b. 31 December 1829. d. 5 January 1867. Nationality: Scottish. VIAF.
Working-class poet and essayist. Member of the Spasmodic school of poets. Worked in
muslin warehouses until he became the secretary to the Edinburgh College (later Edinburgh
University) in 1854. Frequent contributor to *Blackwood’s Magazine*, *Macmillan’s*,
and *Good Words*. Poetry volumes include *Poems* (1853), *Sonnets on the War* (1855;
written with Dobell), *City Poems* (1857), and *A Summer in Skye* (1865). Biographical
information: *ODNB*. (JS)