Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton Esq

Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton Esq - fact Summary

Epitaph for a Friend

This short epitaph, written in 1786 by Robert Burns for his friend Gavin Hamilton, offers a compact defense and personal judgment. It acknowledges public censure of Hamilton but rejects the critics, recording Burns’s solidarity and moral appraisal: he prefers to be allied with the man buried here regardless of judgment from others. The piece functions as both commemorative inscription and private testament, compressing friendship, moral stance, and ironic distance into a few lines suited to a grave marker.