On this day 27th of October in 1794 Robert Liston, the first surgeon to use general anaesthetic, was born in Linlithgow.

Robert Liston as a student Credit: Wellcome Collection

In 1827, he became a Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Liston moved to University College London in 1835 as Professor of Clinical Surgery.Scotclans

The Rose of Allendale

Oh the sky was clear, the morn was fair
No breath came over the sea
When Mary left her highland home
And wandered forth with me
All the flowers decked the mountainside
And fragrance filled the vale
By far the sweetest flower there
Was the rose of Allendale

Sweet rose of Allendale
Sweet rose of Allendale
By far the sweetest flower there
Was the rose of Allendale

Where e’er I wandered to the east and to the west
And faith began to lower
Consoling still was she to me
In sorrow’s lonely hour
Oh tempest wrecked my lonely boat
And they wrecked the quivering sails
One maiden fond withstood the storm
Was the rose of Allendale

Sweet rose of Allendale
Sweet rose of Allendale
One maiden fond withstood the storm
Was the rose of Allendale

And when my feeble lips were parched
On Africa’s burning sands
She whispered hopes of happiness
And tales of foreign lands
My life has been a wilderness
Unblessed by fortune’s gain
Had fate not linked my love to her
Sweet rose of Allendale

Sweet rose of Allendale
Sweet rose of Allendale
Had fate not linked my love to her
Sweet rose of Allendale