Rodger, Alexander

(1784-1846)

   Scottish poet, born at Mid-Calder, Midlothian, the son of a farmer and inn-keeper in Mid-Calder. He became a handloom weaver in Glasgow in 1797. He married in 1806 and in 1819 joined the staff of the Glasgow weekly newspaper The Spirit of the Union. For its seditious tone the editor was transported for life; Rodger was imprisoned and used his time to write poetry and revolutionary songs. From 1821 to 1832 he was an inspector of the cloths used for printing and dyeing in Barrowfield print-works, Glasgow, then later he worked for the Reformer's Gazette. A public dinner was held in his honor in 1836, at which he was presented with a silver box filled with sovereigns. He was buried in Glasgow necropolis and a handsome monument was erected to him. Some of his publications: A Word of Advice, 1816. Shaving Banks, 1818. Scotch Poetry, 1821. Peter Cornclips, 1827. Poems and Songs, 1838. The Devil's Visit to the Islands of Japan, 1838. Stray Leaves, 1842. Some of his poems: "Here's to You Again," "Highland Politicians," "Dear is Our Hame," "Sanct Mungo," "The Twa Weavers," "The Waefu' Lamentation."

   Sources: Alexander Rodger: The Devil's Visit to the Islands of Japan: A Tale Translated from the Japanese, 1838 (http://themargins.net/anth/19thc/rodger.html). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry, Second Edition Bibliography (http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/html/ep2/bibliography/r.htm). English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). New Coasts and Strange Harbors: Discovering Poems. Helen Hill and Agnes Perkins, eds. Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1974. Scottish Poetry Selection: Here's to You Again, Alexander Rogers (http://www.rampantscotland.com/poetry/blpoems_toddle.htm). Selected Work of Alexander Rodger (http://quartet.cs.unb.ca/tapor/cgibin/view-works.cgi?c=rodgeral.1112&pos=3). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbia grangers.org). The Home Book of Verse. Burton Egbert Stevenson, ed. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1953. The Poorhouse Fugitives: Self-Taught Poets and Poetry in Victorian Britain. Brian Maidment, ed. Carcanet, 1987.