Robert Munro
| Robert Munro MA, MD, LLD, FRSE | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Munro, Robert.jpg | |||||||||
| Born | 1835 | ||||||||
| Died | 1920 | ||||||||
| Residence |
48 Manor Place, Edinburgh 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
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 bushyeyebrows,
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 ...