| Description | Manuscript, undated, unpublished variant of the poem titled 'J.F.T'. It has annotations which correct certain lines in the shorter draft (MS 3788/5/2), making it nearer the published version. This draft also omits the final stanza of the published version and includes the word 'airse' in stanza four and 'damn' in stanza 2. The stanzas in this draft version are ordered differently to the published version, including the final stanza which is stanza seven in the published version. In both drafts there are numerous line variations from the published version, further details of which are given in MS 3788/11.
'J.F.T' was published in the proceedings of the 'Sit Siccar Society' and then in 'The Last Things'(1969). It was inspired by the presentation of Dr James Fowler Tocher's portrait in the 'Sit Siccar Society', of which Murray was a member. Tocher, an Alford schoolfriend of Murray's, was a geneticist and lecturer in statistics at Aberdeen University. |