Mossgiel, a farm in Mauchline parish, Ayrshire, 1 mile N by W of Mauchline town. Extending to 118 acres, it was rented for £90 a year from 1784 till 1788 by Robert Burns and his brother Gilbert, the latter of whom continued to tenant it till 1800. The ' auld clay biggin' of his Vision, it was the place where the poet wrote many of his most famous pieces; and, though itself destitute of scenic beauty, except for the views that it commands, his fame has clothed it with charm and literary interest.
'Hither romantic pilgrims shall betake
Themseles from distant lands. When we are still
In centuries of sleep, his fame will wake,
And his great memory with deep feelings fill
These scenes that he has trod and hallow every hill.
We may not omit Wordsworth's sonnet on this plain but consecrated spot:
' "There!" said a stripling, pointing with much pride
Towards a low roof with green trees half concealed,
"Is Mossgiel Farm, and that's the very field
Where Burns ploughed up the Daisy." Far and wide
A plain below stretched seaward, while, descried
Above sea-clouds, the Peaks of Arran rose;
and, by that simple notice, the repose
Of earth, sky, sea, and air was vivified.
Beneath "the random bield of clod or stone,"
Myriad of daisies have shone forth in flower
Near the lark's nest, and in their natural hour
Have passed away: less happy than the one
That by the unwilling ploughshare, died to prove
The tender charm of poetry and love.'
The original farm-steading, a low thatched house, with kitchen, bedroom, and closet, the floors of kneaded clay, the ceilings of moorland turf, was almost entirely rebuilt not long before the close of 1859. While residing here Burns published, in 1786, by the advice of his superior and patron, Mr Hamilton, the first edition of his poems.—Ord. Sur., sh. 14, 1863. See Wm. Jolly's Robert Burns at Mossgiel (2d ed. 1881), and an article in the Century Magazine (1883).
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errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from
the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be
different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original
text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity.
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