Robert Fergusson - Canongate Kirk - Edinburgh, Scotland - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

ABOUT ROBERT FERGUSSON'S GRAVE SITE:

In 1774, Robert Fergusson was buried in an unmarked grave in Canongate Kirk churchyard. In 1787, upon learning about the unmarked grave, Robert Burns commissioned and paid for a gravestone to remember Fergusson. The headstone reads:

Here Lies
ROBERT FERGUSSON
Born September 5th, 1751
Died October 16th, 1774
No sculptur'd Marble here nor pompous lay
No storied Urn nor animated Bust
This simple Stone directs Pales Scotia's way
To pout her Sorrows o'er Poet's Dust.

A plaque at the foot of the grave reads:

R.L. Stevenson planned to renovate Robert Fergusson's tombstone
with the following inscription, but died before he could do so:

"This stone, originally erected by Robert Burns,
has been repaired at the charges of Robert Louis
Stevenson and is by him re-dedicated to the memory
of Robert Fergusson as the gift of one Edinburgh
lad to another".

The Saltire Society, on its 50th Anniversary, with support of
Edinburgh District Council, commemorates the three Roberts
by inscribing Stevenson's words.

ABOUT ROBERT FERGUSSON:

"Robert Fergusson (5 September 1750 – 16 October 1774) was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson followed an essentially bohemian life course in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and cultural ferment as part of the Scottish enlightenment. Many of his extant poems were printed from 1771 onwards in Walter Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, and a collected works was first published early in 1773. Despite a short life, his career was highly influential, especially through its impact on Robert Burns. He wrote both Scottish English and the Scots language, and it is his vivid and masterly writing in the latter leid for which he is principally acclaimed."

Description: From Wikipedia: "Fergusson's literary output was both urban and pastoral in equal degree. He was often an effective satirist and generally nationalist in themes and outlook. Although small, his canon stands as an important artistic and linguistic bridge between the generation of Allan Ramsay (1686–1758) and most later writers in Scots. His bilingual career was the acknowledged inspiration for the career of Robert Burns. Many leading makars of the twentieth century, such as Robert Garioch or Sydney Goodsir Smith, similarly recognised his importance. More widely, however, his legacy has tended to be unjustly neglected. Many works by Burns either echo or are directly modelled on works by Fergusson. For example "Leith Races" unquestionably supplied the model for Burns' "Holy Fair". "On seeing a Butterfly in the Street" has reflections in it which strikingly correspond with "To a Mouse". Comparisons, such as between Fergusson's "The Farmer's Ingle" and Burns' "The Cottar's Saturday Night", often demonstrate the creative complexity of the influence." Date of birth: 09/05/1750 Date of death: 10/16/1774 Area of notoriety: Literature Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link] Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

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