Author: Oliver, Andrew
Biography:
OLIVER, Andrew (fl 1820-21)
An elusive figure. His poems—many of which are in standard English, not border dialect— were printed in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, but he seems also to have lived in Edinburgh. He travelled to Canada in 1804 with his wife (name unknown) and stayed for nearly five years, returning to Scotland in 1809. He wrote about their experiences in A View of Lower Canada, Interspersed with Canadian Tales and Anecdotes (Edinburgh, printed by R. Menzies for the author, 1821). This volume includes the 1820 poems in the original Jedburgh printing, indicating that Oliver was recycling unsold copies. Although some of the poems imply that he travelled to Canada as a missionary, A View of Lower Canada describes him as a “mechanic” or handyman who, arriving in Canada with just pennies, found work in Quebec at five shillings a day. No other biographical information has been discovered. Curiously, A View of Lower Canada was reissued in 1827 without the poems but with a slightly different title—Travels Through Lower Canada, Interspersed with Canadian Tales and Anecdotes (Edinburgh: printed by J. Glass for the author). Although the author’s name is given as “Thomas Johnston,” the text is identical. SR