Davidson, John (M)

b. 11 April 1857. d. 23 March 1909. Nationality: Scottish. VIAF.
Poet, journalist, playwright, novelist, and school teacher. Pseudonyms: “Menzies MacDonald,” “Robert Allen.” Important influence on Hugh MacDiarmid and T. S. Eliot. Born in Barrhead, Renfrewshire. Father was an Evangelical Union minister. Moved to Greenock at age nine. From 1870 to 1871 Worked for Walker’s, a Greenock sugar firm, in the chemical laboratory and then in the office, and after that taught in various schools, interrupted in 1876-1877 when he briefly studied at the University of Edinburgh. Married Margaret Cameron McArthur on 23 October 1885. Worked as a journalist and publisher’s reader in London from 1890 to 1907, and joined the Rhymers’ Club. Moved to Penzance, Cornwall, with his family in 1907, after suffering from illness and financial distress. Drowned (probably by suicide) while on a coastal path walk. Biographical information: *ODNB*; John Sloan, “New Poems by John Davidson,” *The Review of English Studies*, vol. 44, no. 176, 1993, pp. 548-51. (AC, CC)

Poems associated with this person

Poem title Date Periodical Roles id #
Chrysanthemums 1893 Good Words Poet 5042
I—London 1894-04 The Yellow Book Poet 773
II—Down-a-down 1894-04 The Yellow Book Poet 9973
Thirty Bob a Week 1894-07 The Yellow Book Poet 774
A Ballad of a Nun 1894-10 The Yellow Book Poet 790
Proem to “The Wonderful Mission of Earl Lavender” 1895-01 The Yellow Book Poet 801
The Fleet Street Eclogue 1895-04 The Yellow Book Poet 7698
A Song of the Road 1899-07 Atalanta Poet 15962
Winter Rain 1899-07 Atalanta Poet 15963