Sunday, March 08, 2009

Villagers Vaunting the Versifier,

In order to compete with Wikipedia in the hit count, I have decided to launch a new series, based on fact, opinions, tall tales, cliques and whispers, biographies of some folk will be offered up in exchange for nothing more than a sloth could offer me. The honour of first member of this exclusive series falls upon Marjory Fleming.

Marjory Fleming (1803-1811)

Marjory Fleming was one the greatest child writers there has ever been. She was born on the 15th of January, 1803 in a house on Kirkcaldy’s High Street, and in her short life of almost 9 years, she wrote diaries and poems which made her something of a legend.

Her diaries, which are now preserved in the National Library of Scotland, were originally an exercise to improve her handwriting and to let her parents in Kirkcaldy know how she was doing whilst she lived in Edinburgh with her cousin, Isabella.

She died in hospital in 1811 suffering from meningitis. She is buried in Abbotshall Kirkyard, Kirkcaldy. Her plain stone of 1811 was replaced by a memorial statue in 1930, the statue reads “the youngest immortal in the world of words”.
Trivia Library provides a 2 page biography, Kirkcaldy Civic Society provides another (close the Adam Smith biography to access the 'Famous Folk' menu). Some further information can be gained from Ray and my rival, Wikipedia. Most crucially, some of her work is available at The Fife Post.

1 Comments:

Blogger MD said...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone with any skill or talent whatsoever leaves Kirkcaldy at the earliest opportunity*. As a young child is quite exceptional though.


*And then returns at a later date for reasons unbeknown even to themselves. But that's a different tale.

1:53 AM  

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