488 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 



made up by his vigorous and sympathetic rendering of the 

 sentiment. Amongst others, his favourites were " The 

 Blaeberries " already mentioned, " Johnnie Cope," " Scots 

 wha hae," "John Anderson, my Joe," and "Auld Lang 

 Syne." 



Strangely for the ardent Scot he was, though singing 

 more than one of his songs, John had no great favour for 

 Burns, and he never possessed a copy of his poems. In this 

 respect, he represented the prejudices of the stricter religion- 

 ists of the country, to whom by nature and training he 

 belonged. Here he was the very antipodes of his friend, 

 Charles Black, who had, as John said, "an awfu' notion 

 o' Robbie," and even in the Whitehouse days, had learned 

 most of his poems by heart. Charles used to quote him on 

 all occasions with felicity and ease, sometimes in the poet's 

 freer utterances, to John's surprise and horror, duly expressed 

 in strong remonstrance. John liked many of Burns' pieces, 

 and had a great appreciation of "Man was made to Mourn," 

 which Charles used to recite well ; John feeling that it 

 admirably expressed the soul-hidden sorrow through which 

 he had passed, though he did not relish the anti- Calvinism 

 of the poem. 



When I asked him his opinion of the poet, he said he 

 liked him " nae that ill, only he just didna tak' sick a notion 

 o'm as Charlie, for Robbie was terrible ramsh whiles ; " that 

 is, he was too rough and outspoken at times for his taste, 

 as he is even to admirers not of the unco'-guid order, when 

 he utters his over-mastering virility. To Charles, he fre- 

 quently characterised the poet as " a filthy loon," his offences 

 against decorum overbearing, in John's intolerant puritan- 

 ism, his eminent merits in other departments. 



