Bit of thread creep here but following on what Niblox said. My wife's ancestors on both her mother and father's sides were farmers, shoemakers and weavers in Burns country. (Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire) No Burns among the family names but one of the families had a servant named Rosina Burns and I'd been into the Burns family tree website to see if she was related to the bard but it seems she isn't. 
I did find there something which confirms what Niblox said.
Agnes Burness was born on 30 September 1762 in Alloway, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. She was the daughter of William Burness and Agnes Brown. She married William Galt in 1804 in Dinning, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. She died on 17 October 1834 in Stephenstown, Louth, Ireland, at age 72.
My wife had a great-great-grandmother Agnes Davidson who married a souter (shoemaker) by the name of James White. Her father was an Andrew Davidson, who was a carter at Bargany Mine, near Dailly in Ayrshire in the late 1700's.
There was a different Andrew Davidson who mined there at the same time and who also had a daughter Agnes. But were the two Andrew Davidson's somehow related? That other Andrew Davidson was a cousin of Burns' "souter Johnnie", John Davidson. I have yet to discover whether my wife is or is not related to souter Johnnie.
Last edited by cessna152towser; 14th October 07 at 05:32 AM.
Regional Director for Scotland for Clan Cunningham International, and a Scottish Armiger.
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