Alexander McLachlan (1818–1896) was a Scottish-born Canadian poet who was active in the mid-nineteenth century and wrote in both

Scottish dialect Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...

and poetic convention of the homesickness of Scottish immigrants to Canada. Both his contemporary and later critics have called him "the Canadian

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

", after a Scottish

national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbo ...

who also authored Scottish traditional verse. McLachlan's bound verse includes the titles ''The Spirit of Love'' (1846), ''Lyrics'' (1858), ''The Emigrant'' (1861) and ''Poems and Songs'' (1871). McLachlan was born in

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, to Charles McLachlan and Jean Sutherland. In 1820, his father immigrated to Canada and settled in

Caledon Township Caledon Township, Ontario was a historic incorporated township and is a present-day geographic township in the modern Region of Peel, Ontario, Canada. The township forms the northwest section of Caledon, Ontario. Caledon Township was likely named b ...

on of land, leaving his family in Scotland. At some point in the 1830s, he died, leaving Alexander his land. McLachlan immigrated in 1840. One year later he married his cousin Clamina, and went on to have eleven children.

Works available in classic reprint

*Alexander McLachlan, ''Lyrics'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007 *Alexander McLachlan, ''The Emigrant and Other Poems'', Forgotten Books, 2012 ASIN: B008522B64 *Alexander McLachlan, ''Poetical Works he Poetical Works of Alexander McLachlan (1900) selected and edited with introd. biographical sketch, notes and glossary'', Ulan Press, 2012, ASN: B00AE60W7M

References

External links

McLachlan's ''Emigrant''
at Canadian Poetry.ca 1818 births 1896 deaths Scottish poets 19th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Scottish emigrants to Canada 19th-century British male writers {{Canada-poet-stub