David Wingate (1828–1892) was a
Scottish poet and miner, sometimes known as 'the
collier poet'.
His father died when he was five years old. Wingate started work in the coal-fields near his home in
Cowglen,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...
when he was nine, and at 17 he was the main breadwinner for his mother and family. He married Janet Craig in 1850 and had 11 children, including
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
who became a poet and teacher. In the 1850s he worked in
Pollokshaws
Pollokshaws ( sco, Powkshaws) is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood and Hillpark to the south and Shawlands to the north, with the Glas ...
and later
Bellshill
Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...
. After his first wife died he married his first wife's cousin Margaret Thompson, a granddaughter of
Burns Burns may refer to:
* Burn, an injury (plural)
People:
* Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters
Business:
* Burns London, a British guitar maker
Places:
;In the United States
* Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...
.
By 1862 he was living in
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
. In this year his ''Poems and Songs'' (1862) was published by
William Blackwood
William Blackwood (20 November 177616 September 1834) was a Scottish publisher who founded the firm of William Blackwood and Sons.
Life
Blackwood was born in Edinburgh on 20 November 1776. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a firm of book ...
, favourably reviewed, then followed by ''Annie Weir'' (1866). After this he studied at the
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
School of Mines, became a colliery manager, and devoted his increased leisure to study and further literary work. ''Lily Neil'' appeared in 1879, and was followed by another volume of ''Poems and Songs'' (1883). In 1882 he was granted a
civil list
A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom and its former colonies of Canada, India, New Zeal ...
pension of £50 per year. A collection of his work came out in 1890 as ''Selected Poems''.
He is buried in Motherwell.
Work online
''Poems and Songs''(1862)
References
*John W. Cousin,
(1910)
*''David Wingate'' i
''Blackwood's Magazine''(Edinburgh, July 1862)
*''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'', 28 April 1890
''Walter Wingate''
1828 births
1892 deaths
19th-century Scottish poets
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