George Bruce | Laboring-Class Poets Online

"He left school aged 14 and became a joiner's apprentice. At the age of 25 he set up his own building business and began to develop property, including the Royal George and the Great Eastern, which he then let.

He became a wealthy man and was a town councillor for 40 years, committed to using his position to speak out against perceived misuse of public money or abuse of public rights." (Fife Today)

Orphaned or Widowed:

Orphan

Education

Formal Education End Age:

14

"A solitary child, he was attracted to 'Romance' and 'Nature' from an early age. He furthered his own education by reading voraciously, becoming something of an authority on Scottish history and literature and a prolific poet in his own right." (Fife Today)

References and Sources

References and Sources:

Biblio Texts:

I, 217-21

71

64

182-3

Other Digital References:

FifeToday Article: PROMINENT ST ANDREAN GEORGE BRUCE, REFORMER

George Bruce's Publications

Title	Publication Date	Publisher	Dialect	Digitized or Digital Editions	Additional Notes
The First Canto of a Poem, entitled, Destiny	1865
The Two Spirits: A Poem	1872				"A satire on the Free and Established Churches in which Bruce ridicules the lack of charity between the two bodies." (Fife Today)
Destiny, and Other Poems	1876			Archive.org
Poems and Songs	1886	John Leng	Scots
Wrecks and Reminiscences of St Andrews Bay: With the History of the Lifeboat, and a Sketch of the Fishing Population of the City, With a Glance at its Early History	1886	John Leng		Archive.org
The Land Birds In and Around St. Andrews: Including a Condensed History of the British Land Birds, with Extracts from the Poets and Observations and Anecdotes on Natural History	1895	John Leng		Archive.org

Personal Map

Relationships

Source	Relationship Type	Target	Description	View
George Bruce	influenced by	Robert Burns	Bruce's 1886, Poems and Songs, "displays his knowledge of the Scots language and his admiration for Robert Burns. He later became poet laureate of the St Andrews Burns Club." (Fife Today)	View