Robert Archibald Smith

Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829) was a Scottish musical Romantic composer, known for his collection Scotish Minstrel, which began to appear in 1821.

Life

He was born on 16 November 1780.

He was the son of Robert Smith, a silk-weaver from East Kilbride who had moved to England, and was born at Reading, Berkshire on 16 November 1780; his mother was Ann Whitcher. He was apprenticed in silk-weaving, joined a church choir in Reading, and played in the band of a volunteer regiment. In 1800 the family moved to Paisley in Renfrewshire where father and son became muslin weavers. Here he also became acquainted with Robert Tannahill with whom he began composing tunes to match his words. in Edinburgh on 3 January 1829. The Irish Minstrel, with similar scope, appeared in one volume in 1825.

In 1826 Smith published a practical manual, Introduction to Singing. A first volume of Smith's uncompleted Select Melodies, with appropriate Words, chiefly original, selected and arranged, with Symphonies and Accompaniments for the Pianoforte, appeared in 1827. Pieces by contemporary lyrists were anonymously set by Smith, including William Motherwell's Midnight Wind. His other works were:

Sacred Music for the Use of St. George's, Edinburgh. The Sacred Harmony of the Church of Scotland (1820). Sacred Music, consisting of Tunes, Sanctuses, etc., sung in St. George's Church (1825; other editions, 1830?, 1856, and 1867). Anthems for George Heriot's Day.

His setting of the anthem How beautiful upon the mountains was often reprinted.

Family Smith married, in 1802, Mary MacNicol, of Arran, who survived him with five children.