HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1932-06-02, Page 3THURSDAY, JUNE 2„ 1932.
'he Land of Burns
The Borns Vitagrhent 'Inter es'tieg
(Relics` it Contains—The Lovely
Grounds—Tam o' Ranter and
Souter 3!oi orgy—lRelfleotioais
on the Scenery, etc. etc.
"But Robin, in ye'r far off siphere,
,Ye'r heart', matin wturirer at the
steer
'They're naaku n' luso ;
Aldi' Sometimes gin.' it be . the style
an that briioht lan', ye'lil gi,e a smile
Sic sichts tae view."'
iLeaving the' .banks \,af the D'oon we
,first ;took a good'vie'w of The miositt-
invent externally, after which, we went
iteside. The monument is about s'ixlty
:feet in height, the d'es'ign hravinig been
furnished by 'H'a'm'ilton Of IEd'htb'u'rgh.
The base is in the form of .a triangle
r represeinting,t'h'e three district's into
which Ayrshire is divided, Kyle, (Car-
. rick and, Oununinilghla,m. In the centre
of the base there is- an aphctment six-
teen feet high and eighteen feet in
diameter. Above the triangular part of
the building a range of nine graceful
columns of the Conin'th'an order as-
cend, which are surim.ounted by a
,cupola, crolwned by a tripod.' This
'mon'u'ment is nearly a fac-simile of
that on 'the Calton Hill, Edlinlbvurgh,.
which we visited 'several times •dttrimlg
our six ,monlhhs sojdupn in "Scotia's
darling .seat" examining carefully and
with great interest the numerous me-
nn'entos of our favorite .poet Which it
'contained. The monument on the
ib'anks of the Dobn, however, is in
every way a more pleasing memorial
sof the band than the one in the Scot-
tish metropolis, being placed in beau-
tiful grounds, well stocked with flow-
ers and ihrulbls all undimaned by ,the
,sm'oke of the crowded city. A small
'c'harge is made for visiting the monn-
'ment and grounds, for the purpose of
'defraying the necessary expenses. The
funds from this source, we were told,
had accumulated fn a short time •suf-
lfieiently to build a very elegant cot-
tage far the keeper, which building we
, also inspected. Burn's monument was
built in 11820, the foundation s't'one
having been; laid with Masonic honors
on the 24th of J:an'crary of that year by
the late Mr. Boswell Of Attchin'leek,
M.P., (aftenwards Sir Alexlander
(Boswell!),, to whose exertions the
monument owes' its existence. The
,.keeper is a , civil, intelligent man and
like mast S'eotohmen we have met, a
great adrnirer.o'f the poet. He showed
us many interesting memorials of the
Ayrshire bard and amongst them the
two Bibles to which .we 'have referred
in a ,previous letter, one having be-
_longed to Burns and the other to
Highland Mary, The poet and his
sweetheart, it will be rem'embere'd,
met under a thorn tree near the ca's'tle
'of Montgomery and exchanged Bib'le's
crass a small running stream, lifted
up waterin their hands and vowing to
love each other while woods grew and
water ran. I't'was of this parting he
sang many years afterwards when
Bonnie Jean was his wife, in that hal-
field which is probably the finest he
ever 'com.posed:
shore,
10'eeltung with wild "w'o'ods
thick'ning green
The f'agr:an1 cinch and liaw-
th rn hoar;
Twini'd amorous round the
rip tur'd scene.
The flciw'rs sprang' wanton to .:be
ipreut, `.
The birds sang love on every
$pray-
Till too, tea soon the,glo!wing west
•,ProcIaimid the speed of !winged
'd'ay.
Still o'er these scenes my mem'ryi
wa'ke's,
(And fondly 'broods with. raiser
loan 1
rl'inne bat the n impressistronger
n
impression ger
,nvake's, '
'As streams their channels dedp-
er wear,
'My Meryl dear departed shade!
'VV!here is thy place of blissful
rest?
(See'st, thou thy lover ldwlly land?
IHear'st ,thou the groans t'Ivat
rend his breast?
We were touid'thiat this subl'i'me ode
was .composed by Burns in one of his
periddicatl "'fits .df melancholy, op the
ann'i'versary of ,Highland Mary's death,
'Ail clay he had been thoughtful and at
evening he wesut out and bii:feete him-
self dawn by the side of one of his
cornricks and with eyes fixed on a
,bright particular star, was found by
his, wife,• who with difficulty brought
Mina .in from the chilly midnight .air.
