My Life and Lays. by Andrew Kinross
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MY LIFE AND LAYS. BY ANDREW KINROSS. RBS. |. 77. MY LIFE AND LAYS BY ANDREW KINROSS. Invercargill: Printed by John Ward Co., Esk Street. mdcccxcix. v B ‘■2. 529 - JN'o % V3 76 .; CONTENTS. My Life - - - - - . 11-62 LaysPatriotism of the South— - - - - - 63 TheOn SailingShipwreck for India ......... 6463 ComposedOde to my when Brothers on the on Lookout my Going to Sea 6665 ComposedOde to my whenBrother Leaving for- Australia,- 1848 - - 6766 OdeAustralian to My SweetheartSquatter’s Song - -- - - - - - - 6968 PrayerOde to My------ Bride - 7069 Ode to SouthlandMy Wife -----. 7271 AOde Southland to New ZealandMember’s ----- Farewell 7372 AOde Southland to an absent Farmer’s Wife Lay- - - - - - - 7574 AMan’s Freeman’s Origin Layand Destination. - . 75 Ode to Woman - - - - - 7776 TheNew OldZealand Land Warand theSong New - . - . - . - . 7978 On Generalthe Return Gordon of the Troops from the Soudan 79 A New Year’s Lay, 1886 - 80 RichA True and Colonist Poor ---------- 81 The Dying Soldier - /\ - 82 AThe Love Noblest Song Ajfai - 14/iiya_,- . - - . 83 Man was not made to Mourn 8584 PorridgeOn the Unveiling for Ever of Burns’- Statue in- Dunedin- . 85 A Poet’s Proposal to a Prosaic Girl 86 PatriotismCastles in the Air - - . 87 The Farmer’s Lament 8988 SweetOde to HomeMy Wife - - - - - . - - - 90 The Water of Life ^ - - - 9190 TheUnsectarian Coming ReligionLine- - - - . 91 Ode to Bracken - - . 9293 CONTENTS. Lays of the South (continued)— PAGE93 ComingTo Bracken Home - - - - - - 94 Death of Love 95 NewOde toZealand a Lady Anthem Friend - - - - - - 96 The Wisest Plan 97 Philosophic Love - - - - 98 Canny Love - - - - - 99 MyTrue Own Love True Love- - - - - 100 Ode to Annie - - - - - 100101 FarewellA Farmer’s to Offerthe Lindhurst ... Road Board - - 102 A Democrat’s Lay ----- 103,02 SuccessA Poet toto HisNew Love Australians 103 A Dying Poet to His Love 104 PoemWelcome for toAnnual a Spinster’s Gathering Ball of Southland Celtic Society - 105 To Jessie ----- - 106 Past,The Best Present, Federation and Future 107 Southland Pioneers’ Song 108109 MyFarewell Lost Love- - - - no GodPoem Save for Highlandthe People Society of Southland in The American Carriage Factory' Business 112 The RoseBride’s of THllburnRequest Yale- - - - 113 Poem26, 1898read before- Gaelic - Society. of- New Zealand, August 114 PoemSociety for ofSecond Southland Annual Gathering- - of the - Highland- 115 Looking Back - 116115 ShortTo Poems, My Brother Sentiments, on His Jottings,Going to &e.—Sea, 1845 - 117 ToBefore My ProceedingWife, 1853 on an Excursion 117 ToastsTo My Wife on Her Return from Dunedin 119117 AWritten Country on Lassa New Year’s----- Card sent to a Lady 120119 Composed at LakeGreenvale Wakatipu Station 120 ToComposed a Young for Lady a Friend Friend on the Death of a Relative - 121120 FarewellTo a Poetess - - - - 122121 LIFE OF ANDREW KINROSS. We may wish, we may strive, what our future shall be, But our hopes and our fortunes may never agree. When I read the works of an author with whose sentiments I agree, or whose talents I admire, I feel that I would like to make his, or her, further acquaintance. It is likely that readers of my “Lays” may have the same feeling, and I commenced writing an autobiography. However, my experience has been so varied, and I have seen so many changes, that, although I kept condensing, to relate all in full I thought would require too much space ; so I decided that in connection with my “ Lays ” for the present I would publish a mere outline. Those who are fortunate generally attribute their success to merit. I have been unfortu- nate, and it seems to me that, although to some extent we are free agents, there is Divinity, Fate, Luck, Chance, or whatever term we use, that influences our lives. I have never been able to follow an occupation that I liked ; I have seldom enjoyed the society I longed for; I have not met with the sympathy and appreciation that I hoped for; and I have not had a regular income sufficient to enable me to gratify my tastes. 1 write rather to increase the number of my friends amongst those who have poetic tastes and generous natures than with a hope of profit. We may often come together, we may often meet and part, Yet may never know what passes within each other’s heart. Only those who have similar tastes can understand each other, and I hope that as my narrative progresses my feelings will be understood by most of my readers. I was born in Glasgow on 19th August, 1829. My father came from beyond Dumblane, and my mother—a M'Donald— from Inverness-shire. I flatter myself that I have inherited the best characteristics of the Lowlander and the Highlander. My LIFE OF ANDREW KINROSS. father was a grocer, and must have had a good income, as I still remember living in a large stone house, where my two younger brothers and I had every comfort and attention. No doubt this was the happiest period of my life. But my happiness did not last long, for my father died on 10th April,. 