been only after he went to Mossgiel that he had
seriously conceived the idea of writing for publication, and the
decision was followed by a year of the most extraordinary fertility in
composition. To 1785-1786 are assigned such satires as _Holy Willie_
and the _Address to the Unco Guid_; a group of the longer poems
including _The Cotter's Saturday Night_, _The Jolly Beggars_,
_Halloween_, _The Holy Fair_, _The Twa Dogs_ and _The Vision_; some
shorter but no less famous pieces, such as the poems _To a Louse_, _To
a Mouse_, _To the Deil_, _To a Mountain Daisy_ and _Scotch Drink_; and
a number of the best of his _Epistles_. Many of these, especially the
church satires, had obtained a considerable local fame through
circulation in manuscript, so that, proposals having been issued for
an edition to be printed by Wilson of Kilmarnock, it was not found
difficult to obtain subscriptions for more than half the edition of
six hundred and twelve copies. The prospect of some return from this
enterprise induced James Armour to take legal measures to obtain
support for Jean's expected child, and Burns, fearing imprisonment,
was forced to go into hiding while his book was passing the press. The
church, too, had taken cognizance of his offense, and both Jean and he
had to stand up before the congregation on three occasions to receive
rebuke and make profession of repentance. He was at the same time
completing the preparations for his voyage. In such extraordinary
circumstances appeared the famous Kilmarnock edition, the immediate
success of which soon produced a complete alteration in the whole
outlook of the poet.

In the first place, the consideration Burns gained from his volume
induced Armour to relax his pursuit, and in September, when Jean
became the mother of twins, the poet was in such a mood that the
sentiment of paternity began to weigh against the proposed emigration.
Some weeks later he learned through a friend that Doctor Blacklock, a
poet and scholar of standing in literary circles in Edinburgh, had
praised his volume highly, and urged a second and larger edition. The
upshot was that he gave up his passage (his trunk had been packed and
was part way to Greenock), and determined instead on a visit to
Edinburgh. The only permanent result of the whole West Indian scheme
was thus a sheaf of amorous and patriotic farewells, of which the
following may be taken as examples:

WILL YE GO TO THE INDIES, MY MARY?

Will ye