His address , to "Mary in ' Heaven"
was already composed and he had
only to commit it to paper. We exam-
ivied both Bibles particularly, as they
recalled many reminiscences of the
poet. The Bible which Burns gave
';'Lary ha'd been elegantly bound and
an it was -written legibly in the bold
'hand of Burns the words: "Ye shall
net"swear by my name falsely, I am
the (Lord."-1hev.. xix: 12. _ On the
blank leaf of the Bible which High-
land Mary gave to her lover` are the.
words: "Thou shalt not forswear thy-
self, but shalt perforin unto the Lord
thine oath."—Matt. v.: 23, and on an-
other blank' leaf his name and mark
as a Royal ,Arch M'asbn. The !ovens
never met again, Mary Campbell dy-
ing suddenly of fever in 'Greenock.
The genius of Burns has rendered her
immortal. Her ,mortal remains were
interred in Greenock church yard, and
many tourists visit the town to see
her grave and the monument which
IBunns erected aver it. We were text'
that in after years Burns often' shed
tears at the 'recollection df' his High-
land Mary, We were shown a lack' of
(Burrs' hair, which .was placed side
by side with a lock of Highland
Mary's -Nair. The latter was very long
and very bright, and of a deeper hue
than flaxen. Within the monument we
observed a bls't of B'urn's by the late
Mr. P. Park, R. S. 'A., the fambvs.
Scotch sculptor. This bust is very
delicate and fine, ,hut too much poet- ander Boswell, M. P., had called a
izecl, so much so that the likeness of meeting in the county town for the
the poet can hardly he traced. We purpose of starting' a fun,d1 for the
purchased likenesses o'f 'Biers, Met- erection of a monument to Burns an
land "Mary and Bonnie ,Jean, Mary ap- the banks of the Dlaon. The meeting
pearitng to be a beautiful artless court- was held, but only one person at-
try lassie, with a face remarkably tended', and that was Sir Alexander
hi'mse'lf. He took the 'slllnir however,
read the resolutions thathe had pre-
THE SEAFORTH: NEWS.
tivated'the heart of the.poet. We now
tank a lick at the grounds around the
nt'onumeat, 'whtioh are very beautiful
indeed. Few; spots of earth can com-
pare .•with it. Here we observed' a
tasteful grioatto, i v which are placed
the statues of Tam - Q'iS'hanter and
'Souter fohniiy. T'he'se are by a self-
taught sculptor of the name of Thorn,
bat are worthy of the great sculptors
of in dtern times, Whether we look at
the leer on jolly face o'f' the setter,'
the `inhuming ,°df the feet, the careless
!twist of the apron, his right!' hand
]folding a jug of ale, while his left lies
'oareliessly upion his left knee—what-
ever pant we view we must say it is
well done, Tam. is sitting on a chair
with a tunvblerful of ale in his' right
hand—in, the act of drinking to his
health Tants face is the very picture
of good nature, while the very texture
of this wor'ste'd leggiatgs are re'nrarlc-
ably well • rendered. You recognize
them at once as the very mew descrilb-
ed by Bairns in ''Tam Q19hanter":
,IAe market nicht,'
m had got ,pf'anited urico richt,
!Fast by an inlgle bleezing'finely,
1Wi' reaming slwats' that drank dli-
v'tn ely; •
!And at his: elbow Souter, Johnny,
His ancient, trusty, d'routhy crony,
ITaim lo'ed him like a verra brither.
,They had been fou for weeks the-
giither,"
;While ,gazing on' the statues of Tam
O,1Shaniter and Souter Johnny and re-
calling the words ofthe poem, .we
thought df a remark once made by an
old Scotch friend' near. S'ealforth,
'"Wh'at a pity ;a man should ever' be
tni'seralble, when ten cents canmake
him happy!" .There is more truth
than poetry in the remark. Here is
happines's' beyond romi'Pare—e'special-
ly for Tam—df the ten 'cent, varielty,
far we are told by rhe_ ma's'ter' painter
that
"Kings ,may,be blest, but Tam
Was glorious,
O'er a' the ills o' life victorious," .
