Poet, essayist, novelist, and school teacher. Pseudonym: “The Vicar of Deepdale.”
Born 1842 or 1843 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, after which his family moved to Glasgow.
Attended art classes at the University of Glasgow and worked as a school teacher.
Headmaster of Quarter Ironworks’ School in Lanarkshire. Member of the Glasgow Ballad
Club, Walter Scott Club, and the Wellpark Free Church Literary Society. Biographical
information: David Herschell Edwards (ed.), *One Hundred Modern Scottish Poets*, third
series, D. H. Edwards, 1881, pp. 291-5; *The Harp of Renfrewshire*, second series,
Alex. Gardner, 1873, p. xxv; <https://www.glasgowsliterarybonds.org/societies/sir-walter-scott-club/>
(19 February 2020). (AC)