Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1871-03-30
DIR. J. c. AYERS SPEECH,

DEC' d. y. N En- > SHIECH,
AT the Inauguration of the new town o
Aver, formerly Groton Junction, Mass.
Ladies and Gent1emen.'
On the western coast of Scotland
where it slopes into the Irish Sea, E
river, rising on the mountains of the in
ner land, winds down among the hill.
and emptles into the Firth of Clyde.
From remote time it has been called
Ayr from an old Scotch word "Ayry,'
meaning an eagles nest--the river o.
the eagles nest. Near its mouth and 6
contiguous harbor, long stood hamlet
which became royal burg Or towr
named from the river, and now about
one third as large as Lowell-the city Of
Ayr. For more than a thousand years
it has been noted in the history of Scot
land. During the wars of Robert Bruce
it was one Of his resorts, and it was es
pecially favored by him because he was
there cured Of leprosy. Oliver Crom.
well made it one of the depots and
headquarters OF his army in his attack
upon Scotland, and one of his old forts
is now the Citadel of Ayr.
But above all its distinctions, Ayr
was the birthplace of the poet Burns.
And what a poet What voice has he
given to all the endearments of home
How has he hallowed the cottage and
all its covers-weans and wife, patches
and poverty, beans, barley, ale, hard
ship and the poor mans toll. How he
wraps with tenderness whatever he
names, even his bleak leagues of past
ure, the stubble field, ice, snow, sIeet,
and rain, brooks, birds, mice, thistles
and heather. His Bonny Doom, John
Anderson, my 10 John, Auld Lang
Syne, and Highland NJ Try, roll round
the world in ever ringing symphony
with what is purest and best in human
nature. His songs WOO and melt the
hearts of youth and maidens, bring SOL
ace to the sorrowiug and courage to the
overburdened by their lot. His inspra-
tion has set the affections to music in
strains that are immortal.
No other one man ever made Ian
guage classic, but he has rendered that
lowland Scotch q Doric dialect of fame.
The name of his home and his beloved
river Ayr was lifted on the wings of
his pathos. and now the approaching
traveller yearns to reach the spot his
genius has sanctifed
Along the borders of the sea is a par
allelogram and surrounding the town is
county of the same name-Ayrshirc
1t would weary your patience to hear
the history Of my ancestors from one an
cient John of Ayr, then John Ayr,
down through the centuries to this Aver
now before you; through their vicissi-
tudes of poverty and plenty-of fortune
and misfortune; how they have inter
married with England, Ireland and
Scotland, and later with the Americans,
who are -an excellent mixture of them
all.
My .friends,-you have chosen the
name / inherited for your town with an
extraordinary unanimity, and have
thereby conferred an honor upon me, the
proper acknowledgement of which l do
not feel fully able to express, But |
beg you to be assured that it is appreci
ated and that it will be gratefully re-
membered with living interest in your
prosperity while life remains to me, and
1 trust, beyond that by my children af-
ter me.
If this name has become noted among
the many that are worthier around you,
that is greatly due to its publicity. May
| be permitted to state whence that
came? Until within few centuries all
the civilized nations of the globe were
pent up on the Eastern continent. Two
Or three hundred years ago they leaked
over into this; ; few and fearfully at first,
then more and more but always in their
settlements timidly hugging the Allan
tic coast. Within the last two or three
generations, they have burst out, as it
we're, and over-run these vast continents
of the West. Now they have scattered
here and possess these measureless
stretches of mountains and valleys, hills,
plains, forests and praries with the
boundless pampas and mountain ranges,
of South America. Former generations
lived in villages and towns, thickly set
tied together where physicians were
plenty and near at hand. Now, the
people are widely scattered, in many
sections of these many countries. For
great numbers the timely treatment of