[3] In 1777 Gilbert and the family moved to the 130 acre farm at Lochlea where they remained for seven years,[4] during which time the brothers sub-leased a parcel of land from their father where they grew flax.

That, indeed, I have always considered as insupportable drudgery; and think the ingenious mechanic who invented the thrashing machine, ought to have a statue among the benefactors of his country, and should be placed in the niche next to the person who introduced the culture of potatoes into this island".

So early did he impress my mind with this, that although I was as fond of sweetmeats as children generally are, yet I seldom laid out any of the halfpence which relations or neighbours gave me, at fairs, in the purchase of them; and if I did, every mouthful I swallowed was accompanied with shame and remorse; and to this hour I never indulge in the use of any delicacy, but I feel a considerable degree of self-reproach and alarm for the degradation of the human character.

The letter was to Dr Coventry from Gilbert Burns of Grants Braes by Haddington, 15 March 1816: Dear Sir, I am directed by Lady Blantyre to trouble you again to look for the measurement of Eaglescairnie Mains and send it to me for her Ladyship says you are apt to forget.

Gilbert has been described as being methodical, somewhat timid, and determined not to offend the gentry, and in addition he is regarded by others as lacking his brother's flair, wit and genius.

[15] It was also recorded by Gilbert that at this time his relationship with his father was such that despite his age he was treated by him as an adult and that their conversation whilst at work covered a wide range of topics intended to educate and to keep him on the straight and narrow in relation to moral behaviour.

[22] After a few years at Morham West Mains Gilbert spent the remainder of his days as the factor of the Lennoxlove estates owned by Lady Katherine Blantyre.

In 1808 he was made an Elder of the Church and had responsibility for the areas of Begbie, Dalgowrie, Lethington, Westfield, Myreside, Colstoun, East and West Bearford, and Monkrigg.

[26] Valuable information about Robert's health as a young man as a teenager at Mount Oliphant were related by Gilbert such as how he suffered regularly from headaches, palpitations, faintness and feelings of likely suffocation.

[27] Gilbert relates that when Robert was young he was shy and awkward with women, but that once he reached manhood he avidly sought female company and was constantly falling for members of the fair sex.

[29] Another statement by Gilbert is that until Robert was 23 he acted with great respect towards women as he was keen to be seen as an eligible bachelor[30] and the time he spent at Irvine was partly due to his desire to find a wife and settle.

Gilbert says of Robert's days in Irvine that he here contracted some acquaintances of a freer manner of thinking and living than he had been used to, whose society prepared him for overleaping the bounds of rigid virtue, which had hitherto restrained him.

[34] Gilbert contributed additional information to John Currie's The Works of Robert Burns (eighth edition) in 1820 and was paid £250 on the understanding that he would not comment on the accuracy of the author's portrayal of his brother.

[39] Following Burns's death Gilbert wrote to Ainslie:"I could not help considering the fame of author as well as the respectability and peace of his friends in considerable danger from the publication of letters written on private and confidential subjects."

[40] In the correspondence with the Burns Mausoleum Committee Gilbert came across as a rather negative person "It will readily occur to every gentleman concerned that however much I might be inclined it is a matter I cannot stir or be seen in.

He wrote by way of explanation "I have been much and disagreeably occupied of late with sequestering stock and crop, attending meetings of creditors, the sale of bankrupts' subjects,etc, etc."

[42] Unlike his brother, Gilbert was a prominent member of the Mauchline Conversation Society that met to discuss a wide range of topics such as moral questions, politics, etc.