ROBERT BURNS – THE EXCISEMAN - by TONY GRACE, 2009/2010 SEASON
THE LITERARY WORLD OF BURNS’ TIME APPEARED TO THINK THAT IT WAS A DISHONOUR
FOR SCOTLAND’S BARD TO BE A GAUGER – THAT IS TO WORK FOR THE EXCISE, AND EVEN
BURNS HIMSELF HAD MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT IT. HOWEVER FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS
OF HIS LIFE, BURNS GAVE HIMSELF SERIOUSLY AND CONSCIENTIOUSLY TO A SERVICE
THAT WAS MORE HONOURABLE AND EFFICIENT THAN MANY OTHER BRANCHES OF
GOVERNMENT AT THAT TIME. DESPITE HIS METEORIC RISE TO FAME IN EDINBURGH HE
WAS PAINFULLY AWARE OF THE LACK OF SECURITY FOR HIMSELF AND HIS EVER-
GROWING FAMILY IN CONTINUING AS A POOR TENANT FARMER, AND IN THE EXCISE
THERE WOULD BE NO LOSS OF INCOME BECAUSE OF BAD LAND, A BAD HARVEST OR BAD
WEATHER. I WILL TRY TO SHOW THAT BURNS WAS A VERY COMPETENT EMPLOYEE IN HIS
WORK AND AS SUCH ENJOYED THE RESPECT AND GOODWILL OF HIS COLLEAGUES AND
SUPERIORS. IN HIS ‘CHARACTER BOOK” - WHICH WAS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF HIS
EMPLOYMENT - THERE IS A REFERENCE – ‘THE POET DOES PRETTY WELL”. THIS WAS HIGH
PRAISE IN THAT SERVICE.
BEFORE LOOKING AT BURNS ROLE IN THE EXCISE IT IS WORTH PROVIDING SOME
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE SERVICE ITSELF AND WHAT THE WORK ENTAILED.
THE SCOTTISH EXCISE HAD BEEN FOUNDED IN 1707 AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A
BEWILDERING ARRAY OF DUTIES – AUCTIONS, BEER, BRICKS, CANDLES, COCOA, COFFEE,
CIDER, GLASS, HIDES AND SKINS, MALT, PAPER, PRINTED CALICO, SOAP, SPIRITS, TEA,
TOBACCO, WINE AND WIRE. SCOTLAND WAS DIVIDED UP INTO AREAS, DISTRICTS AND
STATIONS, WHICH WERE THE BASIC UNIT OF EXCISE ADMINISTRATION WITH AN
ASSIGNED OFFICER, OR GAUGER AS BURNS REFERRED TO HIMSELF, IN EACH.
THE BASIC SYSTEM OF EXCISE CONTROL IN A STATION WAS THAT ANY PERSON WHO
PROPOSED TO CARRY ON ANY EXCISABLE TRADE – BREWER, MALSTER, TANNER, PAPER
MAKER, BRICK MAKER CHANDLER, DISTILLER ETC. – WAS REQUIRED BY LAW TO
DECLARE TO THE OFFICER THE PREMISES AT WHICH HE INTENDED TO WORK, AND ALSO
TO LIST THE VARIOUS VESSELS AND UTENSILS HE PROPOSED TO USE IN HIS TRADE. ONCE
THIS HAD BEEN DONE AND A LICENCE GRANTED, THE TRADER WAS COMPELLED TO
NOTIFY THE OFFICER IN WRITING BEFORE HE COMMENCED ANY MANUFACTURING
OPERATION, TOGETHER WITH THE QUANTITIES OF MATERIALS TO BE USED. THE OFFICER
WAS THEN REQUIRED TO VISIT THE PREMISES AT TIMES OF HIS OWN CHOOSING AND
EXAMINE THE ENTRIES MADE IN THE TRADER’S BOOKS AND SATISFY HIMSELF THAT
EVERYTHING WAS IN ORDER. HE WAS ALSO EXPECTED TO VISIT THE PREMISES
FREQUENTLY DURING THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS AT DIFFERENT AND RANDOM
TIMES – BOTH DAY AND NIGHT – TO ENSURE NO UNDECLARED ACTIVITY OR FRAUD WAS
TAKING PLACE. ALL THIS HAD THEN TO BE DOCUMENTED AND THEN REVIEWED BY THE
OFFICER’S SUPERVISOR.
IN ADDITION TO ALL THIS, EACH OFFICER HAD TO ENSURE THAT THERE WERE NO ILLICIT
OPERATIONS IN HIS STATION – NO EASY TASK WHEN JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING WAS ON A
SMALL SCALE AND BASICALLY A “HOME INDUSTRY”. ONE OF THE MORE ONEROUS
ASPECTS OF THE JOB INVOLVED CHECKING THE DEALERS IN VARIOUS EXCISABLE
GOODS. BY LAW ALL SPIRIT AND WINE MERCHANTS, TOBACCONISTS AND TEA DEALERS
HAD TO BE LICENSED AND MAINTAIN ACCURATE STOCK RECORDS, AND WERE NOT
ALLOWED TO MOVE ANY GOODS WITHOUT A PERMIT FROM THE GAUGER, WHO WAS
ALSO REQUIRED TO CHECK THE DEALER’S STOCKS REGULARLY AND MONITOR HIS
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS. AT THE END OF EACH DAY, THE OFFICER HAD TO MAINTAIN A
JOURNAL OF ALL VISITS AND SURVEYS, UP-DATE HIS LEDGERS OF HIS TRADERS, WRITE
OUT REPORTS AND COMPLETE DUTY RETURNS AND VOUCHERS. HE ALSO HAD TO KEEP
UP TO DATE WITH ALL CHANGES IN EXCISE LEGISLATION, AND TO DO THIS, OFFICERS
LIKE BURNS HAD TO PAINSTAKINGLY PLOD THROUGH ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, COPIES OF
GENERAL LETTERS OF THE BOARD, FRAGMENTARY MEMORANDA AND NOTES MADE
FROM VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS. IT WAS ONLY AFTER BURNS DIED THAT THE FIRST
COMPLETE ABSTRACT OF EXCISE LAWS WAS PUBLISHED – AND EVEN THAT WAS OVER
900 PAGES LONG.
BURNS PRIMARY REASON FOR SEEKING EMPLOYMENT AS A GAUGER WAS THE REGULAR
INCOME IT PROVIDED, DESPITE THE LONG HOURS, THE PHYSICALLY ARDUOUS WORK, ITS
ATTENDANT DANGERS AND INDEED THE UNPOPULARITY OF THE SERVICE ITSELF. THE
SALARY WAS 50 POUNDS A YEAR – COMPARED TO CURATES AT 30 TO 45 AND UNIVERSITY
PROFESSORS AT 60 POUNDS, - THE AVERAGE WAGE AT THE TIME BEING ABOUT 45
POUNDS. THE SECURITY OF THE WORK WAS ALSO A FACTOR – IT WAS NOT AFFECTED BY
TRADE OR OTHER BUSINESS FLUCTUATIONS, AND AS LONG AS AN OFFICER ACTED
SENSIBLY, WORKED REASONABLY DILIGENTLY, AVOIDED EXCESSIVE DRINKING AND
STEERED CLEAR FROM POLITICS HE HAD A JOB FOR LIFE. THERE WERE ALSO
OPPORTUNITIES TO AUGMENT THE BASIC SALARY. OFFICERS WERE ENTITLED TO
RECEIVE HALF THE PROCEEDS FROM SEIZED SMUGGLED GOODS AND ALSO 25 POUNDS
FOR EACH SMUGGLER CONVICTED. AS WELL THERE WERE GOOD CHANCES FOR
PROMOTION TO SUPERVISOR OF AN AREA, AND EVEN COLLECTOR FOR A DISTRICT. SUCH
PROMOTIONS WERE BASED ON MERIT, AND PATRONAGE APPEARED TO HAVE LITTLE
IMPACT. ANY OFFICER WHO SHOWED REASONABLE ABILITY COULD EXPECT TO BECOME
A SUPERVISOR WITHIN NINE YEARS – AND BURNS HAD HE LIVED WOULD HAVE BEEN
APPOINTED A SUPERVISOR IN A LITTLE OVER SEVEN YEARS – WHICH WOULD SEEM TO
CONFIRM HIS ABILITIES AT HIS WORK.
INCREDIBLE THOUGH IT MAY SEEM, SCOTTISH EXCISE POSTS WERE PENSIONABLE WHICH
WOULD ALSO HAVE BEEN AN ATTRACTION TO BURNS. THE PENSION WAS FAIRLY BASIC –
CERTAINLY NOT ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO RETIRE AND IN FACT
MOST OFFICERS DIED IN POST WITH FEW SURVIVING BEYOND 60. OFFICERS COULD
APPLY TO THE BOARD TO RETIRE AND REQUEST A PENSION AND THE BOARD WOULD
THEN CONSIDER EACH CASE ON ITS OWN MERITS AND AWARD – OR NOT – A PENSION.
