The younger of two remarkable brothers, whose names are justly entitled
to remembrance, John Bethune, was born at the Mount, in the parish of
Monimail, Fifeshire, during the summer of 1810. The poverty of his
parents did not permit his attendance at a public school; he was taught
reading by his mother, and writing and arithmetic by his brother
Alexander,[26] who was considerably his senior. After some years'
employment as a cow-herd, he was necessitated, in his twelfth year, to
break stones on the turnpike-road. At the recommendation of a comrade,
he apprenticed himself, early in 1824, to a weaver in a neighbouring
village. In his new profession he rapidly acquired dexterity, so that,
at the end of one year, he could earn the respectable weekly wages of
fifteen shillings. Desirous of assisting his aged parents, he now
purchased a loom and settled as a weaver on his own account, with his
elder brother as his apprentice. A period of mercantile embarrassments
which followed, severely affecting the manufacturing classes, pressed
heavily on the subject of this notice; his earnings became reduced to
six shillings weekly, and he was obliged to exchange the labours of the
shuttle for those of the implements of husbandry. During the period of
his apprenticeship, his thoughts had been turned to poetical
composition, but it was subsequent to the commercial disasters of 1825
that he began earnestly to direct his attention towards the concerns of
literature. Successive periods of bad health unfitting him for continued
labour in the fields, were improved by extensive reading and
composition. Before he had completed his nineteenth year he had produced
upwards of twenty poetical compositions, each of considerable length,
and the whole replete with power, both of sentiment and expression. Till
considerably afterwards, however, his literary productions were only
known to his brother Alexander, or at furthest to his parents. "Up to
the latter part of 1835," writes his brother in a biographical sketch,
"the whole of his writing had been prosecuted as stealthily as if it had
been a crime punishable by law. There being but one apartment in the
house, it was his custom to write by the fire, with an old copy-book,
upon which his paper lay, resting on his knee, and this, through life,
was his only writing-desk. On the table, which was within reach, an old
newspaper was kept constantly lying, and as soon as the footsteps of any
one were heard approaching the door, copy-book, pens, and ink-stand
were thrust under this covering, and before the visitor came in, he had,
in general, a book in his hand, and appeared to have been reading."
For a number of years Bethune had wrought as a day-labourer in the
grounds of Inchrye, in the vicinity of his birthplace. On the death of
the overseer on that property he was appointed his successor, entering
on the duties at the term of Martinmas 1835, his brother accompanying
him as his assistant. The appointment yielded £26 yearly, with the right
of a cow's pasturage--emoluments which considerably exceeded the average
of his previous earnings. To the duties of his new situation he applied
himself with his wonted industry, still continuing to dedicate only his
evenings and the intervals of toil to literary occupation. But his
comparative prosperity was of short duration. During the summer
following his appointment at Inchrye the estate changed owners, and the
new proprietor dispensed with his services at the next term. In another
year the landlord required the little cottage at Lochend, occupied by
his parents. Undaunted by these reverses, John Bethune and his brother
summoned stout courage; they erected a cottage at Mount Pleasant, near
Newburgh, the walls being mostly reared by their own hands. The future
career of Bethune was chiefly occupied in literary composition. He
became a contributor to the _Scottish Christian Herald_, _Wilson's Tales
of the Borders_, and other serial publications. In 1838 appeared "Tales
and Sketches of the Scottish Peasantry," the mutual production of the
poet and his brother--a work which, published in Edinburgh, was well
received. A work on "Practical Economy," on which the brothers had
bestowed much pains, and which had received the favourable opinion of
persons of literary eminence, was published in May 1839, but failed to
attract general interest. This unhappy result deeply affected the health
of the poet, whose constitution had already been much shattered by
repeated attacks of illness. He was seized with a complaint which proved
the harbinger of pulmonary consumption. He died at Mount Pleasant on the
1st September 1839, in his thirtieth year.
With a more lengthened career, John Bethune would have attained a high
reputation, both as an interesting poet and an elegant prose-writer. His
genius was versatile and brilliant; of human nature, in all its
important aspects, he possessed an intuitive perception, and he was
practically familiar with the character and habits of the sons of
industry. His tales are touching and simple; his verses lofty and
contemplative. In sentiment eminently devotional, his life was a model
of genuine piety. His Poems, prefaced by an interesting Memoir, were
published by his surviving brother in 1840; and from the profits of a
second edition, published in the following year, a monument has been
erected over his grave in the churchyard of Abdie.