he writes in a similar strain, and speaks even more emphatically. From
all his letters, indeed, at this time we gather that he saw that
novelty had much to do with his present eclat; that the tide of
popularity would recede, and leave him at his leisure to descend to his
former situation; and, above all, that he was prepared for this, come
when it would.

All this time he had been busy correcting the proofs of his poems; and
now that he was already assured the edition would be a success, he began
to think seriously of the future and of settling down again as farmer.
The appellation of Scottish Bard, he confessed to Mrs. Dunlop, was his
highest pride; to continue to deserve it, his most exalted ambition. He
had no dearer aim than to be able to make 'leisurely pilgrimages through
Caledonia, to sit on the fields of her battles, to wander on the
romantic banks of her rivers, and to muse by the stately towers or
venerable ruins, once the honoured abodes of her heroes.' But that was a
Utopian dream; he had dallied long enough with life, and now it was time
he should be in earnest. 'I have a fond, an aged mother to care for; and
some other bosom ties perhaps equally tender.'

Perhaps, had Burns received before he left Edinburgh the L500 which
Creech ultimately paid him for the Edinburgh Edition, he might have gone
straight to a farm in the south country, and taken up what he considered
the serious business of life. He himself, about this time, estimated
that he would clear nearly L300 by authorship, and with that sum he
intended to return to farming. Mr. Miller of Dalswinton had expressed a
wish to have Burns as tenant of one of his farms, and the poet had been
already approached on the subject. We also gather from almost every
letter written just before the publication of his poems, that he
contemplated an immediate return 'to his shades.' However, when the
Edinburgh Edition came out, April 21, 1787, the poet found that it would
be a considerable time before the whole profits accruing from
publication could be paid over to him. Indeed, there was certainly an
unnecessary delay on Creech's part in making a settlement. The first
instalment of profits was not sufficient for leasing and stocking a
farm; and during the months that elapsed before the whole profits were
in his hands, Burns made several tours through the Borders and Highlands
of Scotland. This was certainly one of his dearest aims; but these tours
were undertaken so