A poem penned a century ago was a cause for celebration when a copy was presented to the Newburgh pub the author drank in.
Peter Fotheringham, who lived in Dunfermline, wrote the poem on July 27, 1910, which describes enjoying a well-earned drink in the Ship Inn.
When his family, who are scattered around the world, got together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the nameless but date-marked poem, the natural choice of venue was the Ship Inn on Tuesday.
To mark the occasion, they presented a copy to the pub, whose owners previously believed that it dated back only to 1936.
Peter’s grandson Jim told The Courier, “My grandfather used to come to Newburgh on his holidays every year and he wrote this poem about Newburgh one particular year.
“I got a hold of the original poem a few years ago and we decided we should have a family gathering to celebrate 100 years since it was written.
“The poem talks about going up the hills, the fishermen on the Tay and how he loves going at the end of every day to the Ship.”
Jim told the Ship Inn of his grandfather’s work a few months ago.
He said, “They were absolutely blown away I had this poem which mentioned the Ship in 1910.
“They had no idea the pub existed then.”
Subsequent research uncovered a census record of some form of licence held for the premises in 1881.
Jim said the gathering was the first visit to Newburgh for most of his family, some of whom live in Australia, Canada and England.
The family’s connection with the town goes back even further than Peter, as Jim’s great-grandfather George married a Newburgh woman.
Ship Inn manager Fraser Laing said the poem will be hung on the wall for customers to see.