John Struthers

John Struthers (18 July 177630 July 1853) was a Scottish poet and miscellaneous writer. Early life John Struthers was born in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire on 18 July 1776, the son of a shoemaker. Initially educated at home, he was sent to the local school at eight and although the local teacher saw his potential, the family circumstances meant that at the age of nine he was working as a cow-herd. He eventually became a farm labourer and took various positions until he learnt the art of making fine shoes at the prestigious Glasgow firm of Jenkin and Smith in 1793. Iniatally he made his shoes from his home in Anderson, near Glasgow and took the completed shoes in once a fortnight. In 1798 he was married and had a pretty cottage in the village. In 1801, he decided to publish privately a small book of poems. After publication he seems to have got very embarrassed and had all the copies that had not found owners destroyed. He described his feelings about this event – "Ignorant of printing and still more of publishing, I had not the common sense to consult anyone upon the subject". Poor Man's Sabbath