A PENSION WOULD LIKELY BE BETWEEN 8 AND 16 POUNDS A YEAR. THE PENSION PLAN
ALSO INCLUDED A PROVISION FOR OFFICER’S WIDOWS AND ORPHANS – WHICH WAS
QUITE UNIQUE AT THAT TIME. AFTER BURNS DEATH, JEAN ARMOUR RECEIVED A PENSION
OF 8 POUNDS A YEAR UNTIL 1821 AND THEN 12 POUNDS A YEAR UNTIL SHE DIED. PERHAPS
IT IS BECOMING CLEARER WHY A POST IN THE EXCISE WAS SUCH AN ATTRACTIVE
PROPOSITION TO BURNS IN THAT IT OFFERED CERTAIN AND STEADY WORK, A REGULAR
INCOME. THE CHANCES FOR EXTRA PAYMENTS, PROMOTION PROSPECTS AND THE
SECURITY OF A PENSION FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY – VERY RARE IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. SURELY ALL THIS WOULD OUTWEIGH THE “IGNOMINY” AS
BURNS HIMSELF CALLED IT, OF WORKING FOR THE EXCISE.
EMPLOYMENT IN THE EXCISE SERVICE WAS MUCH SOUGHT AFTER BUT WAS NO
SINECURE. THE COMMISIONERS WHO WERE APPOINTED TO RUN THE SERVICE HAD A
LARGE INFLUENCE OVER WHO WAS EMPLOYED AND THERE APPEARED
TO BE A POLICY OF APPOINTING PEOPLE WHO WERE RELATED TO SERVING OFFICERS.
THIS LED TO A STRONG ESPRIT DE CORPS AND A SUPPORT FOR EACH OTHER – AND IN
FACT THEY SOMETIMES REFERRED TO EACH OTHER AS “BROTHER” – WHICH IN ITSELF
HAS INTERESTING CONNOTATIONS. BURNS FIRST REQUIREMENT WAS TO OBTAIN A
CERTIFICATE FROM A SERVING OFFICER CONFIRMING HE MET THE MINIMUM
REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT, WHICH INCLUDED AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE
FIRST FOUR RULES OF “VULGAR AND DECIMAL ARITHMETICK”. THIS COMPLETED FORM
WAS THEN SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONERS, WHO ACCEPTED IT AND BURNS MOVED
ON TO THE NEXT STAGE WHICH WAS A PERIOD OF INSTRUCTION BY JAMES FINDLAY THE
TARBOLTON EXCISEMAN, FOLLOWED BY AN EXAMINATION BY A SUPERVISOR IN WHICH
HE WAS ALSO SUCESSFUL.
BURNS HAD ORIGINALLY CONSIDERED A CAREER IN THE EXCISE AS EARLY AS 1786 – THE
SAME YEAR THAT THE KILMARNOCK EDITION WAS PUBLISHED AND THAT HE ATTENDED
EDINBURGH. I HAVE LONG BELIEVED ROBBIE TO BE A WELL EDUCATED MAN BY THE
STANDARDS OF HIS DAY DESPITE BEING PORTRAYED AS A SIMPLE PLOUGHMAN – A MYTH
STARTED BY ONE OF HIS EARLY REVIEWERS ONE HENRY MACKENZIE WRITING IN THE
LOUNGER MAGAZINE. YES – HIS FORMAL SCHOOLING CAN BE DESCRIBED AS SPORADIC
AND FRAGMENTARY, BUT HE WAS VERY WELL READ AND HAD A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF
ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND SOME FRENCH, BUT HE HAD ALSO BEEN TUTORED IN
ARITHMETIC. IN ADDITION IN 1773 HE HAD ATTENDED WHAT WE WOULD CALL SUMMER
SCHOOL TO IMPROVE HIS HANDWRITING - ONE OF THE MAIN QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE
EXCISE BEING “TO WRITE A GOOD HAND”. FINALLY IN 1775 HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT
“MENSURATION, SURVEYING, DIALLING AND ETC”, WHICH WOULD STAND HIM IN
GOOD STEAD IN HIS FUTURE WORK. IN SOME WAYS IT SEEMS LIKE ROBBIE WAS DESTINED
TO BECOME A “GAUGER”.
HE FINALLY HAD HIS SIGNED COMMISSION IN JULY OF 1788 – A BARE MONTH AFTER HE
STARTED FARMING AT ELLISLAND, AND AS SUCH COULD TAKE UP ANY POST THAT WAS
OFFERED TO HIM. HIS OWN PLAN WAS TO COMBINE FARMING WITH THE EXCISE AND TO
THIS END HE PERSUADED THE DUMFRIES COLLECTOR TO REMOVE THE OFFICER
CURRENTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AREA IN WHICH ELLISLAND WAS LOCATED AND
THEN TO HAVE HIMSELF APPOINTED. HE WAS ABLE TO ACHIEVE THIS WITH THE HELP OF
SOME OF HIS FRIENDS AND PATRONS IN HIGH PLACES. BY SEPTEMBER 1789 HE HAD
COMPLETED THE FORMALITIES AND WAS PUT TO WORK. THE FORMALITIES INCLUDED
THE SWEARING OF THREE OATHS – ONE OF ALLEGIANCE TO KING GEORGE 111, ONE OF
OFFICE TO SHOW NO FEAR OR FAVOUR AND ONE OF ABJURATION WHICH INCLUDED
ACKNOWLEDGING THAT KING GEORGE WAS THE TRUE AND RIGHTFUL KING. THIS LAST
CERTIFICATE HE HAD TO CARRY AT ALL TIMES AND BE ABLE TO PRODUCE IT WHEN
REQUESTED BY A SUPERIOR OFFICER. FINALLY HE NEEDED A SIGNED CERTIFICATE
CONFIRMING THAT HE HAD RECEIVED “THE SACREMENT ACCORDING TO THE USAGE OF
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND”.
BURNS PLANS TO COMBINE FARMING WITH HIS WORK AS A GAUGER PROVED SHORT
LIVED. HIS STATION WAS BY FAR THE LARGEST IN THE DUMFRIES DISTRICT COVERING
TEN PARISHES AND CONSISTING OF FIVE SEPARATE RIDES TOTALLING 170 MILES. HE HAD
TO SURVEY ONE FULL RIDE EACH DAY BUT IN AN IRREGULAR MANNER, AND EVEN
REQUIRED HIM TO MAKE SURPRISE RETURN VISITS ON OCCASION TO PLACES ALREADY
VISITED THAT DAY. HIS STATION COMPRISED TWO TANNERS, ELEVEN MALSTERS, TWO
PUBLICANS WHO BREWED THEIR OWN BEER, THREE WINE DEALERS, TWENTY ONE SPIRIT
DEALERS, TWENTY SEVEN TOBACCONISTS, FIFTEEN TEA DEALERS AND TWENTY TWO
COMPOUNDERS – THESE BEING VICTUALLERS WHO BREWED INFREQUENTLY. EVERY
EXCISE DUTY HAD ITS OWN PRECISE WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS AS TO THE NUMBER OF
VISITS TO BE MADE, THEIR FREQUENCY AND TIMING, THE VARIOUS CONTROL CHECKS TO
BE APPLIED, WHAT GAUGES AND DIPS WERE REQUIRED AND THE KIND OF ACCOUNTS TO
BE KEPT. EVERY SURVEY – AS IT WAS CALLED - HAD TO BE RECORDED IN DETAIL IN A
SPECIMEN BOOK KEPT AT THE TRADER’S PREMISES AND AVAILABLE TO THE EXCISE
SUPERVISOR FOR HIS CHECK VISITS. BURNS ALSO HAD TO KEEP HIS OWN JOURNAL WITH
DETAILS OF EACH DAY OF HIS, AND EACH TRADER’S, ACTIVITIES, WHICH ALSO HAD TO BE
AVAILABLE ON REQUEST TO THE SUPERVISOR. THIS ALL LED TO LONG DAYS IN THE
SADDLE AND BUSY EVENINGS KEEPING HIS RECORDS UP TO DATE. IT MUST BE
REMEMBERED THAT ALL EXCISE STATIONS WERE SCHEMED ON A FORTNIGHTLY BASIS
WITH ONLY ONE DAY OF REST ALLOWED – SUNDAYS EXCLUDED.
INITIALLY BURNS SEEMED TO BE PLEASED WITH HIS LIFE AS A GAUGER. AT THE END OF
1789 HE INDICATED “I HAVE FOUND THE EXCISE BUSINESS GO ON A GREAT DEAL
SMOOTHER WITH ME THAN I APPREHENDED…NOR DO I FIND MY HURRIED LIFE GREATLY
INIMICAL TO MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE MUSES…” HOWEVER THE ONSET OF
WINTER AND THE EFFORT THE FARM REQUIRED, LED TO A BREAKDOWN IN HIS HEALTH
AND HE CAME TO REALISE HE WOULD HAVE TO SELL THE FARM. HIS HORSE - JENNY
GEDDES - WHICH HAD CARRIED HIM ON HIS VARIOUS TOURS IN SCOTLAND, AS WELL AS
ON HIS ROUNDS AS AN EXCISE OFFICER, ALSO DIED IN FEBRUARY OF 1790 AND HE
FURTHER REALISED THAT IT WOULD BE BEST FOR HIM IF HE COULD OBTAIN A STATION
IN DUMFRIES ITSELF, WHERE NO HORSE WAS REQUIRED AND THE SURVEYS WOULD BE
MUCH LESS CHALLENGING TO HIS HEALTH. AGAIN, USING HIS INFLUENCE WITH FRIENDS
IN HIGH PLACES HE MANAGED A TRANSFER TO DUMFRIES IN THE MIDDLE OF 1790 –
DESPITE IT BEING NORMAL TO SPEND AT LEAST TWO TO THREE YEARS IN AN OUT-RIDE
BEFORE SUCH A MOVE TO A TOWN WOULD BE CONSIDERED. EVEN WITH ALL THIS – HIS
HEALTH, LONG HOURS, AND SEEING TO THE FARM - HE STILL WROTE NUMEROUS
LETTERS AS WELL AS POETRY - AND DON’T FORGET THAT HE ALSO PRODUCED AT THIS
TIME WHAT HE CONSIDERED TO BE HIS BEST WORK - TAM O’SHANTER. IT WAS ALSO AT
THIS TIME THAT HE COLLABORATED WITH JAMES JOHNSON ON THE SCOTS MUSICAL
MUSEUM AND IN FACT WROTE MANY OF THE SONGS THAT APPEARED IN THE MUSEUM.
