Top 5 things to know about Poet’s Well in Nairn

William Gordon 1780, Nairn Councillor, failed flyer and town character

1. Poet’s Well was rediscovered in the 1990s by Geoff Skeet and Jim Young. These two gentlemen apparently chopped back years of undergrowth to rediscover the plaque and the well.
2. Finding Poet’s Well, Nairn? The well and the plaque can be found to the east of the Nairn Bandstand, if your back is to the sea, only approximately 30metres from the bandstand. It is amazing that it lay hidden and undiscovered for many years after becoming overgrown.
3. The plaque reads “Poet’s Well – William Gordon, poet, tinsmith and town councillor, published two volumes of verse about local events. His ambition was to fly, and here on Bunker’s Brae, then steeper, he tried out his home-made wings ending up bruised but remembered. His limited frame covered a warm sympathetic heart, and his immense hat enveloped a head ever planning something original.”
4. What more is known of William Gordon, Poet of Nairn? Originally a native of Forres, William Gordon became a Nairn town councillor and made many improvements to Nairn. His home was located at the top of The Brae, a the corner of Gordon’s Lane. (Currently 2022, Nairn Bookshop). He constructed a flying machine with homemade tin wings, attached to his arms. He attempted to fligh using these tin wings and broke both his legs on Bunkers Hill (Nairn links).
5. He was a friendly and larger than life character, reputed to wear a ‘very large hat’.
6. I tried to find a poem by William Gordon but unfortunately only found a link to one of his publications, titled “The Poetical Traveller ; containing the Tragedy of Duff, King of Scotland, at Forres Castle and a variety of other poems by William Gordon”
7. William’s son, James, was a practising dentist in Park Street and a sculptor.
8. Fancy a poem about Nairn by another William, read Beautiful Nairn by another William, William Topaz Mcgonagall.

All ye tourists who wish to be away, From the crowded city for a holiday, The town of Nairn is worth a visit, I do confess, and it’s only 15 minutes from Inverness!

Beautiful Nairn, by William Topaz Mcgonagall

Did you read the poem? I do wonder where Ladies Beach was/ is in Nairn? Where is Ladies Beach, could it be Whiteness or what is now also called the Secret Beach?