou noa I 1 aap days 9 journey aj found pun ul in a 9 short the spires solids of jo ayr seem tulle almost lio beneath log feet just outside the rim of 10 ver inoa the city where a jule faint shutting in u aej aa curling buil line gull of jo misty purple outlines the na 1 course asino of jo the doon booi so as it I 1 nears nuis sinuous anc are ale the atil low roofed thatched cottage the vasai sea 91 a alatia suing burns was sem born beside the ds splendid seat iva of jo d roselle on the little farm of JO seven acres which was rented by the poets father flue and the spot lods where the gypsy had foretold so as the father em was sem s riding ut in haste loj for the doctor that well a be proud of jo o robin not ION a half mile distant can be described the rotting bell tower of alloways auld haunted kirk ily all about inozu are aile the iams so es of jo tarn 0 pule and au near le on a slight eminence ura can be seen the white colonnaded shafts of jo the great stung bums monument ing but a maj few miles northeast north tillou east isra ui in a pleasant champaign eq W country now mou cailop dotted by thriving villages pug and threaded with emerald saull lines jo 0 hedge coppice pule and plantations are air L tar M boltan PUB and mauchline inq but four miles apart IV at the former was sem laid the atil scene of 10 death pue and dr hornbrook PUB and it 11 was here that aej the pathetic parting of jo a burns stun pue and his highland mary nazlo occurred pali you noa can see aas the atil square tower camol of go mauchline castle whose owner gavin hamilton 4 became abue suing burns patron pue and will know tha io at this village aum ium was johnnie saoi dows house a pule and lips remains suie unaltered the public house of jo boosie oj atso nansie aas scene au of jo 1 the ati jolly beggars while 01 over there inci but a mile abitu pue and a half west isam yi of mauchline st is the noted farm of jo mossgiel Moss giel once conducted ua with such ruinous heroism by the qa poet pug and his brother gilbert it 11 was A su here that the cotters saturday night and others of jo burns greatest poems were ajam written pug and where aej the poet after preparing to 0 fly AU to 01 jamaica flue andi suddenly pans alu being called iez pall by ja dr blacklock to ol edinburgh from which he pia had returned ui in triumph was sum clasped ut in his poor lood plo old mothers embrace while her visa ecstatic zm lips could alao utter the cry oh d robert 1 robert j these pue and countless other interesting with many auw tender identifications of jo bardi PUB and place olo or object are ale yours when wandering ul in or 10 near the vale of 10 the doon they are ale ile all fine and good pule and worth coming a long way ABA to ol enjoy inq but I 1 op do not IOU think any or 10 jig all of them take hold 0 of j the aali heart so as does the spell which broods on the other side of jo these mountains in ui the Dumfries shire land of jo suing burns perhaps it j st is your inoa own attil ude pue and aas sentiment perhaps ui in the aej doon country uno Aji the suggestiveness of jo the youthful arous impulsively riotous va earlier years of JO the plowman poet when he himself sang of 10 the rakish lie art of g rob ao Moss gid haunts you noa like all hints of jo hovering shadows kojs perhaps 1001 too it j st is the occasional shock to ol your own reverence that latil now aim pug and then uati samoa comes moil from the holiday sort of JO levity ut in thousands from all lands who come pug and poke about pug and log go so as though there was sym a certain kind of jo prurient gratification ul in g fine QU remarks jetuan on the sacred palms episodes posida sa of jo highland mary pug and gentle loyal jean usaf PUB and on finding where immortal poet daod 9 soul was sem sent juas among the human harmonies ut in the ailep dark 31 recess of jo the jav ayr cottage forgetting gut that the master J ul in the lowly manger came so os if j you noa know ile all the strange story flue and double aid picture aini you instinctively turn from jjr the alj vague inq buffoonery casual pilgrims interpret ui in the first aisig part lied to 0 the later PUT and better part where the strong fine aug tread of jo poet PUB and man isit first truly set lag in ul I 1 to ol the scenes where maj few irreverent pilgrims come ke and here at the utmost source of the bonnie doon with misting eyes you noa look over into nith vale past plo old dumfries town to the roaring solway tides sapp put and seem to 01 know go as of a loved one gone the deeper mysteries of his environment and life the period covers the ten years preceding his death from his twenty seventh to his thirty seventh year of age a period into which was crowded more personal hope and disappointment joy and suffering remorse for impulsive wrongdoing heaven 0 purest domestic bliss temptation and victory agonized despair and triumph than fall fali to the lot of most great men in their entire lives thera afre were first the disownment and desertion by jean armour the betrothal to highland mary with the sad parting and her tragic death the publication of odthe the now priceless thou though h then humble kilmar folck edition nis of his poems the preparation for flight to jamaica the triumphant visit to edinburgh the generous caring for the mother and brothers the glad reunion with his jean and the homebuilding at Ell island over there by the nith then came the brief bright