University of Glasgow in 1846. He was a member of the Percy Society. He died in London. Works Mackay published Songs and Poems (1834), a History of London, The Thames and its Tributaries or, Rambles Among the Rivers (1840), Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841). Mackay wrote a historical romance titled Longbeard, about the medieval rebel, William Fitz Osbert. He is also remembered for his Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe and the later Dictionary of Lowland Scotch in which he presented his "fanciful conjectures" that "thousands of English words go back to Scottish Gaelic". The linguist Anatoly Liberman has described MacKay as an "etymological monomaniac" commenting that "He was hauled over the coals by his contemporaries and never taken seriously during his lifetime". In 1877, Mackay published his two-volume Forty Years' Recollections of Life, Literature, and Public Affairs. From 1830 to 1870 (London: Chapman & Hall). In volume 2, Mackay describes a journey he made to Famine Ireland in 1849 (pp. 2:76–148). His fame chiefly rested upon his songs, some of which, including "Cheer Boys Cheer", were set to music by Henry Russell in 1846, and had an astonishing popularity. Some popular poems include "You have no enemies, you say?" and "Who shall be fairest?" Mackay also authored a book in 1885 on the Founding Fathers of the United States titled The Founders of the American Republic: A History and Biography that included profiles on George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison. References Attributions External links Sheet Music with words by Charles Mackay on IMSLP Poems by Charles Mackay at English Poetry 1814 births 1889 deaths Scottish journalists Writers from Perth, Scotland Scottish sceptics 19th-century British journalists British male journalists Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 19th-century Scottish poets Scottish newspaper editors Scottish male poets 19th-century British male writers 19th-century Scottish novelists Scottish historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages