Neglected iconic writers' words to be set in stone

The names and selected quotations of James Boswell, Lachlan Mor MacMhuirich and Sir David Lyndsay are to be inscribed in stone at Makars' Court, the paved area next to the Scottish Writers' Museum, off the Royal Mile.

The ancient writers, from the 14th, 15th and 18th centuries, will be added to the 33 other literary greats that already feature on the paving that leads from The Mound and the Lawnmarket to the door of the Writers' Museum, including Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Iain Crichton Smith.

Boswell, who died in 1795 at the age of 55, is widely celebrated for writing The Life of Samuel Johnson, but until recently he has largely been overlooked in his home city.

Now the former Edinburgh solicitor, who is buried within the grounds of his Ayrshire family home, which is to become a 1.5 million museum, will have his associations with Edinburgh marked for the first time, with his name to be inscribed alongside the quote "I rattled down the High Street in high elevation of spirits".

Ali Bowden, director of the Edinburgh City of Literature Trust, said: "James Boswell spent an interesting time in the city, he is often quoted and he is a well-known name. It is good to recognise significant names of the past that wrote about Edinburgh and had something to say about the city.

"It is a really powerful statement to inscribe these names and words in the very fabric of the city."

Makars' Court was officially opened in 1998 by poet Iain Crichton Smith.

The Saltire Society - which attempts to promote Scotland's cultural heritage - selected an initial 12 literary greats to feature, ranging from 14th-century writer John Barbour to 20th-century poet Sorley MacLean.

Applications for further stones are made by sponsor groups to the Saltire Society, which then makes recommendations to the city council. A further 21 stones have been added in the last 11 years.

The Boswell stone is being funded by the Boswell Museum and Mausoleum Trust, which is also behind the restoration of his family home in Auchinleck.

Lachlan Mor MacMhuirich, who lived from 1370 until 1438, will be commemorated by the first verse of his Scots Gaelic poem Incitement to Battle, which translates as "O Children of Conn, remember Hardihood in time of battle".

His stone is being funded by the Clan Currie Society.

And the stone of Sir David Lyndsay, who lived from 1486 until 1555, will include an extract of his 1554 poem Ane Dialog betuix Experience and Ane Courteour, which translates to English as: "Let us have the books necessary, To our common good". It has been funded by the Sir David Lyndsay Society.

WHO ARE THEY?

James Boswell (1740-1795): Biographer and diarist who wrote the most popular biography in the English language, The Life of Samuel Johnson, the English author. Other works included Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides and Account of Corsica. He was born in Edinburgh and worked in the city as a lawyer, as well as working at his family estate in Auchinleck.

Lachlan Mor MacMhuirich (1370-1438): A member of Scotland's longest-living bardic dynasty, the MacMhuirichs, later anglicised to "Currie", who were professional poets to the lords of the isles and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald.

His poem Harlaw Brosnachadh, or Incitement to Battle, was delivered on the evening of the Battle of Red Harlaw in 1411 to inspire the army of the Lord of the Isles to victory.

Sir David Lyndsay (1486-1555): The master usher and companion of James V, who wrote vivid poems for his king, including The Dreme, The Testament of the Papyngo and The Tragedie of the Cardinall. He was strongly committed to education and social and religious reform.