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David Hunt, present caretaker
of the Fairlie Estate at which his 1750s predecessor, James Allan, worked, is seen discussing Allan's work, his family, and
his nephew, Robert Burns, editing his Kilmarnock Edition, published in 1786. A plaque
of this fact has been installed on one of the estate buildings' walls. Allan and Burns' father, William, were brothers-in-law.
These facts we discovered, and have published in local newspapers, The Burns Chronicle,
and elsewhere.
This is a photograph of the portion of the Irvine Parish Kirk Academy that Poe attended. Professor Arthur Hobson Quinn,
formerly of the University of Pennsylvania, but now deceased (1945), established the bias in his biography of Edgar Allan
Poe that, "If Poe went to school at Irvine, as has been asserted [by Hervey Allen, in his biography, Israfel],
it could have been at this time little more than a few days." Edgar Allan Poe A critical Biography, from the
Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition, 1998. p66. I have read nothing of the intervening months and year between Allan's arrival
at Irvine and Poe's placement at Stoke Newton; nevertheless, it was more like a few months, but nevermind. For the present,
we share the above view of what is left of the Irvine Academy of 1815: the white "proud stone" remnants of the north
gable of the building, long since torn down from what are now kirk offices and flats. Photographs and facts of the school,
where John Allan and John Galt attended as well, exist in the Burns Museum up the High Street, because of Galt's connection
with the poet.
Until our research, no one in Scotland new of the Allan relationship with Burns. The old school was located within
a "stone's throw" of the John Allan House, on the Gatehead path, between the High Street and the bridge. The path
is now a shopping mall, on the High Street end, of which, is a plaque to the memory of Allan's and Robert Burns' literary
cousin, John Galt, mentioned in these pages. I have inquired of the Church and the East Ayrshire Council regarding permission
to place a plaque on the remaining wall commemorating these facts. Unfortunately, I had run out of time for our last visit,
and have not been able to return. Nevertheless, local historians interested in our project are pressing on with our requests.
In its time, the Irvine Academy was superior to that of Bransby's Academy at Stoke Newington, London, far more selective of
its scholars, and corporal. The few attendees and graduates of this school were the sons of Ayrshire rich, and in turn, became
the burgesses of the shire (represented the landed gentry population at Parliament, in London). This site and all facts connected
with it were provided courtesy of Mr. David Smith, Steward of the Burns Museum.  |
The photograph of
an Allan family headstone in the Irvine Churchyard is but one of many relics that have been cross-referenced in the Church
Records of the Allan connection with Edgar Allan Poe. In his Israfel biography of Poe, Hervey Allen referred to it
as, "...There, on the graves of the Allan relatives, a carven ship bellied its stone sails to an eternal breeze from
the realms of nowhere."
Just visible at the bottom of the headstone is one of the ships which Poe so adroitly described
and discussed in many of his poems and stories. Allen mentions "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym," to which we
add for the visitor's reading, “A Decent into the Maelström,” among the many which use sea imagery. We quote
the inscription above the ship in our book.
The photographs of Irvine Church headstones, and of pages
in old records, were taken by local Irvine historian, Billy Stinan, and sent to the author, with a growing collection of other
facts and his activities which aid our project. He was an interviewee of the recent BBC Scotland Radio broadcast, "Scots
Gothic--Edgar Allan Poe in Ayrshire." Notice the name "Stinan." I shall leave it as evidence of
the many mistakes that this author's dyslexia causes. In fact, Billy Kerr informed me recently (10-10) that Stinan means
Saint Inan, the patron Saint of Irvine! His e-mail name is ..stinan, so the error is understandable
(to me!). I am not a Roman Catholic, and have no "saints" in my lexicon. This is but one of thousands
of mistakes that I have made in the writing of my text here, as well as my manuscript. I leave it for other students
who suffer the same or similar learning disability, and their teachers or professors, who have less than flattering thoughts
of such scholars! Nevertheless, I return again and again to my writing in an effort to remove such errors.
Although I was not successful with the local government of
Irvine Council, to have something established which would show American thinker and writer Edgar Allan Poe had a presence
in Irvine, since our last research trip they have made serious efforts to create something. One project was the idea
of turning the former gothic-looking church on the Gatehead, where John Allan had a home, into an interactive museum.
However, that turned out to be too grand. Now it seems that the Ayrshire Museums have caught the idea of turning Robert
Burns' former heckling shop, on the Glasgow Vennel, into a Family History Center and Burns Museum. There are several
web-sites which discuss this project. I give the American visitor of our web site these photos of the Glasgow Vennel
and Heckling Shop, taken from various web sites, for information only. Please Google any terms or words that are
foreign to you for their context within our own Edgar Allan Poe project. 
I had a photo of Burns' Heckling shop on the front page, but removed it, as the one
on the right is satisfactory. However, the text it does not explain the following additional information. It is
of the Glasgow Vennal. For a complete description and other photos, please see Wikipedia and Google.
