Alexander Hume was born at Kelso on the 1st of February 1809. His
father, Walter Hume, occupied a respectable position as a retail trader
in that town. Of the early history of our author little has been
ascertained. His first teacher was Mr Ballantyne of Kelso, a man
somewhat celebrated in his vocation. To his early preceptor's kindness
of heart, Hume frequently referred with tears. While under Mr
Ballantyne's scholastic superintendence, his love of nature first became
apparent. After school hours it was his delight to wander by the banks
of the Tweed, or reclining on its brink, to listen to the music of its
waters. From circumstances into which we need not inquire, his family
was induced to remove from Kelso to London. The position they occupied
we have not learned; but young Hume is remembered as being a quick,
intelligent, and most affectionate boy, eager, industrious,
self-reliant, and with an occasional dash of independence that made him
both feared and loved. He might have been persuaded to adopt almost any
view, but an attempt at coercion only excited a spirit of antagonism. To
use an old and familiar phrase, "he might break, but he would not bend."
About this period (1822 or 1823), when irritated by those who had
authority over him, he suddenly disappeared from home, and allied
himself to a company of strolling players, with whom he associated for
several months. He had an exquisite natural voice, and sung the melting
melodies of Scotland in a manner seldom equalled. With the itinerant
manager he was a favourite, because he was fit for anything--tragedy,
comedy, farce, a hornpipe, and, if need be, a comic song, in which
making faces at the audience was an indispensable accomplishment. His
greatest hit, we are told, was in the absurdly extravagant song, "I am
such a Beautiful Boy;" when he used to say that in singing one verse, he
opened his mouth so wide that he had difficulty in closing it; but it
appears he had neither difficulty nor reluctance in closing his
engagement. Getting tired of his new profession, and disgusted with his
associates, poorly clad and badly fed, he slipped away when his
companions were fast asleep, and returned to London. Here, weary and
footsore, he presented himself to a relative, who received him kindly,
and placed him in a position where by industry he might provide for his
necessities.
In 1827, he obtained a situation with Forbes & Co. of Mark Lane, the
highly respectable agents for Berwick & Co. of Edinburgh, the celebrated
brewers of Scotch ale. His position being one of considerable
responsibility, he was obliged to find security in the sum of £500,
which he obtained from the relative who had always stood his friend. But
such was his probity and general good conduct, that his employers
cancelled the security, and returned the bond as a mark of their
appreciation of his integrity and worth.
About this period it was that he first gave utterance to his feelings in
verse. Impulsive and impassioned naturally, his first strong attachment
roused the deepest feelings of the man, and awoke the dormant passion of
the poet. The non-success of his first wooing only made his song the
more vehement for a while, but as no flame can burn intensely for ever,
his love became more subdued, and his song gradually assumed that
touching pathos which has ever characterised the best lyrics of
Scotland.
Some time between the years 1830 and 1833, he became a member of the
Literary and Scientific Institution, Aldersgate Street, where he made
the acquaintance of many kindred spirits, young men of the same standing
as himself, chiefly occupied in the banks, offices, and warehouses of
the city of London. There they had classes established for the study of
history, for the discussion of philosophical and literary subjects, and
for the practice of elocution. The recitations of the several members
awoke the embers that smouldered in his heart from the time he had left
the stage. His early experience had made him acquainted with the manner
in which the voice ought to be modulated to make the utterance
effective; and although he seldom ventured to recite, he was always a
fair critic and a deeply interested auditor. The young ambition of a few
had led them to aspire to authorship, and they established a monthly
magazine. Although the several articles were not of the highest order,
they were, nevertheless, quite equal to the average periodical writings
of the day. In this magazine it is believed that Hume published his
first song. It had been sent in the ordinary way, signed _Daft Wattie_,
and the editor, not appreciating the northern dialect in which it was
written, had tossed it aside. Shortly afterwards, one of the managers on
turning over the rejected papers was attracted by the verses, read them,
and was charmed. He placed them back in the editor's box, certifying
them as fit for publication by writing across them,
"Musical as is Apollo's lute,"
to which he signed his name, William Raine. This circumstance soon led
to an intimate acquaintance with Mr Raine, who was a man of considerable
original power, excellent education, and of a social and right manly
nature. This new acquaintance coloured the whole of Hume's future life.
They became fast friends, and were inseparable. The imagination of Hume
was restrained by the acute judgment and critical ability of Mr Raine.
When Hume published his first volume of "Songs," it would perhaps be
difficult to determine whether their great success and general
popularity resulted from the poet whose name they bore, or from the
friend who weighed and suggested corrections in almost every song, until
they finally came before the public in a collected form. The volume was
dedicated to Allan Cunningham, and in the preface he says: "I composed
them by no rules excepting those which my own observation and feelings
formed; I knew no other. As I thought and felt, so have I written. Of
all poetical compositions, songs, especially those of the affections,
should be natural, warm gushes of feeling--brief, simple, and condensed.
As soon as they have left the singer's lips, they should be fast around
the hearer's heart."
In 1837, Hume married Miss Scott, a lady well calculated to attract the
eye and win the heart of a poet. He remained connected with the house of
Berwick & Co. until 1840, when, to recover his health, which had been
failing for some time, he was advised to visit America, where he
travelled for several months. On his return to England, he entered into
an engagement with the Messrs Lane of Cork, then the most eminent
brewers in the south of Ireland. To this work he devoted himself with
great energy, and was duly rewarded for his labour by almost immediate
success. The article he sold became exceedingly popular in the
metropolis; nor was he disappointed in the hope of realising
considerable pecuniary advantages.
For several years he had written very little. The necessity to make
provision for a rapidly increasing family, and the ambition to take a
high position in the business he had chosen, occupied his every hour,
and became with him a passion as strong as had ever moved him in works
of the imagination.
In 1847 there were slight indications of a return of the complaint from
which he had suffered in 1840, and he again crossed the Atlantic.
Although he returned considerably improved in health, he was by no means
well. Fortunately he had secured the services of a Mr Macdonald as an
assistant in his business, whose exertions in his interest were
unremitting. Mr Hume's health gradually declined, and ultimately
incapacitated him for the performance of any commercial duty. In May
1851 he died at Northampton, leaving a widow and six children.
As a song writer, Hume is entitled to an honourable place among those
authors whose writings have been technically called "the Untutored Muse
of Scotland." His style is eminently graceful, and a deep and genuine
pathos pervades his compositions. We confidently predict that some of
his lyrics are destined to obtain a lasting popularity. In 1845, a
complete edition of his "Songs and Poems" was published at London in a
thin octavo volume.