Biography

John Ogilvie. (1733-Ca. 1813) (aka. Ogilvie the Poet)

Poet, clergyman and literary critic. Ordained as minister of the parish of Midmar in 1759. Ogilvie produced a great deal over a period of 50 years, beginning in 1753 or 1758 with The day of Judgment. A poem. Later came such works as Providence, an Allegorical Poem (1764), Poems on Several Subjects (1769), Philosophical and Critical Observations on the Nature, Characters, and Various Species of Composition (1774), Britannia: A Natural Epic Poem, in Twenty Books (1801) and The Triumphs of Christianity over Deism (1805) Described as the most ardent mid-century proponent of personification.¹ He was a prominent member of the same literary circles as David Hume, Lord Kames and James Macpherson, although of limited powers compared to the others.²

Life with James Boswell:

Ogilvie came to London in the beginning of July 1763, and visited and dined with Boswell on some occasions.

On July 6, 1763, Boswell played the host, in Mitre Tavern, to an exclusive company consisting of Ogilvie, Dr. Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Davies and a Mr. Eccles. Of the occasion Boswell wrote "We talked of Scotland. Ogilvie, who is a rank Scot, defended his native land with all the powers that he could muster up." Those powers were not enough to hold an attack from Johnson, of course, although it would probably have been difficult for any man to win a case for Scotland in that exact company.

External links:

• Significant Scots: John Ogilvie - at Electric Scotland

Literature:

Quite a few of Ogilvie's books are available via the Abebooks used books search engine. Try searching for the specific titles or just for author John Ogilvie and title Poem

This article was last updated at February 04 2008 14:18:06 CET

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