O tender cares which women alone can give, soon entered into a second matrimonial engagement. His second wife, whose name was Katherine Brown, was very respectable and industrious, and had been formerly married to a person of the name of Urie, to whom she had children. To these her second husband became a kind guardian; and his circumstances becoming rather straightened, by the necessary expenses of a rising family, all his intentions of giving his son a liberal education were completely frustrated. But the education which he had already received, although limited, had given him, even at this early age, a love of poetry, a taste for literature, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, which more or less influenced his character in after life. Of this he himself was aware, as appears, from the following passage in one of his letters, written in 1811, when he had become, with unparalleled perseverence, the distinguished ornitholo.gist: The publication of the ornithology, though it has swallowed up all the little I have saved, has procured me the honour of many friends, eminent in this country, and the esteem of the public at large; for which I have to thank the goodness of a kind father, whose attention to my education in early life, as well as the books then put into my hands, first gave my mind a bias towards relishing the paths of literature, and the charms and magnificence of nature. These, it is true, particularly the latter, have made me a wanderer in life, but they have also enabled me to support an honest and respectable situation in the world, and have been the sources of almost all my enjoyments." In his thirteenth year, Wilson was bound apprentice, as a weaver, to William Duncan, then residing in the Seedhills, who had previously married his eldest sister; and soon after this period his father, in hopes of bettering his circumstances, removed with his family to the Tower of Auchenbathie, ten miles west from Paisley, in the vicinity of Lochwinnoch; and became, besides carrying on his former business of a weaver, the occupier of small grazing farm, but with little success. However, he remained at Auchenbathie till the Spring of 1790, and then returned to Paisley, and resided in a house, yclept the Douket, at Seedhills, till his death. The duration of Wilson's apprenticeship was three years, during which time he lived with his employer, most faithfully fulfilling his engagement. At the end of the original indenture, bearing date, July 31st, 1779, the following lines are seen in his own hand-writing :— "Be't kent to a' the warld in rhyme, That wi' right meikle wark an' toil, August, 1782."* These lines are the earliest authentic production of Wilson; and though possessing no intrinsic merit, nor deserving of notice, save as a curious trifle of their celebrated author, show that, at this early period of his life, he had commenced the writing of verses. However, it is a thing not to be deplored, that this is the only specimen of his early writings; for seldom does the youthful compositions of even our greatest poets indicate the powers of mind, which they afterwards display in the works of their more mature days. For four years after the end of his apprenticeship, he continued working as a journeyman weaver, sometimes residing in Paisley, and sometimes in Lochwinnoch; and latterly with William Duncan, his brother-in-law, who had shortly after the termination of Wilson's apprenticeship, taken up his residence at Queensferry, on the banks of the Forth. During these years Wilson composed the greater portion of his earlier poems, many of which relate to the beautiful scenery and incidents connected with Lochwinnoch, in which elegantly situated village he was resident nearly two years of this humble period. It was also about this time, that he made his first appearance in public as a poet, by occasionally contributing some little pieces to the "Glasgow Advertiser." These soon gained him a little popularity, particularly among his townsmen; for his pieces, it is said, speedily became the "nightly subjects of discussion in the clubs and book-shops of Paisley." He next made an important change in his circumstances, and which has been reckoned an era in his life. *This valuable document is now in the possession of James Clark, Esq., of Chapel House, Paisley. In the year 1786, William Duncan, who was rather too prodigal, to better his fortunes, set out on a mercantile expedition, over the eastern parts of Scotland; and in this he was accompanied by Wilson, now in his twentieth year. The sedentary life of a weaver had become so uncongenial to his mind, that he was glad of an opportunity of leaving it; and he now resolved, to use his own words, in a song which he had sometime before written, and entitled "Groans from the Loom,"-no longer "To hing like a scarecrow in rags, And live o'er a seat-tree on nought. So low uncomplaining be brought ?" The weaving was now completely abandoned, and for a period of nearly three years, he traversed his native country in the character of a pedlar. His course was not however solely determined by considerations of gain. He cared much more to view the ever pleasing face of nature, than to display his muslins; and his feelings were those of wild rapture, on escaping the toilsome loom-toilsome at least to him, who desired to roam in perfect freedom over the glorious world of nature, "Finding tongues in trees, books in running brooks, "These are