Henry Adamson (1581–1637) was a Scottish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. Adamson was the son of James Adamson,

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Merchant

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

ry and Provost of Perth, Scotland, baptised on 11 November 1581. Henry set out to train as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, after his uncle

Patrick Adamson Patrick Adamson (1537–1592) was a Scottish divine, and Archbishop of St Andrews from 1575. Life Adamson was born at Perth where his father, Patrick Adamson, a burgess became Dean of Merchant Guildry. Adamson studied philosophy at the Univer ...

, but instead became a schoolmaster in his home city. He died before July in the year 1637. His friend William Drummond encouraged the publication of his most famous poem: ''Muses Threnodie: of Mirthful Mournings on the death of Mr Gall'', (

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

1638 – see

1638 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France). Events *May - English poet John Milton sets out for a tour of the European continent. He spends the summer in Florence. Wor ...

). The poem is an important document for its general account of Perth in the seventeenth century. Adamson is credited with first using the word ''

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

'' in 1620. He related that his friend, Mr Gall, "a citizen of Perth, and a gentle-man of goodly stature, and pregnant wit, much given to pastime, as

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, archerie, curling and jovial companie". It also records the playing of

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

on the South Inch: It is also particularly noted for its observation of rosicrucianism,

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and

second sight Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universit ...

. Referring to the rebuilding of a bridge over the River Tay, swept away in 1621, Adamson wrote:

References

External links

Extracts from ''The Muses Threnodie''
(but not listing the extract dealing with the Mason word)
AdamsonAncestry.com
1581 births 1639 deaths Writers from Perth, Scotland Alumni of the University of St Andrews 17th-century Scottish historians Scottish poets Freemasonry in Scotland Poets from the Kingdom of Scotland {{UK-poet-stub

References

Further reading

External links