Robert Fergusson
Scottish poet and writer (1750-1774) · Writers · Died at 24
Robert Fergusson was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and cultural ferment as part of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Robert Fergusson is read about 24 times a day, in 14 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 22 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Photos 7
Bronze figure by David Annand of Robert Fergusson outside Edinburgh's Canongate Kirk where the poet is buried.
Mathematician David Gregory, subject of a "cheerful" satirical eulogy by Fergusson.
Drawing of the poet used in Cassell's Library of English Literature
The Burns epitaph on the poet's headstone in Edinburgh's Canongate Kirkyard
High relief portrait on the Scott Monument of Fergusson
Fergusson plaque in the High Kirk of EdinburghAbout this person
Many of his extant poems were printed from 1771 onwards in Walter Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, and a collected works was first published early in 1773. Despite a short life, his career was highly influential, especially through its impact on Robert Burns. He wrote both Scottish English and the Scots language, and it is his vivid and masterly writing in the latter leid for which he is principally acclaimed.