BURNS NEW STATION WAS MUCH MORE MANAGEABLE AND SUITED HIM WELL. IT
COVERED ABOUT A THIRD OF DUMFRIES AND HE HAD NO MORE THAN FOUR MILES TO
WALK IN TOTAL, THOUGH FOR THE FIRST SIXTEEN MONTHS HE HAD TO “COMMUTE”
FROM ELLISLAND. IN THIS NEW STATION HE HAD FIFTY TWO TOBACCO DEALERS, AND
ONE TOBACCO MANUFACTURER, NINE VICTUALLERS, A CHANDLER AND ONE
BRICKMAKER.
DESPITE COVERING A MUCH SMALLER AREA THAN BEFORE, BURNS STILL FOUND HE
WORKED LONG HOURS AND BEFORE LONG HE STARTED TO SLEEP UPSTAIRS AT THE
“GLOBE INN” WHERE HE ENJOYED THE COMPANY IN GENERAL AND ANN PARK IN
PARTICULAR. SHE WAS A BARMAID AT THE GLOBE AND GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER IN
MARCH OF 1791 - TEN DAYS BEFORE JEAN GAVE BIRTH TO HER OWN SON. JEAN WENT ON
TO RAISE BOTH CHILDREN AS HER OWN. DURING THIS TIME HE ALSO BECAME INVOLVED
IN SOME POLITICAL ELECTIONS WHICH WAS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO EXCISE OFFICERS.
BY 1791 BURNS HAD SETTLED INTO THE LIFE OF AN EXCISE OFFICER, DECLARING THAT
“THE WORK OF ITSELF IS EASY”. IN JANUARY OF THAT YEAR HE HEARD THAT HE WAS ON
THE PROMOTION LIST. SUCH A SPEEDY RISE WAS WITHOUT PRECEDENT IN THE SERVICE, -
THE NORMAL PRACTICE BEING AT LEAST SIX TO SEVEN YEARS EXPERIENCE WHICH
WOULD HAVE INCLUDED THREE YEARS IN A FOOT-WALK DIVISION. AT THIS TIME, BURNS
HAD ONLY SIXTEEN MONTHS WITH THE SERVICE IN TOTAL, OF WHICH ONLY SIX HAD
BEEN SPENT IN DUMFRIES. IT IS NOW KNOWN THAT HAD HE LIVED HE WOULD HAVE BEEN
PROMOTED TO EXAMINER AND TO SUPERVISOR IN DUNBLANE IN 1797. IT HAS TO BE
ACCEPTED THAT BURNS WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL OFFICER. HIS RECORD SHOWED HE HAD
NOT BEEN ADMONISHED THUS FAR – A TRULY RARE OCCURRENCE, AND THAT HE HAD
ALSO DETECTED A HIGH NUMBER OF OFFENCES IN HIS FIRST STATION. BURNS WAS
DELIGHTED WITH THIS NEWS AND WROTE TO A FRIEND “I AM GOING ON, A MIGHTY TAX
GATHERER BEFORE THE LORD AND HAVE LATELY HAD THE INTEREST TO GET MYSELF
RANKED ON THE LIST OF EXCISE AS A SUPERVISOR”. AT THE END OF 1791 BURNS FINALLY
QUIT ELLISLAND AND MOVED TO A TENEMENT IN THE WEE VENNEL IN DUMFRIES ABOVE
THE OFFICE OF HIS FRIEND JOHN SYME.
THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND FROM SOUTHERNESS POINT TO THE CUMBRAES
WAS A NOTORIOUS SMUGGLING AREA. DESPITE THIS FACT, THERE IS ONLY ONE
RECORDED SMUGGLING INCIDENT THAT WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT BURNS WAS
INVOLVED IN – THE SEIZURE OF THE ROSAMUND. IN EARLY 1792 A CONCERTED EFFORT
WAS STAGED TO CLAMP DOWN ON THE SMUGGLING AND WORD WAS RECEIVED THAT A
LANDING WAS TO BE MADE. IT APPEARED THAT THE BOAT WAS CAUGHT WITHOUT
ENOUGH DEPTH OF WATER TO SAIL AND AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO BOARD HER
DURING WHICH MUCH SHOOTING ENSUED, THE CREW ABANDONED THE SHIP ON THE
ENGLISH SIDE OF THE SOLWAY, AND THE BOAT WAS CAPTURED. IT IS UNCLEAR AS TO
THE EXACT ROLE THAT BURNS PLAYED IN ALL THIS AS HE HIMSELF NEVER REFERRED TO
IT. HOWEVER HIS BIOGRAPHER JOHN LOCKHART PAINTS A HIGHLY COLOURED VERSION
OF THE STORY AND BURNS ROLE IN IT, PARTS OF WHICH WERE LATER PROVED TO BE
EXTREMELY FANCIFUL.
MAY 1792 SAW BURNS MOVE TO HIS THIRD AND LAST POSITION WITH THE EXCISE. AGAIN
WITH HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS HE BECAME THE OFFICER FOR THE PORT DIVISION OF
DUMFRIES WHICH, ALTHOUGH SAW AN INCREASE IN SALARY TO 70 POUNDS, WAS NOT IN
FACT THE PROMOTION HE SOUGHT. THE ATTENDANCE OF EXCISE OFFICERS AT PORTS –
AND AT THAT TIME DUMFRIES WAS A PORT - ALBEIT A SMALL ONE - ORIGINATED WITH
THE”INLAND” DUTIES AS OPPOSED TO THE”IMPORT” DUTIES WHICH WERE COLLECTED
BY THE CUSTOMS. THE MAIN GOODS LIABLE TO EXTRA EXCISE DUTY ON IMPORT WERE
SPIRITS, WINE, TEA AND TOBACCO.
THIS WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT AND COMPLEX AREA IN THE DUMFRIES DISTRICT AND
BURNS WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ONLY COMMON BREWERY IN DUMFRIES AS WELL AS
9 VICTUALLERS, 6 TANNERS, 3 TAWERS IN WHITE LEATHER, 2 CHANDLERS, 1 MALTSTER
AND OVER 50 DEALERS IN EXCISE GOODS, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF EVEN BUSIER THAN IN
HIS PREVIOUS STATIONS. IT WAS HERE THAT HE RECEIVED HIS FIRST OFFICIAL
ADMONISHION. HE HAD ISSUED A PERMIT FOR A VICTUALLER TO DELIVER SOME 10
GALLONS OF BRANDY AND HAD NOT RECORDED A CORRESPONDING REDUCTION IN
DUTIABLE STOCK IN HAND. HE HAD NOT CORRECTED THIS ERROR DURING HIS
SUBSEQUENT VISITS AND FOR THIS HE WAS ADMONISHED. AFTER SPENDING A FULL DAY
WITH BURNS, HIS SUPERVISOR, ALEXANDER FINDLATER REPORTED “MR. BURNS HAD BUT
LATELY TAKEN CHARGE OF THIS DIVISION AND FROM THAT CAUSE, AND HIS
INEXPERIENCE IN THE BREWERY BRANCH OF BUSINESS, HAS FALLEN INTO THESE ERRORS
BUT PROMISES, AND I BELIEVE WILL BESTOW, DUE ATTENTION IN FUTURE, WHICH
INDEED HE IS RARELY DEFICIENT IN”. THIS LAST COMMENT WAS INDEED A HANDSOME
COMPLIMENT IN THE SERVICE! FINDLATER WAS THE CLOSEST AND MOST
KNOWLEDGEABLE OFFICIAL TO COMMENT ON BURNS PERFORMANCE, IN THAT AS HIS
SUPERVISOR HE CHECKED ON HIS WORK AT LEAST 30 TIMES EACH YEAR. AFTER HIS
DEATH THERE WERE SEVERAL ATTACKS ON HIS REPUTATION AND IN 1818 FINDLATER IN
DEFENCE OF BURNS WROTE “HE WAS EXEMPLARY IN HIS ATTENTION AS AN EXCISE
OFFICER, AND WAS EVEN JEALOUS OF THE LEAST IMPUTATION ON HIS VIGILANCE”. IT
SEEMS OUR ROB WAS MUCH MORE THAN A SIMPLE PLOUGHMAN!!
WITH EVERYTHING SEEMINGLY GOING HIS WAY AND WITH PROSPECTS OF FURTHER
ADVANCEMENT, ROBBIE SEEMED TO THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS THROUGH SOME
UNWISE AND RATHER NAIVE ACTIONS. THERE WAS A LOT OF POLITICAL UNREST AT THIS
TIME AS A RESULT OF THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH REVOLUTIONS AND THE
GOVERNMEMT FELT THAT THE COUNTRY COULD BE ON THE VERGE OF A REVOLT.
