Historic Figures

Robert Burns (1759-1796), affectionately known as “Rabbie Burns,” is Scotland’s national poet.

Joseph Black (1728–1799) was a pioneering Scottish chemist best known for discovering carbon dioxide and developing the ideas of latent and specific heat. A gentle, meticulous teacher at the University of Edinburgh, he played a key role in shaping modern chemistry and even influenced James Watt’s improvements to the steam engine.

Born in Perth in 1875, Buchan was a man of many chapters: bestselling novelist, war propagandist, Member of Parliament, and ultimately the Governor General of Canada.

The self-taught stonemason who became one of Scotland’s most influential writers and geologists.