music.wikisort.org - Poet

Alexander Ross (13 April 1699[1] – 20 May 1784) was a Scottish poet.

Alexander Ross
Born	(1699-04-13)April 13, 1699 Aberdeenshire
Died	May 20, 1784(1784-05-20) (aged 85) Lochlee
Nationality	Scotland
Occupation	teacher, poet
Known for	Helenore, or the Fortunate Shepherdess

Biography

Alexander Ross was born to a farming family at Torphins in Aberdeenshire.[2] He was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen[3] and worked as private tutor for the children of Sir William Forbes of Craigievar.[4] In 1732 he became a headmaster in Lochlee, Angus, where he would live until his death in 1784. He had been in the habit of writing verse for his own amusement[5] when, in 1768, at the suggestion of James Beattie, he published Helenore, or the Fortunate Shepherdess.[6][7][8] A memorial was erected in his honour c. 1854 in the old churchyard of Angus Glen where he is buried.[2]

Reputation

Robert Burns praised Alexander Ross, writing "There is I know not what of wild happiness of thought and expression peculiarly beautiful in the old Scottish song style, of which his Grace, old venerable Skinner, the author of Tullochgorum etc., and the late Ross at Lochlee, of true Scottish poetic memory, are the only modern instances that I recollect, since Ramsay, with his contemporaries, and poor Bob Fergusson, went to the world of deathless existence and truly immortal song."[9]

References

External links

• Helenore at Google Books
• Helenore at Archive.org

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