Burns is thought to have first met Gavin Hamilton in 1783, introduced by fellow lawyer
Robert Aiken of Ayr. Burns dedicated his Kilmarnock edition of
Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect to Hamilton who was a subscriber to forty copies as well as distributing many of the 96 proposal forms. In 1786 a letter in the
Edinburgh Evening Courant stated "''that "not one" of Ayrshire's "Peers, Nabobs, and wealthy commoners" had "stepped forth as a patron" to Burns
". Hamilton responded by saying that "the greatest part ... were subscribed for, or bought up by, the gentlemen of Airshire (sic)''". In 1784 Hamilton leased the 118 acre Mossgiel Farm, previously known as
Mossgavil, from the Earl of Loudoun with the intention of using it as a summer retreat. His wife, however, was not keen on the arrangement. Mossgavil, as Burns knew it, stands on a ridge of trap or
basalt. The name may derive from the Gaelic
Mas-geal, pronounced Maos-gheul, 'bleak or fallow ridge', referring to bleak and uncultivated moss. Gavin instead sub-let the farm to Robert and Gilbert Burns in November 1783 for £90 a year. At this time when their father
William Burnes was in litigation with David McLure over the conditions of the lease of
Lochlea Farm and had only a few months to live. Mossgiel had been built, at least in part, by Gavin Hamilon only a few years before and was a comfortable residence with a modern spence or parlour. Hamilton may have given legal advice to his friend Burns that this arrangement would best protect the family's financial interests and the sub-let was kept from the brother's father. Between 1785 and circa May 1786 Gavin employed Mary Campbell, better known as '
Highland Mary', as a nursery maid and Burns probably first met her at his home. Hamilton drew up a document for Burns that gave the date of 22 May 1785 for the birth of
Elizabeth Bishop (Burns), better known as
Dear-bought Bess, his daughter and first child with
Elizabeth Paton. Hamilton is said to have encouraged Burns in his plans to emigrate to Jamaica and Captain Smith, master of the ship that Burns intended to travel to Jamaica in, was a good friend of Gavin Hamilton. With the printing and success of 'The Kilmarnock Edition' he advised the poet to stay and suggested employment in the excise. It was Hamilton in 1786 who delivered the letter from Dr Blacklock to Burns that praised the poets works and gave him further encouragement to stay in Scotland. Hamilton, like Burns, was a Freemason and accompanied the poet to the
Newmilns Lodge in March 1786. Hamilton was a subscriber to 40 copies of the 'Kilmarnock Edition'.
Correspondence His half-brothers and sisters lived on the Harvieston estate near
Dollar where Burns visited them, writing a detailed record of his visit to Gavin mentioning Grace Hamilton and paying particular attention to Charlotte Hamilton who he named the "
Maid of Devon" and later addressed in "
The Banks of Devon". When in 1786 Burns first arrived in Edinburgh he shared a room with his 'Mauchline' friend
John Richmond, a solicitors clerk, who had once worked for Gavin Hamilton and would later become a lawyer in Mauchline himself. Burns wrote revealingly to Hamilton about
Jean Armour during his stay in Edinburgh saying "''To tell the truth among friends, I feel a miserable blank in my heart, with want of her, and I don't think I shall ever meet with so delicious an armful again ..''" Burns in December 1786 wrote again from Edinburgh saying that "
For my own affairs, I am in a fair way of becoming as eminent as Thomas à Kempis or John Bunyan; and you may expect henceforth to see my birthday inscribed among the wonderful events in the Poor Robin and Aberdeen Almanacks along with the Black Monday, and the Battle of Bothwell Bridge." In February 1788 he writes to
Agnes Maclehose that he is on his way to visit Gavin Hamilton and that "
I hate myself as an unworthy sinner, because these interviews of old, dear friends make me for half a moment almost forget Clarinda".
Gavin Hamilton and Burns's published works In 1786 Burns wrote the following "
Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton Esq"; He also oddly placed on page 185, a significant way through the 'Kilmarnock Edition', "
A Dedication to Gavin Hamilton Esq." as well as making reference to Gavin in "''
Holy Willie's Prayer" and describing him in "To the Rev. John McMath
". He wrote "To Mr Gavin Hamilton Esq., Mauchline. Recommending a boy, Mossgaville, May 3, 1786
" Burns was leasing a fairly new house that Gavin Hamilton had built, hence the word play on Mossgaville'' for his 'villa' home rather than 'Mossgavill' or the familiar 'Mossgiel'. Burns was hoping that Hamilton would take the boy who had worked for him as an apprentice rather than the fate of going to work for McGaun, a cattle dealer, who had a poor reputation, one being the habit of scraping cow's horns that had the effect of making them look younger! The stanza from "
To the Rev. John McMath" describing Gavin Hamilton: The first stanza from "''Nature's Law. Humbly Inscribed to Gavin Hamilton, Esq.''" Not published until 1830 in the Aldine edition of Burns's works. To assist with his debts Burns had given Gilbert £180 earned from his
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh Edition). This enabled Gilbert to remain at Mossgiel until 1797. This 'ruinous bargain' situation led to a considerable cooling of their friendship Hamilton may not have taken this jocular letter in the manner intended, cooling their friendship. ==Gavin Hamilton and Burns's marriages to Jean Armour==