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Or Memorials of a Literary Life during half a century by Charles MacKay LL.D. (1887)
CHARLES MACKAY LLD
(1814-1889)
Charles Mackay, who lived most of his life in southern England, was born in Perth on the 27th of March, 1814 and was educated in the Caledonian Asylum. Glasgow University capped him LLD in 1846. He was a journalist, poet and writer of popular songs who became Sub-Editor of the Morning Chronicle; Editor of the Glasgow Argus; Editor of the Illustrated London News, and Editor of the London Revue. He was also the Special Correspondent of "The Times" at New York from 1862 until 1865. During the Civil War in America his poem "There's a good time coming", when set to music, sold 400,000 copies - surely quite a performance for his day and generation. He was a prolific prose and poetic writer on many topics, literary, biographical, historical and geographical. His autobiography, comprising around 1000 pages, was published in 1886. He died in London on the 24th of December, 1889.
To the index page we have added four sample poems:
To My Old Highland Plaid
Strathnaver No More
The Canadian Highlander
My Heart's in the Highlands
which are excellent and well worth a read.
John Henderson is scanning in this publication for us and you can get to the page at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mackay
Alastair
CHARLES MACKAY LLD
(1814-1889)
Charles Mackay, who lived most of his life in southern England, was born in Perth on the 27th of March, 1814 and was educated in the Caledonian Asylum. Glasgow University capped him LLD in 1846. He was a journalist, poet and writer of popular songs who became Sub-Editor of the Morning Chronicle; Editor of the Glasgow Argus; Editor of the Illustrated London News, and Editor of the London Revue. He was also the Special Correspondent of "The Times" at New York from 1862 until 1865. During the Civil War in America his poem "There's a good time coming", when set to music, sold 400,000 copies - surely quite a performance for his day and generation. He was a prolific prose and poetic writer on many topics, literary, biographical, historical and geographical. His autobiography, comprising around 1000 pages, was published in 1886. He died in London on the 24th of December, 1889.
To the index page we have added four sample poems:
To My Old Highland Plaid
Strathnaver No More
The Canadian Highlander
My Heart's in the Highlands
which are excellent and well worth a read.
John Henderson is scanning in this publication for us and you can get to the page at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mackay
Alastair