Though a native of Ireland, Charles Doyne Sillery has some claim to
enrolment among the minstrels of Caledonia. His mother was a
Scotchwoman, and he was himself brought up and educated in Edinburgh. He
was born at Athlone, in Ireland, on the 2d of March 1807. His father,
who bore the same Christian and middle names, was a captain of the Royal
Artillery.[24] He distinguished himself in the engagements of Talavera
on the 27th and 28th of July 1809; but from his fatigues died soon
after. His mother, Catherine Fyfe, was the youngest daughter of Mr
Barclay Fyfe, merchant in Leith. She subsequently became the wife of
James Watson, Esq., now of Tontley Hall, Berkshire.
Of lively and playful dispositions, Sillery did not derive much
advantage from scholastic training. His favourite themes were poetry and
music, and these he assiduously cultivated, much to the prejudice of
other important studies. At a subsequent period he devoted himself with
ardour to his improvement in general knowledge. He read extensively, and
became conversant with the ancient and some of the modern languages.
Disappointed in obtaining a commission in the Royal Artillery, on which
he had calculated, he proceeded to India as midshipman in a merchant
vessel. Conceiving a dislike to a seafaring life, after a single voyage,
he entered on the study of medicine in the University of Edinburgh. From
early youth he composed verses. In 1829, while only in his twenty-second
year, he published, by subscription, a poem, in nine cantos, entitled
"Vallery; or, the Citadel of the Lake." This production, which refers to
the times of Chivalry, was well received; and, in the following year,
the author ventured on the publication of a second poem, in two books,
entitled "Eldred of Erin." In the latter composition, which is pervaded
by devotional sentiment, the poet details some of his personal
experiences. In 1834 he published, in a small duodecimo volume, "The
Exiles of Chamouni; a Drama," a production which received only a limited
circulation. About the same period, he became a contributor of verses to
the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_. He ultimately undertook the editorial
superintendence of a religious periodical.
Delicate in constitution, and of a highly nervous temperament, Sillery
found the study of medicine somewhat uncongenial, and had formed the
intention of qualifying himself for the Church. He calculated on early
ecclesiastical preferment through the favour of Her Majesty Queen
Adelaide, to whom he had been presented, and who had evinced some
interest on his behalf. But his prospects were soon clouded by the slow
but certain progress of an insidious malady. He was seized with
pulmonary consumption, and died at Edinburgh on the 16th May 1836, in
his twenty-ninth year.
Of sprightly and winning manners, Sillery was much cherished in the
literary circles of the capital. He was of the ordinary height, and of
an extremely slender figure; and his eye, remarkably keen and piercing,
was singularly indicative of power. Poetry, in its every department, he
cherished with the devotion of an enthusiast; and though sufficiently
modest on the subject of his own poetical merits, he took delight in
singing his own songs. Interested in the history of the Middle Ages, he
had designed to publish an "Account of Ancient Chivalry." Latterly, his
views were more concentrated on the subject of religion. Shortly before
his death, he composed a "Discourse on the Sufferings of Christ," the
proof-sheets of which he corrected on his deathbed. As a poet, with more
advanced years, he would have obtained a distinguished place. With
occasional defects, the poem of "Vallery" is possessed of much boldness
of imagery, and force and elegance of expression.