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preface

robert burns was born near ayr, stnd, 25th of january, 1759 he was the n of willia burnes, or burness, at the ti of the poet&039;s birth a nurseryan on the banks of the doon ayrshire his father, though always extrely poor, attepted to give his children a fair education, and robert, who was the eldest, went to school for three years a neighborg vil, and ter, for shorter periods, to three other schools the vicity but it was to his father and to his own readg that he owed the ore iportant part of his education; and by the ti that he had reached anhood he had a good knowled of english, a readg knowled of french, and a fairly wide acatance with the asterpieces of english literature fro the ti of shakespeare to his own day 1766 willia burness rented on borrowed oney the far of ount oliphant, and takg his share the effort to ake this undertakg sueed, the future poet sees to have serioly overstraed his physie 1771 the faily ove to lochlea, and burns went to the neighborg town of irve to learn fx-dressg the only result of this experint, however, was the foration of an acatance with a dissipated sailor, who he afterward bd as the propter of his first licentio adventures his father died 1784, and with his brother gilbert the poet rented the far of ossgiel; but this venture was as unsuessful as the others he had anti ford an irregur tiacy with jean arour, for which he was censured by the kirk-session as a result of his farg isfortunes, and the attepts of his father--w to overthrow his irregur arria with jean, he relved to eigrate; and order to raise oney for the passa he published (kilarnock, 1786) a vo of the poes which he had been posg fro ti to ti for years this vo was unexpectedly suessful, that, stead of sailg for the west dies, he went up to edburgh, and durg that ter he was the chief literary celebrity of the sean an enrd edition of his poes was published there 1787, and the oney derived fro this enabled hi to aid his brother ossgiel, and