ANYONE EXPRESSING SYMPATHY WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES OR EVEN
MILDLY CRITICISING THE GOVERNMENT WAS DEEMED TO BE A JACOBITE. AT A GALA
PERFORMANCE AT THE THEATRE ROYAL IN DUMFRIES THERE WAS A CALL TO SING THE
FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY SONG WHICH WAS ONLY STOPPED BY THE SINGING OF THE
BRITISH NATIONAL ANTHEM DURING WHICH ROBBIE REMAINED SEATED WITH HIS HAT
FIRMLY ON HIS HEAD. THEN A MONTH LATER HE WROTE A PAMPHLET CALLED “THE
RIGHTS OF WOMEN” WHICH HE SUBSEQUENTLY SENT FOR PUBLICATION IN THE
EDINBURGH GAZETTER. IT INCLUDED THE SENTENCE “AND EVEN CHILDREN LISP THE
RIGHTS OF MAN”. ALL THROUGH 1792 HE FEARLESSLY CHAMPIONED THE CAUSE OF CIVIL
AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND HE HAD AROUND HIM POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
ENMEIES AND IN DECEMBER OF THAT YEAR SOME “SCOUNDREL” DENOUNCED HIM TO
THE BOARD OF EXCISE WHO STARTED AN OFFICIAL ENQUIRY TO EXAMINE THE CHARGE
THAT HE WAS “A PERSON DISAFFECTED TO THE GOVERNMENT”. USING HIS SILVER
TONGUE AND WRITING TO HIS FRIENDS, BURNS MANAGED TO DEFUSE THE SITUATION
WITHOUT ANY OFICIAL ACTION BEING TAKEN, BUT DID SEEM TO REALISE HE WOULD
HAVE TO BEHAVE HIMSELF BETTER IN THE FUTURE.
IN MAY OF 1793, BURNS MOVED HIS FAMILY TO THE LAST HOUSE HE WOULD OCCUPY – IN
BANK STREET, NOW KNOWN AS BURNS STREET. THE SERVICE ALLOWED A LARGE
AMOUNT OF LATTITUDE AS TO HOW THE OFFICERS ORGANIZED THEIR WORKING HOURS
WHICH IDEALLY SUITED HIS LITERARY EFFORTS, AND HE ALSO MANAGED TO FIND TIME
FOR TWO SHORT TOURS OF GALLOWAY WITH JOHN SYME IN 1793 AND 1794. 1794 WAS NOT
A GOOD YEAR FOR BURNS AS HE SUFFERED SEVERAL LONG BOUTS OF ILL HEALTH
WHICH NOW WERE OCCURRING IN THE SUMMER AS WELL AS THE WINTER MONTHS SO
COULD NOT BE PUT DOWN TO THE BAD WINTER WEATHER. BURNS COULD NOT AFFORD
TO TAKE TIME OFF AS HIS SALARY WAS HALVED WHEN HE DID SO TO PAY FOR HIS STAND
IN, SO HE HAD TO STRUGGLE AS BEST HE COULD WITH HIS DUTIES. IT IS WORTH
COMMENTING ON THE FACT THAT DURING HIS LAST FATAL ILLNESS, HIS STAND IN – A
CERTAIN MR. STOBIE –WHO WAS ENTITLED TO THE REST OF THE SALARY REFUSED TO
TAKE ANY AND THUS BURNS REMAINED ON FULL SALARY UNTIL HE DIED. ALL HONOUR
TO MR. STOBIE! IT IS NOW ACCEPTED THAT THE RHEUMATISM HE SUFFERED IN HIS
EARLY LIFE DAMAGED HIS HEART THUS SHORTENING HIS LIFE AND THAT HE DIED OF
ENDOCARDITIS. ONE CAN ONLY ADMIRE HIS WILL AND DETERMINATION DURING THE
LAST TWO YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
DESPITE ALL THIS, AT THE END OF 1794 HE GOT HIS CHANCE TO OFFICIATE AS A
SUPERVISOR FOR FOUR MONTHS WHEN ALEXANDER FINDLATER WAS ILL. THE EXISTING
RECORDS SHOW THAT IN THIS ROLE BURNS PERFORMED IN A MOST ABLE AND CAPABLE
MANNER. HE WORKED MOST CONSCIENTIOUSLY AND NOTHING SEEMED TO MISS HIS
EAGLE EYE BUT HE WAS REQUIRED TO PUT IN LONG HOURS – AS ALWAYS – AND OF
COURSE HIS AREA COVERED BOTH DUMFRIES AND THE SURROUNDING DISTRICTS WHICH
ONCE MORE CALLED FOR LONG HOURS IN THE SADDLE. HE FINALLY REALISED AT THE
END OF 1794 THAT THE INVESTIGATION INTO HIS CONDUCT HAD NOT RESULTED IN ANY
DISCIPLINARY ACTION AND HIS PROSPECTS FOR PROMOTION IN THE SERVICE WERE NOT
DIMINISHED. ON NEW YEAR’S DAY IN 1795 ALMOST IN CELEBRATION IT WOULD SEEM, HE
PENNED THE POOR MAN’S PROUD ACLAIM – “A MAN’S A MAN, FOR A’ THAT”. “THE RANK
IS BUT THE GUINEA STAMP – THE MAN’S THE GOWD FOR ALL THAT”.
HE APPEARED NOT TO LIKE THE NATURE OF THE SUPERVISOR’S JOB AS WELL AS THE
LIMITATIONS A PERMANENT APPOINTMENT WOULD IMPOSE ON HIS OTHER ACTIVITIES -
HE DESCRIBES IT THUS IN A LETTER “THE BUSINESS IS INCESSANT DRUDGERY, AND
WOULD BE NEAR A COMPLETE BAR TO EVERY SPECIES OF LITERARY PURSUIT”. BUT HE
WAS LOOKING BEYOND THAT - IN MARCH OF 1795 HE WROTE “THE MOMENT I AM
APPOINTED SUPERVISOR, IN THE COMMON ROUTINE I MAY BE APPOINTED ON THE
COLLECTOR’S LIST; AND THIS IS PURELY ALWAYS A BUSINESS OF POLITICAL
PATRONAGE. A COLLECTOR’S SALARY VARIES FROM 300 POUNDS TO 800 POUNDS A YEAR.
THEY ALSO COME FORWARD BY PRECEDENCY ON THE LIST, AND HAVE, BESIDES A
HANDSOME INCOME, A LIFE OF COMPLETE LEISURE. A LIFE OF LITERARY LEISURE, WITH
A DECENT COMPETENCY, IS THE SUMMIT OF MY WISHES.”
THIS WAS THE HIGHPOINT OF HIS EXCISE CAREER AND THE REST OF 1794 BROUGHT
LITTLE JOY, ONLY PAIN AND UNHAPPINESS. IN ADDITION TO HIS POOR HEALTH, HIS ONLY
LEGITIMATE DAUGHTER ELIZABETH RIDDELL DIED AND HE WAS TOO ILL TO ATTEND HER
FUNERAL IN MAUCHLINE. “I HAVE LATELY DRANK DEEP OF THE CUP OF AFFLICTION…”
HIS HEALTH CONTINUED TO DETERIORATE INTO 1795 ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS HE WAS
STILL PERFORMING HIS EXCISE DUTIES - AS WELL AS CONTINUING WITH HIS LITERARY
OUTPUT - INTO MARCH WHEN THE RECORDS SHOW HIS SALARY WAS REDUCED, AND
FROM THERE IT WAS STEADILY DOWN HILL UNTIL HIS DEATH ON JULY 21ST.
DURING HIS SHORT EXCISE CAREER, BURNS MANAGED TO TRANSCEND THE LABORIOUS
AND MONOTONOUS NATURE OF THE WORK; HE PATIENTLY SUFFERED THE PETTIFOGGING
AND ANNOYING ASPECTS OF EXCISE MINUTIAE; HE SURVIVED THE RIGOURS OF EXCISE
LIFE AND WITHSTOOD THE UNPOPULARITY OF HIS CHOSEN PROFESSION – ALL NO MEAN
ACHIEVEMENTS FOR A MAN OF HIS CONSTITUTION, CHARACTER, PASSION AND PRIDE.
FROM BEING A MOST UNLIKELY CANDIDATE FOR SERVICE IN THE REVENUE, BURNS
BECAME A DEDICATED, CONSCIENTIOUS AND ADMIRABLE EXCISE OFFICER – A POSITIVE
CREDIT TO THE SCOTTISH EXCISE SERVICE. IN RETURN, HER MAJESTY’S CUSTOMS AND
EXCISE HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN AN IMMENSE PRIDE IN ITS MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OFFICER
AND HAS BEEN MOST LOYAL TO HIS IMMORTAL MEMORY. BURNS MERELY HOPED THAT
HIS PROFESSION WOULD TAKE CREDIT FROM HIM AND THIS IT HAS DONE FOR OVER TWO
HUNDRED YEARS. THE “POOR, DAMN’D, RASCALLY GAUGER” HAS PASSED INTO THE
FOLKLORE OF THE DEPARTMENT. AS WILLIAM GLADSTONE WROTE IN 1895 “THE
LOYALTY OF THE EXCISE FORCE TO THE POET IS VERY REMARKABLE AND DOES HONOUR
TO BOTH”.