1834, at the age of twenty-eight years. My mother was not accustomed to business, but she managed to conduct it on a smaller scale. I was sent to different schools, and always made good progress. Prizes were not given then so freely as now, but at an early age I got a prize for reciting Byron’s “ Isles of Greece.” My mother must have been pleased with my elocution, or seen signs of poetic talent, as I still possess a volume of Shakespeare’s Plays which she pre- sented to me. On 14th January, 1841, my mother died, and our home was broken up. My brother Daniel went to reside with Uncle Angus, who was a grocer and had no family. John stayed with Uncle John, who also was a grocer and had a daughter. As Uncle Alexander had a family of five, I was allotted to him, as, being the oldest, I would soonest be self-supporting. Uncle Alexander had a private school, and, in some respects, I was most fortunate in being taken charge of by him. Unfortunately, our uncles did not interchange visits, though they all resided in Glasgow. On this account my brothers and I did not meet so often as we desired. Our uncles received a fair sum from our mother’s estate, and they need not have been hard on us, but the Scotch system of dealing with young people was cold and stern. My uncle’s school was more of a finishing than a preparatory one, and at first some of the scholars were more advanced than I. However, no one learned so quickly as I did, and I soon took the lead in all branches but arithmetic. I soon saw that my uncle was the best teacher I ever had, and he tried to make his pupils understand the rules and study thoroughness. In company with my cousin Jeanie, who was some months younger than I, and Donald, who was two years younger than Jeanie, I was sent to a first-class dancing school. I would not have gone of my own accord, but I soon became an accomplished dancer, and liked dancing. I was fond of young ladies, but I was bashful, and found it difficult to converse freely. This feeling gradually wore off, and I am not bashful now, and find no trouble in conversing with a young lady with poetic tastes when I am so fortunate as to meet one alone. I still remember with pleasure our final dancing school ball, held in the largest hall in Scotland. There was a numerous orchestra, and numbers of the relatives and friends LIFE OF ANDREW KINROSS. were present. I danced a single dance ; but I have forgotten all the steps. I took part in dancing hornpipes and other step dances, and I still like dancing a hornpipe. When l was fourteen years of age my uncle told me to apply for a situation as junior clerk in a lawyer’s office. I applied in writing, and obtained the appointment in the office of Messrs. Moody and M'Clure, at a salary of eight pounds a year. I have never had an occupation since that I liked so well; but when I had been a year in the office a printer offered my uncle fifteen pounds a year for my services as bookkeeper, etc. I did not like this employment, and applied for a situation in a manufacturer’s office, and obtained it. The salary was also fifteen pounds a year, and I was employed chiefly in bookkeeping and making out invoices; The residence of Mrs. Davies, my aunt, was more con- venient to the office than my uncle’s house, so I went to reside with her. Fortunately, it took a long time to wind up my mother’s estate, and I got my share of the final payment after I left my uncle’s charge. If 1 had obtained an appointment in an office where there was a likelihood of promotion to a fairly-paid position I would have been satisfied, but it seemed that there was a superabundance of clerks. I thought there might be a better chance of saving money in America; so I resigned my situation with the intention of going there. Probably through having lost my parents I was more thoughtful, self-reliant, and patriotic than most lads. I took a pleasure in reading of those who were chivalrous, and who made sacrifices for their principles. My favourite heroes were Wallace and Hampden, and I resolved to profit by their example so far as circumstances permitted. At an early age I acquired a taste for poetry, and composed short pieces.