In 1759, the year of Burns birth, Tam Samson, a local
nurseryman and seedsman from Ochiltree, opened his shop in
Kilmarnock. His shop was not far from the print-shop
of John Wilson who was to print the first
book of poetry by Burns. Burns became good friends with Tam Samson
and knew him as a keen sportsman, huntsman and amusing companion
who he used to drink with after a day's
shooting.
Tam Samson died in 1795 at the age of 72. He is buried under
a grand table tombstone which can still be found in the Kirkyard
next to the Laigh West High Kirk in the centre of Kilmarnock. On
the stone is carved a cheerful epitaph written by
Burns:
"Go, Fame, and canter like a filly,
Thro' a' the streets and neuks of Killie;
Tell every social, honest billie
To cease his grievin';
For, yet unskaithed by Death's gleg
gullie,
Tam Samson's livin'."
