Blackie, John Stuart

(1809-1895)

   Born in Glasgow, he was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and at Edinburgh University with the idea of taking law, then a further three years of theology at Aberdeen University. From there he studied in Germany and Italy, where he turned from the idea of either the Church or law and became a student of Greek. From 1839 to 1850 he was professor of humanities at Marischal College, and from 1851 to 1882, professor of Greek at Edinburgh University. His inaugural lecture was on "Classical Literature in its relation to the Nineteenth Century." He was instrumental in establishing the Chair of Celtic Studies at Edinburgh. His public funeral service was in St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, and he was buried in the Dean Cemetery. Some of his publications: Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, 1857. Lyrical Poems, 1860. Lays of the Highlands and Islands, 1872. Songs of Religion and Life, 1876. A Song of Heroes, 1890. Some of his poems: "A Boat Song," "All Creatures, Praise," "Ben Dorain," "How Small is Man," "MacCrimmon's Lament," "The Old Soldier of the Gareloch Head."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www. lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Lyra Celtica: An Anthology of Representative Celtic Poetry. E.A. Sharp & J. Matthay, ed. John Grant, 1924. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). Poems and Songs Gaelic and English. Mary Mackellar. Maclachlan & Stewart, 1880. Poems of the Scottish Hills: An Anthology. Hamish Brown, ed. Aberdeen University Press, 1982. 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.columbiagrangers.org). Unity Hymns and Chorals. William Channing Gannett, ed. Unity Publishing Company, 1911.