Directly up the Vennal, the old road that led from Irvine to Glasgow, is the Irvine High Street, and on the
other side, the Irvine Parrish Church. To the right, on the High Street, are the Galt houses, one of which Poe and his
cousin, James Galt, lived in with their aunt, John Allan's sister, Mary, and the other the house in which John Galt was born. The
Irvine towns-people honored the site with a plaque. Galt's cousin, Robert Burns, invested not only all of the
money he had at the time, but borrowed some as well, to buy the building in which he planned to learn and practice the flax-making
trade. This is an ancient fibre used to manufacture linen and oil. The building burned down, nearly
killing the future "National Bard" of Scotland, and Burns lost everything. I have read that the fire may have
been deliberate, as an act of spite and jealousy against Rabbie. After the Parrish of Dundonald, Irvine appears
to be the center of the Allan-Burns-Galt-Poe connections.
I have removed the photo of the gothic style
church building, and put the illustration with James Gracie's article in the Scots Magazine as more relevant
to this page. In the photograph of Brill in the colum to the right is the actual spot from which the illustrator took
the image. The photograph of the church was of one built on the Bridgegate Road, across from John Allan's townhouse, long
after Edgar Poe was dead, but left standing after his father's house was torn down to make room for "development."
The paradox is that the local town council were entertaining the use
of the discarded protestant church as an interactive museum featuring Edgar Allan Poe's presence in the area. The project
never began, and what has become of the building we do not know. Consequently it is of no further particular value Nevertheless, were it not for the two or three acquaintances in Ayrshire,
who valued our project, and remained in touch with us, we would not have known this much. We had made a few serious
efforts to see members of the local Irvine Council, but without success. Perhaps they thought we lived in the area,
for they treated us rather indifferently. Where local people did take our work seriously, and understood the transience
of our visits, there are artifacts and mementos were we showed folk something that was connected with Poe's visit. The
second effort to bring visibility of Poe's residency in the area is the Glasgow Vennal in which Burns invested his purse,
only to have it catch fire, and loose everything. http://www.irvinetrades.org/trades-graveyard-tour
| 16 - Poe Stone
It is of shipmaster
Robert Allan who died 27/6/1770 aged 39. This burial lair is where Edgar Allan Poe acquired his middle name from, having
been raised by Irvinite, John Allan, of the same family. "Tho' winds &
waves & raging seas / have toss'd us to and fro / yet by the hand of providence / we harbour here below / Safe from the
dangers of them all / and rests as in a sleep / till he who saveth us does call /to join the joyful fleet. Visit Mr. Kerr's Graveyard Tour Site, for the complete list of headstones.
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A tour of memorial stones within the graveyard of Irvine Old Parish Church, hosted by the seven Trades Guilds of Irvine
to celebrate there rich heritage dating from 1646!  Billy Kerr - Trades Graveyard Tour For further information contact Billy Kerr at bkstinan@msn.com |
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Other than ex-patriot Scots and Scottish-Americans, generally, we Americans do not know Robert Burns, his life, work, or influence
upon the world. Mrs. Anne Geddes, formally of the Dick
Institute, in Kilmarnock, can be credited for our finding the unknown connection of Scots National Bard, Robert Burns, to
an uncle, James Allan, Caretaker of Fairlie Estate, Dundonald, Ayrshire. Mr. Allan was married to Burns' mother's half-sister,
Jean Broun. James was common uncle to Burns and Edgar Allan Poe's adoptive father, John Allan. This connection is fully detailed
throughout our book, The Mystery of "Mar'se Eddie" in the Shire,
Edgar Allan Poe's Scottish Connections. These facts have been published in three articles by this author in Burns Chronicle
by its editor, Peter Westwood. Our friend, Mr. Westwood has been the editor for at least 15 years, is an
internationally known scholar of burns, and has written and published many books. He is the undisputed authority
of Burns artifacts, text, and life of the poet. Nevertheless, to continue, Burns' poem, "The Cotter's Saturday
Night," was written by Burns for uncle James and aunt Jean Allan, who put up their nephew in their modest cottage while
he completed revision of his Kilmarnock Edition volume of poems. However, Burnsians have long
known that it was dedicated to Burns' good friend and patron, Robert Aiken, Esq. A subsequent edition of Burns' poems
is known as the Edinburgh Edition. The more significant family relationship amongst John Allan, Robert Burns, and Edgar Allan Poe was never known
by scholars on either side of the Atlantic Ocean until my discovery. In the photocopy, above, from the Irvine Kirk archives,
is the page on which the facts of many Allan family who are buried in the kirk cemetery are documented. In the entry above,
the fact that John Allan was the adoptive father of Edgar Allan Poe existed, is but one example of knowledge known only by
local historians. One such historian is our dear friend, Billy Stinan, who provided this extract, and many photos of Allan
family headstones in the kirkyard. All these data were broadcast in the recent BBC Scotland Radio program produced by Billy
Kay, of Fife, mentioned elsewhere. |
David
Smith, now retired Steward of the Burns Museum, showing one of the rare books in its important collection of "The [Professor
James] Hogg Room."
