As we approach the 25th of January, historically and traditionally, the day in which we celebrate the life and works of Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s National Bard, his time as an Exciseman springs to mind. Although he is described as the ploughman’s poet, he was never really that successful in farming and therefore chose another career path to augment his earnings.
It is recorded that in the year 1788 Rabbie trained to become an Exciseman. His application came through a meeting of Robert Graham of Fintry at the home of the Duke and Duchess of Atholl during Burn’s tour of Scotland in 1787. Graham was the Commissioner for Excise in Scotland and this had some sway in the matter. The Excise had regional Commissioners who were directly under the Lords of the Treasury.
An Exciseman or ‘gauger’, was a government employee, equivalent to a custom officer these days. His job was to ensure that taxes on goods (excise), were paid and recorded, especially alcohol. He was also tasked with preventing smuggling, which in turn affected the local economy and as such this job was not one where the individual was held in high esteem by the general population.
Burns was called to the Excise just before his 29th birthday in the summer of 1788 where the tools of his trade would have been scales and dipping rods to measure the items checked. He progressed to being the Excise officer for Dumfries a year later and in 1792 and was assigned to Dumfries port , which carried with it an increase in wages.
A Licence permitting Samuel Gun to trade in, sell and vend coffee, tea and chocolate; signed by the Collector of Excise in Oxfordshire Collection and the Supervisor of Excise of Banbury District, 11 September 1818. from Wiki
As a locally based gauger, he would regularly have visited both retailers and manufacturers to assess and ensure duty was paid on any goods, dry or liquid. If all was in order, a licence was issued permitting them to trade.
It is documented that during this period he was involved with the seizing of a ship called ‘The Rosamond’ after it had ran aground, which had been used to smuggle goods into the port. Of course going back to the reputation of excise men, this incident did not impress either the crew or in fact the local population.
It is however a reasonable assumption, that Burns who at heart was an altruistic man of the people and their rights, may not have been totally enthralled in his chosen career. His poem ‘The Deil’s awa wi the Exciseman’, highlights this. Below is the poem in song and old pictures of Dumfries.
Taken from Scotslanguage.com This song by Robert Burns says that Excisemen, who collected taxes on alcohol, and chased smugglers, were bad people who deserved to be taken away by the Devil, and everyone would be so happy they would dance!
But at the time he wrote the song Burns was himself an exciseman. Like many other talented people Robert Burns did not make his living from his art. One job he had was, with some other excisemen, being sent to watch a suspicious looking boat that arrived in the Solway Firth in South West Scotland. The excisemen saw that this was indeed a smugglers’ vessel and that the crew were many, armed and likely to be dangerous. The excisemen would need more men to catch those on board the boat, so they sent to Dumfries for reinforcements. Burns was left with some men to try to prevent the boat landing or the crew escaping, but he knew they were too few to do this.
When the reinforcements eventually arrived from Dumfries, it is alleged that Burns was the first to board the smugglers’ boat, sword in hand. The crew were captured and all the arms and stores of the vessel were sold in Dumfries.
The messenger to Dumfries took a very long time to come back and it is suggested that one of Burns’s friends suggested that he write a song to pass the time. Burns went for a walk on the shingle beach. When he came back he recited this song.
Meaning of the Scots words: ilka means ‘every’, Mahoun means ‘devil’, maut means ‘malt’, Meikle means great/big, reels means ‘a dance using a figure of eight’, strathspeys means a dance slower than a reel, ae means ‘one’
However, accepting his disdain for the job, Burns remained an Exciseman in Dumfries until his death on 21st July 1796. He had been in extremely poor health from late 1795, which his last few poignant letters confirm.
Towards the end he had rather strangely been advised by his doctor and friend (Dr. Maxwell) that bathing in the sea on the Solway Firth would alleviate his problems. He also chose to use the Brow Well, a mineral spring near Ruthwell, which he drank the waters from, again on the advice of his doctor. Sadly according to some, this may have speeded up his demise rather than actually improved his health.
From NRS Scotland, details of Burns’ short career as an Exciseman can be gleaned from Exchequer excise salary books (E562/6), Customs and Excise records (CE6/9 and RH1/2/881) and a letter in the Mar and Kellie collection (GD124/15) in which the poet explained his near-dismissal from the Excise service and his independence of mind. In addition, a letter survives that records the poet’s visit to the Excise Office in Dumfries. It gives a vivid glimpse of his state of mind one week before the died: ‘reduced & shattered as he was, in the extreme, his wit and humour remained.’ (GD151/11/26/46). It proves that Burns made a return journey to Dumfries to collect his salary, an arduous undertaking unrecorded in accounts of his life.
Interestingly, accepting Excisemen were not the most popular, Burns armed himself, as was the want of his trade. His pair of pistols ironically were given to his doctor as a gift on his death bed.
