Anderson, Alexander (M)

Surname: Anderson
Forename(s): Alexander
b. 30 April 1845. d. 11 July 1909. Nationality: Scottish. VIAF.
Working-class poet, railway worker, librarian. Pseudonyms: Surfaceman and A Railway Surfaceman. Employed as a surfaceman or platelayer (“a worker responsible for keeping the rails and permanent way of a railway in good repair” [OED]) for the Glasgow and South-western Railway Company. Became assistant librarian at Edinburgh University in 1880, then secretary to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution in 1883. Returned to Edinburgh University in 1886 as chief librarian. Biographical information: ODNB. (SMM, AC)

Poems associated with this person

Total poems: 37
Poem title Date Periodical Roles id #
The Mother and the Angel 1871 Good Words Poet 2128
Agnes 1871-08-26 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 6788
Yarrow 1880 Good Words Poet 3629
Gethsemane 1880 Good Words Poet 3585
“Drew the wrong lever!” 1880 Good Words Poet 3636
The Voices of the Flowers 1880 Good Words Poet 3601
“Faith Among the Christian Warrior:” A Picture, by Sir Noel Paton, R.S.A., LL.D. 1881 Good Words Poet 3905
At the Grave of Mrs. Carlyle. (Haddington Abbey) 1881 Good Words Poet 3659
Jack Chiddy. A True Incident of the Rail 1881 Good Words Poet 3654
Ballochmyle 1882 Good Words Poet 3933
Thinking of Michael 1882 Good Words Poet 3956
The Two Sowers 1883 Good Words Poet 3977
The Sorrow of the Sea 1883 Good Words Poet 3966
The Lifeboat 1883 Good Words Poet 3993
Maud of the Manse 1883-12-08 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 7672
In Memoriam. March 28th, 1884 1884 Good Words Poet 4007
The Noonday Rest 1884 Good Words Poet 4343
Bannockburn 1884 Good Words Poet 4335
Wild-Flowers From Alloway and Doon 1884-06-28 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 12828
A Blackbird’s Nest 1884-07-12 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 12830
Grasmere 1885 Good Words Poet 4346
Yarrow Stream 1885 Good Words Poet 4370
To an English Girl 1885-01-17 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 12860
In Yarrow 1885-04-18 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 12873
Phillips of Pelhamville 1886 Good Words Poet 5425
On Yarrow Braes 1886 Good Words Poet 5301
Joe Sieg 1886 Good Words Poet 5294
Dead Flowers 1886-04-17 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 12976
An Idyll of the Woods 1887 Good Words Poet 5430
The Blind Reader 1887 Good Words Poet 5439
Killed on the Telegraph-Wire 1887-01-22 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 12883
Spring Winds 1888 Good Words Poet 5495
Patrick Laing 1888 Good Words Poet 5487
The Lark 1888 Good Words Poet 5512
The Pastor’s Pool 1889 Good Words Poet 5560
Sonnet. To the Unknown Sculptor of the Apollo 1890 Good Words Poet 4091
“Tod” 1890 Good Words Poet 4024