hey ake....
I got this book... amongst others... called TINDERHERT by HUGH DOUGLAS ... made Rab Mossgiel more real than anything else i have ever read.

stories of how he tied his hair back in the small and uneffected world of Mauchline 1780.. kinda like eliza carthy and her peircings and purple hair. How some lasses widna dance wi him:

'fur he wis that sarcastic ye dinae ken wit he wid say next'.....

I discovered how he would express himself by pinning his comedic parodies of the local characters on trees in mauchline green, where they would be found by the locals, passed round and copied, then read out with gut holding laughter, the last person to read them was usually the subject matter, eg: Death and Dr Hornbrook... all about his mate, the local grocer who made disgusting home 'cures' for all kinds of ailments. It took rabbie to turn up with his talent to show Mauchline first, then the rest of us, how ridiculous we all were and they loved him for it..
The whole spirit of this guy has swallowed me whole... that was why I ended up singing an albums worth, he kinda made me do it.

My favorite story of his is this one:

Robert was heading into town with his dog to meet with his pals and oggle the lassies on the green as usual, maybe debate a little about the french and their revolutionaries, or how they would love a wee tumble in the hay wi wan o they Mauchline Belles.
He dressed well, and as usual tied his hair back, something he thought he invented.... no other fellow in town did that with their hair and at the dancing the previous night the boys were admiring the style.
Father William couldnt abide the fact the rab loved the dancing. He worried and argued with his son about it alot.
The local clergy had berated william on his sons behaviour too many times.
Robert heart was a bit too arrogant and proud for their liking.
Not only was the dancing every night a problem, but also robert spent too much time 'rhymin' and 'debating' and falling in love for William to be convinced the farm would be in safe hands.

This morning , however, robert and his dog climbed the steep incline into Mauchline town, only for his path to be crossed by three of the local ministers coming down the hill, they noticed this young punk who had the cheek! not to humble himself in their company. As they passed the whistling boy and his dog, they stopped and remarked:

"And where do you think YOU are going young man?!?"

to which Rab replied (without returning their gaze or faultering his step):

"oh! As you can see sir, I'm going Heavenward!"