David Drummond, author of "The Bonnie Lass o' Levenside," a song
formerly of no inconsiderable popularity, was a native of Crieff,
Perthshire. Along with his four brothers, he settled in Fifeshire, about
the beginning of the century, having obtained the situation of clerk in
the Kirkland works, near Leven. In 1812, he proceeded to India, and
afterwards attained considerable wealth as the conductor of an academy
and boarding establishment at Calcutta. A man of vigorous mind and
respectable scholarship, he had early cultivated a taste for literature
and poetry, and latterly became an extensive contributor to the public
journals and periodical publications of Calcutta. The song with which
his name has been chiefly associated, was composed during the period of
his employment at the Kirkland works,--the heroine being Miss Wilson,
daughter of the proprietor of Pirnie, near Leven, a young lady of great
personal attractions, to whom he was devotedly attached. The sequel of
his history, in connexion with this lady, forms the subject of a
romance, in which he has been made to figure much to the injury of his
fame. The correct version of this story, in which Drummond has been
represented as faithless to the object of his former affections, we have
received from a gentleman to whom the circumstances were intimately
known. In consequence of a proposal to become his wife, Miss Wilson
sailed for Calcutta in 1816. On her arrival, she was kindly received by
her affianced lover, who conducted her to the house of a respectable
female friend, till arrangements might be completed for the nuptial
ceremony. In the interval, she became desirous of withdrawing from her
engagement; and Drummond, observing her coldness, offered to pay the
expense of her passage back to Scotland. Meanwhile, she was seized with
fever, of which she died. Report erroneously alleged that she had died
of a broken heart on account of her lover being unfaithful, and hence
the memory of poor Drummond has been most unjustly aspersed. Drummond
died, at Calcutta, in 1845, about the age of seventy. He was much
respected among a wide circle of friends and admirers. His personal
appearance was unprepossessing, almost approaching to deformity,--a
circumstance which may explain the ultimate hesitation of Miss Wilson to
accept his hand. "The Bonnie Lass o' Levenside" was first printed, with
the author's consent, though without acknowledgment, in a small volume
of poems, by William Rankin, Leven, published in 1812. The authorship of
the song was afterwards claimed by William Glass,[13] an obscure
rhymster of the capital.
[13] Glass was a house-painter in Edinburgh; he ultimately became very
dissipated, and died in circumstances of penury about 1840. He
published, in 1811, "The Album, a Collection of Poems and Songs," 12mo;
in 1814, "Scenes of Gloamin'," 12mo; and in 1816, a third volume,
entitled "Songs of Edina." The last is dedicated, by permission, to the
Duke of Gordon. In the "Scenes of Gloamin'," Glass has included the
"Bonnie Lass o' Levenside," as a song of his own composition.