Allan Cunningham
Overview
- For the soldier Alan Cunningham see Alan Gordon CunninghamAlan Gordon CunninghamGeneral Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham GCMG, KCB, DSO, MC was a British Army officer, noted for victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign during the Second World War. Later he was the seventh and last High Commissioner of Palestine...
Allan Cunningham (7 December 1784 – 30 October 1842) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
He was born at Keir, near Dalswinton, Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
, and first worked as a stonemason's apprentice. His father was a neighbour of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
at Ellisland, and Allan with his brother James visited James Hogg
James Hogg
James Hogg was a Scottish poet and novelist who wrote in both Scots and English.-Early life:James Hogg was born in a small farm near Ettrick, Scotland in 1770 and was baptized there on 9 December, his actual date of birth having never been recorded...
, the "Ettrick shepherd", who became a friend to both.
Quotations
A wet sheet and a flowing sea, A wind that follows fast,And fills the white and rustling sail, And bends the gallant mast.And bends the gallant mast, my boys, While like the eagle freeAway the good ship flies, and leaves Old England on the lee.
"A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea".
While the hollow oak our palace is,Our heritage the sea.
"A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea", line 23.
When looks were fond and words were few.
"The Poet's Bridal-day Song", line 20.