Spot the plaque?

Historical markers or plaques are a great way of finding out about local people and places - if they are easy to find and read.  This plaque in Greenock explains the fact that the area was once the site of the home of Highland Mary, or Mary Campbell, one of the loves of Scottish poet Robert Burns.  Along with a verse by the poet, it reads - "On this spot stood the house, 31 Charles Street in which Burns' "Highland Mary" died on October 20th 1786."  There is also a drawing of the house in Charles Street.

Many locals pass by it every day and probably are not aware of its existence.  It is set back on a grassy verge, but to get near it is not easy because it is necessary to follow a narrow path, overgrown in places, which borders a very busy main road, the A78, near Greenock's bus station.  It is at the delivery area for the Oak Mall. 

Spot the plaque?

This area was once Greenock's High Street or before that, the Long Vennel and Highland Mary lived in a house in Upper Charles Street, just off the High Street.

In the 200 years since her death, Highland Mary has done a lot for tourism in Greenock.  Many visitors flocked to the site of her grave when it was situated in the Old West Kirk burying ground.  Even Abraham Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd Lincoln visited the grave when she was touring Scotland in 1869.  

Highland Mary's grave in Greenock Cemetery

Mary is now buried in Greenock Cemetery, her remains were moved when the Old West Kirk was taken apart and rebuilt on its present site on the Esplanade in the 1920s.

Old West Kirk on its original site - source

The only other mention of Highland Mary is on this sign which marks where the original Old West Kirk once stood.  You can find this sign across the road from Tesco's car park on Container Way.

It seems a great pity that, apart from a beautiful memorial in Greenock Cemetery, there is not a more visible local reminder of the woman who became famous as the love of that great Scottish poet, Robert Burns.

Fittingly, the verse on the hard to spot plaque from Burns' poem Highland Mary reads -

"And mouldering now in silent dust,

That heart that lo'ed me dearly! 

But still within my bosom's core          

Shall live my Highland Mary."

Mouldering in dust just about describes the Highland Mary plaque in Greenock!