By William M‘Laren.
The following lines were written immediately after the death of the last of the author's most intimate friends.
Have you seen the old tree that stands lone on the moor,
With its branches all withered and bare;
Like a life-wearied wretch who keenly has felt
The torturing pangs of despair.
Tho' the rank grass wave wild o'er the spot where they stood
Yet three kindly companions it knew,
Who exultingly spread their gay leaves to the sun,
And drank of the nourishing dew.
So broad were there boughs, and so fresh were their leaves,
And so kindly they mingled together,
That they dreamed not the sorrowful day was so near,
That would part them in anguish for ever.
But a blast from the heath like the fiat of fate,
Gave the loftiest tree to the wind, [1]
And left the disconsolate friends of its youth
To linger in sadness behind.
Soon the canker of care, like a worm in the bud,
Seized the tree that grew close by its side ;[2]
And its green leaves grew pale, and its branches were few,
And it sickened—and withered—and died.
But the envious shaft that had destined their fate
Had not finished the work it began,
For a poison was fixed in another fair tree
And its span of existence is ran. [3]
And now the old tree that stands lone on the moor,
With its branches all withered and bare,
In solitude mourns for the friends of its youth,
The victim of anxious despair. [4]
[1] Robert Tannahill.
[2] James Scadlock.
[3] William Anderson.
[4] William M'Laren.—Ed.
A more detailed sketch of William M'Laren is given by Robert Brown in "Paisley Poets" Volume 1 published in Paisley by J. & J Cook, 1889. He writes:—
WILLIAM M‘LAREN was born in Paisley in 1772, and learned to be a handloom weaver. He gave himself up very much to literary pursuits, and became intimately acquainted with Tannahill the Poet. When Tannahill collected and published his only book of poems and songs in 1807, it was dedicated to Mr. William M‘Laren, as follows :—
“SIR,—With gratitude I reflect on the happy hours we have spent together ; and in testimony of the high regard I entertain for your many worthy and amiable qualities, I take the liberty of inscribing to you this little volume. Several of the pieces contained in it you have already seen, and if the others afford you any pleasure, it will add much to the happiness of, Dear Sir, with true respect and sincerity, your friend, ROBERT TANNAHILL.”
A club met in Allan Stewart's Sun Tavern, No. 12 High Street, and both M‘Laren and Tannahill were members. It was mostly through their influence and energy that the Paisley Burns Club was established in 1805. M‘Laren was appointed president, and at the first meeting delivered an eloquent and impassioned address in proposing the memory of Burns. Tannahill was the secretary to this club, and the first minute of its proceedings is in his own handwriting.
William M‘Laren possessed considerable literary abilities, and could write prose and poetry with great force and facility. In 1815, he published the “Poems and Songs, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect,” by Tannahill, to which was added his “Address at the First Meeting of the Burns Club, on giving the toast of ‘The Memory of our Immortal Bard, Robert Burns.’ ” In 1817, he published, in 4to size of 36 pages, “Emma, or the Cruel Father : a Poetical Tale,with other Poems and Songs.” In 1818, he published, with a memoir, the posthumous poetical works of the poet Scadlock. In 1827, he published “Isabella, or the Robbers : a Poetical Tale of the Olden Times, and other Poems,” consisting of 52 pages. He also had many lyrical pieces of considerable merit that appeared in newspapers and periodicals.
W. M‘Laren commenced business in Ireland at one time, but, owing to his extreme politics, he was forced to give it up, and return to Paisley. Afterwards he had a public-house in Paisley, and thereby improved his circumstances very considerably. He died 2nd May, 1832, in the 60th year of his age.
In 1872, when my esteemed friend, Mr. J. J. Lamb, was collecting materials to enable him to write a memoir of Tannahill, he applied to me to obtain some particulars from the Rev. Charles Marshall regarding Mr. M‘Laren. 1 did so, but when I received them Mr. Lamb was on his deathbed. The information I got from Mr. Marshall is very interesting. His letter is dated Edinburgh, 18th September, 1872 :—
“In answer to yours of the 11th, I regret to say that my knowledge of William M‘Laren is very limited. As to his nativity and parentage, I know nothing. You may take it for granted, however, as a fact, that he is the same to whom Tannahill dedicated his volume of 1807. Of that I have no doubt. I first became acquainted with him when I removed from Edinburgh to Paisley with my father's family in the year 1816. He was originally bred to the loom, but, like many others of a literary turn, he did not take kindly to his occupation. It was currently reported that he inherited from his mother, whose name I think was Scadlock, a considerable amount of money and property. Having the means of prosecuting his studies, he went to Glasgow with the intention of attending the University. Whether he ever matriculated, or made any progress in academical learning,I am unable to say. Be that as it may, I found him to be a well-informed man. He was quiet and unobtrusive in company ; but when called upon to express his sentiments on any subject, he did so with accuracy and graceful precision. He weighed his words, and uttered them with great clearness and distinctness. His conversation had nothing of the florid or the flatulent, but had more of matter of fact than of poetical diction. Long before I saw him, all the means he once possessed had slipped through his fingers, and he was reduced to the necessity of labouring at the loom for a subsistence. He was married and had a family.
It is always interesting to know something of the personal appearance of the man of whom we speak. William M‘Laren in early life must have been an eminently handsome man. He was so even in his advanced age, when I became acquainted with him. He was above the average height, erect, and stately ; compactly and firmly built ; and his fine Roman countenance rendered him conspicuous among his contemporaries as a man of aristocratic bearing and dignity. From his long and painful struggles with poverty he was at length relieved by the terrible plague which visited this country in the year 1832."
—Grian Press