The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-25


 tion of sorrow. They were written, as you probably know, being familiar with
 Burns history, a few years after the death of the lovely Mary Campbell. who was the object of his affection. She Is
 buried at Gree-nock, Scotland, and over her grave is beautiful monument erect ed by the admirers of the poet"
 T suppose, of course. you have fa- vorite among Burns poems, as everyone has," I said.
 Tram O'Shanter cannot be excelled,' replied Captain Graves. for it's joval mirth and Imaginable scenes, which are very adroitly interwoven in this cee-
 brated legend. Perhaps that is one of my favorites. It is an interesting story. Tam's real name was Douglas Grahame,
 Carrick farmer, who frequently got tight when he went to Ayr. and on this memorable night was especially so, when he started home in violent storm, about midnight. As he was passing the old graveyard at Alloway Kick he had a dreadful encounter with ghosts and
 witches, as represented by the poet, in which he was terribly frightened and his mare lost her tail.
 The bard depicts Tam's faithful wife, quietly sitting up for him." as follows; Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
 Nursing her wrath to keep it warm" Afterward he admonishes Tam In this manner:
 "Ah Tam Ah Tam. thoult get thy fairin
 "And then his epistolary correspond
 ence, too. is most interesting" I sug- gested
 Tt shows the highest order of talent"
 was the reply. His numerous lyrics glow with emotions of love and esteem:
 his epics, with pride and patriotism. and his many epigrams and what he called bagatelles, sparkle with wit, humor and satire"
 And as conversationalist he was re- garded as quite unusual. wasn't he?" I asked.
 His conversational powers were re- markable. which is attested by each of
 his biographers," he replied And doesn't 1t seem a catastrophe that such a genius should have been cut down
 in the very prime of life." I said.
 "It is a notable fact that all of his
 literary achievements were completed be-
 fore he reached his thirty-eighth birth day, as death ended his brilliant career when he was only about BYE years old, said Captain Graves Meanwhile he was busy in the prosaic battle of life, fight ing for bread for himself and those who were dependent upon him. This was the plowman-poet of Ayrshire, Scotland, who accomplished so much before he reached the meridian of his life. Born in obscuri- ty and comparative poverty, he toiled faithfully to support the family, with only common school education, and was never 25 miles from his country home until he was 2S years of age, when he went to Edinburgh as stranger, talk ing with him all of his productions, hop ing to have them published, which he soon succeeded in doing; and in a short while his great popularity gained him admission to the most brilliant circles of literary society in the capital, where he was looked upon as real prodigy. AL. most every city and town in Scotland has a beautiful monument erected to the memory of the poet, by his many admir- ing friends.
 Having heard of very beautiful poem that Captain Graves had written on Burns, I solicited it for this little talk, which he kindly consented to give me, and as a conclusion I will use the two last stanzas, glowing tribute to the great bard:
 "In early life, his honors ripe, With boundless reputation;
 He closed his eyes in silent death, Bewailed by all his nation. monument to his name he left,
 Than marble more enduring; His works will live through endless years, Undying fame securing