Having left his socially superior friends in Edinburgh behind, Rabbie had now retuned to country life back in his native south-west Scotland and settled down with Jean Armour and the family  for a peaceful life in the sticks – or at least that was what he was probably hoping for.

Success in this latest chapter of his life was mixed. On the one hand, his burgeoning reputation in literary circles showed no signs of abating after the publication of Tam o’ Shanter, but life on the farm wasn’t getting any easier, and then there was the added complication of leaving behind a human souvenir every time he bumped into one of the local lassies – the latest victim being Anna Park, a barmaid at the Globe Inn in Dumfries.

One of the reasons that he was frequently seen propping up the bar in the Globe was because he had taken a job as an exciseman in the town as a way to diminish his financial problems back on the farm, but spending the extra cash on a wee dram or two and encouraging the barmaid to provide another mouth to feed doesn’t seem to be the best way of using those extra resources I wouldn’t have thought.

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Originally posted 2023-08-18 14:52:49.

For the two years Rabbie lived in Edinburgh, he mixed with high society, but deep down, the ‘Ploughman Poet’ was still a country boy at heart with views that often differed from those of the establishment, and on 23^rd February 1788 he moved out of the capital for good.

As we know, while he was there, he popped back to Ayrshire every so often, if only to keep the population figures up. Jean Armour had given birth to twins in September 1786, and now she was expecting another set, which her father, James, wasn’t exactly ecstatic about. At least the first time around he packed her off to a relative in Greenock out of the way, but this time he kicked her out altogether.

When Rabbie found her destitute he made sure that she had somewhere to stay, and on 3^rd March she gave birth to two girls, neither of whom survived to the end of the month. As for the first set of twins, Jean died in infancy while Rabbie was in Edinburgh, and Robert Burns Junior went to live with the poet’s family at Mossgiel Farm.

So how did James Armour react when Rabbie re-appeared back on the scene? If you remember, he wanted him slung in jail the first time he messed around with Jean, and now he’s been at it again, but strangely enough, the poet’s new-found celebrity status seemed to have had a calming effect on him, and the next thing we know he’s giving his blessing for the couple to get married – and on 5^th August 1788 they tied the knot in Mauchline – this time officially.

Burns had already decided to return to farming, and after consulting with a trusted friend, he took out a lease on the 170 acre Ellisland Farm, which was located on the banks of the River Nith, about 44 miles south-east of Mauchline and 7 miles north-west of Dumfries (in the adjacent historic county of Dumfriesshire, but now part of Dumfries and Galloway).

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Originally posted 2023-08-13 15:05:53.