Edwin Waugh (1817–1890) was an English poet.
Life
The son of a shoemaker, Waugh was born in
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, England and, after some schooling, was apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12. While still a young man he worked as a
journeyman
A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...
printer, travelling all over Britain, but eventually returned to his old job in Rochdale.
Waugh read eagerly, and in 1847 became assistant secretary to the Lancashire Public School Association and went to work in Manchester. In Manchester he started publishing descriptions of rural rambles, and the reception of his works encouraged him to persevere. By 1860 he was able to become a full-time writer; but in 1881 he was in poor health and was granted a
Civil List pension of £90 p.a.
Death and legacy
Waugh died at his home in
New Brighton,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, in 1890 and was buried in St Paul's churchyard on
Kersal Moor. Waugh's Well was built in 1866 to commemorate him at Foe Edge Farm, on the moors above
Edenfield, Rossendale where he spent much time writing. Foe Edge, was demolished by the
North West Water Authority in the mid-1970s and no trace remains of the building. There is a monument in Broadfield Park, Rochdale which commemorates
Margaret Rebecca Lahee, Oliver Ormerod, John Trafford Clegg and Edwin Waugh.
Works
Waugh first attracted attention with sketches of Lancashire life and character in the ''
Manchester Examiner''. His first book ''Sketches of Lancashire Life and Localities'' was published in 1855 while he was working as a traveller for a Manchester printing firm. He wrote also prose: ''Factory Folk'', ''Besom Ben Stories'', and ''The Chimney Corner''. His
Lancashire dialect
The Lancashire dialect (or colloquially, Lanky) refers to the Northern English vernacular speech of the English county of Lancashire. The region is notable for its tradition of poetry written in the dialect.
Scope of Lancashire dialect
...
songs, collected as ''Poems and Songs'' (1859), brought him local fame. He has been called "the Lancashire Burns." His most famous poem is "Come whoam to thi childer an' me", 1856.
[Hollingworth (1977)]
See also
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John Collier (caricaturist)
References
External links
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Edwin Waughat gerald-massey.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waugh, Edwin
1817 births
1890 deaths
Writers from Rochdale
English male poets
19th-century English poets