With
young people in the field at work he was very long-suffering;
and when his brother Gilbert spoke sharply to them - "O man,
ye are no for young folk," he would say, and give the
defaulter a helping hand and a smile. In the hearts of the
men whom he met, he read as in a book; and, what is yet more
rare, his knowledge of himself equalled his knowledge of
others. There are no truer things said of Burns than what is
to be found in his own letters. Country Don Juan as he was,
he had none of that blind vanity which values itself on what
it is not; he knew his own strength and weakness to a hair:
he took himself boldly for what he was, and, except in
moments of hypochondria, declared himself content.
THE LOVE STORIES.
On the night of Mauchline races, 1785, the young men and
women of the place joined in a penny ball, according to their
custom. In the same set danced Jean Armour, the master-
mason's daughter, and our dark-eyed Don Juan. His dog (not
the immortal Luath, but a successor unknown to fame, CARET
QUIA VATE SACRO), apparently sensible of some neglect,
followed his master to and fro, to the confusion of the
dancers. Some mirthful comments followed; and Jean heard the
poet say to his partner - or, as I should imagine, laughingly
launch the remark to the company at large - that "he wished
he could get any of the lasses to like him as well as his
dog.
Pages:
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83