Gall, Richard, 1776-1801 (Scottish poet)
Biography
Richard Gall (1776-1801), probably the son of George Gall, a notary at Dunbar, and his wife Mary Burn(s), was educated at Haddington and initially apprenticed as a carpenter and builder. However, he soon moved to Edinburgh to train asa printer under David Ramsay of the Edinburgh Evening Courant, later acting as Ramsay’s travelling agent. During this period, he began writing Scots verse influenced by Robert Burns, with whom he may have corresponded, and formed literary connections with Thomas Campbell, Hector MacNeill, Andrew Shirrefs, and others. His closest associate was Alexander Murray (1775-1813), later Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Edinburgh. Gall died aged twenty-five from sepsis, before substantial publication of his work.