FOR SCOTLAND’S BARD TO BE A GAUGER – THAT IS TO WORK FOR THE EXCISE, AND EVEN
BURNS HIMSELF HAD MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT IT. HOWEVER FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS
OF HIS LIFE, BURNS GAVE HIMSELF SERIOUSLY AND CONSCIENTIOUSLY TO A SERVICE
THAT WAS MORE HONOURABLE AND EFFICIENT THAN MANY OTHER BRANCHES OF
GOVERNMENT AT THAT TIME. DESPITE HIS METEORIC RISE TO FAME IN EDINBURGH HE
WAS PAINFULLY AWARE OF THE LACK OF SECURITY FOR HIMSELF AND HIS EVER-
GROWING FAMILY IN CONTINUING AS A POOR TENANT FARMER, AND IN THE EXCISE
THERE WOULD BE NO LOSS OF INCOME BECAUSE OF BAD LAND, A BAD HARVEST OR BAD
WEATHER. I WILL TRY TO SHOW THAT BURNS WAS A VERY COMPETENT EMPLOYEE IN HIS
WORK AND AS SUCH ENJOYED THE RESPECT AND GOODWILL OF HIS COLLEAGUES AND
SUPERIORS. IN HIS ‘CHARACTER BOOK” - WHICH WAS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF HIS
EMPLOYMENT - THERE IS A REFERENCE – ‘THE POET DOES PRETTY WELL”. THIS WAS HIGH
PRAISE IN THAT SERVICE.
BEFORE LOOKING AT BURNS ROLE IN THE EXCISE IT IS WORTH PROVIDING SOME
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE SERVICE ITSELF AND WHAT THE WORK ENTAILED.
THE SCOTTISH EXCISE HAD BEEN FOUNDED IN 1707 AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A
BEWILDERING ARRAY OF DUTIES – AUCTIONS, BEER, BRICKS, CANDLES, COCOA, COFFEE,
CIDER, GLASS, HIDES AND SKINS, MALT, PAPER, PRINTED CALICO, SOAP, SPIRITS, TEA,
TOBACCO, WINE AND WIRE. SCOTLAND WAS DIVIDED UP INTO AREAS, DISTRICTS AND
STATIONS, WHICH WERE THE BASIC UNIT OF EXCISE ADMINISTRATION WITH AN
ASSIGNED OFFICER, OR GAUGER AS BURNS REFERRED TO HIMSELF, IN EACH.
THE BASIC SYSTEM OF EXCISE CONTROL IN A STATION WAS THAT ANY PERSON WHO
PROPOSED TO CARRY ON ANY EXCISABLE TRADE – BREWER, MALSTER, TANNER, PAPER
MAKER, BRICK MAKER CHANDLER, DISTILLER ETC. – WAS REQUIRED BY LAW TO
DECLARE TO THE OFFICER THE PREMISES AT WHICH HE INTENDED TO WORK, AND ALSO
TO LIST THE VARIOUS VESSELS AND UTENSILS HE PROPOSED TO USE IN HIS TRADE. ONCE
THIS HAD BEEN DONE AND A LICENCE GRANTED, THE TRADER WAS COMPELLED TO
NOTIFY THE OFFICER IN WRITING BEFORE HE COMMENCED ANY MANUFACTURING
OPERATION, TOGETHER WITH THE QUANTITIES OF MATERIALS TO BE USED. THE OFFICER
WAS THEN REQUIRED TO VISIT THE PREMISES AT TIMES OF HIS OWN CHOOSING AND
EXAMINE THE ENTRIES MADE IN THE TRADER’S BOOKS AND SATISFY HIMSELF THAT
EVERYTHING WAS IN ORDER. HE WAS ALSO EXPECTED TO VISIT THE PREMISES
FREQUENTLY DURING THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS AT DIFFERENT AND RANDOM
TIMES – BOTH DAY AND NIGHT – TO ENSURE NO UNDECLARED ACTIVITY OR FRAUD WAS
TAKING PLACE. ALL THIS HAD THEN TO BE DOCUMENTED AND THEN REVIEWED BY THE
OFFICER’S SUPERVISOR.
IN ADDITION TO ALL THIS, EACH OFFICER HAD TO ENSURE THAT THERE WERE NO ILLICIT
OPERATIONS IN HIS STATION – NO EASY TASK WHEN JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING WAS ON A
SMALL SCALE AND BASICALLY A “HOME INDUSTRY”. ONE OF THE MORE ONEROUS
ASPECTS OF THE JOB INVOLVED CHECKING THE DEALERS IN VARIOUS EXCISABLE
GOODS. BY LAW ALL SPIRIT AND WINE MERCHANTS, TOBACCONISTS AND TEA DEALERS
HAD TO BE LICENSED AND MAINTAIN ACCURATE STOCK RECORDS, AND WERE NOT
ALLOWED TO MOVE ANY GOODS WITHOUT A PERMIT FROM THE GAUGER, WHO WAS
ALSO REQUIRED TO CHECK THE DEALER’S STOCKS REGULARLY AND MONITOR HIS
RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS. AT THE END OF EACH DAY, THE OFFICER HAD TO MAINTAIN A
JOURNAL OF ALL VISITS AND SURVEYS, UP-DATE HIS LEDGERS OF HIS TRADERS, WRITE
OUT REPORTS AND COMPLETE DUTY RETURNS AND VOUCHERS. HE ALSO HAD TO KEEP
UP TO DATE WITH ALL CHANGES IN EXCISE LEGISLATION, AND TO DO THIS, OFFICERS
LIKE BURNS HAD TO PAINSTAKINGLY PLOD THROUGH ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, COPIES OF
GENERAL LETTERS OF THE BOARD, FRAGMENTARY MEMORANDA AND NOTES MADE
FROM VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS. IT WAS ONLY AFTER BURNS DIED THAT THE FIRST
COMPLETE ABSTRACT OF EXCISE LAWS WAS PUBLISHED – AND EVEN THAT WAS OVER
900 PAGES LONG.
BURNS PRIMARY REASON FOR SEEKING EMPLOYMENT AS A GAUGER WAS THE REGULAR
INCOME IT PROVIDED, DESPITE THE LONG HOURS, THE PHYSICALLY ARDUOUS WORK, ITS
ATTENDANT DANGERS AND INDEED THE UNPOPULARITY OF THE SERVICE ITSELF. THE
SALARY WAS 50 POUNDS A YEAR – COMPARED TO CURATES AT 30 TO 45 AND UNIVERSITY
PROFESSORS AT 60 POUNDS, - THE AVERAGE WAGE AT THE TIME BEING ABOUT 45
POUNDS. THE SECURITY OF THE WORK WAS ALSO A FACTOR – IT WAS NOT AFFECTED BY
TRADE OR OTHER BUSINESS FLUCTUATIONS, AND AS LONG AS AN OFFICER ACTED
SENSIBLY, WORKED REASONABLY DILIGENTLY, AVOIDED EXCESSIVE DRINKING AND
STEERED CLEAR FROM POLITICS HE HAD A JOB FOR LIFE. THERE WERE ALSO
OPPORTUNITIES TO AUGMENT THE BASIC SALARY. OFFICERS WERE ENTITLED TO
RECEIVE HALF THE PROCEEDS FROM SEIZED SMUGGLED GOODS AND ALSO 25 POUNDS
FOR EACH SMUGGLER CONVICTED. AS WELL THERE WERE GOOD CHANCES FOR
PROMOTION TO SUPERVISOR OF AN AREA, AND EVEN COLLECTOR FOR A DISTRICT. SUCH
PROMOTIONS WERE BASED ON MERIT, AND PATRONAGE APPEARED TO HAVE LITTLE
IMPACT. ANY OFFICER WHO SHOWED REASONABLE ABILITY COULD EXPECT TO BECOME
A SUPERVISOR WITHIN NINE YEARS – AND BURNS HAD HE LIVED WOULD HAVE BEEN
APPOINTED A SUPERVISOR IN A LITTLE OVER SEVEN YEARS – WHICH WOULD SEEM TO
CONFIRM HIS ABILITIES AT HIS WORK.
INCREDIBLE THOUGH IT MAY SEEM, SCOTTISH EXCISE POSTS WERE PENSIONABLE WHICH
WOULD ALSO HAVE BEEN AN ATTRACTION TO BURNS. THE PENSION WAS FAIRLY BASIC –
CERTAINLY NOT ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO RETIRE AND IN FACT
MOST OFFICERS DIED IN POST WITH FEW SURVIVING BEYOND 60. OFFICERS COULD
APPLY TO THE BOARD TO RETIRE AND REQUEST A PENSION AND THE BOARD WOULD
THEN CONSIDER EACH CASE ON ITS OWN MERITS AND AWARD – OR NOT – A PENSION.
