The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-01-31

When Burns father died at Lochlea on
the thirteenth of February, 1884, the re-
sponsibilty of the family fell upon Robert
and his brother Gilbert. The brothers de-
cided to move from Lochlea which had
been the scene OF much strife and liti-
CATION between the elder Burns and his
landlord They rented the uplying farm
at Mossgial i'm the neighboring parish of
MauchIine Here Burns began his new
career with a firm determination to sue
ceed if success were within the range of
possibilities by strict devotion to the
duties that lay before him. But alas
there was bad seed the first year, and
late harvest the second. and Burns was
completely discouraged, and to use his
own words, Il returned like the dog to
his vomit and the sow that was washed
to her wallOwing i'm the mire'' But the
Mossgial era was the determining one of
his future career. Here it was that he de-
cided to follow the work of a poet and
it was here during some fifteen months
of his life he produced the bulk of those
remarkable poems by which his fame
was established, and on which it will con-
tinue mainly to rest. Here he experience
ed the most exalted joy, and the pro-
foundeSt grief that siren love can be-
stow. here hungry ruin had him so COM
pletely at her mercy that for time the
world was so dark to him that he re-
solved to leave his native land and seek
relief from his burdenous troubles in
MOssgial farm that he had the. unfortu-
nate experience with Jean Armour
1t is not my purpose here to speak at
length of this sad event that brought
deep sorrow to two homes and caused
black despair to settle down upon one of
the greatest living poets. 1t has been
my experience, as pastor for fifteen
years, to learn that the greatest sorrow
that can come to any home. and the sOr-
row that seems to be the longest in heal
M c a a IN no
home of Jean Armour. Such ndiscretiOn
on the part of young people has sent
many a father and mother to their graves
with broken hearts. l have no excuse
to offer at this time for either Robert
or Jean, but I am sure that we all feel
like commencing Burns for his honorable
stand in offering to defend jeans char
acter by an offer of marriage. In Scot
land at that time, a license and cere-
mony were not required in order to le-
gaiZe marriage Burns, who wanted
to do right in the matter, gave Jean
written acknowledgment of marriage.
which was sufficient reparation in the
eyes of the law. But the Master Mason
in the lodge where Burns attended was
jeans father, and he compelled his
daughter to destroy the paper and have
nothing more to do with Burns who was
then passing through sore financial
straits, owing to succession of bad
crops, and who was with some reason
looked upon by the good people in the
parish as little better than knave. A
destruction of the paper, did not. how
ever, abSOVe Burns. Nevertheless, he
determined to leave Scotland forever. He
still loved his bonnie Jean, but doubtful
if his love was reciprocated He entered
into negotiations with DR.. John Hamilton
with a view of going out to Jamaica as a
bookkeeper on his plantation there
1t was at this critical period in Burns
life that Mary Campbell known the world
over as Highland Mary comes first to
our notice. She was beautiful blue
eyed girl of great modesty and self re-
spect who had been in the service of
Burns friend and landlord, Mr.. Gavin
Hamilton. She was one of the few in
that dark hour of Burns life who showed
any sympathy for him, and he now con-
Sldering himself a free man, offered to
make her his wife, and she agreed to go
with him to Jamaica. Mary left Mauch-
line and started on foot for her home in
the Highland. Burns accompanied her
part OF the way. 1t was on a beautiful
Sunday in May, they reached the seques-
tered spot on the banks of the Ayr, and
there the parting took place. According
to tradition they stood on opposite sides
or slow running brook and dipping
their hands into the pure water swore
solemn vows to be true and one till
death. In the Burns monument at Ayr
today you can see the bibles they eX-
changed at that parting. Mary's gift
TO Burns is a plain one, his to her a
dainty edition in two volumes. Mary re-
turned to her home in the Highlands
Where in caring for a sick brother con-
tracted the fever and died. Poor Burns
returned to his troubles at Mossgial
They were not all of his own making. it
was not his fault that the farm was an
unproductive one. He could not impart
fertility to barren acres. nor compel the
sun to ripen Scanty crops
1t was in order to secure sufficient
funds to pay passage to Jamaica that led
him to have the first edition of his poems
published. They We're published at Kill
marnock in the summer of 1856 and were
read by all classes by the plOwman as
eagerly as by the laird. by the milk
maid as eagerly by the lady of the
mansion, and wherever they were read
they were admired No poet was so
quickly recognized as was Burns who
captivated the people by the human ele-
ment in his poems, as well as by his
genius All classes seemed to under
stand him. He sang about things in
winch they were concerned, of emotions
which they felt, the joys and sorrows
aid from his heart. they went to the
hearts of the people. His fame as a
poet very quickly spread throughout the
i and and among others VINO became
deeply interested in this plowboy poet.
was Dr. Blackstock the blind poet of
Edinburgh. Dr. Blackstock wrote n
letter to friend of his at Kilmarnoch
expressing wish that Burns might
So!ho " FLulnDuTSU. d. letter Wnlcn later
fell into the hands of Burns. Burns at
TINS time was still hating between two
opinions whether to remain on the farm
at Mossglal. or to go to jamaica but
later decided to do neither but to go to
edinburgh instead. There seems to be a
dlfference of opinion as to how he reach
ed the capital city. One author says he
walked, while another says he borrowed
a pony from a friend and rode there We
are not so much interested how he
reached there. but it is of deep interest
20 Know that he really went up to Edin-
Durgh for this was certainly new epoch
In the poets life and an experiment from
which he might well have shrunk. He
was ignorant of the manners of the peo-
pie for they differed much from the man
ners of the plain country folk where he
nad spent his life But his ignorance
oid not embarrass him, he was selfpos-
sessed, manly in his bearing modest
out not humble. courteous. but independ-
emit He had no letters of introduction,
and needed none. for his poetry had al
ready prepared the way for him. 1t will
notice how our young poet appeared per-
sonally. He was now twenty eight years
or age about five feet ten inches i'm
height, strong and well built while the
most striking thing about him were his
large, dark eyes which more than any,
thing else pointed out the poetic gen
lus. His dress was simple, plain but
appropriate. He had heavy dark hair
which spread over his forehead while his
manner was absolutely free from affec-
tation. He was n wonderful conversa-
tionalist and never seemed to be at loss