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Robert Tannahill
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Robert Tannahill of Paisley was a famous poet.
He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven. Soon after his birth the family moved to a newly built cottage in nearby Queen Street, which became both family home and weaving shop. Robert had a delicate constitution and a limp, due to a slight deformity in his right leg. On leaving school at age twelve, he was apprenticed to his father as a handloom weaver. It was during this apprenticeship that Tannahill began to show a real talent for poetry.
He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven. Soon after his birth the family moved to a newly built cottage in nearby Queen Street, which became both family home and weaving shop. Robert had a delicate constitution and a limp, due to a slight deformity in his right leg. On leaving school at age twelve, he was apprenticed to his father as a handloom weaver. It was during this apprenticeship that Tannahill began to show a real talent for poetry.
In 1802 his father died, and he was left to look after his widowed mother and to work in the family weaving shop. Tannahill now began to take his poetry seriously. A group of like-minded friends formed a weekly club - The Paisley Literary and Convivial Association - at which Tannahill was an enthusiastic member.
By 1805 his work was appearing in newspapers and in magazines, and friends began encouraging him to have a book published. In 1807 he published a 175-page volume of his poems, selling all 900 copies by subscription within a few weeks and making a profit of twenty pounds. As well as working as a weaver and writing poetry, Tannahill was also the secretary of the Paisley Burns Club, which he helped found in 1805. The Club is still active to this day and claims to be the oldest formally constituted Burns Club in the world.
Some of Tannahill's best work was inspired by his walks around Paisley in the Gleniffer Braes, Stanely and Ferguslie.
Gleniffer Braes and Stanely castle, as portrayed in the book "Life and Works of Tannahill" by Philip A Ramsay. This book is available in the Local Studies Library.
Included amongst his most famous works are "Thou Bonnie Wood o' Craigie-lea" and "The Braes o' Gleniffer".
Despite the general popularity of his poems and songs, several of his poems in the first volume had received fairly harsh criticism. Tannahill felt that this volume had been published in too much of a hurry. To put this right, he carefully prepared a new edition; revising and correcting until he was happy with the finished product. Tannahill thought that the process of seeking subscribers was demeaning, so this time he approached publishers in Greenock and in Edinburgh. He was turned down by both.
Tannahill took this disappointment very much to heart and sank into depression. On 17 May 1810 he was found dead in a culvert at the Candren Burn in Paisley, in the early hours of the morning. His remains were interred in an unmarked grave in the burying ground adjacent to the West Relief Church (now Castlehead Church). In 1866 a granite monument was erected by public subscription.
The first centenary of his death was marked by a procession to the Gleniffer Braes attended by 15,000 people who heard several of his songs sung by a choir. A series of “Tannahill Concerts” held on the Gleniffer Braes began in 1876 and continued until 1936. The proceeds of the penny admission went to the town hospital and to the erection of two statues: one of Tannahill, and one of Robert Burns, his great inspiration. Tannahill's statue is in the grounds of Paisley Abbey.
The first centenary of his death was marked by a procession to the Gleniffer Braes attended by 15,000 people who heard several of his songs sung by a choir. A series of “Tannahill Concerts” held on the Gleniffer Braes began in 1876 and continued until 1936. The proceeds of the penny admission went to the town hospital and to the erection of two statues: one of Tannahill, and one of Robert Burns, his great inspiration. Tannahill's statue is in the grounds of Paisley Abbey.
The cottage in Queen Street, Paisley where Tannahill lived has been preserved and is maintained by the Paisley Burns Club. It was originally a thatched cottage, although it now has a slate roof following extensive damage by fire in 2003.
For more information on Renfrewshire's famous people, contact the Local Studies Library by:
email: locstuds.els@renfrewshire.gov.uk
phone: 0141 889 2360
fax: 0141 887 6468
or write to:
Reference and Local Studies Library
Central Library
68 High Street
Paisley
PA1 2BB
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