years gave the laws
of elegance to Scotland.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 200. Allan Ramsay
dedicated to her his _Gentle Shepherd_, and W. Hamilton, of Bangour,
wrote to her verses on the presentation of Ramsay's poem. Hamilton's
_Poems_, p. 23.

[1009] See _ante_, ii. 66, and iii. 188.

[1010] 'She called Boswell the boy: "yes, Madam," said I, "we will send
him to school." "He is already," said she, "in a good school;" and
expressed her hope of his improvement. At last night came, and I was
sorry to leave her.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 200. See _ante_, iii. 366.

[1011] See _ante_, pp. 318, 362.

[1012] Burns, who was in his fifteenth year, was at this time living at
Ayr, about twelve miles away. When later on he moved to Mauchline, he
and Boswell became much nearer neighbours.

[1013] He had, however, married again. _Ante_, ii. 140, note I. It is
curious that Boswell in this narrative does not mention his step-mother.

[1014]
'Asper
Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit.'
'Though rude his mirth, yet laboured to maintain
The solemn grandeur of the tragic scene.'

FRANCIS. Horace, _Ars Poet_. l. 221.

[1015] See _ante_, iii. 65, and v. 97.

[1016] See _ante_, iv. 163, 241.

[1017] Johnson (_Works_, vii. 425) says of Addison's dedication of the
opera of _Rosamond_ to the Duchess of Marlborough, that 'it was an
instance of servile absurdity, to be exceeded only by Joshua Barnes's
dedication of a Greek _Anacreon_ to the Duke.' For Barnes see _ante_,
iii. 284, and iv. 19.

[1018] William Baxter, the editor of _Anacreon_, was the nephew of
Richard Baxter, the nonconformist divine.

[1019] He says of Auchinleck (_Works_, ix. 158) that 'like all the
western side of Scotland, it is _incommoded_ by very frequent rain.' 'In
all September we had, according to Boswell's register, only one day and
a half of fair weather; and in October perhaps not more.' _Piozzi
Letters_, i. 182.

[1020] 'By-the-bye,' wrote Sir Walter Scott, 'I am far from being of the
number of those angry Scotsmen who imputed to Johnson's national
prejudices all or a great part of the report he has given of our country
in his _Voyage to the Hebrides_. I remember the Highlands ten or twelve
years later, and no one can conceive of 'how much that could have been
easily remedied travellers had to complain.' _Croker Corres_. ii. 34

[1021] 'Of these islands it must be confessed, that they have not many
allurements but to the mere lover of nake