Charles Mackay (27 March 1814 – 24 December 1889) was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter, remembered mainly for his book ''
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
''Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds'' is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841 under the title ''Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions''. The book was pub ...
''.
Early life
Charles Mackay was born in
Perth, Scotland
Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...
. His father, George Mackay, was a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, and his mother Amelia Cargill died shortly after his birth.
Mackay was educated at the
Caledonian Asylum, in London. In 1828 he was placed by his father at a school in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, on the Boulevard de Namur, shortly taken over by
William James Joseph Drury
William James Joseph Drury (1791–1878) was an English cleric and schoolmaster, who became chaplain to Leopold I of Belgium, and tutor to his son, the future Leopold II, King of the Belgians, Leopold II.
Early life
He was the son of the Rev. Ma ...
; and studied languages.
In 1830 he was engaged as a private secretary to
William Cockerill
William Cockerill (1759–1832) was a British inventor, entrepreneur, and industrialist. Designing and producing machines for new industrial textile manufacturing, he is best known for having established a major manufacturing firm in what is now ...
, the ironmaster, near
Liège, began writing in French in the ''Courrier Belge'', and sent English poems to a local newspaper called ''The Telegraph''. In the summer of 1830 he visited Paris, and he spent 1831 with Cockerill at
Aix-la-Chapelle
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
. In May 1832 his father brought him back to London, where he first found employment in teaching Italian to the future opera manager
Benjamin Lumley
Benjamin Lumley (1811 – 17 March 1875 in London) was a Canadian-born British opera manager and solicitor. Born Benjamin Levy, he was the son of a Jewish merchant, Louis Levy.
Beginnings at His Majesty's Theatre
Lumley's father was a clothes-de ...
.
Family
Mackay was twice married—first, during his Glasgow editorship, to Rosa Henrietta Vale, by whom he had three sons and a daughter; and secondly to Mary Elizabeth Mills, who was likely a servant in the household previously. His first wife died on 28 December 1859, and his second wife in 1875.
The novelist
Marie Corelli
Mary Mackay (1 May 185521 April 1924), also called Minnie Mackey, and known by her pseudonym Marie Corelli (, also , ), was an English novelist.
From the appearance of her first novel '' A Romance of Two Worlds'' in 1886, she became the bestse ...
was an illegitimate daughter, presumably conceived while her mother was working in the household.
Journalist
Mackay engaged in journalism in London: in 1834 he was an occasional contributor to ''The Sun''. From the spring of 1835 till 1844 he was assistant sub-editor of ''
The Morning Chronicle''. In the autumn of 1839 he spent a month's holiday in Scotland, witnessing the
Eglintoun Tournament, which he described in the ''Chronicle'', and making acquaintances in Edinburgh. In the autumn of 1844, he moved back to Scotland, and became editor of the ''
Glasgow Argus
The ''Glasgow Argus'' was a Scottish newspaper, published biweekly from 1833 to 1847. It took a reforming editorial line, supporting abolitionism and opposing the Corn Laws. The ''Argus'' was perceived as the paper of the supporters of the Glasg ...
'', resigning in 1847. He worked for ''
The Illustrated London News'' in 1848, becoming editor in 1852.
Later life
Mackay visited North America in the 1850s, publishing his observations as ''Life and Liberty in America: or Sketches of a Tour of the United States and Canada in 1857–58'' (1859). During the
American Civil War he returned there as a correspondent for ''
The Times'', in which capacity he discovered and disclosed the
Fenian conspiracy.
Mackay had the degree of
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
from the
University of Glasgow in 1846. He was a member of the
Percy Society. He died in London.
Works
Mackay published ''Songs and Poems'' (1834), a ''History of London'', ''The Thames and its Tributaries or, Rambles Among the Rivers'' (1840), ''
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
''Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds'' is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841 under the title ''Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions''. The book was pub ...
'' (1841).
Mackay wrote a
historical romance
Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century.
Varieties Viking
These books feature Vikings during the Dar ...
entitled ''Longbeard'', about the medieval rebel,
William Fitz Osbert
William Fitz Osbert or William with the long beard (died 1196) was a citizen of London who took up the role of "the advocate of the poor" in a popular uprising in the spring of 1196. Popular revolts by the poor and peasants in England were rare ...
. He is also remembered for his ''Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe'' and the later ''Dictionary of Lowland Scotch'' in which he presented his "fanciful conjectures" that "thousands of English words go back to
Scottish Gaelic". The linguist
Anatoly Liberman
Anatoly Liberman (russian: Анато́лий Си́монович Либерма́н; born 10 March 1937) is a linguist, medievalist, etymologist, poet, translator of poetry (mainly from and into Russian), and literary critic.
Liberman is a pro ...
has described MacKay as an "etymological monomaniac" commenting that "He was hauled over the coals by his contemporaries and never taken seriously during his lifetime". In 1877, Mackay published his two-volume ''
Forty Years' Recollections of Life, Literature, and Public Affairs. From 1830 to 1870'' (London: Chapman & Hall). In volume 2, Mackay describes a journey he made to Famine Ireland in 1849 (pp. 2:76–148).
His fame chiefly rested upon his songs, some of which, including
Cheer Boys Cheer, were set to music by
Henry Russell in 1846, and had an astonishing popularity. Some popular poems includ
"You have no enemies, you say?"and "Who shall be fairest?"
Mackay also authored a book in 1885 on the
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the war for independence from Great Brita ...
titled ''The Founders of the American Republic: A History and Biography'' that included profiles on
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
,
John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
, and
James Madison.
References
Attributions
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External links
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Sheet Music with words by Charles Mackay on IMSLPPoems by Charles Mackay at English Poetry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Charles
1814 births
1889 deaths
Scottish journalists
Writers from Perth, Scotland
British sceptics
19th-century British journalists
British male journalists
Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
19th-century Scottish poets
British newspaper editors
Scottish male poets
19th-century British male writers
19th-century Scottish novelists
Scottish historical novelists
Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages