Neil Dougall

DOUGALL, Neil. b. Greenock, near Glasgow, 9 December 1776; d. Greenock, 1 October 1862. He was the son of a joiner. His father was captured by the press gang and died on service abroad. When Neil left school at Greenock, he became a sailor in the merchant marine. In 1794 he lost part of his eyesight and the use of one arm in a gunnery accident while celebrating the victory over the French by Admiral Lord Howe on ‘the glorious first of June’. Leaving the sea, he became a teacher of singing, and kept a boarding house at Greenock. He published Poems and Songs by Neil Dougall, with a Memoir of the Author (1854), including a tribute to Robert Burns, songs, and ‘Sacred Pieces’. He composed many...