In "The Hogg Room" (library), was a complete collection of many
books of biography and creative work of and by Poe. From materials in this room, Mrs. Kenmotsu found data and illustrations
of the Irvine Academy, known by locals to have been attended by Poe. Moreover, the mural of Burns' life that is painted inside
the museum has evidence of Poe's connections with Burns and others in this old town. Finally, the Burns Statue has connections
with Poe. It was a gift of John Spiers, who was married to an Edgar Allan Poe relative, and both are now buried in the Poe
Family lair, Northern Necropolis, Glasgow. (See headstone photograph)
During Smith's narrated tour of Poe's connections to Irvine,
he informed Brill at the Irvine church, to the south of the old Academy, that "All Poe's spirits are buried in this cemetery."
These subjects, and Brill's pronouncement at that time that, "Poe is the Father of American Literature," became
the basis of a BBC Scotland Radio broadcast on "Poe's Irvine Connections."
The images on this page represent what is no longer to be
found of Poe's stay with his aunt in Irvine, as well as how things appear to passersby of the town who have no interest nor
knowledge of America's greatest literary figure, as a child in their mists. 
The pose struck by Bob Brill is on the exact site where the artist for Mr. Gracie's article drew his representation
of Poe, on these pages.. Not only did John Allan take his son on such learning excursions, but Poe's English usher did so
as well during a writing lesson on the grounds of the Irvine Parish Church. If one were standing at the front door of the church
to its right of the photograph, and looking to the north, one would see the exterior wall of the flats to which the old Academy
was anchored. This photo was taken during "summer," and the author is wearing thermal underwear, as well
as his leather jacket, and a jumper (British for pullover sweater)! Billy Kerr, local historian in Irvine, and intimately knowledgeable of the path Edgar Allan Poe took
with cousin, James Galt, to and from home and school, during his time in Irvine (because he lives on it!) has graceiously
provided many facts and photographs of the Irvine Church Cemetary, where noted. Mr. Kerr actually lives on the path, and a
photo of it is in our manuscript. This photo by Kenmotsu was recently published in the Irvine newspaper, without
comment or credit because it is so well known in Ayrshire.
The Montgomeries,
Earls of Eglinton, Burns' patrons.  Robert Burn's lodgings in the Glasgow Vennel  The Heckling Shop in Irvine where Robert Burns worked 1781–1782  Mrs. Frances Dunlop of Dunlop, Patron of Robert Burns Archibald Montgomerie, the eleventh Earl of Eglinton (1726–96) succeeded to the title in 1769. He was known as General Montgomerie or 'Sodger Hugh', having
raised the 77th Regiment of Foot in the Highlands in 1757, of which he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in command.[7] Archibald, the 11th Earl, stood as guarantor for the printing of the 1786 'Kilmarnock Edition'
of Robert Burns' poems, together with John Hamilton,[8] later Dr. Hamilton, a medical student and son of Provost Charles Hamilton of Irvine. The Hamiltons lived at the entry
to the Glasgow Vennel close to Burns ' lodgings and may have been a link in his coming to Irvine in the first instance.[9]  Coilsfield House (Montgomery Castle) in 1840. The Earl of Eglinton
also sent ten guineas to Burns on his arrival in Edinburgh as a subscription for a 'brace', that is two copies, quoted however as
42 by most authors (36 by one[10])and in the subscribers list[11][12][13][14]) of the Edinburgh Edition of the Poems. At 5s for subscribers and 6s for others, 10 guineas for two would have been
extremely generous.[15][16] and the actual intention is quoted as To bespeak (order in advance) the new edition and hand him a suitable gift
of money.[17] Mrs. Dunlop of Dunlop, a regular correspondent of Burns, had spoken to her friend Doctor John Moore about Burns as a Miracle of Genius and it was this 'Kind Man' who had encouraged the Earl to become
a patron of Burns.[17] Writing in response to the Earl's purchase on 11 January 1787, Burns said: Your Munificence, my Lord, certainly deserved my very grateful acknowledgements, but your Patronage is a bounty
peculiarly suited to my feelings.[7] The Earl retained his interest in Burns as shown by the subscribers list in James Currie's
The Complete Works of Burns, the first major work on the life and works of Burns, published in 1800. The Earl subscribed
for 12 copies; more copies than most subscribers who were not actually in the book trade. The
Montgomeries in general and Colonel Hugh Montgomerie (Sodger Hugh) in particular, are included in Burns' 'The Author's Earnest
Cry and Prayer' of 1776, dedicated "To the Right Honourable and Honourable Scotch Representatives in the House of Commons."[18] These lines refer to the Earl:- |
