Robert Fergusson: Scotia’s Bard
O n 17 October 1774 the Scots poet Robert Fergusson died. Fergusson’s achievements are often overshadowed by his early death: at 24, following a brain injury and a spell in Edinburgh’s Bedlam asylum. His legacy has also been complicated by Robert Burns, who referred to Fergusson as his ‘elder brother in the muse’. While Burns’ admiration was undoubtedly genuine, his early construction of Fergusson has led to his predecessor being regarded as, in the words of the Scottish poet Robert Crawford, ‘Burns’s John the Baptist, his role forever a supporting one’. When we look beyond Fergusson’s death and the towering presence of Burns, we find a misunderstood poet whose career was remarkable. Despite writing for only six years, he was impressively prolific, with an output of over 100 poems written in both Scots and English, more than 80 of which were published in his lifetime.
Many were first printed in an Edinburgh periodical, The Weekly Magazine; or Edinburgh Amusement. Fergusson formed a strong working relationship with its proprietor Walter Ruddiman and effectively became the magazine’s ‘house poet’: throughout 1773, for instance, Fergusson’s poems appeared in almost every issue. Ruddiman wanted his magazine to be a miscellany, variously showcasing new creative works, essays, reviews, news and letters from readers. With a distribution of 3,000 copies, it was the first and most successful magazine in Edinburgh to be circulated weekly. This gave Fergusson a nationwide literary platform.