brut the poet •does not forget to warn
us that all such happiness as this is
evanescent and perishing. That is the
grand lesson he inculcate's, and here
it. is:
"But pleasures are like poppies
. spread,
,You, seize the flow'r, its bloo'm is
shed;
0'r like the snow flake on the
\ river,
A moment white, then; melts for-
ever; '
Or like the boreallis race,
That Hit ere you can paint 'their
place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form,
'Evanishing anvid the storm'
So perislhe's the happiness that is
bought with ten •cents worth of whis-
key. Our Scotch •friends will not dis-
pute this statement. The keeper of
the monument learning that I had
conte all the way from Canada, and
that I was an enthusiastic ad§hirer of
his 'favorite poet, was particularly
friendly avid gave all the in'form'ation
he could. He told me hew Sir Alex -
sweet.We tho'ugh't at the ''time
t was no wonder that she cap -
Ayr, gargling, kiss''il his pebbled
11/1114
pared nrov'ed add seconded their ad the poet's aneniory, and as 'we did'
, ' \Ye could .lot help recalling, tec
o tmn and without the usual vole ofa to the v,.or
p , , i
thanks having been passed to the which the greatfpoet applied to a
ch'airm'an, .the meeting b'noke up. Sir''other but ceutainly not a more pi
Alexander then adventised the resoiu- turesque, scene:
floats itt'the''11ime's, Scotsnitin and o'th-
er leading papers to' the effect that at
a public meeting held at Ayr, these
res'olutioins''had been moved, seconded,
and iunanimously agreed to;; and the
result fully justified the confidence
The member, fair the county had imp his
scheme. Subscriptions flowed in from
all quar,tens, and the iamouint required
for the erection of the monument and
the laying' off of the grounds was
•s'oont procured,`This ought to 'teach us
never to despair, even though days
tivay be dark and friends may few.
"Never .give Up" iwas •evidettitlypait'of
the creed of Sir Alexander Boswell,
and this fine .mionuunent cos'tin'g near-
ly 'foul' thousand pounds sterling, fully
verified the concluding words of a
poem which he had himself composed
in prospect of .the event:
"His birthright, his :ruse! like the
lark in the mornim',
IWlhen nature enraptur'd, and ar-
tifice scorning,
How blithely he caro'11'd, his
praise of .the fair;
lHiolw sweet were his notes on the.
hank of the -kyr.
:.And near to the spot where his
• kindred dust slumber,
And marked by the Bard on the
tablets of fame;
And near td the thatched roof
where he first iisp'd in numbers,
We'll raise a proud tribute to
honor his name."
S
4
ds
c -
Before bidding the agreeable . keep
er farewell we asked him hew .many
had visited the nvanulme'n't during one
day since he came to the ':banks and
brae's." He replied that one day that
summer eighteen 'hundred had paid.
the fee add viewed the monument and
grounds surraundin'g it, and more-
over he told me that if I would visit
the graveyard in Dumfries where all
'that was mortal of the peasant bard.
had long ago mixed with its 'kindred
dust, , I would find a pathiway where
nro grass would gnaw, wornby the
feet of tourists'fram every nation and
clime, who had gone to pour their
sonrodws o'er the poet's dust, and
view the last: resting place of the fore-
most man 'of his time. To the pilgrim.
to this land of poets and orf sang,
every place connected with the Bard's
,nianre is dear. .
We now bade the kkeebef• farewell,
and as we made our exit at the gate
by which we had entered we turned
round and took a last, lingering look
at the lovely grounds consecrated to
the poet's memory ,and as we did 'so
.we could not help recalling the words
which the great poet applied to an-
other but certainly •nit a more pic-
turesque scene:
"We linger by the Doon's low
trees,
And past'ral Nith, and wooded
IAYr,
And round thy sepulchres, Dunt-
fries!
The poet's folmb is there.
'Bit•lvhat to us the s'culptor's art,
His 'funeral calumets, wreaths,
and urns;
Wear we not graven an the heart,
The name of Robert Burns?"
