In his father, Burns was most fortunate, for he was a man of strict integrity, and strong religious faith.  The education of his children was, in his judgment, so important that when they were unable to attend school he taught them himself, notwithstanding his exhausting labors on the farm.  The family as a whole were fond of reading.  Among their books the poet mentions certain plays of Shakespeare, Pope’s works,—­including his translation of Homer,—­the Spectator, Allan Ramsay’s writings, and several volumes on religious and philosophical subjects.  Probably in this list the Bible should stand first.  He himself studied the art of verse-making in a collection of songs.  He says:  “I pored over them, driving my cart or walking to labor, song by song, carefully noting the true tender or sublime from affectation or fustian.  I am convinced that I owe to this practice much of my critic-craft, such as it is!” His first song, composed when he was fifteen, was inspired by a young girl who worked at his side in the harvest field.

Robert and his brother Gilbert had taken a farm at Mossgiel, not far away, while their father was still living, and after his death they removed there, taking with them the rest of the family.  Unfortunately the farm did not prosper.  On reaching the age of twenty-seven the poet determined to go to Jamaica where he had been promised a position as overseer of an estate.  In order to raise money to pay his passage he published a volume of poems.  The returns were small, but the fame of the writer spread so rapidly that he was persuaded to remain in his own country and publish a second edition of his poems in Edinburgh.

The two winters which he spent in the Scotch capital at this time form an interesting episode in his life.  He was the lion of the day in literary circles.  Many persons who met him have told how he impressed them; but the most interesting account is that of Walter Scott, then a youth of sixteen.  He says of Burns:  “His person was strong and robust; his manner rustic, not clownish; a sort of dignified plainness and simplicity.  His countenance was more massive than it looks in any of the portraits. . .  There was a strong expression of sense and shrewdness in all his lineaments; the eye alone, I think, indicated the poetical character and temperament.  It was large, and of a dark cast, which glowed (I say literally glowed), when he spoke, with feeling or interest.  I never saw such another eye in a human head, though I have seen the most distinguished men of my time.”

In 1788 the poet married Jane Armour, and the following year settled with her on a farm at Ellisland, near Dumfries.  Finding it impossible to make a living for his increasing family as a farmer, he obtained through friends the place of exciseman for the surrounding region.  This position obliged him to ride more than two hundred miles a week, collecting government taxes.  In 1791 he moved to the town of Dumfries.