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Previous work: Elegy on Captain MH, A gentleman who held the patent for his honours immediately from almighty god

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Elegy on Mr William Cruikshank A.M.


 Now honest William's gaen to Heaven, I wat na gin 't can mend him: The fauts he had in Latin lay, For nane in English kend them.

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John Bett

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About this work

This is an elegy by Robert Burns. It was written in 1795 and is read here by John Bett.

More about this elegy

William Cruikshank (d. 1795) came from Duns, and was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh.
He was rector of Canongate School, and the classical teacher at the High School of Edinburgh.
As a friend of William Nicol, Burns met Cruikshank in 1786-7, and even stayed with the family towards the end of his Highland tour.
Burns wrote The Rosebud for his daughter Jean.

Ralph McLean

Themes for this elegy

Selected for 06 May

This the epitaph for the father of the 'very young lady', to whom the poem on May 5th was dedicated. William Cruikshank taught Latin and put Burns up for some months in the family home in Edinburgh’s St James Square.

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