SNP councillor, Kenny MacLaren, is reminding Paisley Buddies celebrating Burns Night not to forget Paisley’s own bard Robert Tannahill.
Burns suppers are a celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns. Traditionally these are held on 25th January, the date of Burns birth. As well as celebrating the work of Burns, local buddies should be aware of the work of Paisley’s own bard, Robert Tannahill.
Tannahill was born in Castle Street in Paisley on 3rd June 1774, and his family moved to Queen Street where Tannahill composed his own poems while weaving at his loom. Tannahill lived there until his death on 17th May 1810 when it was believed in a fit of depression he committed suicide in the Paisley Canal.
Robert Tannahill was an avid admirer of Burns and became the first secretary of the Paisley Burns Club which was founded in 1805 and claims to be the world’s oldest formally constituted Burns Club. This club still meets today at Tannahill’s Cottage in Queen Street.
Councillor Kenny MacLaren said: “Like many others I will be celebrating Burns Night with the traditional fayre of haggis, neeps and tatties but I will also be sparing a thought for Paisley’s own bard, Robert Tannahill.
“Although he never achieved the same level of fame as Burns, Tannahill was wrote many important songs and poems.
“Robert Tannahill is one of the sixteen writers and poets depicted on the lower sections of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh and there is also a bust of him, alongside one of Burns, in the Hall of Heroes at the Wallace Monument in Stirling.”