Morning journal and courier., 1890-08-16
MIR. wAKEMAN,s JoURNEYINGs.
At Annan, Scotland - Burns Boy- hood Days on the Winding Doom His Manhood a Heritage to the Nith-AssociatIons and Memories of Brow well-At the Monument or Burns in Church Place.


 of Brow Well-At the Monument Of
 Burns in Church Place.
 AMMAN, Scotland, July IS.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Complete as is the identification of the man Burns with place, scene and memori- al in old Dumfries town, there is a far more pleasant association to be found be- tween Burns the poet-farmer, Burns the poet-farmer-exciseman, Burns the poet exciseman, and the lovely valley of the Nith Burns boyhood is legacy to the winding Doom, in Ayr. The activities of his manhood are a heritage to the Nth, and the dale or vale through which it. makes its songful way to the Solway and the sea. The etymology of its name is Gaelic, as is true of nine -tenths of the names of natural features of the country, and of the cities, towns and villages of to- day in Scotland as well as in Ireland. Neithe was the Gaelic water-god; hence Neith and Nth; and more lovely stream could not have been found in Scotland for honoring, or being honored by, the name. Coming from its crystal cradle among the mountains of eastern Ayrshire, it wimples along in southwesterly course, watering the royal burgh of Sanquhar and the du- cal village of Thornhill, thence passing the stupendous mass of Drumlanrig castle which looks down upon the plain with its innumerable windows, Hike great presi
 ding idol, the embodied genius of feudal-
 ism." Near this, the sister stream and dale of the Clyde are reached by the lofty
 pass of Enterkin. Farther to the south
 the bordering mountain ranges press the
 Nth closely at Auldgirth bridge; and then
 its vale broadens, giving place for myr-
 iads of exquisite burns, braes and lesser
 dales. Soon the Nth, after passing Ellis
 land, the lovely farm-home of Burns, is joined by the Cluden water-which, at
 Irongray, but four miles to the westward,
 murmurs past the grave of Helen Walker,
 whom Scott immortalized as "Jennie
 Deans"-beneath the shadows of Linclu-
 den Abbey ruins, when now, broad and
 melodious over glittering shallows, ol
 slowly moving over quiet depths, the river
 sweeps under the red bridge-arches of
 Dumfries, and for eight miles to the Sol
 way Firth flows stately on through shin
 ing and spacious plain like that of Lom
 bardy in miniature.
 There is not in all this fair domain
 castle a gentlemans seat, manse, farm
 house, a cabin, or an old roadside inn, tha
 existed in Burns time, which does not pre- serve some relic of the poet, or some mem ory of his actual presence. The rich ant great regard these as their most priceles ' heirlooms; but the tenderness with whicl the lowly preserve the most trifiing tradi tion of what Burns did, or said, or o ' some accidental meeting or kindly visit
 possesses the deepest significance. He wa essentially of the lowly. He was ever il at ease among the gentry and nobility : His great, generous heart was keenly aliv ) to the humble folk about him; and eve r as gauger, the most dreaded and hated cs pacity in which law ever took form, in tn t eyes of the Scotch of that day, and of tn g Irish of no remote time, there was a loy 8 for Burns through the valley countrysid that knew no bounds. He rode on hi n horses, Pegasus and Peg Nicholson" tw l hundred miles each week in connectio l with his duties as exciseman; and, it 8 told with pride, he knew by name ever d man, woman and child in all Nithsdal Inelr nehrtS dl Wtut Out to tnc ilhitt It n had he not lived as they lived; had he nc a known the things they knew; joyed an t suffered in all the humble things in whic @ they had joyed and suffered; and were n' r his songs the rythm, rhyme and soul { l their own vague hungeringsl No one wh + will come among this peasantry to-da.
 lettering here and there where he lingere' k need go to the books for tender thin, d about Burns. These people all have the e in the very core of their hearts, with glo, r, ing faces, at their tongues end.
 e Everywhere your wanderings may lea d at this farmhouse you will learn of unr ), corded kindness; at the next of son y pleasant incident at another of an od 1t adventure; now of perhaps forgivab o roystering; then of some blessed help 1t time of need; again, of festivity of whi' g. he was the life; and here again of praye 3, Prayer from Burnsl Yes, prayer with tl ,f living and at the couch of the dead, amol :" those go lowly that somehow those ''sp sr'l itual excisemen" who delighted to leag the poetrexciseman with "Auld Horni D. had no time from their 'shighern paroch re duties to minister there. And it doer o