R. F. (Robert Fuller) Murray

Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1863, Robert Fuller Murray spent most of his life in Britain after his family moved there in 1869. He was educated at grammar schools in Ilminster and Crewkerne, then entered the University of St Andrews in 1881, a place that became central to both his life and writing.

After university he worked for a time as an assistant to Professor John M. D. Meiklejohn and later did journalistic work in Edinburgh. He published poems in periodicals and in 1891 brought out The Scarlet Gown, a lively and affectionate book of verses shaped by student life at St Andrews. His writing is often noted for its light touch, humor, and warmth.

Murray's health declined while he was still young, and he died in 1894. His friend Andrew Lang helped preserve his work by bringing out Robert F. Murray: His Poems that same year, giving later readers a fuller sense of a talented poet whose voice was cut short too soon.