More on Makars' Court - Edinburgh Museums

Robert Fergusson (1750-1774)
Born in Edinburgh, Fergusson’s work has had considerable influence on later writers,
including Burns, Stevenson and Garioch. His poems in Scots contain detailed descriptions of
daily life in late 18th century Edinburgh (known as Auld Reikie or Old Smoky) -
Auld Reikie, wale o ilka town
That Scotland kens beneath the moon;
Where couthy chiels at e `ening meet
Their bizzing craigs and mous to weet;
And blythlv gar auld care gae bye
Wi blinket and wi bleering eye
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Born on 25 January 1759 at Alloway, Ayrshire, Burns is celebrated the world over as
Scotland’s national poet. His Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, published at Kilmarnock
In 1786, was followed by songs and poems of enduing popularity; one of the best-known, `Is
there for honest poverty`, ends with the lines -
Then let us pray that come it may
Ms come it will for a that)
That Sense and Worth o`er a the earth
Shall bear the gree an a that!
For a that, an a that,
It`s comin yet for a that,
That man to man the world o `er
Shall brithers be for a that.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
Born in Edinburgh, and educated at the High School and University, Scott was an advocate
and Clerk of the Court of Session and a writer of prodigious output. Few, if any, other writers
have gained such prestige and influence, nationally and internationally, by their writing
alone. His early reputation was as a narrative poet, including The Lay of the Last Minstrel
(1805) from which the following quotation is taken –
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Scott then turned to a series of historical novels which were not only an important influence
on literature, painting and music in many countries, but changed attitudes towards the past.
The first was Waverley (1814), which gave its name to the whole series, and the others
include Old Mortality, Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian and Redgauntlet.