LETTER TO MR. MR. KILMARNOCK. Mosgiel, 7th March, 1788. DEAR SIR, I HAVE partly changed my ideas, my dear friend, since I saw you. I took old Glenconner with me to Mr. Miller's farm, and he was so pleased with it, that I have written an offer to Mr. Miller, which, if he accepts, I shall sit down a plain farmer, the happiest of lives when a man can live by it. In this case I shall not stay in Edinburgh above a week. I set out on Monday, and would have come by Kilmarnock, but there are several small sums owing me for my first edition, about Galston and Newmills; and I shall set off so early as to dispatch my business, and reach Glasgow by night. When I return, I shall devote a forenoon or two to make some kind of acknowledgment for all the kindness I owe your friendship. Now that I hope to settle with some credit and comfort at home, there was not any friendship or friendly correspondence, that promised me more pleasure than yours; I hope 1 will not be disappointed. I trust the spring will renew your shattered frame, and make your friends happy. You and I have often agreed that life is no great blessing on the whole. The close of life, indeed, to a reasoning eye, is, 'Dark as was chaos, ere the infant sun Was roll'd together, or had try'd his beams But an honest man has nothing to fear. If we lie down in the grave, the whole man a piece of broken machinery, to moulder with the clods of the valley, be it so; at least, there is an end of pain, care, woes, and wants; if that part of us called Mind, does survive the apparent destruction of the man-away with old-wife prejudices and tales! Every age and every, nation, has, had a different set of stories; and as the many are always weak, of consequence they have often, perhaps always, been deceived: a man, conscious of having acted an honest part among his fellow creatures; even granting that he may have been the sport, at times, of passions and instincts; he goes to a great unknown Being, who could have no other end in giving him existence but to make him happy; who gave him those passions and instincts, and well knows their force, These, my worthy friend, are my ideas! and I know they are not far different from yours. It becomes a man of sense to think for himself; particularly in a case where all men are equally interested, and where, indeed, all men are equally in the dark. Adieu, my dear Sir! God send us a cheerful meeting! ROBERT BURNS. ILLUSTRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. KIRK ALLOWAY Lies within a few yards of the road that leads from Ayr to Carrick. It is a place of great antiquity, but has been gradually decaying, since the union of the parish of Alloway to that of Ayr, a circumstance which took place above a century ago. The former parish is considered as one of the oldest in Scotland; and, though the consequence of its union with Ayr is the near dissolution of its venerable kirk, still the inhabitants retain some peculiar privileges, which abundantly testify its ancient importance. Burns has rendered the church famous by his tale of Tam o' Shanter. It appears to be, by the concurrent testimony of the country, a place notorious for the nocturnal revels of witches and fairies; and the poet, favouring the conceit of his countrymen, has given, in the piece above mentioned, a description of one of their assemblies; and, after representing them in the height of their magical sport, under the presidency of Auld Nick,' he adds an inventory of attendant circumstances, that exhibits a mind fertile with images of the most terrific nature. In the burial ground of Kirk Alloway is interred the remains of William Burness, the father of the poet, and a stone is seen in the left corner of the annexed view, on which is engraved this inscription to his memory: THIS STONE WAS ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM BURNESS, LATE FARMER IN LOCHLEE PARISH, OF TARBOLTON, Who died Feb. 3, 1784, aged 63 Years; and was buried here. The wall of the church-yard being nearly destroyed, at the time of his residence in its vicinity, he joined two or three neighbours in an application to the town council of Ayr, for permission to rebuild it, which was granted, and a subscription raised for the purpose; since that time, the inclosed ground was considered the burial place of the family, and Burns himself expressed an intention to rest his bones there, when they should be no longer serviceable to him, but his anticipation was not realized. The place appropriated for public worship in the church was small, scarcely accommodating three hundred persons; some years ago the roof was standing, and a few seats, and the gallery or loft at the west end, were visible; but nothing now remains except the walls. It is worthy of notice, that, notwithstanding the decay of the kirk, the bell retains its ancient situation, as may be seen in the print, with a remnant of the chain. An attempt to remove it was made by the magistrates a short time since, but the zeal of the peasantry interposed, and the design was abandoned. THE RIVER DOON, About two miles S. W. from the burgh of Ayr, divides Kyle from Carrick. For several miles from its mouth, its banks are beautifully diversified with plantations, well-cultivated fields, and neat villas. Though not fed by so many tributary streams as the Ayr, it pours down a larger quantity of water. During the summer months its channel is always 26 Ꮞ Ꮋ full. The ruins of Greenan Castle, at a small distance from the mouth of the Doon, on a rock on Carrick shore, have a very striking and picturesque effect. LINCLUDEN COLLEGE. THE venerable remains of this college are situated about a mile and a half north-west from Dumfries, on the banks of the Clouden, a tributary stream to the river Nith. The structure, though low, and built with a dull red stone, presents a most beautiful and highly-enriched specimen of the English, or pointed style of Gothic architecture; the windows are ornamented with peculiar richness, and, in the general decoration, no part, interior or exterior, has been forgotten. On viewing this elegant pile, where the most exquisite workmanship is mouldering, obsolete, and almost in oblivion, sensations of the strongest regret are excited. Part of the upper roof of its chancel is yet in existence, though the lower one is entirely demolished; on the wall is a beautiful monument, to the memory of Margaret, daughter of Robert the Third, king of Scotland, and wife to Archibald, earl of Douglas, and duke of Terouan. The sequestered situation of this college, the romantic scenery in its immediate neighbourhood, the gentle murmuring of the Clouden, and the distant roaring of the swells and fa's' of the Nith, seem to have inspired the poet with the most sublime ideas. THE BIRKS OF ABERFEldie IN the immediate neighbourhood of the village of Aberfeldie, in Perthshire, is a deep wooded glen, following the course of a mountain streamlet, which wantons in Nature's |