James Hislop, a short-lived poet of considerable promise, was born of
humble parents in the parish of Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, in July 1798.
Under the care of his grandfather, a country weaver, and a man of piety
and worth, he taught himself to read. When little more than a child, he
became a cow-herd on the farm of Dalblair, in the neighbourhood of his
birth-place. About the age of thirteen, he obtained a year's schooling,
which was nearly the whole amount of his regular education. He had
already read many books on the hillside. In his fourteenth year, he
became a shepherd and tended his first flock at Boghead, parish of
Auchinleck, Ayrshire, in the immediate vicinity of Airsmoss, the scene
of the skirmish, in 1680, between a body of the soldiers of Charles II.
and a small party of Covenanters, when their minister, the famous
Richard Cameron, was slain. The traditions which still floated among the
peasantry around the tombstone of this indomitable pastor of the
persecuted Presbyterians, essentially fostered in his mind the love of
poetry; and he afterwards turned them to account in his poem of "The
Cameronian's Dream." Some years having passed at this place, he removed
to Corsebank, on the stream Crawick, and afterwards to Carcoe, in the
neighbourhood of Sanquhar. Instead of a course of indiscriminate
reading, he now followed a system of regular study; and ere his
twentieth year, was not only a respectable classical scholar, but
tolerably conversant with some of the modern languages and the exact
sciences. He opened an evening school for the instruction of his humble
pastoral associates; and about the close of 1819, was induced to remove
to Greenock, there to make the attempt of earning a livelihood by
teaching. In October of the same year, he began to contribute verses to
the _Edinburgh Magazine_, which excited no inconsiderable attention, and
especially called forth the kindly criticisms of the amiable editor, the
Rev. Mr Morehead. Visiting Edinburgh, he was introduced by this
gentleman to Mr Jeffrey and the Rev. Mr Alison, who had both been
interested by his poetry.
The Greenock school adventure was unfortunate, and the poet returned to
the pastoral scenes of Carcoe. At this period he composed "The
Cameronian's Dream," which appeared in the _Edinburgh Magazine_ for
February 1821, and attracted much attention. He now commenced teaching
in Edinburgh; but soon obtained, through the recommendation of Mr
Jeffrey, the appointment of schoolmaster in the "Doris" frigate, about
to sail for South America. At sea, he continued to apply himself to
mental improvement; and on his return from a three years' cruise along
the coasts of the Western world, he published, in the pages of the
_Edinburgh Magazine_, a series of papers, under the title of "Letters
from South America," describing the scenes which he had surveyed. In
1825 he proceeded to London, and there formed the acquaintance of Allan
Cunningham, Joanna Baillie, and J. G. Lockhart. For some time, he
reported to one of the London newspapers; but this employment proving
uncongenial, was speedily abandoned. The fidelity with which he had
reported a sermon of the famous Edward Irving, gained him the personal
acquaintance of that extraordinary individual, who presented him with
some tokens of his regard. In 1826, he was appointed teacher of an
extensive free school in the neighbourhood of London--an office which,
at the end of a year, he exchanged for that of schoolmaster on board the
"Tweed" man-of-war, ordered to the Mediterranean and the Cape of Good
Hope. While the vessel was cruising off the Cape de Verd islands,
Hislop, along with the midshipmen, made a visit of pleasure to the
island of St Jago. Sleeping a night on shore, they were all seized with
fever, which, in the case of six of the party, including poor Hislop,
proved fatal. After lingering for twelve days, he died on the 4th
December 1827, in his twenty-ninth year.
Of a clear head, a warm heart, and exemplary steadiness of character,
Hislop was much beloved; and a wide circle of hopeful friends deeply
lamented his premature decease. By Allan Cunningham, his genius has been
described as "elegant rather than vigorous, sweet and graceful rather
than lofty, although he was occasionally lofty, too." As the author of
"The Cameronian's Dream," he is entitled to a place among the bards of
his country.