A PENSION WOULD LIKELY BE BETWEEN 8 AND 16 POUNDS A YEAR. THE PENSION PLAN
ALSO INCLUDED A PROVISION FOR OFFICER’S WIDOWS AND ORPHANS – WHICH WAS
QUITE UNIQUE AT THAT TIME. AFTER BURNS DEATH, JEAN ARMOUR RECEIVED A PENSION
OF 8 POUNDS A YEAR UNTIL 1821 AND THEN 12 POUNDS A YEAR UNTIL SHE DIED. PERHAPS
IT IS BECOMING CLEARER WHY A POST IN THE EXCISE WAS SUCH AN ATTRACTIVE
PROPOSITION TO BURNS IN THAT IT OFFERED CERTAIN AND STEADY WORK, A REGULAR
INCOME. THE CHANCES FOR EXTRA PAYMENTS, PROMOTION PROSPECTS AND THE
SECURITY OF A PENSION FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY – VERY RARE IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. SURELY ALL THIS WOULD OUTWEIGH THE “IGNOMINY” AS
BURNS HIMSELF CALLED IT, OF WORKING FOR THE EXCISE.
EMPLOYMENT IN THE EXCISE SERVICE WAS MUCH SOUGHT AFTER BUT WAS NO
SINECURE. THE COMMISIONERS WHO WERE APPOINTED TO RUN THE SERVICE HAD A
LARGE INFLUENCE OVER WHO WAS EMPLOYED AND THERE APPEARED
TO BE A POLICY OF APPOINTING PEOPLE WHO WERE RELATED TO SERVING OFFICERS.
THIS LED TO A STRONG ESPRIT DE CORPS AND A SUPPORT FOR EACH OTHER – AND IN
FACT THEY SOMETIMES REFERRED TO EACH OTHER AS “BROTHER” – WHICH IN ITSELF
HAS INTERESTING CONNOTATIONS. BURNS FIRST REQUIREMENT WAS TO OBTAIN A
CERTIFICATE FROM A SERVING OFFICER CONFIRMING HE MET THE MINIMUM
REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT, WHICH INCLUDED AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE
FIRST FOUR RULES OF “VULGAR AND DECIMAL ARITHMETICK”. THIS COMPLETED FORM
WAS THEN SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONERS, WHO ACCEPTED IT AND BURNS MOVED
ON TO THE NEXT STAGE WHICH WAS A PERIOD OF INSTRUCTION BY JAMES FINDLAY THE
TARBOLTON EXCISEMAN, FOLLOWED BY AN EXAMINATION BY A SUPERVISOR IN WHICH
HE WAS ALSO SUCESSFUL.
BURNS HAD ORIGINALLY CONSIDERED A CAREER IN THE EXCISE AS EARLY AS 1786 – THE
SAME YEAR THAT THE KILMARNOCK EDITION WAS PUBLISHED AND THAT HE ATTENDED
EDINBURGH. I HAVE LONG BELIEVED ROBBIE TO BE A WELL EDUCATED MAN BY THE
STANDARDS OF HIS DAY DESPITE BEING PORTRAYED AS A SIMPLE PLOUGHMAN – A MYTH
STARTED BY ONE OF HIS EARLY REVIEWERS ONE HENRY MACKENZIE WRITING IN THE
LOUNGER MAGAZINE. YES – HIS FORMAL SCHOOLING CAN BE DESCRIBED AS SPORADIC
AND FRAGMENTARY, BUT HE WAS VERY WELL READ AND HAD A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF
ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND SOME FRENCH, BUT HE HAD ALSO BEEN TUTORED IN
ARITHMETIC. IN ADDITION IN 1773 HE HAD ATTENDED WHAT WE WOULD CALL SUMMER
SCHOOL TO IMPROVE HIS HANDWRITING - ONE OF THE MAIN QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE
EXCISE BEING “TO WRITE A GOOD HAND”. FINALLY IN 1775 HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT
“MENSURATION, SURVEYING, DIALLING AND ETC”, WHICH WOULD STAND HIM IN
GOOD STEAD IN HIS FUTURE WORK. IN SOME WAYS IT SEEMS LIKE ROBBIE WAS DESTINED
TO BECOME A “GAUGER”.
HE FINALLY HAD HIS SIGNED COMMISSION IN JULY OF 1788 – A BARE MONTH AFTER HE
STARTED FARMING AT ELLISLAND, AND AS SUCH COULD TAKE UP ANY POST THAT WAS
OFFERED TO HIM. HIS OWN PLAN WAS TO COMBINE FARMING WITH THE EXCISE AND TO
THIS END HE PERSUADED THE DUMFRIES COLLECTOR TO REMOVE THE OFFICER
CURRENTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AREA IN WHICH ELLISLAND WAS LOCATED AND
THEN TO HAVE HIMSELF APPOINTED. HE WAS ABLE TO ACHIEVE THIS WITH THE HELP OF
SOME OF HIS FRIENDS AND PATRONS IN HIGH PLACES. BY SEPTEMBER 1789 HE HAD
COMPLETED THE FORMALITIES AND WAS PUT TO WORK. THE FORMALITIES INCLUDED
THE SWEARING OF THREE OATHS – ONE OF ALLEGIANCE TO KING GEORGE 111, ONE OF
OFFICE TO SHOW NO FEAR OR FAVOUR AND ONE OF ABJURATION WHICH INCLUDED
ACKNOWLEDGING THAT KING GEORGE WAS THE TRUE AND RIGHTFUL KING. THIS LAST
CERTIFICATE HE HAD TO CARRY AT ALL TIMES AND BE ABLE TO PRODUCE IT WHEN
REQUESTED BY A SUPERIOR OFFICER. FINALLY HE NEEDED A SIGNED CERTIFICATE
CONFIRMING THAT HE HAD RECEIVED “THE SACREMENT ACCORDING TO THE USAGE OF
THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND”.
BURNS PLANS TO COMBINE FARMING WITH HIS WORK AS A GAUGER PROVED SHORT
LIVED. HIS STATION WAS BY FAR THE LARGEST IN THE DUMFRIES DISTRICT COVERING
TEN PARISHES AND CONSISTING OF FIVE SEPARATE RIDES TOTALLING 170 MILES. HE HAD
TO SURVEY ONE FULL RIDE EACH DAY BUT IN AN IRREGULAR MANNER, AND EVEN
REQUIRED HIM TO MAKE SURPRISE RETURN VISITS ON OCCASION TO PLACES ALREADY
VISITED THAT DAY. HIS STATION COMPRISED TWO TANNERS, ELEVEN MALSTERS, TWO
PUBLICANS WHO BREWED THEIR OWN BEER, THREE WINE DEALERS, TWENTY ONE SPIRIT
DEALERS, TWENTY SEVEN TOBACCONISTS, FIFTEEN TEA DEALERS AND TWENTY TWO
COMPOUNDERS – THESE BEING VICTUALLERS WHO BREWED INFREQUENTLY. EVERY
EXCISE DUTY HAD ITS OWN PRECISE WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS AS TO THE NUMBER OF
VISITS TO BE MADE, THEIR FREQUENCY AND TIMING, THE VARIOUS CONTROL CHECKS TO
BE APPLIED, WHAT GAUGES AND DIPS WERE REQUIRED AND THE KIND OF ACCOUNTS TO
BE KEPT. EVERY SURVEY – AS IT WAS CALLED - HAD TO BE RECORDED IN DETAIL IN A
SPECIMEN BOOK KEPT AT THE TRADER’S PREMISES AND AVAILABLE TO THE EXCISE
SUPERVISOR FOR HIS CHECK VISITS. BURNS ALSO HAD TO KEEP HIS OWN JOURNAL WITH
DETAILS OF EACH DAY OF HIS, AND EACH TRADER’S, ACTIVITIES, WHICH ALSO HAD TO BE
AVAILABLE ON REQUEST TO THE SUPERVISOR. THIS ALL LED TO LONG DAYS IN THE
SADDLE AND BUSY EVENINGS KEEPING HIS RECORDS UP TO DATE. IT MUST BE
REMEMBERED THAT ALL EXCISE STATIONS WERE SCHEMED ON A FORTNIGHTLY BASIS
WITH ONLY ONE DAY OF REST ALLOWED – SUNDAYS EXCLUDED.
INITIALLY BURNS SEEMED TO BE PLEASED WITH HIS LIFE AS A GAUGER. AT THE END OF
1789 HE INDICATED “I HAVE FOUND THE EXCISE BUSINESS GO ON A GREAT DEAL
SMOOTHER WITH ME THAN I APPREHENDED…NOR DO I FIND MY HURRIED LIFE GREATLY
INIMICAL TO MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE MUSES…” HOWEVER THE ONSET OF
WINTER AND THE EFFORT THE FARM REQUIRED, LED TO A BREAKDOWN IN HIS HEALTH
AND HE CAME TO REALISE HE WOULD HAVE TO SELL THE FARM. HIS HORSE - JENNY
GEDDES - WHICH HAD CARRIED HIM ON HIS VARIOUS TOURS IN SCOTLAND, AS WELL AS
ON HIS ROUNDS AS AN EXCISE OFFICER, ALSO DIED IN FEBRUARY OF 1790 AND HE
FURTHER REALISED THAT IT WOULD BE BEST FOR HIM IF HE COULD OBTAIN A STATION
IN DUMFRIES ITSELF, WHERE NO HORSE WAS REQUIRED AND THE SURVEYS WOULD BE
MUCH LESS CHALLENGING TO HIS HEALTH. AGAIN, USING HIS INFLUENCE WITH FRIENDS
IN HIGH PLACES HE MANAGED A TRANSFER TO DUMFRIES IN THE MIDDLE OF 1790 –
DESPITE IT BEING NORMAL TO SPEND AT LEAST TWO TO THREE YEARS IN AN OUT-RIDE
BEFORE SUCH A MOVE TO A TOWN WOULD BE CONSIDERED. EVEN WITH ALL THIS – HIS
HEALTH, LONG HOURS, AND SEEING TO THE FARM - HE STILL WROTE NUMEROUS
LETTERS AS WELL AS POETRY - AND DON’T FORGET THAT HE ALSO PRODUCED AT THIS
TIME WHAT HE CONSIDERED TO BE HIS BEST WORK - TAM O’SHANTER. IT WAS ALSO AT
THIS TIME THAT HE COLLABORATED WITH JAMES JOHNSON ON THE SCOTS MUSICAL
MUSEUM AND IN FACT WROTE MANY OF THE SONGS THAT APPEARED IN THE MUSEUM.
