Robert Burns And Tarbolton Lodge.

ROBERT BURNS AND TARBOLTON LODGE .

A WEEK or two since , the brethren of Tarbolton Lodge turned out in great force to lay the foundation stone of the new public school buildings , which are intended to provide increased educational accommodation for the youth of that thriving little town . The occasion , the display of the Masonic insignia , and of some relics

which were once worn by the greatest of Scottish poets , could not but call to the minds of the assembled multitude the name and genius of Robert Burns . It is to him that Tarbolton and its Lodge owe their widely extended fame . Wherever Scotsmen are found , the memory of those

valedictory verses which the poet addressed to his brethren when his mind was torn with anguish , and he was about to seek a home across the Atlantic , must constantly recur . Burns , indeed , was no idle Freemason , and it would appear that he devoted much of his spare time to the study of

Masonry , and rose to some distinction in his Lodge . From the Memoir written by his brother , Gilbert Burns , which was published in Dr . Currie ' s edition of the poet ' s works , we infer that Robert Burns was admitted a Mason in the year 1783 . He was then in his twenty-fourth year . His

father at that time rented the farm of Lochlea , in the parish of Tarbolton , and the young and ardent poet was engaged in a daily struggle to keep the wolf from the door . Gilbert Burns tells us that his father took Lochlea in the year 1777 , and held it for seven years . The bargain

proved an unprofitable one ; " no writings had ever been made out of the conditions of the lease ; a misunderstanding took place respecting them ; the subjects in dispute were submitted to arbitration , and the decision involved Mr . Burns in ruin . He lived to know of this decision , but not

to sec any execution in consequence of it . " The brothers , in anticipation of the crash , which came in the year 1784 , took the farm of Mossgiel from Mr . GavinHainilton , agentleman who remained a firm friend of the poet . This speculation did not , however , prosper , and Robert endeavoured to

establish himself in business as a flax-dresser , and actually wrought at the trade for six months , with a person who lived at Irvine . Here he is said to have acquired some of the tastes of a man of pleasure , and had suffered the opinions and the example of his associates to undermine his

rigid ideas of virtue . Prior to his attempt to change his occupation , his habits had been most frugal ; Gilbert Burns , who for some years kept the family accounts , affirms that , during the whole time of Robert ' s residence on the

farm of Lochlea , his yearly personal expenses , including clothing , did not exceed the sum of £ 5 . It was while Burns was at the farm of Mossgiel that he made the acquaintance of Juan Armour , afterwards Mrs . Barns . This connection , when it was discovered , caused great unhappiness in the girl ' s family , and Robert , who was most

anxious to act like a man of honour , privately married her , and as he found it quite impossible to obtain a subsistence for a wife and family in his native land , he determined to go to Jamaica , as an assistant overseer or book-keener of a

plantation . It was at this period of anguish and remorse that he penned those valedictory verses which are familiar as household words to every Mason . As he had not sufficient money to pay for his passage to Jamaica ,

-Lur . . Hamilton advised him to publish his poems , by subscription . Burns himself says , in speaking of this painful portion of his chequered career : " Before leaving my native country for ever , I resolved to publish my poems . 1 wei ghed my productions as impartially as was in my

Robert Burns And Tarbolton Lodge.

power : I thought they had merit ; and it was a delicious idea that I should bo called a clever fellow , even though it should never reach my ears—a poor negro driver—or perhaps a victim to that inhospitable clime , and gone to the world of spirits ! ,.... ! was pretty confident my

poems would meet with some applause : but at the worst the roar of the Atlantic would deafen the voice of censure , and the novelty of West Indian scenes make me forget neglect . I threw off six hundred copies , of which I had got subscriptions for about three hundred and fifty . My

vanity was highly gratified by the reception I had met with from the pnplic ; and besides I pocketed , all expenses deducted , nearly twenty pounds I took a steerage passage in the first ship that was to sail from the Clyde . I had taken the last farewell of my friends ; my

chest was on tho road to Greenock ; I had composed the last song I should ever measure in Caledonia , ' The gloomy night is gathering fast , ' when a letter from Dr . Blacklock to a friend of mine overthrew all my schemes , by opening up new prospects to my poetic ambition . " The Doctor ' s

opinion was that Burns would meet with encouragement in Edinburgh for a second edition , and the poet , at once giving up all idea of going to Jamaica , posted off to that city without a friend or even a letter of introduction . Of his brilliant success in the capital it is not

necessary for us to speak . He was received into the highest literary circles of society ; the second edition of his poems went off well , and Burns , finding himself for the first time in his life in affluent circumstance , made a series of tours through the most

romantic portions of his native laud . It was not until the year 1788 that he again settled down to the business of agriculture . In that year , having settled with his publishers , and finding himself in possession of £ 500 , he took the farm of Ellisland , in Nithsdale . His public

marriage with Mrs . Burns followed , and our poet entered seriously upon tho business of a farmer . Unfortunately for Burns , he had conceived the idea that he might manage to combine the office of a Guager , or Exciseman , with that of a farmer . He obtained an appointment , and ,

while attending to his new duties , his farm was left to the care of servants . The result was , of course , ruin . Burns abandoned his farm , and , relying solely upon his small income , derived from the appointment he held , he took a house in Dumfries , and tried to forget , in dissipation , the

misfortunes which had darkened his life . But his greatest trials wero to come , his irregular life estranged his friends , and the great bard , who had fired all Scotland with poetic enthusiasm , sank into the position of an obscure officer of the Excise . He died on the 21 st July

l / 9 b , in the greatest poverty , and his last moments were rendered wretched by the dread of a debtor ' s prison . Of Bnrns ' s genius it does not become us to speak . His fame as a poet has been firmly established , and the world has rightly decided that this erratic child of genius

^ possessed the highest powers that can adorn the human intellect . Pedants have affected to regret that this great man had not the advantage of a University education . Such an education would in all probability have spoilt Burns . He might have written more ambitious pieces , but the wild

charm of his lyrics could not have survived the culture of a great city . Masons are justly proud of the man whose mind has spoken in praise of the mystic tie , and when the memory of Robert Burns is drunk , either at Tarbolton or in any Lodge in the world , the brethren will not deny " one round " To him , the bard that ' s far awa' !