pleasures," says he, in his journal, "which the grovelling sons of interest, and the grubs of the world, know as little of, as the miserable spirits, doomed to everlasting darkness, know of the glorious regions and eternal delights of Paradise." In his wanderings, he often went far out of his way to visit classic ground: and at one time spoke with warmth of a visit he had paid to the village of Athelstenford, at one time the residence of Blair, author of "The Grave," a poem of which Wilson was passionately fond, and afterwards, of Home, the author of the celebrated tragedy of "Douglas." During this period of unsettled life he composed many of his poems, and now commenced preparing materials for publishing. Accordingly he made an engagement with John Neilson, printer, in Paisley-got prospectuses printed, and on the 17th of September, 1789, set out from Edinburgh, to dispose of his goods, and solicit subscribers for his forth-coming volume: or to use his own expression, in a journal which he kept during that expedition, and published in his volume-" to make one bold push for the united interests of pack and poems." He traversed the eastern coast of Scotland, and in few weeks returned to Paisley, and gave to the world an octavo volume, entitled, "Poems, by Alexander Wilson;" the preface of which is dated, Paisley, July 22, 1790. From his journal we learn, that his success was far from being encouraging, and that he met with many slights and disappointments. However, although he says in the conclusion of his journal, that he has "measured the height of a hundred stairs, and explored the recesses of twice that number of miserable habitations" in one day, and only gained by it, "two shillings of worldly pelf," he, nevertheless, retraced his steps, having with him copies of his work to supply his subscribers. After meeting with no better success than before, and with many more disappointments, and not being able to dispose of his poems, he returned to Paisley. He was weary of his unsettled life, and now resolved to renounce the character of poet and pedlar; and in a short time afterwards he resumed his former occupation of weaving, in his favourite village-Lochwinnoch. He did not, however, remain long quietly settled in that place; for although he had forsworn the profitless and unsuccessful characters of poet and pedlar, yet he was far from being reconciled to his employment, and only wanted a favourable opportunity of again leaving it. An opportunity was soon given. His friend, Kennedy, in Edinburgh, informed him by letter, that a certain literary class in the metropolis had formed a public debating society, called the Forum; and that on the 14th of April, 1791, the following question was purposed for discussion:-"Whether have the exertions of Allan Ramsay or Robert Fergusson done more honour to Scottish poetry." Wilson, on learning this, eagerly embraced the opportunity of again making his appearance in public as a poet, in a manner so congenial to his love of honest independent fame. He had never read the poems of Fergusson, and had only two weeks to prepare himself: but he borrowed a copy of the work from his friend Brodie-made up his mind on the subject-composed a piece of considerable length-laboured harder than ever at his loom, to provide the necessary expenses for the journey-and arrived in Edinburgh, just in time to take a part in the debate. He appeared in the character of a Scottish farmer, or to use his own words, "Not for himself, but for an honest carl," and with enthusiasm delivered his "Laurel Disputed," defending the unfortunate Fergusson. This was contrary to the opinion of the audience; but his poem seems to have gained him considerable esteem and favour, and before leaving the city, he composed and recited two other poetical pieces, namely, "Rab and Ringan," and the much admired tale of "The Loss o' the Pack." He also published, in connection with his young friend, Ebenezer Picken, who had espoused, in a smooth piece of blank verse, the merits of Ramsay-a pamphlet, entitled, "The Laurel Disputed; or the merits of Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson contrasted, in two poetical essays, by E. Picken and A. Wilson." He likewise, it appears, formed, while in Edinburgh, some literary connection with Dr. Anderson, to whose "Bee" he contributed some poetical pieces, and a prose essay, entitled, the "Solitary Philosopher;" but these, although bringing some increase in fame, brought him none in wealth, and he quietly returned home, when his funds were exhausted. But he had better hopes; and on his return, he was induced, from the favourable reception he had received in Edinburgh, to publish a second edition of his poems. Accordingly, a second edition, entitled, "Poems, Humorous, Satirical, and Serious," with some additions, was immediately issued, having a dedication to W. M'Dowal, Esq., of Gartland, dated from the Seedhills of Paisley, August 22, 1791. Again Wilson departed to dispose of his volume, but, like its predecessor, it was not favourably received; and the author, with his hopes frustrated, had to return home, with the sad alternative of again plying the murmuring shuttle. His reception may, in some measure, be attributed to his too early publishing; and of this he, in latter years, felt to be true, from what follows having been written, by himself, in the blank leaf of a copy of his first edition:-" I published these poems when only twenty-two: an age b |