Page:Life of Robert Burns, the Ayrshire Bard.pdf/11

Rh six months in the capital, Burns departed from Edinburgh, in company with a friend, on a country excursion before he should return to Ayrshire. His route was southward, and in the course of his journey he visited several families of distinction. On the 8th of July, he returned to Mauchline, where he remained a few days, and afterwards made a tour through the north. In this excursion he was received with much cordiality at the houses of many eminent persons―among whom were the noble family of Argyle. After another visit to his family at Mossgiel, he repaired, in March, 1788, to Dalswinton, in Dumfriesshire, the residence of Mr. Miller, with whom he was in treaty for the lease of a farm on his estate. During part of the intervening months, he had been occasionally in Edinburgh, as he says, to adjust matters with his bookseller. After a good deal of lost time, his affairs came at last to assume something like a definite shape. The settlement of accounts with the bookseller put him in possession of £500 or £600, and the terms of agreement at Dalswinton being finally arranged, he left Edinburgh for his new possession, carrying with him an excise commission, which he had procured through the friendship of Mr. Graham of Fintry.

At Whitsunday, 1788, Burns entered upon his