Author: Goldie, John
Biography:
GOLDIE, John (1798-1826: MSM)
He was born at Ayr to John Goldie, a shipmaster, and Helen (Campbell) Goldie. Educated at the Ayr academy, he moved to Paisley at 15 to become a grocer’s assistant. He subsequently went to Glasgow where he worked in a stoneware shop and married a daughter of Adam McCargow. Goldie published a pamphlet of his poems as “by Nichol Nemo” in 1821. The following year, he and his wife returned to Ayr where he was appointed assistant editor at the Ayr Courier. Publishing his Poems and Songs by subscription (with a dedication to James Hogg “by his sincere friend”) failed to relieve the family’s financial troubles which were exacerbated when Goldie was removed from managing the Courier. Goldie moved to London where he set up and briefly ran the London Scotsman before being obliged to abandon the task and return to Scotland. There, he commenced publishing the Paisley Advertiser, continuing as editor of this publication until his early death from a brain aneurism. His book includes an 8-page list of subscribers. (MSM; James Patterson, ed. The contemporaries of Burns and the most recent poets of Ayrshire [1840] 213-32)
Other Names:
- John Goldie