BURNS’ BIRTH-PLACE AND GRAVE 37 
memory/ Poor fellow ! There never was a genius 
upon earth whose memory is dearer to my heart. 
. . . Big drops are trickling down my cheeks, I 
know not why. I cannot scrutinise my feelings. 
The spirit of departed years speaks to my soul, and 
the meteor phantoms of futurity hover around. 
My soul is sad. When will the light of Heaven 
flash through the murky clouds of ignorance and 
doubt that have enveloped it ? ” 
He then went on his way southward, and he 
writes:— 
“I am now upon the sea-shore ... lam still 
unwell but not now melancholy. The sight of the 
glorious ocean has restored my serenity. How I 
am to be lodged to-night I know not. The nearest 
town is upwards of 5 miles distant, and I am 
scarcely able to move. However I shall proceed.” 
So he proceeded, and reached Girvan, where he 
remained for the night. 
From Girvan lie continued his journey by 
Stranraer, Castle Douglas, and Dumfries. At 
Dumfries he spent one night; and while there he 
went out in the evening in search of the grave of 
Burns. After scaling the wall of the churchyard 
in which he assumed it would be found, and 
searching among many monuments, he came upon 
one more magnificent than any of the others. 
“It was in the form of a dome,” he says, 
“supported by eight Ionic pillars. Through the 
iron railings I could distinguish the figure of a man 
holding a plough in white marble. This is it, said 
I, and before I had reached the outer gate I burst 
c 2 
