William Forbes Marshall (8 May 1888 – January 1959) was an Irish poet and Presbyterian minister from

Sixmilecross Sixmilecross is a townland and small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The original Irish name for Sixmilecross is Na Corracha Mora, this refers to marshy ground, probably the ground that runs along the Glusha river at the back of the ...

, County Tyrone, Ireland. Marshall's father was principal teacher at Sixmilecross National School, where he was first educated. He was further educated at

Royal School Dungannon The Royal School is a mixed boarding school located in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was one of a number of 'free schools' created by James I (otherwise known as James VI of Scotland) in 1608 to provide an education to the son ...

(for which Marshall wrote the school song) and then

Queens College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. He served as a Presbyterian minister at Castlerock,

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

for over thirty years. Known as "The Bard of Tyrone", Marshall composed poems such as ''

Hi Uncle Sam Hi Uncle Sam! is a poem by Irish poet Rev. William Forbes Marshall. It asks of Americans that they remember the input and support of immigrants from Ulster on the United States throughout the American Revolution. The poem was published in Marsha ...

'', '' Me an' me Da'' (subtitled ''Livin' in Drumlister''), Livin In Drumlister, The Blackstaff Press, 1983, Belfast. ''Sarah Ann'' and ''Our Son''. Marshall was a leading authority on

Mid Ulster English Ulster English ( sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr Inglish, ga, Béarla Ultach, also called Northern Hiberno-English or Northern Irish English) is the variety of English spoken in most of the Irish province of Ulster and throughout North ...

(the predominant dialect of Ulster), and broadcast a series on the BBC entitled ''Ulster Speech''. A prolific writer and poet, he also wrote ''Ulster Sails West'', a book on people from Ulster who settled in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

during the 18th century. The W.F. Marshall Summer School is an annual event held at Magee College in Londonderry in honour of Marshall.

References

Links

* http://www.ulsterancestry.com/newsletter-content.php?id=377
Ulster History Circle
People educated at the Royal School Dungannon People from County Tyrone Male poets from Northern Ireland Presbyterian ministers from Northern Ireland Ulster Scots people 1888 births 1959 deaths 20th-century poets from Northern Ireland Male writers from Northern Ireland 20th-century British male writers {{Ireland-reli-bio-stub