Dead Famous In Edinburgh

How we remember the dead tells us a lot about who we are as a society. Who we remember, tells us even more. Being a creator of words adds to the complexity. We are not merely worlded by the city we live in, or our neighbours who share the dwellings around us. We are not merely worlded by the words we use, our manner of pronouncing, the lilt and tone of our voice. We are not merely worlded by our forebears, who carry us into a life full of complexity and embodied history. We are worlded by our imaginations, by our flights of fantasy, by our means of escaping where we are.  Robert Fergussion died aged 24, having sustained a head injury. After a period of care, first at home and then in a place of Bedlam, he passed away. His mother, who tried to care for him, had said he had become insensible.  Try to imagine Robert’s mother, caring for the body of her son, a son she no longer recognised as such. The body of Robert had become unworlded, while it still moved and breathed. Robert’s mother c