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Richard Brown (1753 – 1833) or Ritchie Broun in Scots was born in Irvine. He was a sea captain and a one time friend of Robert Burns who is credited by Burns as the being the person who ''"encouraged me to endeavour at the character of a Poet."''〔 ==Life and character== Richard Brown was born in Irvine, the son of a 'plain mechanic' named William Brown and his wife Jane Whinie. Richard had a wealthy patron who gave him a good education, but the patron died, dashing Brown's chances of bettering his situation in life. He went to sea where after many ups and downs he was, ending up being robbed by American Privateer on the wild coast of Connaught. He had fought for the liberty of the Americans against the British, and the American struggle for freedom, obvious in the poet's early poems, the poets sympathy for the colonists can at least in part be attributed to Brown. Later became Captain of a large west indiaman, the 'Mary & Jean' belonging to the Thames and sailing to such destinations as Grenada in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.〔 Burns describes him as ''"This gentleman's mind was fraught with courage, independence, magnanimity, and every noble manly virtue."'' Other views of Richard Brown was less charitable, such as:''"That moral leper who spoke of illicit love with all the levity of a sailor"''.〔Harvey, page 120.〕 Gilbert Burns 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''. Robert himself stated that Brown's views on illicit love ''did me a mischief''.〔Wilson, page 13〕 Brown married Helen or Eleanora Blair, daughter of David Blair of Girtridge Mill in Dundonald Parish,〔Hunter, Page 234〕 on 30 May 1785,〔 and settled in Port Glasgow. The couple had six children, named Jean (christened 24/2/1786 in Dundonald parish), Anne (chr. 5/9/1788 at Girtrigg), William (5/8/1790), Eleonora (11/8/1792), Alexander (13/6/1796, to "Richard Brown Shipmaster in Port Glasgow and Helen Blair his spouse"), and David (28/8/1799), the last four all christened at Port Glasgow.〔(Irvine Burns Club ) Retrieved : 2012-04-05〕 In later life, Richard Brown became very respectable, and although he is said by some to have quarrelled violently with Burns the reason remains unknown as the poet's allegations that he had taught Burns the art of seduction were not published until four years after his death.〔Hempstead, Page 92〕 When living at Port Glasgow he was noted to be interested in education and religion, with a hospitable, kind and generous nature.〔Hempstead, Page 92〕 He was also keen on shooting. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Brown (captain)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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