Sadly, Rabbie’s wife gave birth to their last child on the day of his funeral so he never met him. The boy was named Maxwell Burns after the physician.
These pistols now reside in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum owned by the National Trust of Scotland, situated in Alloway, Ayr and the place really is well worth a visit.
Burns Clan/Family
As an aside, Burns Night, something that is celebrated world-wide annually, celebrates Robbie Burns’s birthday on the 25th January 1759, 265 years ago this year. The original family name was Burnes but his father, William Burnes chose to change it to Burns of which Burnes was a derivation.
According to Scotsclans, Burns is a topographical name similar to Carruthers and was once considered a clan/family in its own right. However it is also considered a sept of Clan Campbell. In fact Scot crest who make the Carruthers wall plaque with our tartan and clan badge, produce a Burns plaque which carries the Campbell crest on the Burns Tartan.
The history of the Burns tartan/check, according to the Scottish Register of Tartans states that almost 50 years ago (first registered 01/01/59), the late Baron Marchand of Messrs George Harrison & Co. of Edinburgh explained to E.S. Harrison of Johnstons of Elgin, how the Burns Check came about.
He related that he had been approached by a friend from ‘The Scotsman’ newspaper with the suggestion that he create a Robert Burns tartan. The first idea had been to base it on the Campbell – a clan with which the Burns family were connected – but after much discussion it was decided more appropriate to model it on the Shepherd’s Check (a ‘maud‘ is a blanket is an old traditional Border check. It is made of black and white wool woven in small checks, commonly used in the Southern regions of Scotland. Records show its existance dating back to 1655, but although in general use, it was not used by any one particular family or region but was a generic cloth worn by Shepherds).
The overcheck introduced ‘the hodden grey and a’ that’ and a little flavour of green fields was added. There was thought of calling it the ‘Ayr Tartan’ but that was discarded in favour of the present name which more aptly celebrated the bicentenary of the poet’s birth. In June 1959 the Burns Federation accepted the design with the condition that all goods should be made in Scotland (as is the Carruthers Tartan, Registration number STR11700).
This was superceded by the Burns Heritage Check (ITI 2206) which in turn has been superceded by the Burns Heritage Tartan (ITI 4515). Various woven samples of #1736 (original Scottish Tartans Authority reference) with 5, 6 and 7 black bands.
The Maud
James Hogg, wearing a maud, by Sir John Watson Gordon 1830 (Wiki)
As we know tartans nor kilts were ever worn by Borderers or Lowlanders and no family or clan assigned tartan existed anywhere in Scotland until the early 1800’s.
In fact, according to Sir Walter Scott who wrote with regards Border Scots and their wearing or rather ‘not’ wearing of tartans in 1811:
“The plaid was never in use among the Borderers, i.e. the Highland or tartan plaid (‘plaid’ : a pattern of squares and lines on a cloth) but there was, and is still used, a plaid with a very small cheque of black and grey, which we call a maud, and which, I believe, was very ancient; it is the constant dress of the shepherd, worn over one shoulder, and then drawn round the person, leaving one arm free. It is not of Tartan but of the natural colour of the wool with a very small black check which gives it a greyish look”.
The maud was therefore the outer garment of the Border shepherd or common man. It provided warmth amongst the Border hills, protection from the rain and was his blanket at night. The voluminous nature of the wrapped maud also meant that pockets or nooks, known as ‘maud neuks/nuiks’, could be fashioned for the carrying of ‘fairns’ (food), other provisions and even lambs.
This item is totally different from a kilt worn as Highland dress, great or modern and should not be considered as such.
New Burns retated tartan
Interestingly, only today on the 23rd of January 2024, the Burns Society of the City of New York have just registered a tartan specifically for their members and friends with the Scottish Register of Tartans.
The Register, established by an act of the Scottish Parliament in November 2008, is administered by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) with advice from the Court of the Lord Lyon and representatives of the Scottish tartan industry and incorporates all previous tartan registrations and records. The Burns Society of New York tartan will be woven by the House of Edgar in Perth, Scotland, who also weave the Carruthers Tartan.
Today it is not unusual for the colours in the tartan to hold meaning to the registrants, in this case the design includes colours intended to represent New York and the Society: green is for Central Park; blue is for Manhattan’s surrounding rivers; black and white are from the traditional ‘Burns check’ and a nod to the ‘Big Apple’; and red is for Burns’ famous ‘A Red, Red Rose.
The colours in the weave of the Carruthers tartan for instance represents our history and homelands in Annandale, Dumfriesshire: The green, purple and lilac represents our ancestral homelands in Annandale, Dumfriesshire, the red represents the blood split in defence of our family, our lands and our country, and the subtle white stripe recognises our family’s support for the Jacobite cause and the Royal House of Stuart
Registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans, Scotland – STR 11700
