From "British Authors of the Nineteenth Century" c.1936, edited by Stanley J Kunitz

MACKAY, CHARLES (March 27,1814 - December 24,1889), Scottish songwriter, was born in Perth, the son of a half-pay lieutenant. His mother died while he was an infant, and he lived with his nurse in a lonely cottage in the country. In 1822 he moved with her and her husband to Woolwich. In 1825 he attended the Caledonian Asylum (really a school), and in 1828 was put to school in Brussels. In 1830 he became private secretary to an ironmaster in Belgium, all his leisure being given to verse, which he wrote and published both in English and in French. In 1832 he came to London, where he supported himself by teaching Italian. From 1838 to 1844 he was assistant sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle, and then became editor of the Glasgow Argus. Nearly all his verses were set to music, and became very popular. It is said that 400,000 copies were sold of "A Good Time Coming." In 1846 he received an honorary LL.D. from Glasgow University, an unusual honor for a songwriter. In 1848 Mackay joined the staff of the illustrated London News, and was its editor from 1852 to 1858. From 1851 to 1855 the magazine issued one of his songs weekly as a supplement. In 1857 he lectured in the United States and Canada. In 1860 he established the "London Review", and in 1861 "Robin Goodfellow", but both magazines failed. During the American Civil War he was in New York as correspondent of the "London Times". He was married in 1845 to Rosa Henrietta Vale, who died in 1859, leaving three sons and one daughter. His second wife was a widow, Ellen (Kirtland) Mills, but she too predeceased him, dying in 1875. Besides his extremely popular songs, some of which still live, Mackay wrote books of travel, history, and biography, and was a good all-round journalist. Principal Works: Songs and Poems, 1834; The Hope of the World, 1840; Voices From the Crowd 1846; Voices From the Mountain, 1847; Town Lyrics, 1848; Under Green Leaves, 1857; Forty Years Recollections, 1877; Interludes and Overtones, 1844; Through The Long Day, 1887; Gossamer and Snowdrift, 1890