Thomas Thomson's activities in Edinburgh, 1791-1811

THE standard accounts of Thomas Thomson (1) pay little attention to the pre-1811 period—what may be referred to as his Edinburgh period—and reiterate only the standard obituary material in the main. Although it is still not possible to give a full account of his Edinburgh period, enough new material has come to light that may provide the incentive for further study of these years. Thomas Thomson was born in Crieff, Perthshire, in 1773 and, after two years at the Parish School at Crieff, he spent a further two years at the Stirling Grammar School whose headmaster Dr David Doig, was a classical scholar, thought by Robert Burns to have been ‘a queerish figure and something of a pedant’ (2). Thomson’s classical education at Stirling led to his becoming a Foundation Bursar in 1788 at St Andrews University which entitled him to board and lodging for three years

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