William Nicholson (1782–1849) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
poet, born in the village of
Borgue in
Kirkcudbrightshire
Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...
. He was also known variously as "The
Bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...
of
Galloway
Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...
", the itinerant singer and "pedlar-poet", or "Wandering Wull". His best writing makes distinctive use of his native
Scots language and many of his works are in the form of
song
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
.
He was encouraged by James Hogg and Dr. Alexander Murray. Nicholson's published collections include ''Tales, in Verse, and Miscellaneous Poems: Descriptive of Rural Life and Manners'' (1814), a work which contains some 60 original poems, including "The
Ghost
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
of
Crazy Jane
Crazy Jane (legal name: Kay Challis) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Richard Case, the character first appeared in ''Doom Patrol'' (vol. 2) #19 ( ...
", "The
Fairy
A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
Dance", and "A Tale of Terror", a number of which have been anthologised. One common
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
piece sometimes associated with his name is also "The
Aiken Drum".
He is best remembered today for "The
Brownie of
Blednoch" (1828), a favourite of the poet
Marion Angus (1865–1946), and "The
Braes of Galloway".
See also
*
*
External links
"The Braes of Galloway"€”online text of the song/poem by William Nicholson
1782 births
1849 deaths
Scottish poets
{{Scotland-writer-stub