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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT (DECEAS... ← Page 3 of 14 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
He was noted for a retentive memory , a sturdy stubbornness of disposition , and what he terms an enthusiastic " idiot" piety . Adding , "I say idiot piety , because I was then but a child . " He appears to have made an excellent progress in English , and " though it cost the schoolmaster some thrashings , bv the time I was ten or eleven years
of age , I was a critic in substantives , verbs and participles . " From an old woman who resided with his father ' s family no question can be raised that he imbibed the first seeds of poetic lore , for the old lady was remarkable for her ignorance , credulity , and superstition , but had an unequalled collection of legends and tales , as well as scraps of old ballads , concerning devils , ghosts , fairies , brownies , witches ,
warlochs , spunkies , kelpies , elf-candles , dead-lights , Avraiths , apparitions , giants , enchanted castles , dragons , and other such folk-lore . With such a preceptress , he was often betrayed into superstitious feelings , which , although not lasting longer than his imagination called them forth , yet made him keep a sharp look out , in suspicious places , during his nocturnal rambles ; arid though by no means less sceptical on these points than any man of a well ordered mind , they cost him a philosophical effort to shake off , so thoroughly had he made himself master of the old crone ' s legendary stores .
Ofthe influence , for good or evil , which books have upon the future formation of youthful character , Burns offers a strong example . The first works he privately read were , " The Life of Hannibal , " and " The History of Sir William Wallace , " and the perusal of the former have his mind such a turn , that he used to strut in raptures after every recruiting drum and bagpipe that visited the town of Ayr , wishing himself tall enough to be enlisted ; whilst the latter poured a Scottish
prejudice into his veins , Avhich lie OAvned " will boil along there till the floodgates of life shut in eternal rest . " About this time polemical divinity was turning the Scotch half mad , and Burns , ambitious of shining in conversation parties on Sandays , between sermons , and at funerals , used to make very startling assertions against the rigid Calvinism of his country j this , joined with some of his memorable sallies in after years , such as " Holy Willie ' s Prayer , " raised a hue and cry against him , to the effect that he was a heretic , Avhich good name he never lost among the bigots . Living in the vicinity of Ayr was of some consequence to Robert
Burns , for he there mixed Avith youthful society of his own age , and , undoubtedly , gained considerably by rubbing tlie dust of his agricultural manners against the more polished maimers of his companions , acquiring an ease not often found among rustics . To this he adds his own evidence , when he says , " my young superiors never insulted tho doulerly appearance of my ploughboy carcass , the tAvo extremes of which Avere often exposed to all the inclemencies ofthe seasons . " But
this association was of far greater importance to him than a mere grace of carriage , for they lent him books , which he could not otherwise have procured , and one of them helped him to a little French . Soon , however , these companions dropped away , one by one , each to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
He was noted for a retentive memory , a sturdy stubbornness of disposition , and what he terms an enthusiastic " idiot" piety . Adding , "I say idiot piety , because I was then but a child . " He appears to have made an excellent progress in English , and " though it cost the schoolmaster some thrashings , bv the time I was ten or eleven years
of age , I was a critic in substantives , verbs and participles . " From an old woman who resided with his father ' s family no question can be raised that he imbibed the first seeds of poetic lore , for the old lady was remarkable for her ignorance , credulity , and superstition , but had an unequalled collection of legends and tales , as well as scraps of old ballads , concerning devils , ghosts , fairies , brownies , witches ,
warlochs , spunkies , kelpies , elf-candles , dead-lights , Avraiths , apparitions , giants , enchanted castles , dragons , and other such folk-lore . With such a preceptress , he was often betrayed into superstitious feelings , which , although not lasting longer than his imagination called them forth , yet made him keep a sharp look out , in suspicious places , during his nocturnal rambles ; arid though by no means less sceptical on these points than any man of a well ordered mind , they cost him a philosophical effort to shake off , so thoroughly had he made himself master of the old crone ' s legendary stores .
Ofthe influence , for good or evil , which books have upon the future formation of youthful character , Burns offers a strong example . The first works he privately read were , " The Life of Hannibal , " and " The History of Sir William Wallace , " and the perusal of the former have his mind such a turn , that he used to strut in raptures after every recruiting drum and bagpipe that visited the town of Ayr , wishing himself tall enough to be enlisted ; whilst the latter poured a Scottish
prejudice into his veins , Avhich lie OAvned " will boil along there till the floodgates of life shut in eternal rest . " About this time polemical divinity was turning the Scotch half mad , and Burns , ambitious of shining in conversation parties on Sandays , between sermons , and at funerals , used to make very startling assertions against the rigid Calvinism of his country j this , joined with some of his memorable sallies in after years , such as " Holy Willie ' s Prayer , " raised a hue and cry against him , to the effect that he was a heretic , Avhich good name he never lost among the bigots . Living in the vicinity of Ayr was of some consequence to Robert
Burns , for he there mixed Avith youthful society of his own age , and , undoubtedly , gained considerably by rubbing tlie dust of his agricultural manners against the more polished maimers of his companions , acquiring an ease not often found among rustics . To this he adds his own evidence , when he says , " my young superiors never insulted tho doulerly appearance of my ploughboy carcass , the tAvo extremes of which Avere often exposed to all the inclemencies ofthe seasons . " But
this association was of far greater importance to him than a mere grace of carriage , for they lent him books , which he could not otherwise have procured , and one of them helped him to a little French . Soon , however , these companions dropped away , one by one , each to