Robert Burns Poet
- Name : Burns
- Born : 1759
- Died : 1796
- Category : Poets
- Finest Moment : Tam o'Shanter written (1790)
History of Scotland
Our ongoing history of Scotland that chronicles the events in Scotland over the past million years with a special focus on the last thousand as you might expect. We have also digitised a copy of Patrick Tytler's History of Scotland which is an eccentric but wonderfully written history of the the mediaeval years in Scotland. The project of chronicling Scotland's history is ongoing, as is the process of organising and structuring and linking the pages together.
Robert Campbell of Glencoe Massacre
- Name : Campbell
- Born : 1632
- Died : 1696
- Category : Military
- Finest Moment : None
Robert Gordon Cartographer
- Name : Gordon of Straloch
- Born : 1580
- Died : 1661
- Category : Other
- Finest Moment : Publication of Pont's maps, 1654
Robert Henryson
- Name : Henryson
- Born : c.1420
- Died : c.1490
- Category : Poets
- Finest Moment : Publication of The Morall Fabillis
Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay / Philosophers and Historians
- Name : Lindsay
- Born : c.1500
- Died : 1565
- Category : Philosophers and Historians
- Finest Moment : Writing The Historie and Cronicles of Scotland
'One of the earliest Scottish historians'
Born about 1500 in Pitscottie, near Cupar in Fife, Lindsay is remembered for having written a history of Scotland, The Historie and Cronicles of Scotland, covering the years 1435 to 1565. He wrote it in Scots, intending it to be a continuation of Scotorum Historiae by Hector Boece.
It was first published in 1728, and later edited in three volumes by A.J.G. Mackay between 1899 and 1911. Lindsay's style is better than his accuracy, though it became one of Sir Walter Scott's reference works for his writings on that period.
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Robert Liston
Robert Liston / Medical Pioneers
- Name : Liston
- Born : 1794
- Died : 1847
- Category : Medical Pioneers
- Finest Moment : First operation using ether as an anaesthetic, 1800
Born in 1794, at Ecclesmachan near Linlithgow. Liston studied medicine at Edinburgh and London. He was appointed a surgeon at Edinburgh, working in the Royal Infirmary there from 1827. Being unsuccessful at gaining a professorship, he moved to London.
In the 1870s, surgery had to be done without the use of anaesthetic. Not only did this mean great pain and suffering for many patients, but some surgery was also impossible. Patients had to be restrained until they became unconscious. One effect of this was that surgeons became pressured to perform as fast as possible; to minimise trauma to the patient. This obviously was not a satisfactory state of affairs!
Liston was renowned for his speed and strength as a surgeon. In one famous case he amputated a leg in less than two minutes. Unfortunately he also removed some fingers from one young assistant who was helping to hold the patient. The operation often began with the surgeon crying out for someone to time him, and the search was on for some means of delivering a safe anaesthetic.
In 1800, Liston became the first to perform an amputation using ether as an anaesthetic. Ether is the common name for ethoxyethane, or diethyl ether. It had to be used carefully, as too strong a dose killed patients, while another disadvantage was that it irritated lung tissue. Nonetheless, its use was the real start of painless surgery. Liston died in 1847.
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Robert Louis Stevenson
- Name : Stevenson
- Born : 1850
- Died : 1894
- Category : Writers
- Finest Moment : Writing of Treasure Island (1882)
Robert Munro
Robert Munro / Political Figures
- Name : Munro
- Born : 1865
- Died : 1955
- Category : Political Figures
- Finest Moment : Education (Scotland) Act of 1918
'Secretary of State for Scotland for six years, yet few have heard of him'.
Munro was born at Alness near Dingwall in 1868, the son of a minister. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School then Edinburgh University, being called to the Scottish Bar in 1893; by 1910 he was a KC. That same year he entered politics as a Liberal, representing Wick burghs (1910-18), then Roxburgh & Selkirk (1918-22).
In 1913 he was appointed Lord Advocate, then Scottish Secretary in 1916; he held this Cabinet post for six years. Perhaps his best piece of legislature was the Education (Scotland) Act of 1918. This replaced 1000 parish school boards with 33 county and five city education authorities. It also protected the status of denominational (i.e. Roman Catholic) schools and raised the leaving age to 15, conditions which compared favourable with those extant in England at the time.
Munro left politics, to become Lord President from 1922-33; he became Lord Alness in 1934.
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Robert Napier
Robert Napier / Engineers
- Name : Napier
- Born : 1791
- Died : 1876
- Category : Engineers
- Finest Moment : The launch of his first ship, the appropriately named Vanguard, in 1843
Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton, in 1791. He was a cousin of David Napier, a marine engineer who had built the boilers and engine castings for Henry Bell's Comet. Robert initially trained as a smith, and in 1821 he leased the Camlachie Foundry from his cousin and began to make land engines.
He moved into marine engines in 1823, when he built the engine for the PS Leven. This is preserved outside the Denny Test Tank in Dumbarton. Four years later he acquired the Vulcan Foundry, moving to the Lancefield Foundry in 1836 after his cousin had left for London. Just before that, together with his cousin he had designed a number of innovative marine engines, including the side lever steeple engine in 1835.
In 1840, Napier built the engines for the first four Cunard liners. Expanding his horizons, Napier opened his own shipyard for building iron ships in 1841, on the other side of the Clyde from Lancefield, at Govan. He launched his first ship, the Vanguard, in 1843. All along, Napier had not only been a clever designer, he had been a very sharp businessman. When Samuel Cunard established his Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company in 1839, for example, Napier had taken a shareholding in the venture, thereby securing the orders for their first four ships.
He had also built some ships at a deliberate loss, in order to gain further orders when the success of the first ships were recognised. At first, iron ships were regarded with great suspicion by both Lloyd's, who insured them, and the Admiralty. Just like low energy light bulbs in the distant future, they cost more to buy, but had significantly lower running costs.
By the 1860s, Napier had succeeded in gaining a firm hold in nearly all passenger markets, building ships for an international market. He also trained many who would go on to continue the reputation of the Clyde shipbuilding and marine engineering industries. He retired in 1860, and enjoyed a well-earned retirement for the next 16 years, dying in 1876.