181 189 Tam Sampfon's Elegy Halloween The Auld Farmer's New-Year Morning's The Cotter's Saturday Night 7 To a Moufe A Winter Night 210 218 234 247 THE LIFE OF ROBERT BURNS. ROBERT BURNS was the son of a farmer in Ayrshire, Herwas born on the 25th. of January, 1759. After being a short time at Irvin, in the flax dressing business, be turned farmer, but not meeting with success, be intended to go to Jamaica. His poetical talents bad however previously attracted some notice in the neighbourhood where he lived, and baving published a small volume of his poems at Kilmarnock, it drew upon bim more general attention. Having met with encouragement, he went to Edinburgh, and there in April 1787, he published by Subscription an enlarged edition of his poems, with many improvements, which met with great Success. By the profits arising from this edition, be was enabled to take the farm of Elisland in Dumfrieshire, and having married a person for whom he had had a long regard, he retired to pass the remainder of bis life in agriculture. He was bowever unfortunate again, and leaving his farm, removed to a small house in the town of Dumfries, where he was appointed to an inferior office in the excise, and where he died on the 21st day of July, 1796, in the 38th year of his age. |