Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry

Poet, writing in English and Gaelic, and customs officer. From Kenmore, Lochfyneside, Argyleshire. Father was a Highlander knowledgeable about Gaelic songs, worked as a tenant farmer and labourer for the Duke of Argyll. McColl had a tutor who taught him English. In 1831 his family emigrated to Canada, leaving McColl behind in Scotland. McColl was appointed a customs clerk in Liverpool in 1839 through the recommendation of the Argylls. In 1850 McColl visited his family in Canada, initially for six months, but he decided to emigrate and transferred his customs position to Canada, resigning in 1880 and eventually moving to Toronto. Member of the Kingston St. Andrew’s Society and termed the Celtic bard of Canada. Author of The Mountain Minstrel (1836, 1836 Gaelic edition), The English Poetical Works of Evan McColl (1883). Biographical information: editorial headnote to Evan McColl, Definition of a Poet, Chambers’s Journal, 1 September 1838, p. 256; DCO. (AC)