John William Mackail (26 August 1859 – 13 December 1945) was a Scottish academic of

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and reformer of the British education system. He is most often remembered as a scholar of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

and as the official biographer of the socialist artist

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, of whom he was a friend. Mackail was

Oxford Professor of Poetry The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the University of Oxford. The chair was created in 1708 by an endowment from the estate of Henry Birkhead. The professorship carries an obligation to lecture, but is in effect a part-time p ...

from 1906 to 1911, and president of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

from 1932 to 1936.

Life

Mackail was born in

Ascog Ascog ( gd, Àsgaig) is a small village on the Isle of Bute, within Argyll and Bute council area, Scotland. The village is within the parish of Kingarth, and is situated on the A844. It is located on the east coast of the island, about 2 km ...

on Bute, the second child and only son of the Rev. John Mackail, of the Free Church, and Louisa Irving, who was the youngest daughter of

Aglionby Ross Carson Aglionby Ross Carson FRSE LLD (1780 – 4 November 1850) was an educationalist and author. He served as rector of the High School in Edinburgh from 1820 to 1845. His Latin texts remain in use. In texts he is usually referred to as A. R. Carson. ...

FRSE, who was the rector of Edinburgh High School.DNB, 1941–50, Oxford : OUP, 1959, p. 550

Academic career

He was educated at Ayr Academy; at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

, from 1874 to 1877; and at Balliol College, Oxford, as Warner Exhibitioner, from 1877. At Oxford, he took first classes in classical moderations (1879) and literae humaniores ('Greats') in 1881, and he also obtained the Hertford (1880), Ireland (1880), Newdigate (1881), Craven (1882) and Derby (1884) Prizes. He was elected to a Balliol fellowship in 1882. At Oxford, Mackail contributed, alongside

Cecil Spring Rice Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice, (27 February 1859 – 14 February 1918) was a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1912 to 1918, as which he was responsible for the organisation of British efforts to end ...

, to the composition of a famous sardonic doggerel about

George Nathaniel Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

, later Lord Curzon, their contemporary at Balliol, that was published in '' The Masque of Balliol''. In 1884, Mackail accepted a post in the Education Department of the Privy Council (later the Board of Education), of which he became Assistant Secretary in 1903. In this position, made an important contribution to the system of secondary education established by the 1902 Education Act, and to the organisation of a system of voluntary inspection for the public schools. He retired from office in 1919. He was the official biographer of the socialist artist

, of whom he was a close friend. He also published works on

; the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

poets; the

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic sagas;

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

; and

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. He was

(1906–11), president of the

(1932–36), and president of the

Classical Association The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, aimed at developing classical study and promoting its importance in education. Constitution The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are def ...

(1923–24). He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1935.

Private life

He married Margaret Burne-Jones (1866–1953), who was the only daughter of artist and designer

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

. They lived in Kensington, and later in Holland Park. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 17 December 1945. The couple's elder daughter, Angela Margaret, and their son, Denis George, are better known as the novelists Angela Thirkell and

Denis Mackail Denis George Mackail (3 June 1892 – 4 August 1971) was an English fiction writer. His work was popular in his time, but much of his work has been forgotten. However, ''Greenery Street'', a 1925 novel of early married life in upper middle-class ...

. The couple also had a younger daughter, Clare Mackail, who was the subject of a 2020 biography ''Barely Clare: the Little-Known Life of Clare Mackail'' by Tim McGee.

Works

*''Love in Idleness: A Volume of Poems'' (1883) anonymous, with

H. C. Beeching Henry Charles Beeching (15 May 1859 – 25 February 1919) was a British clergyman, author and poet, who was Dean of Norwich from 1911 to 1919. Biography Beeching was born on 15 May 1859 in Sussex, the son of J. P. G. Beeching of Bexhill. He was ...

and J. B. B. Nichols
''The Aeneid of Virgil''
(1885) translator *''Virgil Eclogues and Georgics'' (1889) *''Select Epigrams From The Greek Anthology'' (1890) *''Love's Looking Glass'' (1892) with

and J. B. B. Nichols *''Biblia Innocentium: Being the Story of God's Chosen People Before the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ Upon Earth, Written Anew for Children'' (

Kelmscott Press The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published fifty-three books in sixty-six volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many ...

, 1892)
''Latin Literature''
(1895); at least 40 editions *''The Georgics of Virgil'' (1899) *''The Life of William Morris, two volumes'' (1899)
Vol. II
*''The Little Bible'' (1900) *''William Morris: An Address Delivered at Kelmscott House Hammersmith Socialist Society'' (1902) *''Addresses, four volumes'' (1902/5) *''The Parting of the Ways: An Address'' (1903) given in the William Morris Labour Church at Leek, 5 October 1902 *''Socialism and Politics: An Address and a Programme'' (1903) *''Homer: An Address Delivered on Behalf of the Independent Labour Party'' (1905) *''The Sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ'' (1905)
''William Morris and His Circle''
(1907) *''The Hundred Best Poems in the Latin Language'' (1908) *''The Springs of Helicon: A Study of the Progress of English Poetry from Chaucer to Milton'' (1909) *''Swinburne'' (1909) University of Oxford lecture 30 April 1909.
''Lectures on Greek Poetry''
(1910) *''Pervigilium Veneris'' (1911) editor and translator
''Lectures on Poetry''
(1914) *''Russia's Gift to the World'' (1915) *''The Study of Poetry'' (1915) inauguration of the Rice Institute * Annual Shakespeare Lecture of the British Academy (1916) *''Penelope in the Odyssey'' (1916) *''Pope'' (1919) Leslie Stephen Lecture, University of Cambridge 10 May 1919 *''The Hundred Best Poems'' (lyrical)'' (1920) *''Virgil and His Meaning to the World of To-day'' (1922) *''Shakespeare'' (1923) Inaugural Address to the Australian English Association *''Bentley's Milton'' (1924) British Academy Warton Lecture *''The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1924) Royal Institution Lecture 14 March 1924 *''Life and Letters of George Wyndham'' (2 vols.) (1924) with Guy Wyndham *''Classical Studies'' (1925) *''James Leigh Strachan-Davidson, Master of Balliol. A Memoir'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925) *''Studies of English Poets'' (1926) *''Largeness in Literature'' (1930) *''The Approach to Shakespeare'' (1930) *''Coleridge's Literary Criticism'' (1931) *''Virgil'' (1931) Henriette Hertz Trust Lecture of the British Academy. *''The Odyssey'' (1932) *''Virgil's Work: The Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics'' (1934) *''Studies in Humanism'' (1938) *''Poems by Bowyer Nichols'' (1943) *''An Introduction to Virgil's Aeneid'' (1946) *''Selections from the Georgics of Virgil'' (1948) *''Latin Literature'' (1962) Harry C. Schnur editor *''The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments'' (1897)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackail, John William 1859 births 1945 deaths Scottish poets Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the British Academy Scottish literary historians Scottish socialists Scottish biographers People from the Isle of Bute Oxford Professors of Poetry Translators of Virgil Burne-Jones family Presidents of the Classical Association