Alexander Affleck

"Apprenticed about 1786, he was in 1794 a master tailor and Freemason at Biggar, near Lanark, Scotland. Married Jane Rae in 1798. A poet of Burns' following, published in 1836 (with a foreword by his only son, John- a copy is in Biggar museum). Died and buried at Biggar." --source: "The Ottawa Valley Afflecks"

From "The modern Scottish minstrel, or Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century." By Charles Rodgers, L.L.D. Edinburth: Adam & Charles Black, 1856. Vol. 3.

p. 38-39

JAMES AFFLECK.

The " Posthumous Poetical Works " of James Affleck, tailor in Biggar, with a memoir of his life by his son, were published at Edinburgh in 1836. Affleck was born in the village of Drummelzier, in Peeblesshire, on the 8th September 1776. His education was scanty; and after some years' occupation as a cowherd, he was apprenticed to a tailor in his native village. He afterwards prosecuted his trade in the parish of Crawfordjohn, and in the town of Ayr. In 1793, he established himself as master tailor in Biggar. Fond of society, he joined the district lodge of freemasons, and became a leading member of that fraternity. He composed verses for the entertainment of his friends, which he was induced to give to the world in two separate publications. He possessed considerable poetical talent, but his compositions are generally marked by the absence of refinement. The song selected for the present work is the most happy effort in his posthumous volume. His death took place at Biggar, on the 8th September 1835.

HOW BLEST WERE THE DAYS!

How blest were the days o' langsyne when a laddie!

Alane by a bush wi' my dog and my plaidie;

Nae fop was sae happy, though dress'd e'er sae gaudy,

Sae sweet were the days o' langsyne when a laddie.

Whiles croonin' my sonnet amang the whin bushes,

Whiles whistling wi' glee as I pou'd the green rashes;

The whim o' the moment kept me aye frae sorrow,

What I wanted at night was in prospect to-morrow.

The nest o' a Untie I fondly explored,

And plundering bykes was the game I adored;

My pleasures did vary, as I was unsteady,

Yet I always found something that pleased when a laddie.

The boy with great pleasure the butterfly chases;

When manhood approaches, the maid he embraces;

But view him at once baith the husband and daddie,

He fondly looks back to the joys o' a laddie.

When childhood was over my prospects were greater,

I tried to be happy, but, alas, foolish creature !

The sports of my youth were my sweetest employment—

Much sweetness in prospect embitters enjoyment.

But now I'm grown auld, and wi' cares I 'm perplex'd,

How numerous the woes are by which I am vex'd !

I 'm tentin' the kye wi' my dog, staff, and plaidie;

How changed are the days since langsyne when a laddie!

From "Biggar and the House of Fleming: An Account of the Biggar District, Archaeological, Historical, and Biographical." By William Hunter, F.S.A.Scot. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: William Patterson, 1867.

pp. 45-46

RETURNING up the town, we have, on the other side of the street, nearly opposite Silver-knowes, the tenement, with one end to the street, once occupied by James Affleck, tailor and poet. James Affleck was born at Drummelzier on the 8th of September 1776. Owing to the poverty of his parents, he was kept but a short time at school, and went early to employment with the neighbouring farmers. He was then bound as an apprentice to Gilbert Tait, a tailor in his native village. He served with him three and a half years, and was chiefly employed, as was then the almost universal custom of country tailors, in sewing in the houses of his master's customers, having, as he said, ' not unfrequently to travel six or eight miles in a wintry morning, and work by candle-light for an hour or two before I received a morsel of breakfast, often wetted to the ankles in the morasses and rivulets which intersected our almost trackless way.' After the expiry of his apprenticeship, he resided a short time, first, at Netherton of Crawfordjohn, and then at the town of Ayr, and, last of all, set up his staff as a master tailor at Biggar, in the year 17.93. In 1802 he published a volume of poetry, which sold readily, and brought him some pecuniary reward. He issued a second volume of poems in 1817, with a portrait from a painting by Mr John Pairman ; and in 1818 he published a poem in two parts, entitled, " The Waes of Whisky.' A posthumous volume of his poems, with a biographical sketch, was published in 1836 by his son John, who, at the same time, inserted some poetical productions of his own.

Affleck's merits as a poet do not rank high. The divine afflatus was wholly awanting. His poems are very indifferent prose turned into rhyme. It would be difficult to select a single verse from his published works, and hold it up as a specimen of vigorous expression, original thought, or poetic inspiration. His poems, nevertheless, are interesting, as during a period of forty years his muse was ever busy with all sorts of local incidents, and, in fact, no event of any consequence transpired in the town or neighbourhood which did not evoke from him some poetic effusion. He was of an eminently social temperament. Shortly after his settlement at Biggar, he was initiated into the mysteries of freemasonry in the Lodge of Biggar Free Operatives, and took a great interest and pleasure in the meetings and festivities of the brethren, always contributing not a little to their harmony and conviviality by the singing or recitation of his own productions, and, as chaplain, invoking a blessing on refreshments with such felicity of expression, and such manifestations of devotional feeling, as never failed to call forth the admiration of all present. He excelled in conversation, and was full of anecdotes and shrewd observations on life and manners. He was a great favourite in all the houses in which he was in the habit of being employed in the way of his profession. He made the winter evenings seem short, with his stories, his recitations, and remarks, and was commonly to be seen with a group of anxious listeners, to whom the words of Goldsmith were applicable:—

' And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew,

That one small head could carry all he knew.'

He was an excellent tradesman, and never allowed his conversational and poetical displays, nor the cultivation of the muse, to prevent him from producing a good day's work. It is to be lamented that in his latter days he became somewhat irregular in his habits. Intoxicating drink, which has mastered many a strong man, acquired, at times, too great ascendancy over him, and perhaps had some effect in laying him prematurely in the grave. He died on the 8th of September 1835, in the 59th year of his age, and was interred in the churchyard of Biggar.