Robert Paterson (stonemason)
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = memorialist
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Robert Paterson
| title =
| image = Harvey - old-mortality.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Old Mortality by George Harvey
| church = Reformed Presbytery
| archdiocese =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1716
| birth_place =
| death_date = 1801
| death_place =
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}}
Robert Paterson (1716–1801), known as "Old Mortality", was a stonemason who took it upon himself to travel around lowland Scotland carving inscriptions for the unmarked graves of Covenanters martyred in the 17th century. Walter Scott made him a principal character in his novel Old Mortality (1816).{{sfn|Hewison|1913b|p=550}}{{sfn|N&Q|1870}}
Life
File:Study for 'Old Mortality' by David Wilkie.jpg]]
Paterson was born near Hawick in 1715. Through the patronage of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, whose cook he had married, he obtained the lease of a quarry at Gatelawbridge, but in 1745 his house was plundered by the retreating Jacobites, and Paterson himself, a pronounced Cameronian, was carried off a prisoner.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=911}}
He subsequently devoted his life to cutting and erecting stones for the graves of the Covenanters, for 40 years wandering from place to place in the lowlands. He died in poverty at Caerlaverock in 1801, and a stone to his memory was erected by Scott's publishers in 1869 in the churchyard. There is also a memorial in Balmaclellan churchyard where Paterson lived for many years.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=911}}
Family
Robert's son Walter Paterson was also a stonemason, and was father to Nathaniel Paterson who became Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1850.{{sfn|Ritchie|2004}}
Paterson's tombstone reads "To the Memory of Robert Paterson, Stone-engraver, well known as " Old Mortality," who died at Bankend of Caerlaverock, 14th February, i8or, aged 88; also of Elizabeth Gray, his spouse, who died at Balmaclellan village, 5th May, 1785, aged 59 ; also of Robert, their son, who died 30th April, 1846, aged 90 ; also of Agnes M'Knight, his spouse, who died 5th August, 1818 ; also of John, their son, who died 29th January, 18 10, aged 13 ; also of Alexander, who died at Wakefield, 26th October, 1837, aged 42; also of Robert, their son who died at Liverpool, 3rd February, 1865, aged 65— Erected by Thomas Paterson, 1855."{{sfn|Crockett|1912|page=[https://archive.org/details/scottoriginalsac00croc/page/n239/mode/2up 179]}}
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File:Statue of Old Mortality and his pony.jpg|Statue of "Old Mortality" and his pony, in the grounds of the Dumfries Museum. The sculptures are by John Corrie.
File:Robert Paterson's tombstone.png|Robert Paterson's tombstone{{sfn|Crockett|1912|page=[https://archive.org/details/scottoriginalsac00croc/page/n238/mode/1up 179]}}
File:Gravestone of Robert Paterson ('Old Mortality'), Caerlaverock, Dumfriesshire.jpg|Gravestone of Robert Paterson ('Old Mortality'), Caerlaverock, Dumfriesshire
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite DNB|last=Black|first=William George|author-link=William George Black|volume=44|wstitle=Paterson, Robert|noicon=1}}
- {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Paterson, Robert |volume=20 |page=911|noicon=1}}{{PD-notice}}
- {{cite book |last1=Crockett |first1=W. S. |title=The Scott originals; an account of notables & worthies, the originals of characters in the Waverley novels |date=1912 |publisher=C. Scribner's |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/scottoriginalsac00croc/page/n219/mode/2up 164]-183 |url=https://archive.org/details/scottoriginalsac00croc}}
- {{cite news |last1=Hewison |first1=James King |author1-link=James King Hewison |title=Chiselprints of Old Mortality |publisher=Dumfries Standard |date=1898–1900}}
- {{cite book|last=Hewison |first=James King |title=The Covenanters |date=1913b |publisher=John Smith and son |location=Glasgow |volume=2 |page=[https://archive.org/stream/covenanters02hewi#page/550/mode/1up 550] |url=https://archive.org/details/covenanters02hewi/page/n7|author-link=James King Hewison}}
- {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/treasuryofscotti00john
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/treasuryofscotti00john/page/593/mode/1up 593], 517|title=Treasury of the Scottish covenant
|first=John C. |last=Johnston
|publisher=Andrew Elliot |year=1887}}{{PD-notice}}
- {{cite book |last1=M'Crie |first1=Thomas |authorlink1=Thomas M'Crie the elder |editor1-last=M'Crie |editor1-first=Thomas |editor1-link=Thomas M'Crie the younger |title=Works of Thomas M'Crie, D.D. Volume 4: review of "Tales of my Landlord" |date=1857 |publisher=William Blackwood & sons |location=Edinburgh |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worksofthomasmcr04mcri/page/n5/mode/2up 5]-128 |volume=4 |url=https://archive.org/details/worksofthomasmcr04mcri/page/n3/mode/2up}}
- {{Cite ODNB|title=Paterson, Nathaniel|first=Lionel Alexander |last=Ritchie|year=2004|id=21534}}
- {{cite book |last=Rogers |first=Charles |title=Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland |year=1871 |publisher=Grampian Club |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/monumentsmonumen01gram/page/298/mode/1up 298], 328 |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/monumentsmonumen02gram|author-link=Charles Rogers (author)}}
- {{cite journal |editor1-last=Sanderson |editor1-first=William |title=The Border magazine |year=1904 |volume=9 |issue=101 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bordermagazinea00sandgoog/page/n122/mode/2up 100]-105 |url=https://archive.org/details/bordermagazinea00sandgoog |publisher=A. Walker & son, ltd. |location=Galashiels}}
- {{cite ODNB|id=21535|first=Arthur|last= Sherbo|title=Paterson, Robert [nicknamed Old Mortality]|year=2004}}
- {{cite book |last=Thomson |first=J. H. |editor-last=Hutchison |editor-first=Matthew |title=The martyr graves of Scotland |date=1903 |publisher=Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier |location=Edinburgh |pages=[https://archive.org/details/themartyrgraves00thomuoft/page/n407/mode/1up 388], 229–230 |url=https://archive.org/details/themartyrgraves00thomuoft}}{{PD-notice}}
- {{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=John Henderson |title=A cloud of witnesses, for the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ : being the last speeches and testimonies of those who have suffered for the truth in Scotland, since the year 1680 |date=1871 |publisher=Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier |location=Edinburgh |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cloudofwitnesses00thom/page/584/mode/2up 584], xvi |url=https://archive.org/details/cloudofwitnesses00thom}}{{PD-notice}}
- {{cite journal|title=Old Mortality|journal=Notes and Queries|date=3 September 1870|pages=187–189|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEsAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA187|ref={{harvid|N&Q|1870}}}}
- {{cite journal|title=The Baltimore and "Old Mortality" Patersons|journal=Notes and Queries|date=21 January 1871|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEsAAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22old%20mortality%22%22&pg=PA60 60], 218–219,264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEsAAAAAYAAJ|ref={{harvid|N&Q|1871}}}}
External links
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{{Authority control}}
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