b. 9 April 1832. d. 6 November 1862. Nationality: Scottish. VIAF.
Working-class poet. Lived in Glasgow. Father was a pedlar, and Macfarlan too became
a professional pedlar after basic schooling. Worked for a short time as a librarian
in the Glasgow Athenaeum, then police-court reporter to the Glasgow *Daily Bulletin*.
Contributed some short stories to *The Workman*, a weekly publication, and poems to
*All the Year Round*. Author of *Poems* (1854), *City Songs* (1855), and a pamphlet
called *The Attic Study* (1862). Biographical information: *ODNB*. (SMM)