Edwin Waugh poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, son of a shoemaker, was born in Rochdale

Rochdale

Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12. While still a young man he worked as a journeyman printer, travelling all over England, but eventually returned to his old job in Rochdale.

Waugh read eagerly, and in 1847 became assistant secretary to the Lancashire Public School Association and went to work in Manchester. He first attracted attention by his sketches of Lancashire life and character in the Manchester Examiner. His first book Sketches of Lancashire Life and Localities was published in 1855 while he was working as a traveller for a Manchester printing firm. He wrote also in prose Factory Folk, Besom Ben Stories, and The Chimney Corner. By 1860 he was able to become a full-time writer but by 1881 he was in poor health and was granted a Civil List pension of £90 p.a. His best work was, perhaps, his Lancashire dialect

Lancashire dialect and accent

Lancashire dialect and accent refers to the vernacular speech in Lancashire, one of the counties of England. Simon Elmes' book Talking for Britain said that Lancashire dialect is now much less common than it once was, but it is not yet extinct...

 songs, collected as Poems and Songs (1859), which brought him great local fame. He was possessed of considerable literary gift, and has been called "the Lancashire Burns." His most famous poem is "Come whoam to thi childer an' me", 1856.

Waugh died at his home in New Brighton

New Brighton

-Canada:* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood* New Brighton , a settlement in British Columbia-United Kingdom:* New Brighton, Merseyside, a seaside resort in Wallasey, England**New Brighton A.F.C., the current football club...

, near Liverpool, in 1890 and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard on Kersal Moor

Kersal Moor

Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, within the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England, consisting of eight hectares of moorland, bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St...

. Waugh's Well was built in 1866 to commemorate him at the now derelict Fo' Farm, where he spent much time writing, on the moors above Waterfoot, Rossendale.

External links

• Edwin Waugh at gerald-massey.org.uk