Walk in the Past: The Alloa poet who cut his own throat

He wrote ‘Doric Lays,’ which was dedicated to the memory of the late Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn, and ‘Memorials of the Town and Parish of Alloa,’ which was published posthumously.

He died on the afternoon of Saturday 13th December 1873 aged ’57 years 3 months and 13 days.’

A house painter to trade, he had been born in Greenock in 1816 to Alexander Crawford, a carpenter, and his wife Mary MacPherson.

It was through his mother that it was believed he was related to Robert Burns’ Highland Mary, Mary Campbell from Dunoon, with whom Burns had a brief affair.

He was said to have been born in Charles Street in the very house Mary Campbell died. Crawford had served his apprenticeship with Reid, Huie & Company, a chandler at West Breast in Greenock, then had left for Alloa.

No-one in Greenock heard from him in many years.

His witty poetical works were published and came to the attention of Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, the Scottish judge and literary critic, who wrote to him, complimenting him on his poems.

He contributed work to the book ‘Nursery Rhymes’ in Edinburgh, and to a song book called Whistle Binkie published by David Robertson in Glasgow.

This was published in two volumes and much of his work appears in the second one.

These included ‘He that tholes owrecomes,’ ‘The Lyart and Leal,’ ‘The Sunny Summer Months,’ and ‘The Winter’s come at last.’

His book ‘Doric Lays,’ published in 1850, was dedicated to Alexander Bald who encouraged him to write and publish his poetical works.

Throughout his life he was fascinated by the works of Burns and on 25th January 1859, he held a supper at his home to commemorate the centenary of Burn’s birth.

This noted meeting was summarised in the local press under the headline ‘The Gathering o’ the Bards.’

Crawford was interested in all things antiquarian and was happy to trudge miles to see a particular stone or to find a horseshoe at Bannockburn, or any other Scottish battlefield.

He had recently been in Greenock to see off his daughter who was going to join her two brothers in Canada.

While in the area, he was seen sliding down a handrail, as he had done in boyhood.

Crawford was found in his house with his throat cut, the open razor on the floor next to him.

He had been separated from his wife, Jean McDougal, whom he’d married in Alloa in 1835, and had only returned to the house on the Saturday he was found dead.

A few of his poems were published in the book Poets of Clackmannanshire in 1885.