BUR 



148 



Burns, 

 Burnt- 



written in force of humour ; and his Cantata of the 

 Beggars, which Dr Currie has likewise omitted, is 

 another inimitable picture from low life. 



We trust, as Scotchmen, we shall be pardoned for 

 discussing at such length, the merits of a poet so pe- 

 euliap in genius and circumstances. It is not that 

 we underrate the living or the future generation, when 

 we say, that " we shall not look upon his like again." 

 Our ancient language is expiring, and with Burns, or 

 with Macniel at least, it is probable, that Scottish 

 poetry will also expire ; we dwell therefore with 

 fondness on the last voice of our Doric muse. We 

 may find again the same genius spring from a cottage, 

 and sufficiently acquainted with veritable life, to in- 

 terest us in whatever belongs to simplicity and rustic 

 nature ; but we shall not again hear a poet, in that 

 dialect which is at once venerable from ancient asso- 

 ciations, and endearing, because it has been the real 

 language of our childhood, and entwined with our 

 earliest recollections. The affected rust of obselete 

 words, will not be a substitute for this natural anti- 

 quity. Let them plant the moss of language ever 

 30 thickly, poets will only make out of this phrase- 

 ology an artificial pile of ruins. But Burns's song 

 jis, to a Scotchman in a foreign land, the ranz Je 

 vetches of his country. On the banks of the Ganges, 

 or the Ohio, it recals to him scenes of his playfellows, 

 the images of his brothers and his sisters ; it speaks to 

 him also of Bruce and of Wallace in the very lan- 

 guage which the heroes themselves spoke. 



" He was alive (says Dr Currie,) to every species 

 of emotion. He is one of the few poets, who have 

 at once excelled in humour, in tenderness, and in sub- 

 limity ; a praise unknown to the ancients, and which, 

 in modern times, is only due to Ariosto, to Shake- 

 speare, and perhaps to Voltaire. To compare the 

 writings of the Scottish 'peasant with the works of 

 these giants in literature, might appear presumptuous, 

 yet it may be asserted, that he has displayed the foot 

 of Hercuks." (> 



BURNTISLAND, or BRUNTISLAXD, a royal 

 borough of Scotland, in the county of Fife, stands 

 upon a kind of peninsula at the bottom of the Bin, 

 a steep hill, on the north bank of the Frith of Forth, 

 nearly opposite to Leith. From its insular situation, 

 this town is airy and healthy, not subject to epide- 

 mical diseases,, and there are dry and pleasant walks 

 at all times in its vicinity. The town is indifferently 

 built, consisting chiefly of one spacious street ; and 

 the church is an old square building with a spire in 

 the centre*. Its harbour, however, is one of the 

 best on the coast. The bottom is of a fine clay, 

 and vessels ground very easily ; and, during spring 

 tides, the water at the heads of the piers is 22 

 feet deep. It is capacious, secure, and of consi- 

 derable depth at high water ; and being surrounded 

 with hills in the form of an amphitheatre, is com- 

 pletely sheltered from every wind but the south. On 

 each side of its entrance is a projecting ledge of 

 rocks, called the east and west bush, which runs out 

 to the sea for about ISO yards, and breaks the hea- 

 vy swells from the south west ; and the headlands 

 of Clayness and Sand-end defend it from the seas 

 which are brought up the Forth by easterly winds. 

 There is excellent anchorage ground iu the outer 



roadstead, where the largest vessels ride in safety. 

 But notwithstanding the local advantages of this har- 

 bour, though nature has done much, and a good deal ' 

 has been done by art, it is still capable of very con- 

 siderable improvements. It is always dry at low 

 water, and the spring tides ebb from 20 to 30 yards 

 without the piers. To render it commodious, there- 

 fore, for passage boats and other small craft to enter 

 and sail at all times of tide, requires only an extension 

 of the piers, which, according to Mr Rennie, might 

 be easily accomplished, as plenty of materials are to 

 be found in the neighbourhood. " For this purpose," 

 says that gentleman in his report to the trustees, " the 

 two ledges of rocks, namely the east and west bush, 

 afford an excellent opportunity ; but owing to their 

 being upwards of 400 feet in length, the expense will 

 be considerable. The distance between these ledges, 

 at their extremity, is about 200 feet, and the sound- 

 ings between them, at low water spring tides, i& 

 from seven to eight feet ; and the decrease of depth 

 from thence to the present pier is gradual." Such 

 an improvement would not only be of essential impor- 

 tance to the town itself ; but were a correspondent 

 pier to be erected at Newhaven, as was proposed, it 

 would be of the utmost advantage to the county of 

 Fife and the public in general, as it would render a 

 direct communication between the two sides of "the 

 Forth at all times practicable. 



This town, before the union of the two kingdoms 

 carried on a considerable trade to England in the ex- 

 portation of corn and malt ; but since that time lit- 

 tle business of any kind has been done. Within these 

 fifteen years, however, trade has begun to revive ; 

 and a considerable quantity of herrings have been an- 

 nually cured here for a number of years past ; but 

 this business has of late been rather falling off. 

 There is now established in the town, a vitriol work 

 and a distillery, and the business of ship-building is 

 prosecuted to a considerable extent. 



An excellent dry dock has lately been constructed 

 by Mr Farnie, an inhabitant of Burntisland. It is 

 very extensive and commodious, being 215 feet in 

 length, and of a proportional breadth. The gates 

 are 43 feet 4 inches wide, and contain 17^ feet of 

 water, which renders it capable of receiving the lar- 

 gest frigates, 



Burntisland was strongly fortified by our French 

 allies in the troubles of 1560 ; and from its natural 

 strength, and its vicinity to the capital, it was then 

 considered as a post of great importance. During 

 the usurpation it stood out against Oliver Cromwell, 

 until he agreed to repair the streets and harbour, and 

 to build a quay ; and in 1715 it was surprised and 

 taken by the rebels The remains of its walls and 

 intr 'nchments are still visible ; and on the south east 

 side of the port are the rums of an old castle, which 

 was built by the Duries, and which commanded both 

 the town and harbour. 



The peninsula on which the town is situated, and 

 also much of the surrounding elevated country, is 

 composed of rocks belonging to one of the newer 

 coal formations. These rocks are greenstone, sand- 

 stone, limestone, bituminous shale, slate clay, clay 

 iron-stone, coal ; and we suspect that the trap tuft, 

 amygdaloid, and basalt, which occur on the Bin*, 



