John Harris FRHS (14 October 1820 – 7 January 1884) was a Cornish poet. He became a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

in April 1879 for being ″''distinguished in letters''″. Harris was born and raised in a two-bedroom cottage on the slopes of

Bolenowe Bolenowe ( kw, Boslenow, meaning ''dwelling of strip-fields'') is a village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is approximately one-and-a-half miles (2 km) southeast of Camborne (where the 2011 Census population is included). It c ...

, a small hamlet near

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove. Camborne was formerl ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was the eldest of nine children (six brothers and two sisters). At age twelve, he was sent to work at

Dolcoath mine Dolcoath mine ( kw, Bal Dorkoth) was a copper and tin mine in Camborne, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Its name derives from the Cornish for 'Old Ground', and it was also affectionately known as ''The Queen of Cornish Mines''. The site is n ...

where he combined a life of painful labour with the production of poetry celebrating his native landscape around Carn Brea and the scenic splendours of

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

and

the Lizard The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

. He could not afford pen and paper, so he improvised and used blackberry juice for ink and grocery bags for paper. In the 1840s, he married Jane Rule, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. When his second-born daughter, Lucretia, died during Christmas 1855, he produced a moving

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...

. After this a friend found him a more congenial occupation as a Bible-reader or travelling comforter at Falmouth, where he spent the second half of his life. During this period he produced his most important work, the loco-descriptive poem ''A Story of Carn Brea'' (1863). He received a grant of £200 from the

Royal Bounty Fund The Royal Bounty Fund was a special British government fund originally set up in 1782 by Edmund Burke. The operation of the fund was always shrouded in secrecy. Gifts, grants and pensions were paid out from the fund under the patronage of the prime ...

through the

Earl of Beaconsfield Earl of Beaconsfield, of Hughenden in the County of Buckingham, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, a favourite of Queen Victoria. Victoria favoured Disraeli's Tory poli ...

and in September 1881 the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

gave him a grant of £100 from the

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 ...

. He died in 1884 having requested that he should be buried at

Treslothan Troon ( kw, Trewoon) is a village in Cornwall, UK, southeast of Camborne. The village lies at around above sea level. An electoral ward named Troon and Beacon covers the area north from ''Troon'' to the outskirts of Camborne. The population a ...

Chapel, near the village of

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

. There has been some revival of interest in his work, and recently, the book ''The Cornish Poet'' was brought out by the John Harris Society, containing his collected works.Everett, David (ed.) (2002) ''The Cornish Poet: poems of John Harris (1820 – 1884)''; Loughborough: Zipped Books

Sources

* ''Newman, Paul (1994) ''The Meads of Love: the Life & Poetry of John Harris 1820–1884''. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran

External links

John Harris Society

The Land's End, Kynance Cove, and other poems, By John Harris
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, John 1820 births 1884 deaths 19th-century English poets 19th-century British male writers Burials in Cornwall Poets from Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Historical Society People from Camborne

See also

Sources

External links