Mackay, Charles

(1814-1889)

   Scottish poet born in Perth, the son of an army officer, he was educated at the Royal Caledonian Asylum at Caledonian Road, Holloway, Middlesex, a school for children of Scottish parentage. Fluent in several European languages, in 1830 he became private secretary to the inventor William Cockerill in Belgium. A journalist of renown, he edited several important papers of the day and in 1860 established the London Review. From 1862 to 1865 he was the special correspondent of the Times at New York during the Civil War. He was buried in Kensal Green cemetery, West London. He was a prolific author of poetry and many of his songs were set to music by his friends Henry Russell and Sir Henry Bishop. Some of his publications: The Hope of the World, 1840. Legends of the Isles, 1845. Voices from the Mountain, 1847. Collected Songs, 1859. Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England, 1863. A Thousand and One Gems of English Poetry, 1867. Some of his poems: "Children's Auction," "If I Were a Voice," "The Holly Bough," "The Poor Man's Sunday Walk," "The Three Preachers," "Tubal Cain," "Vixi."

   Sources: A Treasury of the Familiar. Ralph L. Woods, ed. Macmillan, 1942. An Anthology of Revolutionary Poetry. Marcus Graham, ed. The Active Press, 1929. British Minstrelsie. T.C. and E.C. Jack, Grange Publishing works, Edinburgh (?1900). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Virtual American Biographies. Charles Mackay (http://www.famousamericans.net/charlesmackay). Picture of the New Caedonian Asylum, London (http://www.londonancestor.com/views/vb-asylumcal.htm). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Home Book of Verse for Young Folks. Burton Egbert Stevenson, ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1929. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971. The Lied and Art Song Texts Page (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/m/cmackay/). Treasury of Favorite Poems. Joseph H. Head, ed. Gramercy Books, 2000.