Ellisland Farm lies about 6.5 mi/10.4 km northwest of Dumfries near the village of Auldgirth, located in the Parish of Dunscore, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The complex is a museum in the farm Robert Burns built, lived in and farmed from 1788 until 1791.Wilson, Page 9 One of the earliest references to the site is in 1465. Cardinal Antonius confirming a Charter by the Monastery of Melrose of the adjoining property of Ellisland to John Kirkpatrick.Scotlands Places
History William Roy's map, circa 1747–55, does not show any form of settlement at Ellisland. However William Crawford's 1804 map of Dumfries-shire marks an 'Elliesland' in the expected location, the farm having been built a few years before, however another building is marked closer to Friars' Carse.NLS Maps – Crawford The name is said to be derived from "Isle's Land", the name of a neighbouring estate.Hendry, Page 42 The river may have been less of a barrier to transport than today and a ford is known to have existed nearby. The nearby Old Dunscore Churchyard is the location of 18th century memorials to the Ireland family of Elliesland (sic).
Patrick Miller of Dalswinton wrote of the area in September 1810, saying;
"When I purchased this estate about twenty-five years ago, I had not seen it. It was in the most miserable state of exhaustion, and all the tenants in poverty. .... When I went to view my purchase, I was so much disgusted for eight or ten days, that I then meant to return to this county."
The Poets choice
Patrick Miller of Dalswinton had offered Burns a choice of three farms, two on the rich holms of the River Nith's east side; and one, Ellisland, on the west bank, composed of a fertile strip along the river itself and stony fields between the river and the Dumfries road.Dougal, Page 282 – 3 Burns visited Ellisland on 27 February 1788 with James Tennant of Glenconner, a friend of himself and his father;McQueen, Page 122 taking James's advice he agreed to sign up to the seventy-six-year lease from his friend Patrick Miller of Dalswinton,Hogg, Page 178 taking up the lease of the farm at Whitsun (25 May) 1788. The lease was divided up into four periods of nineteen years, the rent for the first three years to be £50 per annum, and £70 thereafter.Hecht, Page 181
Robert had written a letter to his friend Patrick Miller, on 20 October 1787:
I want to be a farmer in a small farm, about a plough-gang, in a pleasant country, under the auspices of a good landlord. I have no foolish notion of being a tenant on easier terms than another.
To find a farm where one can live at all is not easy – I only mean living soberly, like an old-style farmer, and joining personal industry.
The banks of the Nith are as sweet poetic ground as any I ever saw; and besides, Sir, 'tis but justice to the feelings of my own heart and the opinion of my best friends, to say that I would wish to call you landlord sooner than any landed gentleman I know…
The Burns family at Ellisland
Burns did not begin farming work until 11 June 1788. Ellisland had no farmhouse or farm buildings and Patrick Miller provided Burns with £300 to build one, construct the byre, cart shed, etc. and to stock the farm and enclose the fields.McQueen, Page 124
Robert had formally married Jean Armour on 20 March,McQueen, Page 123 but Robert, Jean and their two-year-old son Robert would not be able to move into the farm until the following Spring; Robert at first lodged with David and Nance Cullie or Kelly,Hecht, Page 184 the previous tenant, in their cottage near the ruin of the Isle Tower.Hog, Page 188 In December Jean came down to Nithsdale and stayed rent free with Robert at the Isle, the country house of David Newall, a Dumfries lawyer.McQueen, Page 126
On 23 June 1788 Robert informed his good friend, the lawyer, Robert Ainslie, that he had arranged a sitting with John Miers, the artist, to produce a profile or silhouette picture and that together with one of Lord Glencairn and one of Dr Blacklock he intended to hang them on his new mantlepiece at Ellisland Farm.
The whole family moved into Ellisland during June 1789, walking the short distance up from the Isle in procession, and to ensure good luck they entered in their best clothes, following a servant-maid, Elizabeth Smith, who carried the family bible on which sat a bowl of salt. As Robert and Jean entered, an oat-cake was broken over the head of the wife and everyone gathered for a drink to the success of the new home; the evening would have been taken up with a 'house warming'; dancing and drinking with friends and neighbours.Dougal, Page 281 Mrs Dunlop of Dunlop House had given the couple a four poster bed and they had a selection of furniture made by Ayrshire carpenters.Hogg, Page 189
Jean was said to be a good and prudent housewife, kept everything in neat and tidy order, was well liked by the servants and provided plenty of wholesome food. The maid-servant, Elizabeth, previously mentioned was a cousin.Wilson, Page 10 Robert Ainslie was not so complimentary when he visited Ellisland in October 1790.McQueen, Page 133
Burns' sons Francis Wallace and William Nicol were born at Ellisland Farm, and their half-sister Betty (daughter of Helen Anne Park of DumfriesMcQueen, Page 135) spent the first months of her life here too.
For a time Robert's youngest brother William lived at Ellisland until he got a job as an apprentice saddler near Carlisle.McQueen, Page 127
The farm and the land
The house Burns built stood on a gravelly bank above the river and had one storey, with garrets for the servants. In the west end there was a 'company' room, and in the east a sitting-room, with a window in the gable giving fine views of the surroundings. A kitchen and a bedroom formed the middle of the dwelling. Alexander Crombie was the stonemason and Thomas Boyd was the architect, the completion being much delayed and the account not settled until two months before Burns left Ellisland.Mackay, Page 100 The hearth in the kitchen has apotropaic marks carved onto it to protect against the Devil entering via the chimney and a small window, now blocked up, existed at the fireplace so that the Devil would be sent straight out of the house.
