| address = Braehead House, Kilmarnock, NB [1888]<br />48 Manor Place, Edinburgh[1894]<br />Elmbank, Largs, Ayrshire, NB [1906]

| elected_AI = 1885.11.24

| left = 1920 deceased

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

A Bronze Age Cemetery and other antiquities at Largs, Ayrshire ...<br /><br />Scottish Lake Dwellings<br /><br />The lake dwellings of Europe<br /><br />Rambles and Studies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dalmatia.<br /><br />Prehistoric Problems<br /><br />Prehistoric Scotland and its place in European Civilization, <br /><br /> Archaeology and False Antiquities (1905)<br /><br />Palaeolithic Man and Terramara Settlements (1912) <br /><br />Prehistoric Britain (1914) <br /><br />Palaeolithic Man and Terramara Settlements.