Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Ainslie, 1 November 1789
Ellisland 1st November 1789
My dear Friend
I had written you long ere now could I have
guessed where to find you; but for I am sure you have more
good sense than to waste the precious days of vacation
time in the dirt of Business & Edinburgh - Wherever
you are, God bless you, & lead you not into temptation but
deliver you from evil!
I do not know if I have informed you that I am now
appointed to an Excise Division in the middle of which
my house & farm lie. - In this I was extremely lucky. -
Without ever having been an Expectant, as they call their
Journeymen Excisement, I was directly planted down
to all intents & purposes an Officer of Excise, there to
flourish & bring forth fruits - worthy of repentance. -
I know how the word, Exciseman, or still more opprobrious,
Gauger, will sound in your ears. - I too have
seen the day when my auditory nerves would have felt
very delicately on this subject, but a wife & children are
things which have a wonderful power in blunting
My dear Friend
I had written you long ere now could I have
guessed where to find you; but for I am sure you have more
good sense than to waste the precious days of vacation
time in the dirt of Business & Edinburgh - Wherever
you are, God bless you, & lead you not into temptation but
deliver you from evil!
I do not know if I have informed you that I am now
appointed to an Excise Division in the middle of which
my house & farm lie. - In this I was extremely lucky. -
Without ever having been an Expectant, as they call their
Journeymen Excisement, I was directly planted down
to all intents & purposes an Officer of Excise, there to
flourish & bring forth fruits - worthy of repentance. -
I know how the word, Exciseman, or still more opprobrious,
Gauger, will sound in your ears. - I too have
seen the day when my auditory nerves would have felt
very delicately on this subject, but a wife & children are
things which have a wonderful power in blunting
these kind of sensations. - Fifty pounds a year for
life, & a provision for widows & orphans, you will
allow, is no bad settlement for a Poet. - For the ignominy
of the Profession, I have the encouragement which I once heard
a recruiting Sergeant give to a numerous if not a respectable
audience in the Streets of Kilmarnock - "Gentlemen, for
"your farther & better encouragement, I can assure you that
"our regiment is the most blackguard corps under the crown,
"and consequently with us an honest fellow has the surest
"chance for preferment. "
You need not doubt I find several very unpleasant and
disagreeable circumstances in my business; but I am tired with
and disgusted at the language of complaint against the
evils of life. - Human existence in the most favourable
situations does not abound with pleasures, and had its in-
conveniences and ills; capricious, foolish Man mistakes these
inconveniences & ills as if they were the peculiar property
of his particular situation; and hence that eternal fickleness
and that love of change which has ruined & daily does ruin
many a fine fellow as well as many a Blockhead; and is
almost without exception a constant source of disappointment & misery. –
life, & a provision for widows & orphans, you will
allow, is no bad settlement for a Poet. - For the ignominy
of the Profession, I have the encouragement which I once heard
a recruiting Sergeant give to a numerous if not a respectable
audience in the Streets of Kilmarnock - "Gentlemen, for
"your farther & better encouragement, I can assure you that
"our regiment is the most blackguard corps under the crown,
"and consequently with us an honest fellow has the surest
"chance for preferment. "
You need not doubt I find several very unpleasant and
disagreeable circumstances in my business; but I am tired with
and disgusted at the language of complaint against the
evils of life. - Human existence in the most favourable
situations does not abound with pleasures, and had its in-
conveniences and ills; capricious, foolish Man mistakes these
inconveniences & ills as if they were the peculiar property
of his particular situation; and hence that eternal fickleness
and that love of change which has ruined & daily does ruin
many a fine fellow as well as many a Blockhead; and is
almost without exception a constant source of disappointment & misery. –
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/30
- Alt. number
- 3.6057
- Date
- 1 November 1789
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Ainslie, Robert
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/30
- Alt. number
- 3.6057
- Date
- 1 November 1789
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Ainslie, Robert
Description
Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Ainslie, dated Ellisland, 1 November, 1789.
This three page letter was written by Burns at Ellisland on 1 November 1789 to his friend Robert Ainslie after a gap of several months, for which he apologises. The letter announces his appointment as an Excise Officer and the reasons leading up to it.
On the first page Burns informs Ainslie of his Excise appointment and being 'Lucky' having skipped the journeyman stage and come in at Officer level. He acknowledges the opprobrious stigma attached to the words 'exciseman' and 'Gauger' which Ainslie might feel, but explains that his family situation drove him to it.
On the second page Burns explains that he receives £50 per annum for life with a 'provision for Widows & orphans'. He then quotes an example which for him reduces the 'ignominy of the profession', and then outlines his philosophy associated with his present condition.
The last page of the letter is incomplete with a section in the top centre missing and completed by someone else. There is no signature and so it is probable that the last lines are also missing. In this final paragraph Burns reconciles himself with the thought that things could always be worse and is thus content with his 'present lot'.
Robert Ainslie was a Law student in Edinburgh where Burns and he first became acquainted. He accompanied Burns for part of his Borders tour in 1787 and was a lifelong correspondent with whom Burns shared many of his most intimate thoughts.
On the second page Burns explains that he receives £50 per annum for life with a 'provision for Widows & orphans'. He then quotes an example which for him reduces the 'ignominy of the profession', and then outlines his philosophy associated with his present condition.
The last page of the letter is incomplete with a section in the top centre missing and completed by someone else. There is no signature and so it is probable that the last lines are also missing. In this final paragraph Burns reconciles himself with the thought that things could always be worse and is thus content with his 'present lot'.
Robert Ainslie was a Law student in Edinburgh where Burns and he first became acquainted. He accompanied Burns for part of his Borders tour in 1787 and was a lifelong correspondent with whom Burns shared many of his most intimate thoughts.
Archive information
Place of creation
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Letters from and to Robert Burns
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Ainslie, 1 November 1789