IWe now bade the keeper farewell,
and as we made our exit at the gate
by which we had entered we 'turned
round and took a last, lingering look
at the; lovely ,grounds consecrated to
Count
•.
ooks
We Tire Selling Quality Books
Books are Well Made, Carbon is Clean and Copies Readily. A'li
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•
e Seaforth
News'
SEAFORTH ONTARIO,
"Fair scenes for childhood's op-
ening .bloom,
Tor youth's gay feet to stray in;
For manhood' toenjoy his
strength,
And age to'wear away in !";
•
lWlhat a, retreat- 'from the toil and
,fever of thus .weary life! And ohl to
sleep the last sleep, wheat' IHeaven's
appointed time shall come, in some
such scene a's this, surrounded by so
many i•m'ages and reflections' of the
Peaceful, the beau fan' and the ever-
lasting. As we turned towards the new
bridge with the intention of ascending
the rising ground beyond the Doan,
reflecting as we went on the bright
and beautiful seen, in the midst of
which the poet's monument stands, we
mentally hoped that this Eden we had
just left might be only emlblematic•af
that better Eden above to which the
poet's freed spirit may have gone 'to
sing immortal songs ,and •b'ask in un -
created pays in the presence Of the.
Great Author of his wonderful genius,
and as we climybed the rising ground
,on the old Mat, bole road leading to
the "Brown Hill" of Carrick, which
the lbrighit rays of the setting sun had
just turned into gold, we hummed to
ourselves the last verse of Gray's
elegy, hoping it might be applicable
'to the poet ,of 'whom I might say in
all sincerity,
"Flair 'scenes for childhood's ap-
ening 'bloom,
For youth's gay feet to stray in;
Far manhood to enjoy his strength
And age to wear away int"
With the following quota't'ions we
will leave the name and fame of ICale-
donia's da'rlin'g son in the hands of a
people, who though they have well
nigh forgotten the Pitts, the Foxes,
Here and There
Practically an egg a day is eaten
by every man, woman and child in
Canada. The average per capita
yearly consumption of eggs in the
Dominion is 361, the highest of
any, country. according to an offi-
cial computation.
Canada's gold production in
.1931 reached the new high total of
2.682,776 ounces valued at $55,-
457,900.
56,457,900. This is 27.6 per cent
above the 1930 production. Of this
total the province of Ontario ac-
counted for 2,079,752 ounces
valued at $42,992,288.
New Brunswick can now claim
the ram ,distinction of producing
a white squirrel. The animal was
caught by Jack Felsing of Frederic-
ton who trapped it near the village
of Lincoln. It has been bought by
the government and will be
mounted and placed on exhibition.
Hon. Cairine Wilson,' Canada's
only woman Senator, arrived.re-
cently at Quebec on board the
Empress of Australia, from a trip
through Europe. While in London
she visited the House of Lords, but
could not make comparisons with
the Senate since the House was
not in session.
Western plains have been given
a boost by the rains of the last
days of April and farmers of the
prairie provinces are cheered by
fine seeding conditions and good
prospects of crop success, according
to information summarized by the
Canadian Pacific agricultural de-
partment crop report.
Following the announcement of
reduced ocean rates on Canadian
Pacific ships on the Atlantic, one
of the largest parties ever to leave
Toronto at this time of year for
the Old Country sailed recently
aboard the Duchess of York. There
were 275 in the party drawn from
all parts of eastern Ontario but •
mostly from Toronto.
The first cases of roses and
shrubs from France for Grand Pre
Park, Nova Scotia, arrived there
recently. They are from-Chatelle-
rault, France, the gift of the mayor
of that town. Chatellerault is one
of the places in France where the
exiled acadians settled after the
Grand Pre expulsion.
Four stretches of New Bruns-
wick trout and salmon waters
were sold at the Department of
Lands and Mines recently These prices totalling $8,850. TT
' leases for a term of 10 years are on
the Restigouche, Kedgwick, Mata -
pedis and Big Sevogle Rivers and
prices paid are the Manual rental
charges. i
Daylight saving time, com-
mencing in Quebec and Ontario
provinces May 1, occasioned little
confusion on Canadian Pacific
travel. Travellers have nowadays
learned that the railways remain
on standard time and govern them-
selves accordingly. The.raiiway
announced a number of train time
alterationsnor to the introduc-
tion of daylight saving.
From little Norfolk Island in the'
South Pacific, one of the, smallest
units in the, British Empire, an
excellent sample of beans for
exhibition at the World's Grain
Exhibition and Conference 'to be
'held at Regina July1933r„has,juat ..,.,
arrived. ' Norfolk Island is the
scene of the punishment of the
mutineers of the "Bounty" in 1866
but it has long ago changed frorh'a
penal to a prosperous settlement.
