ANECDOTE OF ROBERT BURNS.

Southland Times, Issue 3298, 15 January 1879, Page 3

ANECDOTE OF ROBERT BURNS.

I- ■-.-■■: .:Akyy 7-*7.77-'-Ak_kkAk,yy- -■: ; [COMMUNICATED BY J. G.S.J . ' . i, ' :'"*;? '.'yi- kk -.":?■:'-.- '-' - ;"--. - . ■■'■• S ;■?;"-. *"'' " i ■'■'-';■ ; At this particular time, '-'when -public) in-.ij terest i in' allj-thM concerns -;.tKe National Bard of" Scotland haß been quickened by the Demosthenic eloquence .of the Rev. Mr Inglis, --.-.the .followingJbeautiful and touching: anecdote of the poet may not be iinacceptabletp th)e'i^aderfl.".,pf"-the;.TiM"GS.; It is not- ' generally -known, : antl has not found a place, in; any biography, from that of Dr Curlie to "the" edition now being published, by the late Key. Ge.orge (3-il-nliarii of Dundee. ; Itiwas -first published in the Perthshire Advertiser by Mr Drummond in 1870, it liaving been; communis .cated to hinr many years before at the village of Bwv, on the Solway, where Burns spent those last 'sad idying" days. During* his sojourn there, the. poet's health was ;so much reduced that lie lived almost entirely on port Avine. ;; He^.-yvrple to Mr George Thompson 'that -his '■" appetite was .quite) gone, and so emaciated was he as to be scarce able to support himself on his own legs. Being off duty, his poor salary of £50 ' was now reduced to £35. " What way, in 'the name of: thrift," he -wrote to Mr Cunningham, " shall I maintain myself, and keep, a house in ;cPuhtry." quartersJ'with a -wife' and five children at, home,- on £35." : In' these sadi cirPiiiri'stahces, of which no'o*">e* can think "without emotion, the poor poet's little stock of port wine and cash ran ; put simultaneously. In a state bordering: Bn" Jie went to ; -the little inn at •tQlarancefield, the laritiford.' of .which was' 'bneTbf his devoted admirers, and,' laying down an empty bottle on the bar. counter, asked for a bottle of port wirie. "When the wine -was handed to Mm he whispered to the landlord that the deil had got into his pouch, ahd was sole possessor; but taking his watch seal in his hand, tendered: ii to the landlord, and began to unfasten it. The landlady saw the motion, and gave a. stamp with her foot, while the landlord pushed the poet towards the door, and^hen) they passed the bar window the landlord had his arms round-the poet's waist, and floods of tears rushed from both the men's eyes, "ris a good anecdote, one of the best I : shave heard of our national bard. ;Orie" \rnld like to know the name of the landlora^nf tliat little inn at Clarancefield. ' He and Rjs spouse uiust have been a "worthypair. N"he "tvig-Q sense of rectitude and honor — IKs determination to pay his way even in that hour, of his deepest poverty and impending dtath, rises to the sublime, and is in fine contest. to the mean and insolent advantage which some would-be-geniuses take of those with whom they deal, as if such superior beings as. tliey are, could not owe any\obligation to a humble shop or innkeeper, and as if the latter were legitimate victims to 'be plundered by the former. There is a fine pathos, too, in that stamp of the landlady's foot. She was a, poet as well as Bums', though she waited in a bar, and carried niitchkins ben the house to the not over 'refined and roistering carles of that Solwif shore. For them to dream of taking thepoet's watch seal ! What a scandal and Jisgrace that would be. And to think, tntf iv this sad hour, broken, shattered, dyiiig, the man whose songs have filled all Scotland with melody, should be so poor, see both of these reflections dashing ,*n that stamp of the landlady's foot. Ste must have been, I repeat, a good soul j and so must "tlie landlord too. 'Tis a pity that their names lie shrouded in an bblivion which they do not deserve. /