John Struthers (18 July 177630 July 1853) was a Scottish poet and miscellaneous writer. Early life John Struthers was born in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire on 18 July 1776, the son of a shoemaker. Initially educated at home, he was sent to the local school at eight and although the local teacher saw his potential, the family circumstances meant that at the age of nine he was working as a cow-herd. He eventually became a farm labourer and took various positions until he learnt the art of making fine shoes at the prestigious Glasgow firm of Jenkin and Smith in 1793. Iniatally he made his shoes from his home in Anderson, near Glasgow and took the completed shoes in once a fortnight. In 1798 he was married and had a pretty cottage in the village. In 1801, he decided to publish privately a small book of poems. After publication he seems to have got very embarrassed and had all the copies that had not found owners destroyed. He described his feelings about this event – "Ignorant of printing and still more of publishing, I had not the common sense to consult anyone upon the subject". Poor Man's Sabbath Sometime around 1803 he wrote 'A Poor Man's Sabbath', but anxious not to publish hastily again he lay around for a year. In 1804, a couple of acquaintances told him that they were anxious to see the poem in print. He had the poem printed off by Mr William Lang who had it "beautifully and correctly printed on a stout and fine foolscap extending to 32 pages having neither preface or note". The price of the printing was 4½d per copy and Lang thought he could ask no more than 6d a copy. So Struthers left the printers "With the whole edition formed into a small parcel, which I carried below my arm". His first port of call was a bookseller he had known for some time called Brash. Mr Brash read the first few verses, liked it and bought 2 dozen copies. He suggested another Glasgow bookseller, Mr Ogle who might also be interested. Struthers took the poem to that bookseller but he was rude and insulting about the work, hardly bothering to read it. Despite this he bought 6 copies and by selling another 6 to shoemakers on his way home, he had sold 3 dozen by the end of the