Author: McFarlane, John
Biography:
MCFARLANE, John (fl 1820)
His book is dedicated to John Jamieson (q.v.) who, the preface states, had helped him in the past. Although there is no list included in the book, it was published by subscription to help the author provide for his family of ten children. One of the poems, “An Epistle to Mr L---”, states that the author is a cobbler. Some of the poems are in dialect; several are exchanges with friends (James Dobie and S. Hope), and one is addressed to “Berwickshire Sandy” (Alexander Brown, q.v.). There is no confirmation but he may have been the John McFarlane who died on 1 July 1836 of "inflammation" in the Edinburgh Infirmary and was buried at St. Cuthbert's on 3 July. The cemetery register identifies that man as a porter. He was born on 6 Aug. 1780 to Robert McFarlane and his wife Mary Shaw who had married at St. Cuthbert's on 30 Aug. 1776. He may have been the John McFarlane who married Margaret Kelleher on 1 June 1802 in Edinburgh. (ancestry.co.uk 27 Aug. 2025) SR