Author: Knox, William
Biography:
KNOX, William (1789-1825: ODNB)
The son of a farmer, William Knox, and his wife, Barbara Pott (a widow; her maiden name was Turnbull), he was born at Firth in the parish of Lilliesleaf, Roxburghshire. He was educated at the Lilliesleaf parish and Musselburgh grammar schools before becoming a farmer near Langholm, Dumfriesshire (1812-17). Unsuccessful at farming, he returned to his parents at Todrig and moved with them to Edinburgh in 1820. He sought financial help from Scott who recommended his services as a periodical writer to Archibald Constable and gave him sums of money. Scott had a high regard for his poetry but, on his death, lamented his early dissipation and ruin. Abraham Lincoln admired his poem “Mortality,” published in Songs of Israel, and was said to have been able to recite it from memory. Knox died of a stroke at Edinburgh and was buried in the New Calton Cemetery. (ODNB 26 Sept 2019; MSM) SR