days the proceeds of settlement with creech his edinburgh publisher netted him the then munificent sum of about magnanimously generous always much of this sum the first and last material good fortune burns ever knew went to jeans parents and to assist his brother gilbert burns in averting disaster in the batters lat farm life efforts his lucky meeting with the ingenious and kindly patrick miller of dalswinton Dal swinton hat hal I 1 had occurred it had been settled that the poet who hated the city with a t royal beatred hatred should return to the plough the nobility of the day never quite forgave this longing and love the source soura e of his grandest inspirations the beautiful farm of Ell island five miles above dumfries was taken at a rental of xao s per year burns unaided began his farm labors the first monday after whitsunday 1788 he toiled manfully until the autumn of that year meantime singing many a lusty song to his absent wife and built the lovely cottage which stands embowered empowered ered in roses to this day and then was celebrated the simple but glorious home homecoming coming when with rustic rites and his bonnie jean upon his arm preceded by a peasant girl ca carrying rr ing the family bible and a bowl ot of sa salt t he marched proudly into his bis little home heaven beside the gindin winding nith all evidences gree agree a that in the te brief period of a trine trifle over two years between Whit whitsunday gunday 1788 and 1791 burns and his good jean experienced perien ced an eden of labor and love despite P te their final enforced departure it was also the period of burns best and greatest poetic accomplishment but more children came to them these must be supported the crops failed and inevitable ruin was approaching approach i it was then when nowhere else on earth t to turn with rio no one on earth to defend him from the wretched influences of such environment that to save his wife and children from actual want he was forced to accept the government position of at the beggarly pittance of 50 per year the five re aaning years of his life after the poet his jean and their three children robert francis wallace and william nicol removed to the humble lodgings and then their cottage home in dumfries checkered sad pathetic beyond comprehension are known to all it is because you see along the witching valleys ways the burns of reality manly sturdy weak as you or I 1 in like plights slights generous magnanimous pitiful pitiful Fiti ful great that you linger and still linger nger here you can see him singing at his toil by day or by the ingle beuk with jean and the baarns at night or still by the little south window working away at the tiny deal table when the inspiration came you see him guest ol of lairds or companion of cottagers and beloved of all there is not in all this fair domain a castle a gent lemans seat a cabin or an old roadside inn that existed in burns time which does not preserve some relic of the poet or some revered memory of his one time presence the eyes of your consciousness may know all through Dumfries shire and at this farmhouse of some unrecorded kindness at the next of some pleasant beasant incident at another of an odd adventure now of perhaps a forgivable roistering roy then of some blessed help in time of need a again ain 0 of festivity of which he was the lite life and n d again of prayer prayer from burns yes prayer with the living and at the couch of the dead among those so lowly that somehow those spiritual excise men who delighted to league the t ost with auld Hor hornie niell had no time for their higher parochial duties to minister there you see him riding about the country on his two horses pegasus and peg nicholson not as rapacious with the scourging instruments of law but keen with friendly warnings instead ever leaning to the side of mercy saving not ruining the ignorant and lowly you see him as the better days come on with a curse in your heart on the curse which cursed his life when the hand of poverty crushed him and there was no helping one to save you see him at brow well with the consciousness of death still the most lovable of men and alone with his bible there you see him carried back to tho th little cottage to die and you hear then from the lips of loyal jean the mighty disproof of all slanderous tongues in the one sentence ever glorifying glorify ing the husband and man he never spoke hadden word to me in a his lafe and you know that tender husband and loyal wife rest together beside the nith two tiny streams hardly more than brooks at some seasons of the year and having their sources in respective lochs like little mountain tarns tams are the real source of the doon these little lochs lie at the eastern and northern edges of mertick merrick mountain they have the curious curious appellation of eafton lane lan e and gallow or gala L lane ane they the y flow north and empty into a greater I 1 loch oc h called loch doon an expanse of water perhaps seven miles in length and nearly a mile in width this in turn discharges its waters into the now real river doon through most picturesque gorges and tunnels forming many beautiful if not majestic torrents forces an and d cascades thence the course of the doon is northwesterly to where it reaches the sea about two miles below the city of ayr and its entire length inclusive of the expanse of loch doon cannot be upwards of forty miles the |