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Maternity Words - Scottish Sunday

Statue in Memory of Forgotten Poet Stalls

Plans to erect a statue in memory of the poet hailed by Robert Burns as his greatest inspiration have stalled – because, campaigners say, nobody has heard of him. An appeal launched three years ago to have a life-size bronze statue of Robert Fergusson placed on the Royal Mile in his native Edinburgh has raised little more than half the amount needed. Planning consent has been given and an award-winning sculptor chosen, yet the Friends of Robert Fergusson are no closer to their target.

A Formidable Talent Largely Unknown

Unlike Burns, Fergusson’s name has been known mostly in the confines of academia and literary circles. However, supporters of Fergusson say he was a formidable talent in his own right and that it is he, more than anyone, who was responsible for making Burns the poet he is regarded as across the world today.

Poetry's Unpopular Reputation

Dave Purdie, an Edinburgh poet who started the appeal, said: “It’s very disappointing that we haven’t yet managed to have the statue erected, but the problem is that so few people are interested in poetry, not least Scots poetry."

“It is important for people to know that Robert Fergusson was a marvellous poet and that his contribution to literature in Scots is absolutely irreplaceable. Without Fergusson there would be no Burns. He really is one of Scotland’s forgotten heroes.”

A Tragic Life and Powerful Influence

Fergusson was a man who enjoyed fast living and who died young. Born in 1750, he later suffered from acute depression and died a pauper in an asylum, the Edinburgh Bedlam, at the age of 24. Until Burns first read Fergusson’s work in 1784 he had tried to copy the English poet William Shenstone. So inspirational was Fergusson’s poetry that when Burns came to Edinburgh he wept by the side of his unmarked grave.

He then paid for the gravestone that sits at Fergusson’s burial place in the Canongate Kirkyard today. The Ayrshire bard described Fergusson as “my elder brother in misfortune, by far my elder brother in the muse”.

Preserving Fergusson's Legacy

More than 200 years later, the appeal to have Fergusson commemorated began with a £1000 donation from Edinburgh City Council. Last year, a competition organized by the Friends of Robert Fergusson led to a design by Fife sculptor David Annand being chosen to represent the poet. Annand said: “This is an important commission for me and it’s a very important site. It has been so understated just how important a figure Fergusson was.”

Dr Peter Robinson, of the Friends of Robert Fergusson, said: “He is certainly a man who deserves to be better known. By placing the statue we can draw more attention to the importance of this man. “You just wonder what he could have achieved if he had lived a little longer.”

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