Robert Archibald Smith

Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829) was a Scottish musical Romantic composer, known for his collection Scotish [sic] Minstrel, which began to appear in 1821.

[1] He was the son of Robert Smith, a silk-weaver from East Kilbride who had moved to England, and was born at Reading, Berkshire on 16 November 1780; his mother was Ann Whitcher.

Robert Boog, the incumbent of the parish, introduced him to Walter Young, minister of Erskine, Renfrewshire, who helped him on harmony.

[2] In August 1823 Smith was appointed musical conductor (pre-cantor) in St. George's Church, Edinburgh, where the minister was Andrew Mitchell Thomson.

Employed in teaching, composing, and editing, his health failed, and he died at home, a flat at 11 Melville Place, near Dean Bridge[3] in Edinburgh on 3 January 1829.

Pieces by contemporary lyrists were anonymously set by Smith, including William Motherwell's Midnight Wind.