Author: Hetrick, Robert
Biography:
HETRICK, Robert (1769-1849: ancestry.co.uk)
Born at Dalmellington, Ayrshire, where he was baptised on 24 June 1769, he was the son of William Hetrick, a blacksmith. His mother’s name is unknown. He succeeded his father as the village smith and inherited a small collection of books which spurred him to write his own poetry and songs, published anonymously in local newspapers. He was known as “the Dalmellington poet” and called upon to recite his verses at local gatherings. His book, which includes both poems and songs, has fourteen pages of subscribers’ names grouped by parish. It is not known whether he married; he is recorded in the 1841 census as boarding in a household without other family members. He died in Dec. 1849 and was buried in the churchyard at Dalmellington. (James Paterson, ed. The Contemporaries of Burns [1840] 339-41; ancestry.co.uk 26 Feb. 2019) SR