Robert Munro
| Robert Munro MA, MD, LLD, FRSE | |||||||||||
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| File:Munro, Robert.jpg | |||||||||||
| Born | 1835 | ||||||||||
| Died | 1920 | ||||||||||
| Residence |
Braehead House, Kilmarnock, NB [1888] 48 Manor Place, Edinburgh [1894] Elmbank, Largs, Ayrshire, NB [1906] | ||||||||||
| Occupation | medical | ||||||||||
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Contents
Notes
Office Notes
AI Council 1892 Member
AI Council 1893 Member
House Notes
1885.11.10 proposed for election at the next meeting
death reported in Report of the Council for 1920
obituary in Man, 1920, 74
Notes From Elsewhere
Robert Munro, LL.D.—By the death of Dr. Robert Munro, which took place at his residence, Elmbank, Largs, on 18th July 1920, a notable figure in archaeology has passed away. He was born in Rossshire on 21st July 1835, and was thus in his eighty-fifth year. His early education was obtained at Tain Royal Academy, whence he proceeded to the University of Edinburgh and took his M.A. degree. To qualify for his intended profession he entered the School of Medicine there and had the benefit of instruction in anatomy from Professor, afterwards Principal, Turner, with whom in later years he formed a close friendship. After taking his medical degree he settled down in a practice in Kilmarnock, and for a space of about twenty years led the life of a busy and successful country practitioner. When in 1877 the Ayrshire and Galloway Archaeological Society was formed Dr. Munro became one of the original members, and having previously had his attention arrested when on the Continent by the display of relics from the Swiss lake dwellings, responded readily to an invitation to help in the excavation of Crannogs in Ayrshire undertaken by that Society under the leadership of Mr. Cochran Patrick. His zeal grew with the widening of the field of exploration, and in time Munro became the leader of the enterprise and in 1882 published the
results of his researches in the volume entitled Scottish Lake Dwellings. A few years later his resources were such as to free him from his arduous professional labours, and with his interest steadily fixed on the aspect of the subject which had primarily attracted him, he retired from his practice and devoted himself henceforth entirely to archaeology. To make himself conversant with continental analogies he indulged his taste for travel, and in 1888, on the invitation of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, he delivered a course of Rhind Lectures, taking as his subject The Lake Dwellings of Europe. These lectures, illustrated by the skilful draughtsmanship of his wife, were published in book form in 1890, and appeared in a French edition in 1908. The merit of the volume was quickly recognized and gave to its author a wide reputation. As a result of frequent visits to the Continent, invariably with some archaeological quest as his object, various papers dealing with prehistoric remains abroad were contributed by him to the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, of which Society he was one of the honorary secretaries from 1886 to 1899. The account of a visit to the shores of the Adriatic was published in book form in 1895 under the title of Rambles and Studies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dalmatia. Two years later he published a volume entitled Prehistoric Problems, which showed the drift of his mind from the researches on lake dwellings to the scientific study of primitive man, induced by his early training in anatomy. This was followed in 1899 by Prehistoric Scotland and its place in European Civilization, being a general introduction to a series of county histories of Scotland. Other works which he produced were Archaeology and False Antiquities (1905), Palaeolithic Man and Terramara Settlements (1912), and Prehistoric Britain (1914), and numerous contributions to learned societies. He took a keen interest in the Anthropological section of the British Association, of which section he was president in 1893, and in 1903 he delivered an address at the meeting of the Association at Southport. In 1894 he was appointed Chairman of the Committee charged with the conduct of the excavations on the site of the Glastonbury lake dwellings, and on the completion of that work continued his chairmanship
when the Committee undertook the excavation at Meare. His absorbing interest in archaeology induced him to endow an annual course of lectures in Edinburgh University on Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology, and in 1910, at the age of seventy-five, he himself delivered the first course. With continuing vigour, in the following year he delivered the Dalrymple Lectures in Archaeology in the University of Glasgow, the matter of both courses being embodied in his Palaeolithic Man and Terramara Settlements. Both the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. A man of tall stature, with an erect carriage and a powerful frame, he was conspicuous by his somewhat rugged features, his bushy eyebrows, and dark piercing eyes. He was a sturdy antagonist in argument and was loath to leave a controversy even though the point
at issue had ceased to arouse interest. His friends will long remember how. he loved to draw from its hiding and worry afresh the subject of certain structures excavated on the Clyde which produced contentious relics. In his home in Edinburgh, assisted by his wife, he was never happier than in the entertainment of any noted savant visiting the city, and in the gathering of his friends, old and young, to meet him. Though never a Fellow of our Society, he acted as one of the local secretaries for Scotland from 1901-13. As an archaeologist Munro was eminently sane and reliable, and his methods, due no doubt to his professional training, thoroughly scientific. To his other qualities may be added an absorbing enthusiasm and a sense of good fellowship by which he will be kindly thought on by those who enjoyed the privilege of his friendship. A. O. C.
Born Ross-shire; died Largs, Scotland. Practised medicine until 1886 when he retired to devote himself to his anthropological and archaeological interests. Numerous publications
Publications
External Publications
A Bronze Age Cemetery and other antiquities at Largs, Ayrshire ...
Scottish Lake Dwellings
The lake dwellings of Europe
Rambles and Studies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dalmatia.
Prehistoric Problems
Prehistoric Scotland and its place in European Civilization,
Archaeology and False Antiquities (1905)
Palaeolithic Man and Terramara Settlements (1912)
Prehistoric Britain (1914)
Palaeolithic Man and Terramara Settlements.
