Masonic Poets Of Scotland—No. I.

Essentially , Burns Avas a self-educated man ; a secluded , observant soul , communing much Avith nature , rejoicing in the light of summer skies , the roseate tints of sunset , and the melody of AVOOCIS and Avaters . Their father was then , in fact , the

chief companion of Burns and his brother Gilbert ; he " conversed familiarly Avith them on many subects , as if they had been men ; " and was at pains , as the boys were beside him , occupied in farm labour , to lead the conversation to such

subjects as had a tendency to increase their knowledge , and confirm them in good habits—borrowing books such as " Derham's Physico and Astro-Theology , " Eay ' s "Wisdomof God in Creation /' and taking in by subscription a copy of " Stack

heuse's History of the Bible . " These works Burns read Avith eagerness and interest ; and it is said that no book Avas so voluminous as to slacken

his industry , or so antiquated as to repel him from its perusal . Burns' father , moreover , Avas a peculiar and fine specimen of humanity , bending under premature decay , to Avhome times had not been propitious ; so that , before their bones Avere

thoroughly knit , the future poet and his brother had to share in those rural labours usually reserved for more advanced youth , or even manhood . Such a training helps to account for the frequent sombreness of disposition shown by Burns in

afterlife ; Avhile there Avere believed to be peculiar antecedents in the earlier days of William Burness Avhich gave a romantic tinge to the thoughts and sentiments of Bums' youth . He AA ^ reported to have been " out" in the ' 45 . What Ave

at present more particularly refer to is the fact that Burns availed himself of all means of improvement at command . No doubt , in that finely moulded mind there Avere springs of sensibility that needed but to bo touched . As he Avalked

folloAvmg the plough , the dark yet flashing eye doubtless at times betokened the Avorking Avithin of no common emotion . Like the bard of Beattie , he Avas no " vulgar boy , " even as in his later and more unhappy years he never sank doAvn to the

mere sensuous sot . The rustle of the leaves , thetrickling of the Avaters , the glories of sunset , the beaming eyes of Avomen , Avere not lost upon him ; the blue-eyed maiden beside him in the harvestfield became , for a time , a species of divinity ;

while , as Ave have seen , he AA'as a searcher after knowledge , organising societies for discussion at Tarbolton and elseAvhere , and not unaccustomed to the handlina' of those themes on AAiiich so inanv

of our Scottish peasantry once delighted to dwell . The mantle of poetry , indeed , fell upon Burns at the plough ; the raw youth was easily roused to emotion ; and he might often indulge in " crooning to a body ' s sel ' . " Thus he Avrites : — -

" I mind it weel , in early date , When I was beardless , young , and blate , And first could thrash the bam Or hnud a yoking o' the pleugh , Yet unco proud to learn ; When first among the yellow corn

A man I reckoned was , An' wi' the lave ilk merry morn Could rank my rig and lass ; Still shearing and clearing The 'tither stooket raw ,

Wi' clavers and havers Wearing the day am ' . E'en then a wish , I mind its power , A wish that to my latest hour Shall strongly heavs my breast , That I , for poor aA \ ld Scotland ' s sake ,

Some useful plan or book could make , Or sing a sang , at least . The rough bur thistle spreading wide Among the bearded bear , I turned the weeder clips aside , And spared the symbol dear . "

Alas ! IIOAV much of the poetry of the harvest field has fled ! It may possibly , moreover , be confined , at no distant date , to Highland braes , and specially to not merely stiff , but stony soils , that yield only the oats of Lilliput , and these but

sparsely appearing , if for the reaper's song , we are to have the iron-horse Avith steam-breathing nostrils , and the steam-cutter , puff , puffing , as it shaves over the ground . Stokers and coals seem rather out of p lace-in such spots , and the mouse that Burns sano- of AA onld dart in horror and

trepidation to the remotest cranny Avithin reach . The light that led Burns astray , Avas assuredly not " light from heaven , " but he was possessed ' of rare gifts , though , at the period referred to , he might be comparatively unconscious of their

existence . He Avas not alone in this respect among the sons of Scotland , nor need he be so still . The hard-Avrought mechanic , the pale toiler at the loom , the wandering herd , have not unfrequently fought their Avay nobly in the battle of life . Witness Ferguson , originally a shepherd boy , stringing' beads toa'ether to mark the constellations ;

Leyden , fighting his Avay to distinction amongst Oriental scholars ; Hogg- , seeing Adsions rare amidst the braes of Ettric and YarroAv ; and many others , moved by the resolute perseverance that buffets with adversity , the noble ambition