the earl of eglinton appears to be amongst the most enthusiastic subscribers as he sent ten guineas to burns on his arrival in edinburgh as a subscription for a 'brace', that is two copies, quoted however as 42 by most authors (36 by one and in the subscribers list) of the edinburgh edition of the poems. at 5s for subscribers and 6s for others, 10 guineas for two would have been extremely generous. and the actual intention is quoted as "to bespeak (order in advance) the new edition and hand him a suitable gift of money." mrs. dunlop of dunlop, a regular correspondent of burns, had spoken to her friend doctor john moore about burns as a "miracle of genius" and it was this 'kind man' who had encouraged the earl to become a patron of burns.