Author: WATT, William
Biography:
WATT, William (1791-1859: ancestry.co.uk)
Born at West Linton, Peebleshire, he was the son of Jean (Alexander) and James Watt. (His birth year is sometimes given as 1792, including in a notice published in the Edinburgh Evening News to commemorate the centenary of his birth.) When Watt was very young his father enlisted in the army and the boy was sent to live with his paternal grandfather in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. He had limited schooling before being apprenticed as a weaver. He wrote poetry and music and was also known as a decorative painter but he earned little or nothing from his books despite their popularity. He married Christian Bailie in 1831; they had four children. He died at East Kilbride, survived by his wife. Of his songs, “Kate Dalrymple” and “The Tinkler’s Wedding” were two of the best known. (Alexander Murdoch, Scottish Poets Recent and Living [1883]; ancestry.co.uk 13 Dec. 2020; Edinburgh Evening News 8 Sept. 1892) SR