Lawrie, The Rev Dr Archibald (1768 — 1837)

In 1799, he succeeded his father at Loudon Parish Church, Newmilns, to which , in 1793, he had been appointed as assistant. His first wife, Anne, was a sister of Dr James M'Kittrick Addair, who married one of Burns's heroines, Charlotte Hamilton. Archibald Lawrie remained at Loudon until his death. Under cover of a note from Mossgiel, dated 13^th November 17896, Burns sent Lawrie 2 volumes of Ossian, which he had promised, and a collection of songs. On a previous visit to Newmilns, Archibald Lawrie apparently made a remark which Burns took as a rebuke to himself. When the parcel of books was opened, a slip of paper fell out; on it were the lines:

"Rusticity's ungainly form
May cloud the highest mind;
But when the heart is nobly warm,
The good excuse will find.
Propriety's cold, cautious rules
Warm fervour may o'erlook;
But spare poor sensibility
Th' ungentle, harsh rebuke."

No letters to Lawrie survive after Burns's Edinburgh period. The lively Edinburgh student, to whom Burns lent books, accompanied to the theatre, and wrote in praise of port, had doubtless developed into a serious divine.