Scotland/Scots > Life of Robert Burns

92
LIFE OF
CHAPTER IV.
{C lie saw misfortune's cauld wor’* u'ast
Lang mustering up a bitter blast;
A gillet brak his heart at last,
111 may she be !
So, took a birth afore the mast
Jamaica was now his mark; and after some
little time and trouble, the situation of assist¬
ant-overseer on the estate of a Dr Douglas in
that colony, was procured for him by one of his
friends in the town of Irvine. Money to pay for
his passage, however, he had not; and it at last oc¬
curred to him, that the few pounds requisite for
this purpose might be raised by the publication of
some of the finest poems that ever delighted man¬
kind.
His landlord, Gavin Hamilton, Mr Aiken, and
other friends, encouraged him warmly; and after
some hesitation, he at length resolved to hazard an
experiment which might perhaps better his cir¬
cumstances ; and, if any tolerable number of sub¬
scribers were procured, could not make them
worse than they were already. His rural patrons
exerted themselves with success in the matter;
and so many copies were soon subscribed for, that
Burns entered into terms with a printer * in Kil-
* John Wilson, printer. Among other jokes. Burns
made the man print the “ Epitaph on Wee Johnnie; ”
without giving him any hint that /Fee Johnnie was John
Wilson.