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To
James Burness
Lochlea, 21st June 1783
Dear Sir,
My father received your favor of the 10th Current, and as he has been
for some months very poorly in health, & is in his own opinion,
& indeed in almost ev'ry body's else, in a dying condition; he has
only, with great difficulty, wrote a few farewell lines to each of his
brothers-in-law; for this melancholy reason I now hold the pen for him
to thank you for your kind letter, & to assure you Sir, that it
shall not be my fault if my father's correspondence in the North die
with him.- My brother writes to John Caird, & to him I must refer
you for the news of our family. I shall only trouble you with a few
particulars relative to the present wretched state of this country.
Our markets are exceedingly high; oatmeal 17 & 18d per peck, &
not to be got even at that price; We have indeed been pretty well supplied
with quantities of white pease from England & elsewhere, but that
resource is likely to fail us; & what will become of us then, particularly
the very poorest sort, Heaven only knows. - This country, till late
was flourishing incredibly in the Manufactures of Silk, Lawn & Carpet
Weaving, and we are still carrying on a good deal in that way but much
reduced from what it was; we had also a fine trade in the shoe way,
but now entirely ruined & hundreds driven to a starving condition
on account of it.- Farming is also at a very low ebb with us. Our Lands,
generally speaking, are mountainous & barren; and our Landholders,
full of ideas of farming gathered from the English, and the Lothians
and other rich soils in Scotland; make no allowance for the odds of
the quality of land, and consequently stretch us much beyond what, in
the event, we will be found able to pay. We are also much at a loss
for want of proper methods in our improvements of farming; necessity
compels us to leave our old schemes; & few of us have opportunities
of being well informed in new ones. In short, my dear Sir, since the
unfortunate beginning of this American war, & its as unfortunate
conclusion, this country has been, & still is decaying very fast.
Even in higher life, a couple of our Ayrshire Noblemen, and the major
part of our Knights & squires, are all insolvent. A miserable job
of a Douglas, Heron, & Co.'s bank, which no doubt you have heard
of, has undone numbers of them; and imitating English, and French, and
other foreign luxuries & fopperies, has ruined as many more.- there
is great trade of smuggling carried on along our coasts, which, however
destructive to the interests of the kingdom at large, certainly enriches
this corner of it; but too often indeed at the expence of our Morals;
however, it enables individuals to make, at least for a time, a splendid
appearance; but fortune, as is usual with her when she is uncommonly
lavish of her favours, is generally even with them at the last; &
happy were it for numbers of them if she would leave them no worse than
when she found them-
My mother sends you a small present of a cheese, 'tis but a very little
one as our last year's stock is sold off; but if you could fix on any
correspondent in Edinburgh, or Glasgow, we would send you a proper one
in the season. Mrs Black promises to take the cheese under his care
so far, and then to send it to you by the Stirling carrier.
I shall conclude this long letter with assuring you that I shall be
very happy to hear from you or any of our friends in your country when
opportunity serves.-
My Father sends you, probably for the last time in this world, his warmest
wishes for your welfare and happiness; and mother & the rest of
the family desire to inclose their kind Compliments to you, Mrs Burness
and the rest of your family along with
Dear Sir, Your affectionate Cousin,
Robt Burness
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