Genius Fan

Day 3 (Monday 21 July)

It’s difficult to find the Professors’ Monument among all the tombs, mausoleums, stelae, headstones and statues of Glasgow Necropolis. The monument contains the remains of Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid (1710-1796) – founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense. He was originally buried at the old Blackfriars Church in the grounds of Glasgow College (which went on to become the University of Glasgow), but when the College moved to the west of the city his remains and those of many other professors and their families, also buried at Blackfriars, were moved to the Necropolis and the Monument – a cenotaph, really – built to mark the place. I expected a towering needle or something impressive like that. Instead, it’s less than 5ft tall, it’s much longer than it is wider, and it doesn’t list the names of all the people interred there. If you’ve never heard of Thomas Reid and his theories I’m not surprised. He’s much less well known than the Enlightenment giant and counterpart David Hume…and most people have never heard of him. Reid was born in the Aberdeenshire village of Strachan and went on to take up the post of Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University around 1764 (until 1781), after the economist Adam Smith stepped down. Apparently Reid’s tombstone, and inscription, was incorporated into the wall of Glasgow University, where it can still be seen (though I have not seen it there….yet).

You’ll struggle to find the monument because it’s so small and understated, so use these instructions from Reids tombstone intranet page: “It’s at the south end of the sixth row of monuments from the eastern end of the cemetery.” Even with that you’ll need a compass (on your mobile phone) or a good sense of direction and the ability to count from one to six.

Notes
Thomas Reid wikipedia page
Scottish School of Common Sense
Thomas Reid’s Tombstone (Wikipedia)
The Glasgow Story page