BURNS NEW STATION WAS MUCH MORE MANAGEABLE AND SUITED HIM WELL. IT
COVERED ABOUT A THIRD OF DUMFRIES AND HE HAD NO MORE THAN FOUR MILES TO
WALK IN TOTAL, THOUGH FOR THE FIRST SIXTEEN MONTHS HE HAD TO “COMMUTE”
FROM ELLISLAND. IN THIS NEW STATION HE HAD FIFTY TWO TOBACCO DEALERS, AND
ONE TOBACCO MANUFACTURER, NINE VICTUALLERS, A CHANDLER AND ONE
BRICKMAKER.
DESPITE COVERING A MUCH SMALLER AREA THAN BEFORE, BURNS STILL FOUND HE
WORKED LONG HOURS AND BEFORE LONG HE STARTED TO SLEEP UPSTAIRS AT THE
“GLOBE INN” WHERE HE ENJOYED THE COMPANY IN GENERAL AND ANN PARK IN
PARTICULAR. SHE WAS A BARMAID AT THE GLOBE AND GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER IN
MARCH OF 1791 - TEN DAYS BEFORE JEAN GAVE BIRTH TO HER OWN SON. JEAN WENT ON
TO RAISE BOTH CHILDREN AS HER OWN. DURING THIS TIME HE ALSO BECAME INVOLVED
IN SOME POLITICAL ELECTIONS WHICH WAS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO EXCISE OFFICERS.
BY 1791 BURNS HAD SETTLED INTO THE LIFE OF AN EXCISE OFFICER, DECLARING THAT
“THE WORK OF ITSELF IS EASY”. IN JANUARY OF THAT YEAR HE HEARD THAT HE WAS ON
THE PROMOTION LIST. SUCH A SPEEDY RISE WAS WITHOUT PRECEDENT IN THE SERVICE, -
THE NORMAL PRACTICE BEING AT LEAST SIX TO SEVEN YEARS EXPERIENCE WHICH
WOULD HAVE INCLUDED THREE YEARS IN A FOOT-WALK DIVISION. AT THIS TIME, BURNS
HAD ONLY SIXTEEN MONTHS WITH THE SERVICE IN TOTAL, OF WHICH ONLY SIX HAD
BEEN SPENT IN DUMFRIES. IT IS NOW KNOWN THAT HAD HE LIVED HE WOULD HAVE BEEN
PROMOTED TO EXAMINER AND TO SUPERVISOR IN DUNBLANE IN 1797. IT HAS TO BE
ACCEPTED THAT BURNS WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL OFFICER. HIS RECORD SHOWED HE HAD
NOT BEEN ADMONISHED THUS FAR – A TRULY RARE OCCURRENCE, AND THAT HE HAD
ALSO DETECTED A HIGH NUMBER OF OFFENCES IN HIS FIRST STATION. BURNS WAS
DELIGHTED WITH THIS NEWS AND WROTE TO A FRIEND “I AM GOING ON, A MIGHTY TAX
GATHERER BEFORE THE LORD AND HAVE LATELY HAD THE INTEREST TO GET MYSELF
RANKED ON THE LIST OF EXCISE AS A SUPERVISOR”. AT THE END OF 1791 BURNS FINALLY
QUIT ELLISLAND AND MOVED TO A TENEMENT IN THE WEE VENNEL IN DUMFRIES ABOVE
THE OFFICE OF HIS FRIEND JOHN SYME.
THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND FROM SOUTHERNESS POINT TO THE CUMBRAES
WAS A NOTORIOUS SMUGGLING AREA. DESPITE THIS FACT, THERE IS ONLY ONE
RECORDED SMUGGLING INCIDENT THAT WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT BURNS WAS
INVOLVED IN – THE SEIZURE OF THE ROSAMUND. IN EARLY 1792 A CONCERTED EFFORT
WAS STAGED TO CLAMP DOWN ON THE SMUGGLING AND WORD WAS RECEIVED THAT A
LANDING WAS TO BE MADE. IT APPEARED THAT THE BOAT WAS CAUGHT WITHOUT
ENOUGH DEPTH OF WATER TO SAIL AND AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO BOARD HER
DURING WHICH MUCH SHOOTING ENSUED, THE CREW ABANDONED THE SHIP ON THE
ENGLISH SIDE OF THE SOLWAY, AND THE BOAT WAS CAPTURED. IT IS UNCLEAR AS TO
THE EXACT ROLE THAT BURNS PLAYED IN ALL THIS AS HE HIMSELF NEVER REFERRED TO
IT. HOWEVER HIS BIOGRAPHER JOHN LOCKHART PAINTS A HIGHLY COLOURED VERSION
OF THE STORY AND BURNS ROLE IN IT, PARTS OF WHICH WERE LATER PROVED TO BE
EXTREMELY FANCIFUL.
MAY 1792 SAW BURNS MOVE TO HIS THIRD AND LAST POSITION WITH THE EXCISE. AGAIN
WITH HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS HE BECAME THE OFFICER FOR THE PORT DIVISION OF
DUMFRIES WHICH, ALTHOUGH SAW AN INCREASE IN SALARY TO 70 POUNDS, WAS NOT IN
FACT THE PROMOTION HE SOUGHT. THE ATTENDANCE OF EXCISE OFFICERS AT PORTS –
AND AT THAT TIME DUMFRIES WAS A PORT - ALBEIT A SMALL ONE - ORIGINATED WITH
THE”INLAND” DUTIES AS OPPOSED TO THE”IMPORT” DUTIES WHICH WERE COLLECTED
BY THE CUSTOMS. THE MAIN GOODS LIABLE TO EXTRA EXCISE DUTY ON IMPORT WERE
SPIRITS, WINE, TEA AND TOBACCO.
THIS WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT AND COMPLEX AREA IN THE DUMFRIES DISTRICT AND
BURNS WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ONLY COMMON BREWERY IN DUMFRIES AS WELL AS
9 VICTUALLERS, 6 TANNERS, 3 TAWERS IN WHITE LEATHER, 2 CHANDLERS, 1 MALTSTER
AND OVER 50 DEALERS IN EXCISE GOODS, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF EVEN BUSIER THAN IN
HIS PREVIOUS STATIONS. IT WAS HERE THAT HE RECEIVED HIS FIRST OFFICIAL
ADMONISHION. HE HAD ISSUED A PERMIT FOR A VICTUALLER TO DELIVER SOME 10
GALLONS OF BRANDY AND HAD NOT RECORDED A CORRESPONDING REDUCTION IN
DUTIABLE STOCK IN HAND. HE HAD NOT CORRECTED THIS ERROR DURING HIS
SUBSEQUENT VISITS AND FOR THIS HE WAS ADMONISHED. AFTER SPENDING A FULL DAY
WITH BURNS, HIS SUPERVISOR, ALEXANDER FINDLATER REPORTED “MR. BURNS HAD BUT
LATELY TAKEN CHARGE OF THIS DIVISION AND FROM THAT CAUSE, AND HIS
INEXPERIENCE IN THE BREWERY BRANCH OF BUSINESS, HAS FALLEN INTO THESE ERRORS
BUT PROMISES, AND I BELIEVE WILL BESTOW, DUE ATTENTION IN FUTURE, WHICH
INDEED HE IS RARELY DEFICIENT IN”. THIS LAST COMMENT WAS INDEED A HANDSOME
COMPLIMENT IN THE SERVICE! FINDLATER WAS THE CLOSEST AND MOST
KNOWLEDGEABLE OFFICIAL TO COMMENT ON BURNS PERFORMANCE, IN THAT AS HIS
SUPERVISOR HE CHECKED ON HIS WORK AT LEAST 30 TIMES EACH YEAR. AFTER HIS
DEATH THERE WERE SEVERAL ATTACKS ON HIS REPUTATION AND IN 1818 FINDLATER IN
DEFENCE OF BURNS WROTE “HE WAS EXEMPLARY IN HIS ATTENTION AS AN EXCISE
OFFICER, AND WAS EVEN JEALOUS OF THE LEAST IMPUTATION ON HIS VIGILANCE”. IT
SEEMS OUR ROB WAS MUCH MORE THAN A SIMPLE PLOUGHMAN!!
WITH EVERYTHING SEEMINGLY GOING HIS WAY AND WITH PROSPECTS OF FURTHER
ADVANCEMENT, ROBBIE SEEMED TO THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS THROUGH SOME
UNWISE AND RATHER NAIVE ACTIONS. THERE WAS A LOT OF POLITICAL UNREST AT THIS
TIME AS A RESULT OF THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH REVOLUTIONS AND THE
GOVERNMEMT FELT THAT THE COUNTRY COULD BE ON THE VERGE OF A REVOLT.
