Author: Gilmour, Robert
Biography:
GILMOUR, Robert (fl 1811-1816)
A shadowy figure; nothing is known about his early life. In 1811 he purchased an army captaincy and, appointed to the First West India Regiment, travelled to the West Indies. There, at Guadaloupe, he was court-martialled in 1813 for misappropriating funds to his private use. He returned to England and made the acquaintance of Robert Southey (q.v.) who may have helped him to secure publication of his books. In May of 1817 Walter Scott (q.v.) wrote to Southey saying that he too had been applied to for “unfortunate Mr. Gilmour” whose “hopes of fame and fortune now rest on getting a play acted on Drury Lane Stage.” It is not known if Gilmour succeeded in this but there is no record of a play by him. A copy of Lothaire and of the second edition of Tales in Verse are in the Abbotsford Library, probably sent to Scott by Gilmour; the latter volume is inscribed to Scott. (Charles James, A Collection of the Charges, Opinions, and Sentences of General Courts Martial [1820]; NLS, Letters of Walter Scott; Advocates Library Catalogue)