Thomas Aird (28 August 180225 April 1876)
was a Scottish poet, best known for his 1830 narrative poem ''
The Captive of Fez''.
Early life and education
Aird was born in 1802 at
Bowden,
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...
. His parents were James Aird, a builder, and Isabella née Paisley. After completing his education at the local parish school, Aird studied for an undergraduate degree at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
.
[ While at University, Aird met many writers, including John Wilson and ]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 ...
.
Writing career
After graduation, Aird resisted encouragements to become a Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
minister, instead remaining in Edinburgh to devote himself to writing. His publication debut came in 1826, with ''Martzoufle: a Tragedy in Three Acts, with other Poems'', although this collection was largely overlooked by critics.[ In the early years of his career, he also contributed articles to '' Blackwood's Magazine'', wrote a series of essays entitled ''Religious Characteristics'', and published '' The Captive of Fez'', a narrative poem, in 1830.][
Between 1832 and 1833, Aird acted as the editor of the '' Edinburgh Weekly Journal'', succeeding James Ballantyne. From 1835, he was the editor of the '' Dumfriesshire and Galloway Herald'', a post he continued to hold for 28 years.][
In 1848, he published a collection of his poetry, which was very well received. His last main literary work was editing an edition of the works of David Macbeth Moir in 1852. In 1863, he retired from editorship of the ''Herald''.][
]
Personal life and death
Aird's friends included De Quincey, Lockhart, Stanley (afterwards dean of Westminster) and Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
.[
]
See also
* Scottish literature
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aird, Thomas
1802 births
1876 deaths
19th-century Scottish poets