Andrew Somerville RSA (1808–1834) was a short-lived Scottish artist. He is particularly noted for his illustration of

Border ballad Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...

s and several portraits.

Life

He was born in 1808 the son of Andrew Somerville, a wireworker on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

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

. He was educated at the

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Edinburgh, and then studied art at the Trustees Academy on Picardy Place, where he studied under

William Simson William Simson (1798/9929 August 1847) was a Scottish portrait, landscape and subject painter. Biography Simson was born at Dundee in 1798/99. He studied under Andrew Wilson at the Trustees' Academy on Picardy Place in Edinburgh, and his early ...

. He exhibited at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

from 1830 and was elected an Associate in 1831 and a Fellow in 1833. At the end of his life ‘’Andrew Somerville, portrait painter, Royal Academy’’ was listed as living at 4 James Square at the east end of

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

. The property was demolished to build the St James Shopping Centre. He died in Edinburgh in January 1834.

Family

He is thought to have been the nephew of David Somerville, engraver (f.1798-1825).

Known works

See *''Bride of Yarrow'' *''Bonny Kilmeny'' (from a poem by

James Hogg James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...

) *''Donnybrook Fair'' *''Cottage Children'', (

National Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by Wi ...

) *''

Flowers of the Forest ''Flowers of the Forest'', or ''The Fluuers o the Forest'' (Roud 3812), is a Scottish folk tune and work of war poetry commemorating the defeat of the Scottish army, and the death of James IV, at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513. Although ...

'' (illustrating the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

), Scottish Art Union

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Andrew 1808 births 1834 deaths Artists from Edinburgh People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Scottish artists