Alexander Laing (Scottish Poet)
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Alexander Laing (1787–1857) was a Scottish verse writer, known as the Brechin poet.


Life

Laing was born at
Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...
,
Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...
, 14 May 1787; his father was an agricultural labourer. Laing spent only two winters at school, and when eight years old became a herdsman. At the age 16 he was apprenticed to a
flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
-dresser, and followed this occupation for fourteen years, when an accident permanently disabled him. Laing afterwards earned a living as a pedlar, and died at Brechin, 14 October 1857.


Works

Laing wrote in
Lallans Lallans ( , ; a Modern Scots variant of the word ''lawlands'', referring to the lowlands of Scotland), is a term that was traditionally used to refer to the Scots language as a whole. However, more recent interpretations assume it refers to t ...
, and contributed to local newspapers and to the following poetical miscellanies: *''The Harp of Renfrewshire'', 1819; * John Struthers's ''The Harp of Caledonia'', 1819; *
Robert Archibald Smith Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829) was a Scottish musical Romantic composer, known for his collection ''Scotish Minstrel'', which began to appear in 1821. Life He was born on 16 November 1780.Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotlan ...
's ''The Scotish '' 'sic.''' Minstrel'', 1820; * Alexander Whitelaw's ''Book of Scottish Song'', 1844; and *''
Whistle Binkie ''Whistle-Binkie, or, The piper of the party: Being a collection of songs for the social circle'' was a Scottish poetry and song anthology first appearing in 1832. There were later volumes under the same title, at least four more anthologies, an ...
'', 1832–47. Laing also furnished anecdotes to the Scottish story-book ''The Laird of Logan'', 1835. In 1846 he published a collection of his poetry under the title ''Wayside Flowers'', of which a second edition appeared in 1850. He edited popular editions of
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
and
Robert Tannahill Robert Tannahill (3 June 1774 – 17 May 1810) was a Scottish poet of labouring class origin. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', he wrote poetry in English and lyrics in Scots in the wake of Robert Burns. Life Tannahill was born in Castle Street in ...
, supplied notes to Allan Cunningham's ''Scottish Songs'', 1825, and biographical notices to the ''Angus Album'', 1833.


Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Alexander 1787 births 1857 deaths Scottish poets People from Brechin Lallans poets