John Younger, the shoemaker of St Boswells, and author of the Prize
Essay on the Sabbath, has some claim to enrolment among the minstrels of
his country. He was born on the 5th July 1785, at Longnewton village, in
the parish of Ancrum, and county of Roxburgh. So early as his ninth
year, he began to work at his father's trade of a shoemaker. In 1810 he
married, and commenced shoemaking in the village of St Boswells, where
he has continued to reside. Expert in his original profession, he has
long been reputed for his skill in dressing hooks for Tweed angling; the
latter qualification producing some addition to his emoluments. He holds
the office of village postmaster.
A man of superior intellect and varied information, John Younger enjoys
the respect of a wide circle of friends. His cottage is the resort of
anglers of every rank; and among his correspondents he enumerates the
most noted characters of the age. Letter writing is his favourite mode
of recreation, and he has preserved copies of his letters in several
interesting volumes. He has published a poetical _brochure_ with the
title, "Thoughts as they Rise;" also a "Treatise on River Angling." His
Prize Essay on the Sabbath, entitled, "The Light of the Week," was
published in 1849, and has commanded a wide circulation. Of his lyrical
effusions we have selected the following from his MS. collection.