George Halket or Hacket (died 1756), was a Scottish poet and songwriter.
Halket is said by
Peter Buchan
Peter Buchan (4 August 1790 – 19 September 1854) was a Scottish editor, publisher, and collector of ballads and folktales.
Biography
Born in Peterhead, Buchan apprenticed with a , and in 1814 produced his first book, a collection of verse whic ...
("Gleanings of Scotch, English, and Irish Old Ballads") to have been a native of
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
. In 1714 he was appointed schoolmaster,
precentor
A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...
, and
session-clerk
A session (from the Latin word ''sessio'', which means "to sit", as in sitting to deliberate or talk about something; sometimes called ''consistory'' or ''church board'') is a body of elected elders governing a particular church within presbyter ...
in the parish of
Rathen, Aberdeenshire
Rathen is a parish and hamlet near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic, its name means ''fort on the river''. One apartment served for dwelling and schoolhouse, and when, in 1718, Halket married Janet Adamson, the heritors being severely economical caused his box-bed to be reversed, so that its back should be a partition between school and bedroom, while they let a window into the north wall to insure the comfort of the sleepers. Halket's unsteady habits led to his dismissal from Rathen in 1725, and with his wife and three children he settled at Cairnbulg, some distance off, and was a more or less successful schoolmaster there for twenty-five years. In 1750 he removed to Memsie, becoming tutor in the families of Colonel Fraser and Sir James Innes, besides doing other private teaching. His last change was to Tyrie, where he died in 1756. According to Buchan, he is buried in
Fraserburgh
Fraserburgh (; ), locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of th ...
old churchyard.
Halket's only undoubted publication is a thin 12mo volume, entitled "Occasional Poems upon Several Subjects", printed at Aberdeen in 1727 for the author, who figures on the title-page as 'George Hacket.' There are four poems in the work: 'Advice to Youth,' based on Ecclesiastes, xii. 1–2; 'Good Friday,' in which the author illustrates one part of his theme with severe references to the treatment of
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
by Scottish and English whigs; 'Easter Day;' and an insipid 'Pastoral.' The volume containing these poems is extremely rare and was unknown to Buchan. Perhaps the only existing copy is in the
Mitchell Library
The Mitchell Library is a large public library located in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the largest public reference library in Europe, and the centre of Glasgow's public library system.
History
The library was initiall ...
, Glasgow. It has not much value as literature, nothing in it approaching the rapid movement and the pungent satirical thrusts of the Jacobite ballad, "Whirry Whigs, Awa' Man", and nothing suggestive of the romantic tenderness, the cheerful and resolute self-dependence, and the lyrical grace of "Logie o' Buchan". Halket is credited with both of these poems, but there is a total lack of evidence on the point. As, however, there is no one else of the period to whom they can be assigned, it is just possible that they are his, and at any rate his claims are supported by a persistent tradition and the weighty surmise of Peter Buchan. Halket is quite likely to have written "A Dialogue between the Devil and George II", a perusal of which, in 1746, caused the
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland.
History
The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...
to offer a reward of £100. for the author 'alive or dead.' He may also have been the author of a ballad entitled "Schism Displayed".