Mr. John Usher as a Poet.

BY SIR GEORGE DOUGLAS, BART.

MR. John USHER, late farmer of Stodrig, and Laureate of the Borders, as I have heard him called, has passed away at Kelso, at the ripe age of eighty-six. In so long a life, it was matter of course that a man of his strong vitality should find room for great and varied activity: and though well-pleased to have the opportunity of laying my pebble on the cairn of a respected neighbour and a well-liked friend, I cannot help wishing that the task of writing about him for the Border Magazine had fallen to one who knew him earlier and in a more varied relation than I can claim to have done. For I am sure there must be good stories to tell, and interesting traits of character to record, of his early life, of his feats in horsemanship, of his life as a farmer, of his brilliancy and geniality as a boon-companion. That these will be committed to writing some day, and the sooner the better, I sincerely hope, as I sincerely regret the circumstance which makes of them, as regards myself, a sealed book. Owing to a difference of nearly fifty years in our ages, it was as “Old Usher,” as he was affectionately called by the people hereabout, that I first knew him; and, later in life, when congeniality of taste drew us closer together, it was of literary matters that we were eager to talk when we met. So it is only in old age and on the literary side that I can pretend to have known him intimately, which side was, after all, the less characteristic side of his nature. He would himself have been the last to overrate his poetic talents, and there was no one whose sell-respect would have revolted sooner from the sickly over-praise which is the fashion of the present day.

He  May be said to have begun his connexion with literature in earliest childhood, and under circumstances in themselves sufficient to kindle the flame of inspiration in him. His father owned Toftfield, now Huntlyburn, a small property then adjoining Abbotsford, but afterwards acquired by Sir Walter Scott and added to the larger estate; and as a little boy, Usher had the honour of standing between the knees of Sir Walter, and singing him a song, in reward for which he received the present of a pony from the great man. Later in life, as an athlete and frequenter of Border Games, he became familiar with the Ettrick Shepherd; and among other literary lights with whom he was acquainted were John Wilson, Henry Scott Riddell, and (of course) his fellow-Kelsonian, Stoddart. He himself began to compose early, his first song being written in 1834, for a banquet given to a defeated candidate for East Lothian at the first parliamentary election after the passing of the great Reform Bill. This shows the poet to have lighted immediately on the style of composition which suited him best. For he was at his best as a song-writer, and perhaps especially at his best as a writer of “occasional” and local songs; songs, for instance, written to celebrate such events as the Majority of the Marquess of Bowmont, or the Presentation of a Portrait to the Duke of Roxburghe, songs on the Kelso Volunteers, Kelso Mechanics’ Institute, and last, not least, Kelso Curling Club, in which last-named composition he admirably hits off characteristics of the various players, and humorous incidents of the season’s play. Probably it was from this facility in occasional pieces that he got his title of Laureate of the Borders. .

Of course the drawback of this style of composition is that its interest is local and ephemeral. However the poet also succeeded admirably in songs appealing to a wider public. His four charming songs on Scotch proverbs are an instance – to which he himself composed melodies, and his singing of which was an agreeable incident in many an evening's entertainment. They are full of a mellow and tuneful wisdom which entitles them to be preserved. Then there is his “Pipe of Tobacco,” a capital Smoker’s Song, and his "Channel Stane,” an equally good song inscribed to “a’ keen curlers,” and therefore not of merely local application. These last two are his most finished, and probably his most lasting contributions to Border literature. His remaining poems are chiefly of a personal character, that is they are inspired by themes, such as an old friend, a first grand-child, genial companionship, the death of a favourite horse, suggested by his everyday life and which appealed directly to his deeper feelings. In them he generally embodied his sadder thoughts, as opposed to the livelier impulses which found expression in his convivial songs. Coming straight from the heart, they express warm feeling sweetly, and bear upon them the impress of a strong personality. In more sustained styles of poetry he accomplished nothing, missing perhaps the stimulus of a direct personal interest, or the near prospect of a sympathetic audience. Late in life, when meditating the publication of his book, he applied to me for a subject for a longer poem which should serve to swell its bulk. I suggested Queen Mary’s ride from Jedburgh to visit the wounded Bothwell at Hermitage. The subject suited him well enough, for it had to do with two of the things which he liked best, namely the Borders and a horse; whilst he was also a chivalrous admirer of beauty in the fair sex. But if he dreamed over it, he did no more. In knowledge of literature, while quite without pretension, he was qualified to hold his own in conversation with professional men of letters; and lest this assertion be thought to savour in the least degree of patronage, let me ask how many men of letters exist who could hold their own with practical farmers in conversation about farming? He retained his musical powers almost to the last, and when last I heard him sing, three and four years ago, notwithstanding his great age, he acquitted himself with perfect grace, winning hearty applause from all present. He was indeed one who bore his years lightly. His fine and plentiful silver hair, his well-knit figure, the neatness of his attire, all harmonized well with his native dignity and the courtesy of his manners. Nor was his personality the less attractive for being somewhat subdued by age. Throughout the Borders, his merits were widely recognized; and I doubt not that at his funeral to-day very many who, like myself, knew, valued, respected and admired him, will assemble to pay the last tribute of respect to one who supplied a rare (though not unique) instance of a vein of poetic feeling and creative imagination combining with the sturdy character and shrewd practical capacity of the typical Border Farmer.

January 11, 1896