ANYONE EXPRESSING SYMPATHY WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES OR EVEN
MILDLY CRITICISING THE GOVERNMENT WAS DEEMED TO BE A JACOBITE. AT A GALA
PERFORMANCE AT THE THEATRE ROYAL IN DUMFRIES THERE WAS A CALL TO SING THE
FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY SONG WHICH WAS ONLY STOPPED BY THE SINGING OF THE
BRITISH NATIONAL ANTHEM DURING WHICH ROBBIE REMAINED SEATED WITH HIS HAT
FIRMLY ON HIS HEAD. THEN A MONTH LATER HE WROTE A PAMPHLET CALLED “THE
RIGHTS OF WOMEN” WHICH HE SUBSEQUENTLY SENT FOR PUBLICATION IN THE
EDINBURGH GAZETTER. IT INCLUDED THE SENTENCE “AND EVEN CHILDREN LISP THE
RIGHTS OF MAN”. ALL THROUGH 1792 HE FEARLESSLY CHAMPIONED THE CAUSE OF CIVIL
AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND HE HAD AROUND HIM POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
ENMEIES AND IN DECEMBER OF THAT YEAR SOME “SCOUNDREL” DENOUNCED HIM TO
THE BOARD OF EXCISE WHO STARTED AN OFFICIAL ENQUIRY TO EXAMINE THE CHARGE
THAT HE WAS “A PERSON DISAFFECTED TO THE GOVERNMENT”. USING HIS SILVER
TONGUE AND WRITING TO HIS FRIENDS, BURNS MANAGED TO DEFUSE THE SITUATION
WITHOUT ANY OFICIAL ACTION BEING TAKEN, BUT DID SEEM TO REALISE HE WOULD
HAVE TO BEHAVE HIMSELF BETTER IN THE FUTURE.
IN MAY OF 1793, BURNS MOVED HIS FAMILY TO THE LAST HOUSE HE WOULD OCCUPY – IN
BANK STREET, NOW KNOWN AS BURNS STREET. THE SERVICE ALLOWED A LARGE
AMOUNT OF LATTITUDE AS TO HOW THE OFFICERS ORGANIZED THEIR WORKING HOURS
WHICH IDEALLY SUITED HIS LITERARY EFFORTS, AND HE ALSO MANAGED TO FIND TIME
FOR TWO SHORT TOURS OF GALLOWAY WITH JOHN SYME IN 1793 AND 1794. 1794 WAS NOT
A GOOD YEAR FOR BURNS AS HE SUFFERED SEVERAL LONG BOUTS OF ILL HEALTH
WHICH NOW WERE OCCURRING IN THE SUMMER AS WELL AS THE WINTER MONTHS SO
COULD NOT BE PUT DOWN TO THE BAD WINTER WEATHER. BURNS COULD NOT AFFORD
TO TAKE TIME OFF AS HIS SALARY WAS HALVED WHEN HE DID SO TO PAY FOR HIS STAND
IN, SO HE HAD TO STRUGGLE AS BEST HE COULD WITH HIS DUTIES. IT IS WORTH
COMMENTING ON THE FACT THAT DURING HIS LAST FATAL ILLNESS, HIS STAND IN – A
CERTAIN MR. STOBIE –WHO WAS ENTITLED TO THE REST OF THE SALARY REFUSED TO
TAKE ANY AND THUS BURNS REMAINED ON FULL SALARY UNTIL HE DIED. ALL HONOUR
TO MR. STOBIE! IT IS NOW ACCEPTED THAT THE RHEUMATISM HE SUFFERED IN HIS
EARLY LIFE DAMAGED HIS HEART THUS SHORTENING HIS LIFE AND THAT HE DIED OF
ENDOCARDITIS. ONE CAN ONLY ADMIRE HIS WILL AND DETERMINATION DURING THE
LAST TWO YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
DESPITE ALL THIS, AT THE END OF 1794 HE GOT HIS CHANCE TO OFFICIATE AS A
SUPERVISOR FOR FOUR MONTHS WHEN ALEXANDER FINDLATER WAS ILL. THE EXISTING
RECORDS SHOW THAT IN THIS ROLE BURNS PERFORMED IN A MOST ABLE AND CAPABLE
MANNER. HE WORKED MOST CONSCIENTIOUSLY AND NOTHING SEEMED TO MISS HIS
EAGLE EYE BUT HE WAS REQUIRED TO PUT IN LONG HOURS – AS ALWAYS – AND OF
COURSE HIS AREA COVERED BOTH DUMFRIES AND THE SURROUNDING DISTRICTS WHICH
ONCE MORE CALLED FOR LONG HOURS IN THE SADDLE. HE FINALLY REALISED AT THE
END OF 1794 THAT THE INVESTIGATION INTO HIS CONDUCT HAD NOT RESULTED IN ANY
DISCIPLINARY ACTION AND HIS PROSPECTS FOR PROMOTION IN THE SERVICE WERE NOT
DIMINISHED. ON NEW YEAR’S DAY IN 1795 ALMOST IN CELEBRATION IT WOULD SEEM, HE
PENNED THE POOR MAN’S PROUD ACLAIM – “A MAN’S A MAN, FOR A’ THAT”. “THE RANK
IS BUT THE GUINEA STAMP – THE MAN’S THE GOWD FOR ALL THAT”.
HE APPEARED NOT TO LIKE THE NATURE OF THE SUPERVISOR’S JOB AS WELL AS THE
LIMITATIONS A PERMANENT APPOINTMENT WOULD IMPOSE ON HIS OTHER ACTIVITIES -
HE DESCRIBES IT THUS IN A LETTER “THE BUSINESS IS INCESSANT DRUDGERY, AND
WOULD BE NEAR A COMPLETE BAR TO EVERY SPECIES OF LITERARY PURSUIT”. BUT HE
WAS LOOKING BEYOND THAT - IN MARCH OF 1795 HE WROTE “THE MOMENT I AM
APPOINTED SUPERVISOR, IN THE COMMON ROUTINE I MAY BE APPOINTED ON THE
COLLECTOR’S LIST; AND THIS IS PURELY ALWAYS A BUSINESS OF POLITICAL
PATRONAGE. A COLLECTOR’S SALARY VARIES FROM 300 POUNDS TO 800 POUNDS A YEAR.
THEY ALSO COME FORWARD BY PRECEDENCY ON THE LIST, AND HAVE, BESIDES A
HANDSOME INCOME, A LIFE OF COMPLETE LEISURE. A LIFE OF LITERARY LEISURE, WITH
A DECENT COMPETENCY, IS THE SUMMIT OF MY WISHES.”
THIS WAS THE HIGHPOINT OF HIS EXCISE CAREER AND THE REST OF 1794 BROUGHT
LITTLE JOY, ONLY PAIN AND UNHAPPINESS. IN ADDITION TO HIS POOR HEALTH, HIS ONLY
LEGITIMATE DAUGHTER ELIZABETH RIDDELL DIED AND HE WAS TOO ILL TO ATTEND HER
FUNERAL IN MAUCHLINE. “I HAVE LATELY DRANK DEEP OF THE CUP OF AFFLICTION…”
HIS HEALTH CONTINUED TO DETERIORATE INTO 1795 ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS HE WAS
STILL PERFORMING HIS EXCISE DUTIES - AS WELL AS CONTINUING WITH HIS LITERARY
OUTPUT - INTO MARCH WHEN THE RECORDS SHOW HIS SALARY WAS REDUCED, AND
FROM THERE IT WAS STEADILY DOWN HILL UNTIL HIS DEATH ON JULY 21ST.
DURING HIS SHORT EXCISE CAREER, BURNS MANAGED TO TRANSCEND THE LABORIOUS
AND MONOTONOUS NATURE OF THE WORK; HE PATIENTLY SUFFERED THE PETTIFOGGING
AND ANNOYING ASPECTS OF EXCISE MINUTIAE; HE SURVIVED THE RIGOURS OF EXCISE
LIFE AND WITHSTOOD THE UNPOPULARITY OF HIS CHOSEN PROFESSION – ALL NO MEAN
ACHIEVEMENTS FOR A MAN OF HIS CONSTITUTION, CHARACTER, PASSION AND PRIDE.
FROM BEING A MOST UNLIKELY CANDIDATE FOR SERVICE IN THE REVENUE, BURNS
BECAME A DEDICATED, CONSCIENTIOUS AND ADMIRABLE EXCISE OFFICER – A POSITIVE
CREDIT TO THE SCOTTISH EXCISE SERVICE. IN RETURN, HER MAJESTY’S CUSTOMS AND
EXCISE HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN AN IMMENSE PRIDE IN ITS MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OFFICER
AND HAS BEEN MOST LOYAL TO HIS IMMORTAL MEMORY. BURNS MERELY HOPED THAT
HIS PROFESSION WOULD TAKE CREDIT FROM HIM AND THIS IT HAS DONE FOR OVER TWO
HUNDRED YEARS. THE “POOR, DAMN’D, RASCALLY GAUGER” HAS PASSED INTO THE
FOLKLORE OF THE DEPARTMENT. AS WILLIAM GLADSTONE WROTE IN 1895 “THE
LOYALTY OF THE EXCISE FORCE TO THE POET IS VERY REMARKABLE AND DOES HONOUR
TO BOTH”.
