Author: Beattie, George
Biography:
BEATTIE, George (1786-1823: ODNB)
Born on 18 Sept. 1786 at Whitehills near St Cyrus, Kincardineshire, he was the son of William Beattie and Elizabeth (Scott) Beattie. His father was a crofter and salmon fisher who, when Beattie was thirteen, obtained a post with the excise office in Montrose; the young Beattie is said to have walked to his new home with a tame jackdaw on his shoulder. He had received a good education in the parish school at St Cyrus and in Montrose he trained to be a notary by working in the office of the procurator fiscal. His poems were first published in the Montrose Review. Beattie was engaged to marry a Miss Gibson when she abandoned him for a wealthier corn merchant; after writing a statement of his relations with her and a long suicide note, he returned to St Cyrus and shot himself beside his sister’s grave. He is buried in the cemetery where he died; there is a monument erected by his friends. (ODNB 7 May 2019; 16 Feb. 2025) SR
Other Names:
- Mr. George Beattie