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Poe's Scottish Connections
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Searching For Poe In Scotland
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The author, James Gracie, of the article in the Scots Magazine, "Poe's Scots Connections," graciously agreed to drive to the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock, for a brief conversation about his article and Brill's visiting to investigate Poe in Scotland. At that time he did not know it would be the first in what became a project.
Mr. Gracie is a well known Scots history and travel writer, often consulted by British media. He hosts a BBC Scotland Radio travel show from Glasgow.
His article was sent to Brill by Mrs. Anne Geddes, former Local History Archive and Research Librarian of the Dick Institute. The Dick Institute is the local historical research repository, second only to the national Mitchell Library in Glasgow. The Mitchell Library is comparable to the United States' Library of Congress.
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The text of the Kilmarnock Standard article attending the two photographs of the dedication of the Edgar Allan Poe Commemorative Plaque reads: "Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most influential American writers. This young man was a pioneer of various genres of literature...and inspiration for some of his famous works may have come form Ayrshire. Now a plaque has been put up in Grange Place, Kilmarnock, in honour of Poe's Ayrshire connections./ As a child Poe traveled to Scotland to live with relatives in Irvine [Mary Allan, John's sister]. During his stay there he frequently visited other relatives in Kilmarnock [Allan Fowlds and wife, another John Allan sister]./ The new plaque is one of 34 placed around the historic sites of Kilmarnock by the Kilmarnock and District History Group [Each member is either a present or retired local Headmaster, Professor, or Sheriff, the local Magistrate (Judge) of the Sheriff's Court] with the support of East Ayrshire Council. Research now suggests that some Ayrshire influences have emerged in Poe's works./ Prominent among the Poe Scholars is Robert Densmore Brill from Hawaii. He has paid particular attention to the possible Scottish influences on Poe's works and the time that he spent in Irvine and Kilmarnock./ He has visited Kilmarnock on several occasions. His most recent visit coincided with the erection of the new Poe plaque./ He said: 'This is very important to Poe scholars because it shows that people here recognize Poe's works. I hope that other places in Scotland such as Irvine, will follow Kilmarnock's lead and put up their own plaques for connections with Edgar Allan Poe." In fact, I was successful in obtaining the present owner's approval of another house in which Poe lived, with Mary Allan, to erect a similar plaque on the exterior wall of his Law Offices on the High Street, Irvine. More of this in the months to come. Unfortunately, the pictures and text of the Kilmarnock Standard are from a scanned copy. We have requested satin copies of the photographs for a more clear view of the dedication. While David Smith, Retired Sheriff of Ayrshire, is important as the President, each person in the photograph was instrumental to this event. .
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Why Burns on the Kilmarnock pages? The reason is that although Robert's father, William, had worked with James Allan on the Fairlie Estate in Dundonald, William had long ago moved to his own farm. This connection to Edgar Allan Poe is mystical as Robbie edited his manuscripts of the Kilmarnock Edition of his poems at the Old Rome Farm across the road because his uncle remained behind there. Like Poe's first published poems, Burns' are now without a price, held in very few collections (approximately 18 are known to exist).
Our friend and host, David Smith's son-in-law owns a copy! Compare, however, prices of the first edition of a Kilmarnk Edition and the $200,000.00 minimum auction bid for a singe poem written by Edgar allan Poe in December 2008.
That notwithstanding, the Burns Chronicle cover could be placed on our Greenock page. The reason is that we discovered why the very first Burns Club was established in a place so remote from William Burnes' farm in Alloway, and the poet's birthplace and his life-long presence in Ayrshire.
The "Mother Club" was begun by John Allan's and Robert Burns' common cousin, fellow Scottish writer, John Galt! This happened before he went to Canada to sell tracts of land under the name of The British American Land Company.
So again, why Burns? We explain fully the relationship of Robert Burns, the most revered person in all of Scottish history, to Edgar Allan Poe, possibly the most disliked. It is enough here to tell the viewer that had we not found the family connection between such very different poets, our book would not be nearly so interesting.
Nevertheless, we have whispered some of the facts of this incredible find in several articles in newspapers, and periodicals. Our first statement of this relationship was in a genealogical magazine called The Family Tree, The Poes of Ayrshire Scotland.
Most important to recognition of the facts and validity of our findings was their having been published in The Burns Chronicle. This quasi-scholarly publication reaches the worldwide members of the Robert Burns World Federation, Limited, headquartered in Kilmarnock in the Dower House of the Dean Castle. The editor, Mr. Peter Westwood, has honored Grace and me with publication of our articles. Please see "Published Articles" page for the citations of our Bibliography.
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A typical headstone in the ground of the Leigh (Low) Kirk of Kilmarnock. After the Reformation, churches in Scotland were known as Low or High, in relationship to their alliance with the Church of Scotland, modernly known as the Prebyterians. No bodies were buried in these grounds after 1850; therefore, a search of Allan, Galt, and Poe relatives would yield no information.
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Scots' culture and travel writer James Gracie is one of the first modern writers to lend his speculation of Edgar Allan Poe's Connections with Scotland. He was familiar with what local Ayrshire historian William Findlay, M.D., revised in 1909 of his predecessor, Archibald M'Kay's History of Kilmarnock.
Mrs. Anne Geddes, of the Dick Institute forwarded their writings to us just the day that we left on our first trip to Scotland. None knew of the John Allan, Robert Burns, John Galt, and Edgar Allan Poe blood or family (marriage) relationships.
However, Gracie was first to tell of Mr. Allan taking his son to the grounds of the Irvine Parish Kirk cemetery to write down the epitaphs of the headstones.
This educational tradition of Scotland was one method of developing a creative way of thinking and writing, as well as teaching a respect for the dead. We researched all churches in Kilmarnock and established through Frank Beattie that the Kilmarnock Leigh Kirk was the one attended by John Allan with his family, the Allan Fowlds.
The above stone is inscribed with:
"Here Lie/the/Heads of John Ross and John/Shields who Suffered at Edinburgh/Dec. 27th 1666 and had their/heads set up at/Kilmarnock/our Persecutors mad with wrath & Ire/In Edinburgh members Some do lie some here/Yet in sandy united they Shall be/& witnef's 'gainf[against] this Nation's perjury./ (See Cloud of witnefses)"
I should add the qualification of my statement that while Mr. Gracie, and several others since his article appeared, had knowledge of Edgar Allan Poe having been to Ayrshire, they knew nothing more. Thereafter, a few added "bits and pieces" of facts only very local folk could know. Many Scots, however, had been taught Poe's works, and greatly loved them. They could tell us nothing more, and I found nothing in any materials, in any library, of specifics of a Poe visit or residency. The Poe families of the area moved away, died out, or simply passed into oblivion as humanity has since Lucy. At the time there appeared to be no living person with a knowledge of Poe and his Scottish Connections. But see comments from Mister Key, during our interview for the BBC Radio program. Connections.
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