Author: MacNeill, Hector
Biography:
MACNEILL, Hector (1746-1818: ODNB)
The son of a retired army captain, John Macneill, he was born at Rosebank, near Roslin, Midlothian. His mother’s name is unknown. His early years were spent in the vicinity of Loch Lomond, Stirlingshire, and he was educated at Stirling grammar school by David Doig (q.v.) to whom he dedicated Scotland’s Skaith (1795). Aged about thirteen or fourteen, he went to live with an uncle or cousin in Bristol who sent him to the West Indies as a sailor. Although he seems to have been unhappy in the West Indies, he stayed until his mother’s death in about 1776 when he returned to Scotland. His father’s death some eighteen months later allowed him to purchase an annuity. By then he had two sons with a woman whom he did not marry and, needing money to support them, he again went to sea until about 1787. On his return to Scotland, he attempted but failed to earn a living by writing and left for Jamaica where two friends helped him financially. While there he published a pamphlet defending the brutal treatment of slaves by landowners, Observations on the Treatment of the Negroes in the Island of Jamaica, although he later claimed it did not represent his views. His The Harp, begun before he left Scotland, was completed on his return journey. Back in Scotland he led a nomadic existence, staying with friends and writing poetry. A brief return visit to Jamaica ended when a friend settled an annuity on him, enabling him to live comfortably in Edinburgh. Although his early work is more highly regarded than his later, he remained prolific, completing a semi-autobiographical work designed to refute his earlier Observations (Memoirs of the Life and Travels of the late C. Macpherson [1800]), a novel (The Scottish Adventurers [1812]), and editing his own poetical works. He died at Edinburgh. (ODNB 17 Apr. 2020)
Other Names:
- Hector MacNeil
- Hector MacNiel
- Macneil
- MacNeill
- H. McNeil