Alexander Bald (9 June 1783 – 21 October 1859) was a Scottish poet.
Bald was a poet and frequent contributor to ''
The Scots Magazine
''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...
''. As the 'father' of the 'Shakespeare Club of
Alloa
Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...
', he became a friend and correspondent with the poets
James Hogg
James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots language, Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a ...
(the club's 'laureate', who wrote ''Ode to the Genius of Shakespeare'' for the club) and
John Grieve (who introduced Hogg to Bald in 1803), and the housepainter-poet John Crawford. Hogg's poem ''The Good Man of Alloa'' was composed while visiting Bald at his home and he features in Hogg's story ''Some Passages in the Life of Colonel Cloud'' that featured in ''
Blackwood's Magazine
''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...
'' in 1825. In the story, Colonel Cloud travels with the narrator to the annual Shakespeare Festival at Alloa, there they meet 'Mr Alexander Bald'.
After working as the agent for the Alloa Colliery, Bald ran the Alloa Brick and Tile Works from 1814.
[8 October 1814]
Caledonian Mercury
His two best known poems feature in ''The Modern Scottish Minstrel'', Volume V. by Charles Rogers (1857) and three others are found in ''The Poets of Clackmannanshire'' by James Beveridge (1885). Alexander Bald was the brother of
Robert Bald
Robert Bald FRSE FSA MWS (4 December 1776–28 December 1861) was a Scottish surveyor, civil and mining engineer, and antiquarian. Robert Bald was one of the earliest and most eminent mining engineers and land surveyors in Scotland, and by the l ...
, the engineer.
Bibliography
* ''The Modern Scottish Minstrel'', by
Charles Rogers
* ''The Clackmannanshire Poets'', by James Beveridge.
References
External links
Two poems by Alexander Bald in ''The Modern Scottish Minstrel'', Volume V. by Various Project Gutenberg*
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. XVIII, July - December 1825*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bald, Alexander
1783 births
1859 deaths
Writers from the Scottish Borders
Scottish poets