Author: Mayne, John
Biography:
MAYNE, John (1759-1836: ODNB)
Nearly all biographical information about Mayne is derived ultimately from the generous obituary of him in GM, to which he had contributed poetry for several years. He was born in Dumfries, Scotland, on 26 Mar. 1759. No record of baptism has been found and the names of his parents are not known. He attended grammar school in Dumfries and worked as a printer for the Dumfries Journal. The first version of his best-known poem, The Siller Gun, was printed at Dumfries in 1777: it consisted of only 12 stanzas but was later expanded to two cantos. No extant copy of either version is recorded. (Walter Scott [q.v.] praised the 1808 text and had an amicable exchange of letters with Mayne in 1831.) The final version, in five cantos with a glossary, did not appear until 1836.) Mayne was also by that time contributing poems to periodicals, and is thought to have influenced Burns (q.v.). The family moved to Glasgow in 1782 and he worked there as a printer for Foulis. The first version of Glasgow appeared the Glasgow Magazine in 1783. In 1787 he moved to London, where he became the proprietor and joint editor of the Sun newspaper and embarked on a busy career as an editor and writer. The GM obituarist describes him fondly as "modest and unambitious." He died at his home in Lissom Grove, Marylebone, on 14 Mar. 1836 and was buried in Paddington churchyard. GM mentions a son said to be intending to bring out a memoir with some unpublished poems, so Mayne had certainly married at some point. The best match in public records is a marriage to Elizabeth Brown in London on 2 May 1789, with two sons, John and Robert, born in 1790 and 1794. (ODNB 28 Apr. 2023; ancestry.com 28 Apr. 2023; findmypast.com 28 Apr. 2023; GM May 1836, 576-7; True Sun 18 Mar. 1836; MH 23 Apr. 1836) HJ