Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-05-10

tTAVel over tue satuc uciu WuctV ~ Wv
farm of Mossgiel, Burns turned the Inn
mortal mouse's nest. His father having
died, he, with his brother Gilbert and
two sisters, came here. Robert bought
an account book In which to put down
"farming memorandums." screen Grow
the Rushes, O." was one Of the memo
raudums. And here also q year later
was written his Lines 70 = Mountain
Daisy" on turning one down with the
plow, another poem thst will live ns
long ss there Is 4 heart living that loves
sweet wild flower:
| "wee, modest, crimson tipped flower.
Thoust met me In an evil hour,
For I mAun crush among thy stourc
Thy slender stem.
To spare thee nov Is past my power.
Thou bonnie GEM"
The first Ave verses of this poem con-
tsin the very heart throbs and pulse
beats OF Nsture. And no one can won
der nj his love for this tiny flower. Fen
the chills Of frosty winter never daunt
Il, and IL holds up its head until crushed
by its weight Of snow, and the moment
the Frost Kings icy fetters are unloosed,
To- 1t upsprings aesin-
ats snawie bosom sunwari spread.
II nfts its unassuming head"
To him the very air was charged with
poetry. Not leaf stirred or flower
moved its head, Of which he was un.
mindful. Some writer has said that
1.-The commonest wild flower, In the verse
Of this passionate singer. has its roots be-
side the fountain Of tears"
The farm st Mossgiel Ia still most
picturesque. with its many thatched
roofs and Its background Of hawthorn
trees, from which one stately Lombardy
poplar lifts its proud head far shove the
rest. In the foreground and lover the
les-rig" hedeerows bloom along the wsv,
and here the laverock (lsrk) and the
mavis (thrush) and the lintie (linnet)
sing as sweetly ~ In the davs when they
sang To him whose soul could hear their
songs. Here still the daisy blooms and
the little "mousie" creeps AWAY, though
unseen and unsung by him who loved
with infinite tenderness everv living
thing thst made Its home In the fields
No one could ever forget his pathetic
Lines On Seeing q Wounded Hare Limp
Bv"
| rest.
No more of rest, but nov thy dying bed'
The shelterng rushes whistli-g DER thy head,
The cold earth with thy bloody bosom prcst.
Ii was here slso that he wAs married
vt the age OF q to Jean Armour, tc
whom he sang:
There's not bonnie flower that springs
BY fountain. shaw. or green.
THERE'S not bonnie bird that sings
But minds me o. my jean"
They went To live at another farm near
c,lled Ellislsnd, on the banks OF the
Nth, where he composed that sublime
and affecting lyric "To Mary in Heaven
From here we take coach to the
Castle OF Montgomerie, where Robert
and Highland Mary took their last fare.
well on the banks of Ayr. q Bible be-
tween them.
"Ye banks and braes and streams around
The Castle o. Montgomerie.
Green be your woods and fsiI your flowers
| Your waters never drumhe
There summer hrst unfaulds her robes,
| And there the Largest tarry.
| For the re I took the last farewell
| OF my sweet Highland Mary"
This brings TO mind verse Of another
exquisite poem written 10 her:
"No more by the banks Of the strcamlet vel
wander.
And smile at the moons rumpled face in tn,
| wave,
No more shall my arms cling with fOndncs'
around her,
For the dewdrops Of morning fall cold on hc
| grave"
TsrboltOn is soon reached, where !:
the farm of Lochlea, where his father
moved from "the auld clay blggin," and
where their prospects seemed for time
a little brighter. Robert and Gilbert re
ceived from their father the sum OF sever
pounds per year as wages, besides tax
ing from him some land for the purpose
of raising fax on their own account-oI
lint as II Is called In Scotch. PoOsit
Nsnsie's cottage is also shown. celebrst
ed for the meeting of 1.-The jolly Beg
gsrs." 1t was here at TsrbOlton thai
Burns and his brother, with five OtheI
young men, established their Bachelors
Club. One of them tells that he was {
most picturesque figure externally Al
well as mentally. He wore the only tiet
hair In the parish, and at kirk his plaid
was Of q peculiar color and wrapped In
peculiar manner about his shoulders
The house in which he was made Fret
Mason Is also shown.
Then we drive on-under the shadow
Of the braes of Ballochmyle, and Ovel
the river Ayr.
"But here. alas. for me na mair
Shall birdie charm, or foweret smile;
Farewell the bonnie banks Of Ayr
Farewell, farewell, sweet Ballochmyle."
And here We are close TO the pretty se
questered nook where that noble poem
| ssMan was Made to Mourn" was com
posed:
"The poor oppressed honest man
Had never sure been born,
| Had there not been some recompenee
To comfort those that mourn"
And now on to Dumfries, where Burn
after few years moved from his farm
at Ellisland, and where he died. Alight
ing from the railway station, we turf
our footsteps towards that churchysrt
Of old st. Michael's, and It 10 with rever
ent feet, for the very stones on which
we tread seem to speak his name - VI
approach the spot that shelters hl
sacred dust. But what q shock goe
through the frame, when, on glancin,
up, almost the 6rst object that meets th
eve Is 4 sign bearing this legend, "Robes
Burns, Barber" For moment be wilder
ment takes hold on the imagination, 70
never before had Robert Of the Pl0v
J masqueraded as Robert Of the Razor, bu
after while we remembered "that VI
are dust" and also that an hundre'
years can raise up many Robert Of tn
Razor, bat never another Robert Of tn
Ploughshare.
This costly and impoalng mausoleuu
, before which We bow, erected - shelte
for his dust, eeems such . travesty o.
his simple life; and when Il ID contrast
ed with the humble, even squalid quar-
ters that but poorly sheltered him Whil
living, one cannot help bat call 70 min
that prophecy spoken to his wife whe
: The stamp Of death Was imprinted on hi
: features-"Dont be afraid, III be NOR
, respected In hundred years than I %
: to-day" II the unslghtly canopy fror
this ohjsct were re@oved u woald b