On May 17th 1810 the poet  Robert Tannahill drowned himself in a Paisley canal. Some posts can

On May 17th 1810 the poet  Robert Tannahill drowned himself in a Paisley canal. Some posts can hit home more than others, anyone who has or is going through the hell of real depression will understand more than others. The stigma of the disease is being more talked about more than ever, it’s not a new thing to be depressed, our own Scottish King Robert III is said to have suffered from it, indeed he described himself as “the worst of kings and the most miserable of men”.On to Robert Tannahill, who, in his lifetime was as famous as our national bard Robert Burns, he was in the same mould of the Ploughman Poet and was the first Secretary of the Paisley Burns Club established in 1805 he also wrote several poems and songs in Burns’ memory.Tannahill had friends in Glasgow and neighbouring towns, attended the theatre in Glasgow and, importantly, was familiar with the publishers in Glasgow who were established in selling ballad poetry. His early works were also printed in the Glasgow Courier, leading to his recognition as the leading poet of the periodicals. Tannahill’s first collection was ‘The Sodger’s Return’. a Scottish interlude in two acts, with other poems and songs, chiefly in the Scottish dialect. It sold well, and the latter part of the title is a clear homage to Burns.Robert Tannahill – the ‘Weaver Poet’in Paisley, the son of James Tannahill and Janet Pollock. Young Robert was apprenticed as a weaver at the age of 12 in 1786 and spent a brief time working at Bolton, in Lancashire, England. He returned home to Paisley and began to compose pieces of verse in Scots which were published by various journals. Scottish weavers had a reputation for literacy and cultivated tastes because their work, often done at a loom with the feet, allowed them the freedom to hold and read books. When his father died in 1802, Robert joined the newly established ‘Paisley Literary and Convivial Association’ which was an outlet for his literary tastes.In 1810 after having work rejected by an Edinburgh publisher Robert drowned himself in the Candren Burn, his body was discovered by his two brothers.Tannahill was buried at Castlehead Cemetery, Canal Street, Paisley, in an unmarked grave in what was formerly the West Relief Church. In 1866 a granite monument was erected here to his memory. There is also a statue to Tannahill next to Paisley Abbey, erected by public subscription in 1883.There is a famous story involving Tannahill’s emotional farewell to James Hogg who had travelled west in the hope of meeting the Paisley poet. Hogg says that, upon leaving Tannhill, he ‘had scarcely reached Edinburgh’ before he ‘read in the newspapers an account of his sad end.’ Again I say about depression, nobody knows what is going on inside the mind of people, it’s an invisible illness, a silent killer, you can be talking to someone who shows no signs of depression outwardly, but inside they are toiling, be mindful with people, never be harsh with your words. The Flower of Levern Side. Ye sunny braes that skirt the ClydeWi’ simmer flowers sae braw,There’s ae sweet flower on Levern side,That’s fairer than them a’:Yet aye it droops its head in wae,Regardless o’ the sunny ray,And Wastes its sweets frae day to day,Beside the lonely shaw;Wi’ leaves a’ steep’d in sorrow’s dew,Fause, cruel man, it seems to rue,Wha aft the sweetest flower will pu’,Then rend its heart in twa.Thou bonny flow'r on Levern side,O gin thou'lt be but mine;I’ll tend thee wi’ a lover’s pride,Wi’ love that ne'er shall tine;I’ll take thee to my shelt'ring bower,And shield thee frae the beating shower,Unharm’d by ought thou'lt bloom secureFrae a’ the blasts that blaw:Thy charms surpass the crimson dyeThat streaks the glowing western sky,But here, unshaded, soon thou'lt die,And lone will be thy fa’. -- source link

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