William Hamilton of Gilbertfield
Encyclopedia
William Hamilton was a Scottish
poet. He wrote comic, mock-tragic poetry such as "The Last Dying Words of Bonny Heck" - a once-champion hare coursing greyhound in the East Neuk
of Fife
who was about to be hanged, for growing too slow. It is written in anglified Scots, with a spritely narrative and wry comic touches. In the Familiar Epistles he exchanged with Allan Ramsay, he modestly acknowledges the limitations of his own muse. Ramsay singles out Heck as he suggests there is room for all sorts in poetry. Ramsay's Epistles in return are certainly more skillful, more self-consciously Scots and with lots more allusions to other authors, Ancient and Modern, but they are consequently, less direct than those of Hamilton. Another of Hamilton's poems, Willie was a Wanton Wag, - about a young man who appears at a wedding feast, and enraptures bride and bridesmaids by his "leg" at dancing - appeared in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany.
The references in the Familiar Epistles to their delight in drinking in the taverns of Edinburgh
, and references to thinly disguised mutual acquaintances, point up how well Hamilton was integrated into the literary world of the capital. He is praised by Burns
in one of his poems. In his Epistle to William Simpson, Burns mentions Ramsay, Gilbertfield and Fergusson
, as poets in whose company fame would be a pleasure.
Hamilton tried his hand at epic poetry in an abridgment in Scots
of Blind Harry
's The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace
.
He also served in the army and retired with the rank of Lieutenant.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
poet. He wrote comic, mock-tragic poetry such as "The Last Dying Words of Bonny Heck" - a once-champion hare coursing greyhound in the East Neuk
East Neuk
The East Neuk or East Neuk of Fife is an area of the coast of Fife, Scotland, which is geographically ill-defined but nonetheless stirs local passions....
of Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
who was about to be hanged, for growing too slow. It is written in anglified Scots, with a spritely narrative and wry comic touches. In the Familiar Epistles he exchanged with Allan Ramsay, he modestly acknowledges the limitations of his own muse. Ramsay singles out Heck as he suggests there is room for all sorts in poetry. Ramsay's Epistles in return are certainly more skillful, more self-consciously Scots and with lots more allusions to other authors, Ancient and Modern, but they are consequently, less direct than those of Hamilton. Another of Hamilton's poems, Willie was a Wanton Wag, - about a young man who appears at a wedding feast, and enraptures bride and bridesmaids by his "leg" at dancing - appeared in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany.
The references in the Familiar Epistles to their delight in drinking in the taverns of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, and references to thinly disguised mutual acquaintances, point up how well Hamilton was integrated into the literary world of the capital. He is praised by Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
in one of his poems. In his Epistle to William Simpson, Burns mentions Ramsay, Gilbertfield and Fergusson
Robert Fergusson
Robert Fergusson was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson followed an essentially bohemian life course in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and cultural ferment as part of the Scottish enlightenment...
, as poets in whose company fame would be a pleasure.
My senses wad be in a creel
Should I but dare a hope to speel
Wi’ Allan, or wi Gilbertfield,
The braes o fame;
Or Fergusson, the writer chiel
A deathless name. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=q5FtZD1IyTUC&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=Robert+Burns+William+Simpson&source=web&ots=pVYjqGyZpn&sig=9fBG7wtYimPw5huw7r5VfgqL5ag&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
Hamilton tried his hand at epic poetry in an abridgment in Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
of Blind Harry
Blind Harry
Blind Harry , also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is renowned as the author of The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace, also known as The Wallace...
's The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace
The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace
The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace, also known as The Wallace, is a long "romantic biographical" poem by the fifteenth century Scottish makar of the name Blind Harry probably at some time in the decade before 1488...
.
"...wherein the Old, obsolete words are rendered more intelligible and adapted to the understanding of such who have not leisure to study the Meaning and Import of such Parases (sic) without the aid of a Glossary."This enthused the young Burns, who records, in his Autobiographical Letter, that it
"...poured a Scottish prejudice in my veins which will boil along there till the flood gates of life shut in eternal rest."
He also served in the army and retired with the rank of Lieutenant.
Sources
- Duncan Glen Four Scottish Poets of Cambuslang and Dechmont Hill 1626-1990: Patrick Hamilton, Minister at Cambuslang 1626-1645; Lieutenant William Hamilton of Gilbertfield, ... (Paperback) Akros Publications (Mar 1996) ISBN 0861420624
- See the online Burns Encyclopaedia in http://google.com/search?q=cache:j6Ow5LhY2poJ:www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/HamiltonofGilbertfieldWilliam16651511751.430.shtml+Robert+Burns+Gilbertfield&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk