NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Robert Fergusson

Robert Fergusson (September 5, 1750 - October 16, 1774), Scottish poet, son of Sir William Fergusson, a clerk in the British Linen Company, was born at Edinburgh. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1712x2288, 1259 KB) Statue of Robert Fergusson in Edinburgh. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1712x2288, 1259 KB) Statue of Robert Fergusson in Edinburgh. ... Royal Mile The Royal Mile is the popular name for the succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 â€“ Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex... October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in Leap years). ... 1774 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 kmÂ² 1. ... A poet exists within a cultural and intellectual tradition and usually writes in a specific language, but the qualities of good poetry are to some extent timeless and address issues common to all humanity. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ...

Robert was educated at the grammar school of Dundee, and at the University of St Andrews, where he matriculated in 1765. His father died while he was still at college; but a bursary enabled him to complete his four years of study. He refused to study for the church, and was too nervous to study medicine as his friends wished. He quarrelled with his uncle, John Forbes of Round Lichnot, Aberdeenshire, and returned to Edinburgh, where he obtained employment as copying clerk in a lawyer's office. In this occupation he passed the remainder of his life. While at college he had written a clever elegy on Dr David Gregory, and in 1771 he began to contribute verses regularly to Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine. A grammar school is a type of school found in some English-speaking countries. ... For other uses see Dundee (disambiguation) Dundee is Scotlands fourth largest city, population 154 674 (2001), situated on the North bank of the Firth of Tay. ... The University of St Andrews was founded between 1410 and 1413 and is the oldest university in Scotland (and third oldest in the English-speaking world). ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining human health or restoring it through the treatment of disease and injury. ... The traditional county of Aberdeenshire (Siorrachd Obar Dheathain in Gaelic) borders Banffshire and Inverness-shire to the west, Perthshire, Angus and Kincardineshire to the south, and the North Sea to the north and east. ... Elegy was originally used for a type of poetic metre (Elegiac metre), but is also used for a poem of mourning, from the Greek elegos, a reflection on the death of someone or on a sorrow generally. ... David Gregory (June 3, 1659â€”October 10, 1708) was a Savilian Professor of astronomy at Oxford and a commentator on Isaac Newtons Principia. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

He was a member of the Cape Club, celebrated by him in his poem of "Auld Reekie". "The Knights of the Cape" assembled at a tavern in Craig's Close, in the vicinity of the Cross; each member had a name and character assigned to him, which he was required to maintain at all gatherings of the order. David Herd (1732-1810), the collector of the classic edition of Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs (1776), was sovereign of the Cape (in which he was known as "Sir Scrape") when Fergusson was dubbed a knight of the order, with the title of "Sir Precentor," in allusion to his fine voice. Alexander Runciman, the historical painter, his pupil Jacob More, and Sir Henry Raeburn were all members. The old minute books of the club abound with pencilled sketches by them, one of the most interesting of which, ascribed to Runciman's pencil, is a sketch of Fergusson in his character of "Sir Precentor." David Herd (1732 - 1810) was a Scottish anthologist. ... Alexander Runciman (1736 - October 4, 1785), was a Scottish painter of historical and mythological subjects. ... Sir Henry Raeburn (March 4, 1756 - July 8, 1823) was a Scottish portrait-painter. ...

Fergusson's gaiety and wit made him an entertaining companion, and he indulged too freely in the convivial habits of the time. After a meeting with John Brown of Haddington he became, however, very serious, and would read nothing but his Bible. A fall by which his head was severely injured aggravated symptoms of mental aberration which had begun to show themselves; and after about two months' confinement in the old Darien House--then the only public asylum in Edinburgh--the poet died. Haddington is a burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. ... The Bible (Hebrew: ×ª× ×´×š tanakh, Greek: Î· Î’Î¯Î²Î»Î¿Ï‚ hÄ“ biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Word of God, The Word Scripture, Scripture), from Greek (Ï„Î±) Î²Î¯Î²Î»Î¹Î±, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their (differing but overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... A psychiatric hospital (also called at various places and times, mental hospital, mental ward, asylum or sanitarium) is a hospital specializing in the treatment of persons with mental illness. ...

Fergusson's poems were collected in the year before his death. The influence of his writings on Robert Burns is undoubted. His "Leith Races" unquestionably supplied the model for the "Holy Fair." Not only is the stanza the same, but the Mirth who plays the part of conductor to Fergusson, and the Fun who renders a like service to Burns, are manifestly conceived on the same model. "The Mutual Complaint of Plainstanes and Causey" probably suggested "The Brigs of Ayr"; "On seeing a Butterfly in the Street" has reflections in it which strikingly correspond with "To a Mouse"; and a comparison of "The Farmer's Ingle" of the elder poet with "The Cottar's Saturday Night" shows the influence of the city-bred poet on that picture of homely peasant life. Burns was the first to pay tribute to the merits of Fergusson; on his visit to Edinburgh in 1787 he sought out the poet's grave, and petitioned the authorities of the Canongate burying-ground for permission to erect the memorial stone which is preserved in the existing monument. The date there assigned for his birth differs from the one given above, which rests on the authority of his younger sister Margaret. Wikisource has original text related to this article: Robert Burns Robert Burns, preeminent Scottish poet Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 â€“ July 21, 1796) was a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became an important source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. ... The Canongate is a small district at the heart of Scotlands capital city. ...

The first edition of Fergusson's poems was published by Ruddiman at Edinburgh in 1773, and a supplement containing additional poems, in 1779. A second edition appeared in 1785. There are later editions, by Robert Chambers (1850) and Dr AB Grosart (1851). A life of Fergusson is included in Dr David Irving's Lives of the Scottish Poets, and in Robert Chambers's Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Scotsmen. Robert Chambers (10 July 1802 â€“ 17 March 1871), Scottish author and publisher, was born in Peebles. ... Alexander Balloch Grosart (June 18, 1827 _ March 16, 1899) was a Scottish clergyman and literary editor. ... David Irving, 2003 David John Cawdell Irving (born March 24, 1938) is the British author of several best-selling books about the military history of World War II. He is widely known as a Holocaust denier, although he has recently appeared (in an attempt to escape the Austrian justice system...

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. (Redirected from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

The Robert Fergusson Society is based in Edinburgh. For more information see [1]