or, at

stantly consulted about the details of every procession and festival of that busy fortnight, the pleasant task of showing Mr Crabbe the usual lions of Edinburgh fell principally to my share.... It surprised me, on taking him to see the house of Allan Ramsay on the Castle Hill, to find that he had never heard of Allan's name; all events, was unacquainted with his works. The same evening, however, he perused The Gentle Shepherd,' and he told me next morning that he had been much pleased with it, but added, there is a long step between Ramsay and Burns.' He then made Sir Walter read and interpret some of old Dunbar to him; and said, 'I see that the Ayrshire Bard had one giant before him.'

6

WILLIAM FINDLAY, M.D

("GEORGE UMBER "),

Author of Robert Burns and the Medical Profession, &c.

66

DEATH OF GEORGE UMBER,"

THE LATE DR WM. FINDLAY.

WE

E regret to announce the death of Dr William Findlay, one of the founders of the Burns Chronicle and a prominent medical practitioner in Glasgow. retired about ten years ago, and in the interval he resided at Lyttle Park, East Kilbride.

He

Dr Findlay was a man of strong personality and intellectual versatility. He was in practice for nearly forty years, but notwithstanding heavy professional demands he found time to engage in literary pursuits, and under the name of " George Umber" he produced several thoughtful works in prose and verse. He was born in Kilmarnock in 1846. Receiving his early education at Kilmarnock Academy, he afterwards removed to Glasgow, and in his twentieth year entered as a medical student the old College in the High Street. The late Lord Lister was one of his teachers, and he was privileged to witness Lister's first attempts in the antiseptic treatment.

Dr Findlay graduated in 1870, and was one of the last batch to be capped in the famous seat of learning before it was transferred to Gilmorehill. He set up in practice in Dennistoun, a small community compared with what it is to-day, and soon made his mark, for to professional skill was added a forceful and kindly character. Dr Findlay never sought the publicity that is to be earned by membership of public bodies, but unobtrusively he forwarded many causes beneficial to the East-End.

While assiduous in the pursuit of his profession (and Dr Findlay had an exceptionally large practice) he found time to cultivate his intellect in other directions. He

became attached to the Glasgow Ballad Club, whose first president was the late William Freeland, and of that select and gentle brotherhood he was a notable member.

His

friendship was relished not only by reason of the admirable verses he submitted to the critical judgment of the club, but also for his entertaining and genial conversation. Under the name of " George Umber he became known to a wide circle; but though the identity of the author was known by his personal friends, not many outsiders

the

associated the dainty versifier with the busy Dennistoun doctor. Among his contributions to literature are :— "Satire on Noah's Epistles," "In My City Garden," "Ayrshire Idylls," "Robert Burns and the Medical Profession," "Shakespeare's Doctors," and "Carmina Medici: Poems of a Physician," &c. Dr Findlay's literary productions reflected his kindly and good-natured temperament and his keen sense of humour. Naturally so enthusiastic and well equipped a student of Burns was greatly sought after by the great Burns fraternity, and Dr Findlay was frequently called upon to propose the "Immortal Memory at Anniversary gatherings, and, as was to be expected, his orations were on an exceptionally high level. He was also a contributor, both in prose and verse, to the Chronicle, and took a lively interest in each annual issue of that Burns organ. The article over his name in this issue is markedly characteristic, and was the last contribution to Burns literature which proceeded from his pen.

Dr Findlay's patients belonged to all social degrees, and among them all he was regarded as friend as well as physician. He was for many years a personal friend of our own, faithful and warm-hearted to a degree; and his store of Burns lore was always at the command of every one interested in the National Bard.

He is survived by his wife and five sons and two daughters. A gifted son, Dr J. W. Findlay, died in 1915. He had already secured distinction in his profession. Like his father, he was devoted to literature, and shortly before he died had written a drama which contained promise of greater achievement in that field of literature. He was

also a voluminous contributer to medical literature. Another of Dr Findlay's sons also follows his father's profession; while a third is Mr William Findlay, the wellknown portrait painter. Mr Andrew Findlay is the fourth son. A fifth son, Lieutenant Robert Peden Findlay, is at the Flanders front; and a sixth, Second-Lieutenant David Mackay Findlay, came through the Gallipoli campaign, and is presently at Salonica.

Dr Findlay married, in 1870, Miss Margaret Carruthers, of Lockerbie, with which town and district her family have been long connected.

The funeral took place on 16th May, from Lyttle Park, Hairmyres, to Glasgow Necropolis. There was a representative company of mourners, the majority of whom joined the cortège at the gate of the Necropolis. A service

was conducted at the house by the Rev. Dr J. S. Carroll, St. John's United Free Church, and the Rev. D. A. G. Muir, Eaglesham, United Free Church, officiated at the graveside.