Editing Thomas Telford (section)

==Telford the poet==
Telford's reputation as a man of letters may have preceded his fame as an engineer: he had published poetry between 1779 and 1784, and an account of a tour of Scotland with Robert Southey. His will left bequests to Southey (who would later write Telford's biography), the poet [[Thomas Campbell (poet)|Thomas Campbell]] (1777–1844) and to the publishers of the ''[[Edinburgh Encyclopædia]]'' (to which he had been a contributor).<ref name=testament/>

[[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]] states that Telford wrote and gave him a poem:<ref>Diaries of [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]] (Chief Engineer, [[East Indian Railway Company]]) held at the [[Centre of South Asian Studies]] at [[Cambridge University]], England</ref><ref>Pages 19 to 21 of ''George Turnbull, C.E.'' the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893: scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007</ref>

{{poemquote|
''On reading an account of the death of [[Robert Burns|ROBERT BURNS]], the SCOT POET''

CLAD in the sable weeds of woe,
The Scottish genius mourns,
As o'er your tomb her sorrows flow,
The "narrow house" of Burns.'

Each laurel round his humble urn,
She strews with pious care,
And by soft airs to distance borne,
These accents strike the ear.

Farewell my lov'd, my favourite child,
A mother's pride farewell!
The muses on thy cradle smiled,
Ah! now they ring thy knell.

''---- ten verses and then ----''

And round the tomb the plough shall pass,
And yellow autumn smile;
And village maids shall seek the place,
To crown thy hallowed pile.

While yearly comes the opening spring,
While autumn wan returns;
Each rural voice shall grateful sing,
And SCOTLAND boasts of BURNS.

''22nd August, 1796. T.T.''
}}

(Turnbull includes notes that explain nine references to Burns's life in the poem.)

Turnbull also states:<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Page 18 of ''George Turnbull, C.E.'' the 437-page memoirs published privately 1893: scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007</ref>

<blockquote>His ability and perseverance may be understood from various literary compositions of after life, such as the articles he contributed to the ''[[Edinburgh Encyclopædia]]'', such as Architecture, Bridge-building, and Canal-making. Singular to say the earliest distinction he acquired in life was as a poet. Even at 30 years of age he reprinted at Shrewsbury a poem called "Eskdale", … Some others of his poems are in my possession.</blockquote>

Another example, later in Telford's life, was ''To Sir [[John Malcolm]] on Receiving His Miscellaneous Poems'' (1831).<ref>{{cite book|last=Dickins|first=Gordon|title=An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire|year=1987|publisher=Shropshire Libraries, Shrewsbury|pages=71–72|isbn=0-903802-37-6}}Malcolm (1769-1833) was of an Eskdale family like Telford.</ref>