The plan of the present house is practically that of the original and although it is said that Burns's cottage was pulled down in 1812, it is likely that the main portion of the walls stand as they did in 1788.Dougall, Page 283 Some of the windows were said in 1840 to carrying the faint traces of the poetic 'glass-scribblings' of which Burns was so fond. A copious spring emptied into a basin, situated down the slope towards the river and this supplied the family.Wilson, Page 8
The 69 hectares / 170 acres of land at Ellisland, rented at £50 per annum for the first three years and seventy for the remainder of the lease,Wilson, Page 7 were neglected, stony, infertile, poorly dressed and badly drained. It had an orchard and Burns had 9 or 10 cows, including 3 fine Ayrshire cows; 4 horses and some pet sheep. The Ayrshire dairying system was introduced and cheese including ewe-milk cheese was made and crops such as oats were grown.
The first years' crop was to be his and the first payment of rent was not until Martimass. Burns kept two men and two women servants.
Burns is said to have been the first to introduce Ayrshire cattle to Dumfriesshire and other farmers soon followed his lead once the significantly higher milk yield became apparent.Hogg, Page 191
Departure from Ellisland
Burns switched from arable farming to dairying and then decided to give up the farm altogether as his career in the Excise looked more remunerative. For two years Burns worked as both a farmer and an exciseman, having received his excise commission on 14 July 1788. He had to ride two hundred miles a week to carry out his excise duties and had also to labour in the fields. In early 1790 the annual rent rose to £90 and Burns decided to give up his lease.
The Ayrshiremen who had advised Burns were little acquainted with the local soils, with the required manures, with the local markets, etc. These friends had estimated his rental at Ayrshire rates, so contrary to his landlord's good intentions, Burns may have ended up paying more rental for Ellisland than Ellisland could produce. By the end of 1790 Burns had decided that Ellisland was 'altogether a ruinous business'.Burns Encyclopedia
Burns auctioned his crops, getting a Guinea an acre, on 25 August. At Martinmas, 11 November 1791, the Burns family left Ellisland Farm and moved into the town of Dumfries six miles (10 km) away.Dougal, Page 291 About thirty people had attended the auction or roup and the levels of drunkenness led to Burns recording that Such a scene of drunkenness was hardly ever seen in this country.
Ellisland after Burns (1791–1921) Patrick Miller sold the farm outright for £1900 to John Morin of Laggan, the adjacent property.McQueen, Page 136 In 1805 Morin sold Ellisland to a Mr Taylor who dismantled and remodelled the steading, although the farmhouse is much as it was in Burns's time. The parlour is thought to have remained unchanged. Burns's favourite line from Pope An honest man's the noblest work of God, was engraved on a window pane, although this was vandalised with a piece of flint about March 1876. Ellisland was farmed until 1921.Mackay, Page 103
The Ellisland Poetry, Songs and Letters After meeting and befriending Captain Francis Grose (1731–91) at Friars' Carse, Burns agreed to write a poem in exchange for the author including Kirk Alloway in his new book on Scottish Antiquities. Burns's poem was his self-avowed masterpiece Tam o'Shanter,Dougal, Page 290 sent to Francis Grose on 1 December 1790; appearing in The Edinburgh Magazine in March 1791 and in Grose's second volume of his Antiquities a month later.McQueen, Page 134
Burns's Auld Lang Syne was written at Ellisland, the first version being sent to Mrs Dunlop on 17 December 1788. Burns said in a letter to Mrs Dunlop: ... is not the Scotch phrase Auld lang syne exceedingly expressive? There is an old song and tune which has often thrilled through my soul. You know I am an enthusiast in old Scotch songs. I shall give you the verses on the other sheet... Light be the turf on the breast of the heaven-inspired poet who composed this glorious fragment! There is more of the fire of native genius in it than in half a dozen of modern English Bacchanalians.The Burns Encyclopedia
During his relatively short stay at Ellisland, Burns wrote over 130 songs and poems, which amounts to about a quarter of his total output. He was working as an exciseman and a farmer but he also managed to write around 230 letters, his total extant letters amounting to 700 letters.McQueen, Page 137 The drinking song Willie Brew'd a Peck o'Maut was written during this time, set to music by Allan Masterton.McQueen, Page 129
William Lorimer was a farmer, living two miles (3 km) away from Ellisland at Kemmishall or Kemys Hall. William's daughter Jean (1775–1808) was a frequent visitor to Ellisland and Burns wrote about twenty-four songs for this lass of the lintwhite locks. These songs were amongst his finest and he often referred to Jean under the poetic monica of Chloris.
In the stack yard Burns composed Mary in Heaven.
Burns wrote many passionate letters to Mrs Agnes Craig McLehose, his 'Clarinda'. Agnes, known as Nancy to her friends, was married and Nancy met Burns at a tea-party in 1787. The pair were instantly attracted to each other and for a time they met frequently, talked and wrote letters to one another using the names 'Clarinda' for Nancy and 'Sylvander' for Burns. The love affair played itself out in letters written between December 1787 and December 1791. Robert's passion for Clarinda inspired one of his most famous love songs, 'Ae Fond Kiss'.Scotlands Culture