James Macfarlan (9 April 1832 – 6 November 1862) was a Scottish poet. He published a few volumes of poetry in his lifetime, while living usually as a pedlar.

Life

Macfarlan was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 9 April 1832, son of Andrew Macfarlan, a weaver turned pedlar from

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

, and his wife Margaret Marshall. He received some education in Kilmarnock and Glasgow, but was mainly self-taught. Inspired by a stray volume of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

when about twelve years old, he borrowed books from public libraries in various towns visited in the wanderings of the family, and by the age of twenty he had read widely.''James Macfarlan: A Memoir by Colin Rae-Brown''
gerald-massey.org.uk In 1853, having collected pieces he had written, he walked to and from London and secured the publication of a volume of poetry by subscription. The book, ''Poems'' (1854), received favourable reviews but made no money. For a short time subsequently he held a post in the Glasgow Athenæum, but returned to peddling. He printed in Glasgow a second book, ''City Songs'' (1855), dedicated to

George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle George William Frederick Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle (18 April 1802– 5 December 1864), styled Viscount Morpeth from 1825 to 1848, was a British statesman, orator, and writer. Life Carlisle was born in Westminster, London, the eldest son of ...

, but, although it was well received by critics, he received little encouragement either from his patron or from the public. Macfarlan was in poor health and was destitute; he obtained and soon lost another job. He was engaged as police-court reporter to the Glasgow ''Bulletin''. Too erratic for this post, he successfully contributed short stories for a time to the weekly issue of the paper. On 3 August 1855 he married Agnes Miller; they had four children. His wife helped the income by dressmaking.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

printed several of his poems in ''

Household Words ''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in Shakespeare's '' Henry V'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words." History During the planning stages, titles orig ...

''; Macfarlan called him "a prince of editors".

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

, hearing

Samuel Lover Samuel Lover (24 February 1797 – 6 July 1868), also known as "Ben Trovato" ("well invented"), was an Irish songwriter, composer and novelist, and a portrait painter, chiefly in miniatures. He was the grandfather of Victor Herbert. Life L ...

recite his ''Lords of Labour'' in 1859, exclaimed: "I don't think Burns himself could have taken the wind out of this man's sails". Macfarlan suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

; in October 1862 he collapsed after a day trying to sell his prose pamphlet, ''An Attic Study''. He died in Glasgow on 6 November 1862, and was buried in Cheapside cemetery,

Anderston Anderston (, ) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th century, Anderston was an independent ...

, Glasgow. Colin Rae-Brown, a director of the ''Bulletin'', later wrote that Macfarlan "appeared a perfect riddle. He seemed to possess two separate and distinct individualities: one soaring high in the sunny

empyrean In ancient European cosmologies inspired by Aristotle, the Empyrean heaven, Empyreal or simply the Empyrean, was the place in the highest heaven which was supposed to be occupied by the element of fire (or aether in Aristotle's natural philos ...

of the sacred Nine, the other grovelling in the dingiest purlieus of the populous 'City by the Clyde.'"

Works

Macfarlan does not write in the Scottish dialect, but in fluent and resonant English. He shows originality and elevation of thought. His works are: * ''Poems: Pictures of the Past'', 1854 * ''City Songs, and other Poetical Pieces'', 1855 * ''Lyrics of Life'', 1856 Subsequently he published two tracts, ''The Wanderers of the West'', a poem, and a series of acute and suggestive prose reflections, entitled ''An Attic Study; brief Notes on Nature, Men, and Books''. ''The Poetical Works of James Macfarlan, with a Memoir'', appeared in 1882.

References

Attribution *

External links

''The Poetical Works of James Macfarlan''
gerald-massey.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Macfarlan, James 1832 births 1862 deaths Writers from Glasgow 19th-century Scottish poets