Charles Mackay (1814-1889)
Poet and journalist, son of a naval officer, was born in Perth, and educated first at the Royal Caledonian Asylum, London, then at Brussels, but much of his early life was spent in France. Coming to London in 1834, he engaged in journalism, published Songs and Poems (1834), wrote a History of London, Popular Delusions, and a romance, Longbeard. His fame, however, is chiefly due to his songs, some of which, including Cheer, Boys, Cheer, in 1846, were set to music by Henry Russell, and had an astonishing popularity. In 1852 he became editor of the Illustrated London News and, in its musical supplement, other songs he wrote were set to old English music by Sir H. R. Bishop. Mackay became a Times correspondent during the American Civil War, discovering and disclosing the Fenian conspiracy. In 1846 He had the degree of LL.D. from Glasgow
From Biographical Dictionary of English Literature - the Everyman Edition of 1910

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