Campbell, Thomas (1777–1844)

Scottish poet. After the successful publication of his philosophical poem The Pleasures of Hope (1799), he travelled in Europe, where he wrote the stirring song ‘Ye Mariners of England’ and witnessed from a distance the battle which inspired another war song ‘The Battle of Hohenlinden’. He also wrote notable ballads, including ‘Lord Ullin's Daughter’.

Campbell was born in Glasgow and studied there; in 1795 he went to the Isle of Mull as a tutor. Two years later he settled in Edinburgh to study law, but instead wrote The Pleasures of Hope, which went through four editions within a year of publication. In 1800 he visited Munich, Leipzig, and Copenhagen. While staying in Hamburg he met the hero of his ‘Exile of Erin’.

He contributed articles to the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, and edited the New Monthly Magazine 1820–30. In the 1820s he was involved in the founding of the University of London.