CHARLES

See also:

• MACKAY
• CHARLES MACKAY (1814–1889)
• MACKAY, HUGH (c. 164o-169z)
• MACKAY, JOHN WILLIAM (1831–1902)

MACKAY (1814–1889)  , Scottish writer, was born at Perth, on the .27th of March 1814, and educated at the Caledonian Asylum, London, and in Brussels . In 183o, being then private secretary to a Belgian ironmaster, he began writing verses and articles for local newspapers . Returning to London, he devoted himself to literary and journalistic work, and was attached to the Morning Chronicle (1835–1844) . He published Memoirs of Extraordinary Public Delusions (1841), and gradually made himself known as an industrious and prolific journalist . In 1844 he was made editor of the Glasgow Argus . His literary reputation was made by the publication in 1846 of a volume of verses, Voices from the Crowd, some of which were set to music by Henry Russell and became very popular . In 1848 Mackay returned to London and worked for the Illustrated London News, of which he became editor in 1852 . In it he published a number of songs, set to music by Sir Henry Bishop and Henry Russell, and in 1855 they were collected in a volume; they included the popular " Cheer, Boys ! Cheer ! " After his severance from the Illustrated London News, in 1859, Mackay started two unsuccessful periodicals, and acted as special correspondent for The Times in America during the Civil War . He edited A Thousand and One Gems of English Poetry (1867) . Mackay died in London on the 24th of December 1889 .

Marie Corelli (q.v.) was his adopted daughter . His son, Eric Mackay (1851–1899), was known as a writer of verse, particularly by his Love Letters of a Violinist (1886) .