Blane, John

'J.B. sat beside Burns in church on the day when the Incident occurred [sic] which gave occasion to the Poem of the Louse, & was surprised when Burns awakened him, the middle of the same night, & repeated to him all the stanzas, requesting his opinion of them, - this was the most surprising Proofs of the facility with which Burns composed, that came within J.B.'s knowledge —

'In the laborious employment of husbandry, the Peculiarities of Burns's [sic] mind were easily discernable — while engaged in Thrashing, it was evident that his mind was particularly occupied, from the varied alternations from slow to quick which rendered it dangerous & even impossible for another to Keep time with him but in an hour or two he was quite exhausted & gave in altogether. —

'A simple occurrence commented on by Burns in his own commanding way, has never since failed to Impress this persons [sic] mind, in regard to Cruelty to animals. When walking together, J.B. having a whip in his hand gave a slight touch of it at a sparrow, & deprived it of some of its feathers — Upon this occasion Burns made so solemn an appeal to his Conscience, upon the unnecessary & wanton barbarity of the action that he has Ever since been Influenced by his admonition to resist similar Temptation [sic] —Burns uniformly digested & arranged his Compositions mentally, before he committed them to paper'