Michael Bruce

BRUCE, Michael. b. Kinnesswood, Kinross-shire, 27 March 1746; d. Kinnesswood, 5 July 1767. The son of a weaver, he was educated at the local schools: he entered Edinburgh University, intending to become a minister, but died while still an undergraduate. During vacations from the university, he taught at schools at Gairney Bridge and Tillicoultry in order to pay for his studies, and joined a ‘singing class’ at Kinnesswood in which the members sang hymns composed by him, written down in a manuscript book together with his poems. His fellow student and friend, John Logan*, borrowed the book from Bruce’s father in 1767, and subsequently published Poems on Several Occasions, by Michael Bruce...