It is official, I have just self published a copy of songs and poems by Robert Tannahill. He may not be as famous as Robert Burns, Tannahill is still remembered in his hometown of Paisley. His home still stands on Queen Street in the town, close to the Gallow Green. There is a pub standing on Neilston Road, which is named after Tannahill and a statue of him stands in the Abbey Close.
Despite a deformity to his right leg, and having a weak constitution, he still worked as a weaver, which was a physically demanding job. He had a small desk attached to his weaver's loom, so that he could write down his songs and his poems, all while he weaved. Despite his deformed right leg, which was shorter than his left, he still went off on long walks to the Gleniffer Braes. The influence of these walks can be found in his work, including The Braes o' Gleniffer.
After the success of his first published collection, Tannahill tried to have another published, only for it to be rejected. It was at this time that his friends began to worry about him. One night, after being out with friends, he disappeared from his family home. After a search of the local area, Tannahill's coat and pocket watch were found, placed next to the culvert for the local canal. He had commited suicide. He was only 36.
The reason why I published this collection, was that I had been talking to one of my friends about Tannahill. My friend had never heard of him, so had searched for Tannahill, only to find that most collections of his work are faximilies and cost £15 upwards. With the Paisley 2021, City of Culture bid, I thought that it was time for a reasonably priced edition to be made available. I believe that Tannahill and his work should be better known than they are, which only encouraged me more to publish this collection
Even though the book has only been available a short while, an interest has already been shown in it. It is available on Amazon (UK, USA and Europe). I have attached a link to the book in this blog.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weaver-Poet-Songs-Robert-Tannahill/dp/1533394318/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463992919&sr=1-1&keywords=the+weaver+poet+robert+tannahill
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