The sixth of nine children, Robert Tannahill was born in Paisley. His father was a silk weaver and the family moved to a thatched cottage (where the Paisley Tannahill Club still meets). Tannahill received a basic education but he read widely and showed an early interest in and a talent for poetry. When he was twelve years old he was apprenticed to his father as a weaver. He continued his self education, learning to play the flute and going to theatre performances in Glasgow.

In the years following his father's death in 1802 he began to publish his poetry, in some cases as words to existing tunes, particularly Irish music. Frail and shy, his poetry was often inspired by the countryside around Paisley. Poems such as "The Braes of Gleniffer" and "The Flower O' Levern Side" were about local haunts. He also wrote about soldiers and war as the loss of life during the Napoleonic Wars had an affect on him.

Tannahill founded a Burns Club in Paisley in 1803; like Burns, Tannahill showed an understanding of humanity, love and friendship. He published a collection of his works in 1807 and they were well received. However, when another group of poems was rejected by an Edinburgh publisher he burned many of his writings. He was often prone to bouts of depression and he drowned himself in a canal in Paisley in 1810. In 1883 a series of concerts were held on Gleniffer Braes and the money raised paid for a statue to Paisley's most famous poet. It was erected close to Paisley Abbey.