Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macfarlan, James
MACFARLAN, JAMES (1832–1862), poet, of Glasgow, son of a weaver turned pedlar, was born at Glasgow, 9 April 1832. He received some school training at Kilmarnock and Glasgow, but was mainly self-taught. Stirred by a stray volume of Byron when twelve years old, he presently joined subscription libraries in various provincial towns visited in the wanderings of the family. At twenty, Macfarlan, then a professional pedlar, knew the standard English poets, and had himself written verse extensively. In 1853 he walked to and from London, securing the publication of a volume of lyrics, which gave him reputation, but little profit. For a short time subsequently he held a post in the Glasgow Athenæum, but relapsed into peddling, ne printed in Glasgow a second book with an ambitious dedication, but received scanty encouragement either from his patron or from the public. Struggling on against consumption, poverty, and neglect, getting and quickly losing some petty employment, he was at length engaged as police-court reporter to the Glasgow 'Bulletin.' Too erratic for this post, he successfully contributed short stones for a time to the weekly issue of the paper. Then he married, and his wife helped the income by dressmaking. Dickens, whom Macfarlan found 'a prince of editors,' printed several of his poems in 'Household Words;' and Thackeray, hearing Samuel Lover recite his 'Lords of Labour' in 1859, warmly exclaimed that he did not think 'Burns himself could have taken the wind out of this man's sails.' Meanwhile, Macfarlan's health rapidly failed, owing partly to his convivial habits. His fatal illness seized him when hawking his prose pamphlet, 'An Attic Study,' and he died in Glasgow, 6 Nov. 1862. He was buried in Cheapside cemetery, Anderston, Glasgow, and a tombstone was erected by his admirers in 1885. Macfarlan does not write in the Scottish dialect, but in fluent and resonant English. He shows originality and elevation of thought. His works are: 'Poems: Pictures of the Past,' 1854; 'City Songs, and other Poetical Pieces,' 1855; and 'Lyrics of Life,' 1856. Subsequently he published two tracts, 'The Wanderers of the West,' a poem, and a series of acute and suggestive prose reflections, entitled 'An Attic Study; brief Notes on Nature, Men, and Books,' 'The Poetical Works of James Macfarlan, with a Memoir,' appeared in 1882.
[Memoir by Mr. Colin Rae-Brown, prefixed to Poetical Works; Grant Wilson's Poets and Poetry of Scotland; Irving's Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen.]