and . . . 

Robert Burns and the Earls of Eglinton - support from the Irvine gentry

The 11th Earl of Eglinton, Archibald Montgomerie (1726-1796) was one of three guarantors (others being John Goudie and John Hamilton) for the printing of the Kilmarnock Edition of 1796 - appropriate in the light of the encouragement to publish given to Burns by Brown while walking in the Earl's grounds! Dr John Moore had been told about Burns by Mrs Dunlop of Dunlop and had encouraged the Earl to support the poet. When Burns published in Edinburgh in 1797, the Earl requested two copies and sent Burns ten guineas (equivalent to 42 copies!) as a gift - Burns told his friend Dr John Mackenzie (founder president of Irvine Burns Club) about this in a letter of January 1787, and wrote to the Earl in February 1787, saying "Your Munificence, my Lord, certainly deserved my very grateful acknowledgements, but your Patronage is a bounty peculiarly suited to my feelings."
'Sodger Hugh' Montgomerie, who became the 12th Earl, is mentioned in 'The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer', where his readiness with a sword is contrasted with his reticence. Also, a six-line poem praises the Earl's dog, who 'never bit without a reason . . happy for man could he say so'.