A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns: And Poems (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns: And Poems...)
Excerpt from A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns: And Poems
The portrait which faces the title page is from a photograph taken while Ainslie was staying with the late Mr. Stephen Wellstood at Bonnybridge, some thirty years ago. The other portrait, which appears in the body of the volume, formed the frontispiece of the New York edition of the Poems and the profiles of the three pilgrims are engraved from a photo-copy of a minia ture, received from Mrs. Johns. To these illustrations have been added reproductions of the three engravings which appeared in the original edition of the pilgrim age, from drawings made by Ainslie and his companion, Mr. James Wellstood, in the course of their memorable tour. One of these is particularly interesting, as show ing Mauchline Old Kirk of the time of Burns, with Gavin Hamilton's house and Mauchline Castle.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
(
About the Book
Poetry is a literary form that uses aest...)
About the Book
Poetry is a literary form that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language (e.g. phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre) to enhance the prosaic ostensible meaning, or generate an alternative meaning. Poetry uses numerous devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poetry's long history dates back to prehistorical times ehen hunting poetry was created in Africa.
Also in this Book
Poetry as an art form predates written text, with the earliest poetry having been recited or sung, and employed as a way of remembering oral history. The oldest examples of epic poetry include the Epic of Gilgamesh from Bablylon and the Greek epics The Iliad and The Odyssey, and the Indian Sanskrit epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. The longest epic poems in history were the Mahabharata and the Tibetan Epic of King Gesar. Aristotle's Poetics considered that there were three genres of poetry—the epic, the comic, and the tragic. Later aestheticians identified: epic poetry, lyric poetry, and dramatic poetry. One of the most popular form since the Late Middle Ages, is the sonnet, which by the 13th century had become standardized as fourteen lines following a set rhyme scheme. The form had crystallized further by the 14th century and the Italian Renaissance, under the guidance of Petrarch.
About us
Leopold Classic Library has the goal of making available to readers the classic books that have been out of print for decades. While these books may have occasional imperfections, we consider that only hand checking of every page ensures readable content without poor picture quality, blurred or missing text etc. That's why we:
• republish only hand checked books;
• that are high quality;
• enabling readers to see classic books in original formats; that
• are unlikely to have missing or blurred pages. You can search "Leopold Classic Library" in categories of your interest to find other books in our extensive collection.
Happy reading!
Hew Ainslie was a Scottish-American poet. During his life he wrote several Scottish ballads and songs.
Background
Hew Ainslie was born on April 5, 1792 in Bargeny Mains, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the only son of George Ainslie, a farmer employed on a large but somewhat barren estate. The boy grew up on the wild banks of the river Girvan and along the rocky southwestern coast of Scotland. This had been a famous smuggling shore, and in Ainslie's boyhood many of the old mariners were still living, though retired from their adventurous profession. Young Ainslie had the poetic temperament, and reveled in the beauty of the region and in the romantic tales of the surroundings. His mother sang many ballads to the boy. In his father's library he found the works of Ramsay, Fergusson, and Burns.
Education
Ainslie was first given private instruction at home, then attended the Ballantrae parish school and later the Ayr Academy, but he was taken from school because of fears as to his health.
Career
Ainslie participated in amateur plays, among other roles taking the part of Jenny in Ramsay's dramatic pastoral, The Gentle Shepherd. This part, containing numerous lyrics, stimulated Ainslie's poetic faculties, and shortly thereafter he first began to write verse.
In 1809 the Ainslie family moved to Roslin. The eighteen-year-old youth was sent to Glasgow to study law, but, disliking it, returned home. A year later he was given a position as copyist in the Register House, Edinburgh, where he met Jamieson the translator, Pringle the poet, and other literary figures. He held this position for twelve years, except for a brief period when he acted as amanuensis to Prof. Dugald Stewart. A trip through Ayrshire in 1820 with two friends resulted in his first book, A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns, published anonymously in 1822. The work is an informal, somewhat exuberant travel diary, containing a number of original lyrics in Scottish dialect. "The Land of Burns, " as a popular name for Ayrshire, is attributed to Ainslie's title.
In 1822, Ainslie sailed for America, leaving his family behind until he should make a new home for them. After three unsuccessful years of farming near Hoosick, New York, he went to New Harmony, Indiana, and spent a year as a member of Robert Owen's colony. His family rejoining him, he entered the brewing business, but flood and fire successively destroyed his establishments. Thereafter he followed the business of erecting breweries and distilleries for others.
His real interest, however, was in poetry, and he wrote numerous verses, principally in dialect. In 1855 a collection of some eighty of his poems was published in New York under the title, Scottish Songs, Ballads, and Poems. His work met with favor in his native country, and when he returned for a visit in 1862 he received a hearty welcome from literary people. After a trip through Europe, he returned to the United States and spent the rest of his life with his children, at Louisville, Kentucky. Here he devoted himself to gardening, writing little if any poetry.
Ainslie's poetry is for the most part light verse. It possesses sentiment, humor, and often rollicking rhythm. Certain of his poems are invested with a vague humanitarianism. His work shows a joyous, honest spirit rather than emotional intensity.