"Robert Tannahill's Cottage "

Robert Tannahill (June 3, 1774 - May 17, 1810) . Known as the 'Weaver Poet'.
He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven. Soon after his birth the family moved to a newly built cottage in nearby Queen Street, which became both family home and weaving shop. Robert had a delicate constitution and a limp, due to a slight deformity in his right leg. On leaving school at age twelve, he was apprentice to his father as a handloom weaver. It was during this apprenticeship that Tannahill began to show a real talent for poetry. After a short period of working in Bolton, Lancashire, around 1800, Tannahill returned to Paisley to support the family in time of illness. In the years that followed, his interest in poetry and music blossomed and his writings began to appear in such publications as The Scots Magazine. In 1810, following the rejection of some of his work by the Edinburgh publisher he died by his own hand, drowned in a culverted stream under the Paisley Canal. So the Blip for today is that of Tannahill's Cottage in Queen Street, Paisley. Thanks for your good wishes for Janice. She stayed in bed till lunchtime and is now up and doing the ironing. Keeps her mind off the Cold. She'll be back taking her Yoga class tomorrow morning. What a trooper!

The Lass O' Arranteenie

Far lone amang the Highland hills,?
Midst Nature's wildest grandeur,?
By rocky dens and woody glens,?with weary steps I wander,?
The langsome way, the darksome day,?
The mountain mist sae rainy,?
Are nought to me, when gaun to thee,?
Sweet lass o' Arranteenie