ich, in absence of all scientific knowledge of the earth's structure,
was necessarily a mere speculative cosmogony. It is written, however,
with much eloquence. Some of the views expressed in another work,
_Archaeolgiae Philosophicae_, were, however, so unacceptable to contemporary
theologians that he had to resign his post at Court.

BURNS, ROBERT (1759-1796).--Poet, was _b._ near Ayr, the _s._ of William
Burness or Burns, a small farmer, and a man of considerable force of
character and self-culture. His youth was passed in poverty, hardship,
and a degree of severe manual labour which left its traces in a premature
stoop and weakened constitution. He had little regular schooling, and got
much of what education he had from his father, who taught his children
reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history, and also wrote for
them "A Manual of Christian Belief." With all his ability and character,
however, the elder B. was consistently unfortunate, and migrated with his
large family from farm to farm without ever being able to improve his
circumstances. In 1781 Robert went to Irvine to become a flax-dresser,
but, as the result of a New Year carousal of the workmen, including
himself, the shop took fire and was burned to the ground. This venture
accordingly came to an end. In 1784 the _f._ died, and B. with his
brother Gilbert made an ineffectual struggle to keep on the farm; failing
in which they removed to Mossgiel, where they maintained an uphill fight
for 4 years. Meanwhile, his love affair with Jean Armour had passed
through its first stage, and the troubles in connection therewith,
combined with the want of success in farming, led him to think of going
to Jamaica as bookkeeper on a plantation. From this he was dissuaded by a
letter from Dr. Thomas Blacklock (_q.v._), and at the suggestion of his
brother _pub._ his poems. This first ed. was brought out at Kilmarnock in
June 1786, and contained much of his best work, including "The Twa Dogs,"
"The Address to the Deil," "Hallowe'en," "The Cottar's Saturday Night,"
"The Mouse," "The Daisy," etc., many of which had been written at
Mossgiel. Copies of this ed. are now extremely scarce, and as much as
L550 has been paid for one. The success of the work was immediate, the
poet's name rang over all Scotland, and he was induced to go to Edin. to
superintend the issue of a new ed. There he was received as an equal by
the brilliant circle of men of letters which the city t