58 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY LIFE [oh. il 
a touching poetic “ Tribute ” to his memory, with 
a short sketch of his life and character prefixed to 
it. Its title was “ A Poem on the Death of George 
Barclay, M.D.” This he sent to Mrs Barclay, with 
a letter dated 4th March 1820. 
The poem is in the Spenserian stanza, the same 
as that which Dr Beattie (the “ Bard of the North,” 
as he had then come to be designated) employed 
in his Minstrel. Beattie was a strong poetic 
influence in his day, especially in the counties of 
Aberdeen and Kincardine. He was a native of 
Laurencekirk, in Kincardineshire, became parish 
schoolmaster of Fordoun in the same county, and 
was afterwards Professor of Moral Philosophy and 
Logic in Marischal College and University, Aber¬ 
deen. The smooth flowing rhythm of his verse 
was very attractive to the ear, while the thought 
and sentiment of his poems were not unfrequently 
worthy of a more free and less formal poetic 
diction. 
MacGillivray, in his sketch of the life of Dr 
Barclay, says: “ Beattie is among my favourite 
authors, particularly in poetry.” The local 
predominance of Beattie’s influence and Mac¬ 
Gillivray’s affectionate regard for his teacher and 
friendly guide, naturally account for the peculiar 
diction and style of his tributary poem. It is in 
style Beattie’s Minstrel all through, that of the 
early years of the latter half of the eighteenth 
century. But, notwithstanding its antiquated 
diction, there is in MacGillivray’s poem much tender 
