To the Tron Kirk Bell - by Robert Fergusson

For World Poetry Day 2024, here's "To the Tron Kirk Bell" by the Scottish Poet Robert Fergusson (1750-1774). Evidently young Robert was no fan of the chiming bell of one of the prominent church just down the street from St Giles Kirk, on Edinburgh's High Street.

Robert Fergusson lived in Edinburgh during the height of the Scottish Enlightenment. Although his poetic career was tragically cut short by his early death, his influence had been felt in the works of poets that came after, but none more so than Robert Burns, who commissioned, designed and paid for a headstone for Fergusson's unmarked grave in 1787.

The original Tron Kirk was erected between 1636 and 1647 in a mix of Palladian and Gothic styles. The buildings was devastated by a fire in 1824, during which the steeple collapsed onto the roof and the bell was destroyed. Numerous souvenirs were made from its melted remnants, Robert would have undoubtedly approved!

The building was rebuilt with a new spire and its exterior shell remains to this day, having been acquired by Edinburgh Corporation (Council) in 1952 and gone through a variety of uses since.

The new bell clearly had a much sweeter sound to the ears of those that came after Robert as the current Tron Kirk would become the traditional gathering place for generations of Edinburgh folks "bringing in the bells" at Hogmanay!