(841)
PAGE THREE
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To protect your INCOME -
Any of the above lines we can give
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If interested, call or .write,
E. C. C1-IAt'IBERLAIN
INSURANCE AGENCY
Phone 334 Seaforth, Ont,
the Peels and the other famous mew;'
df the age ,in which the Scottish•
ploughman lived and .sang, have pre --
served the honor and' renown of thei-
madern Hamer in umfading greets; byr
placing his monument ou the banks:
of the Dooay his bust in Westminster:
Abbey and what is still better his, rn---
dying memory in a sunny owl& in:
each of their warm, ,patriotic Newts:.
`Beyond the sea, beyond the sten,,,.
Till thee, and then, 11'ove thee."
f'Nto further 'seek his merits- tis
'di'sclose,
. Or draw his frailties from their'
dread abode;
'There they alike in trembling :
hope repose,
The bosom of his Father and .hiss
!God."
Here and Thele
Anticipations are that there•'
will be an attendance of 500 Rota- -
rians at the district convention to-•
be held at the Cornwallis Inn,.
gentville, N.S., June 1 and 2. It
is expected that Sir John Bennett,,,
of St. John's, Newfoundland, will.
address the convention.
Hon. Gordon • S. Harrington,
premier of Nova Scotia, accom-
panied by Mrs -Harrington, left
Halifax recently for Montreal
where they hoarded S.S. Duchess.
of. Bedford for a short holiday imx
the Old Country. During his ab—
sence, Hon. Percy C. Black will;
be acting premier of the province.,
"It is not too much to, say thad
any improvement in the revenues •-
of the railroads will immediately•
make itself felt in all channels 'of. '
trade and that the maintenance' -
of railroad solvency will do more •
than any other domestic factor to •
restore strength to the nation's '
institutions," says an editorial M—
ile Charleston, S. C., Post.
The "career open to merit:'"iti'
railway affairs is well illustrated
in the case of Charles H. Ewing,'
a railroader for 49 consecutive•
years, recently promoted presl--
dent of the Reading Company. I•n•
1853, at the age of 17, Ewing
began his railroad career as a .
rpdman in the employ of the
Philadelphia & Reading Railway,..
now the Reading Company.
There were 447 moose and 9594'
deer shot in New Brunswick last
year, according to figures con --
tallied in the annual report of:
Chief Game 'Warden H. H. Rit-
chie to the provincial Minister af,
Lands and Forests. There was
also a very successful partridge
season witha bag of 44,469 birds.
Warmer weather and generally,
favorable conditions point to nor-
mal development of the western'
wheat crop, according to the -
report of the agricultural depart-
ment of the Canadian Pacific •
Railway. Virtually all of Mani- -
toba's seed is in and Saskatche-
wan and Alberta seeding will, be
completed by the end of the third:
week of May.
Two famous globe-trotters, Dr
Roy . Chapman Andrews,. noted
anthropologist and Bob Davis,.
New York Sun's world -girdling
correspondent, came together at .
Victoria recently on Canadian
Pacific liner empress of Canada,
the former on his way to Peking:
and the latter travelling with
Mrs Davis to Honolulu.
Success attending the inaugural'
cruiseofS.S. Princess Alice last..
year to northern British Columbia..
and Alaska has led the 'British.
Columbia Coast Steamship service
to provide another special Alaska
cruise with the S.S. Princess
Charlotte, leaving August 9 from
Vancouver, it is announced by E.
P. L. Sturdee, general passenger •
agent, Canadian Pacific Railway,.
Capital, Labor, the learned pro—
fessions, diplomacy and business
were all represented in the pas-
senger list of the Canadian' Pact-•
fie liner Empress of Australia on
arrival at Quebec recently. The
list included Sir Charles Gordon,.,
president of the :Bank of hiont-
real; Tom Moore, president of the
Trades and Labor Congress of
Canada; F. E. Meredith, K.C., Dr
Moser, consul -general for Czecho -
Slovakia, and Colonel Hercule`
Barre, Canadian ;.'Government.
Trade Commissioner in Paris.
Residents of Maritime Prov- -
laces will have a fine opportunity
of visiting Montreal's great Naval
and Military Tournament, May 27-•
23,
7 •29, through a special' low rate
,,,:Ca.nadian Pacific coach excursion.
leaving Saint John, Fredericton,:
Woodstock, St. Stephen and Ste
Andre'w's May 27. Similar excur-
mto rs over the same week -end are
being operated by the railway
from Vermont, and the Sudbury,.„
Ontario, ureas. t ($43),