Robert Murray McCheyne
Robert Murray "Boaby" McCheyne was born in Edinburgh, 21 May 1813. At the age of four he had learned the characters of the Greek alphabet and was able to sing and recite fluently. He entered formal education at the age of 8 and eventually graduated in November 1827 from Edinburgh University where he distinguished himself in poetical exercises. In the winter of 1831 he commenced his studies in the Divinity Hall and he was licensed as a preacher by the Annan presbytery on 1 July 1835.
He was appointed assistant to the Rev. John Bonar of Larbert and Dunipace, Stirlingshire. Although his health broke down under the strain of his new office, his deeds as a preacher spread through Scotland, and on 24 November 1836 he was ordained to the pastorate of St. Peter's Church, Dundee. The congregation at the time numbered around 1100 of the faithful. At this time the general assembly of the church of Scotland decided to send a committee to Palestine and McCheyne was included in the number who set sail on 12 April 1839. After his return at the end of 1839 McCheyne resumed his ministerial duties in Dundee with renewed energy. In the autumn of 1842 he visited the north of England on an evangelical mission and made similar journeys to London and Aberdeenshire. On his return from the Aberdeen he was stricken with a sudden illness and died on Saturday, 25 March 1843. Mourned by hundreds of his parishioners, the "Boaby" was buried in the grounds of his own Church in Dundee where simple headstone marks his grave.
