This figure represents the hardest times of his life and that of his father before him. The Burns (or Burnes) family had desperate luck with their farming ventures and the many, many hours Robert spent behind the horse-pulled plough were to little avail.
At the time of Burns, Ayrshire - comprising Carrick, Kyle and Cunninghame - was largely unimproved and farming was difficult. Due primarily to insufficient capital, none of their farming ventures at Mount Oliphant, Lochlie or Mossgiel achieved any success. Despite his and his family's misfortunes, Robert was sufficiently magnanimous to recognise that, under different circumstances, a life behind the plough had its merits.
And as he was singing,
thir words he did say-
There's nae life like the ploughman's
In the month o sweet May.
The Ploughmans Life
(circa 1786)
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