Michael Bruce of Kinross-shire (Poet of Loch Leven; Poet of Lomond Braes; The Shepherd Poet): Edmund Burke once described Michael Bruce’s Ode to the Cuckoo as “the most beautiful lyric in our language.” Michael Bruce was born in March 1746 at Kinnesswood in the cottage used by his father for weaving. He learnt to read by the age of four and went onto the University of Edinburgh. Michael Bruce had intended to join the Secession Church but died at the early age of 21. He left behind a body of work including poetry and Gospel sonnets. There is a controversy around the publication of some of his work as it appeared in print under the name of the Reverend John Logan of South Leith who was passing it off as his own work. Bruce is known as the Gentle Poet of Lochleven and every year a memorial service is held at Portmoak Parish Church and a wreath laid on his grave (the memorial stone of which was erected by Reverend William Mackelvie). See Life and Works of Michael Bruce by Reverend William Mackelvie or Michael Bruce by Thomas G. Snoody (1947). Michael Bruce Poet and hymn-writer buried in the Poatmoak Kirkyard (no. 18202) in Kinross-shire – sarcophagus-style memorial.
