Burns Mausoleum Dumfries, 1882

A sepia toned monochrome photographic print on a cabinet card from an album belonging to Dr T B Grierson of Thornhill.   In the years following his death, Robert Burns' admirers came to believe that his simple grave was an insufficient memorial to the poet. In 1813,  John Syme formed a committee and launched an appeal to build a mausoleum in his memory. One of the subscribers was the Prince Regent, later George IV. After a public advertisement, over 50 designs were received and the plans of T F Hunt, a London architect were approved.   Burns Mausoleum became a place of pilgrimage for visitors to Dumfries. This cabinet card is originally from the collection of Dr Thomas Boyle Grierson of Thornhill, whose father, William Grierson, was a friend and supporter of Robert Burns. Dr Grierson was a prominent local antiquarian and member of the Burns movement in the later part of the nineteenth century.   Cabinet cards were almost always made from studio portraits, this one is unusual in that it is taken out of doors. They were produced to be sold or exchanged and were collected in elaborate albums, specially made for the purpose, often with window mounts to display the cards.   On the reverse of this card two hand-written verses are excerpted from 19th Centrury poet Marion Paul Aird's "The Auld Kirk-Yard".