Thomas Campbell was born at Glasgow, Scotland, July 27, 1777. He was
educated at the University of Glasgow, where he made somewhat of a
reputation as a versifier and translator. After some desultory attempts
at tutoring, he published in 1799, _The Pleasures of Hope_, a long
didactic poem which brought him real fame and a considerable financial
reward. Soon after he travelled on the continent, where many of his war
ballads were written. In his later days he was a figure in literary
circles and was given a pension by the crown. He died in 1844 and was
buried in Westminster Abbey.
Much of Campbell's longer poetic work is dull and unequal. However, in
his own field of the vigorous patriotic ballad, he is without a rival.
Saintsbury says of him, "He holds the place of best singer of war in a
race and language which are those of the best singers, and not the worst
fighters, in the history of the world."