MICKLE, WILLIAM JULIUS (1735-1788)

—Poet, s. of the minister of Langholm, Dumfrie hire, was for some time a brewer in Edin., but failed. He went to Oxf., where he was corrector for the Clarendon Pre . After various literary failures and minor succe es he produced his translation of the Lusiad , from the Portuguese of Camoens, which brought him both fame and money. In 1777 he went to Portugal, where he was received with distinction. In 1784 he pub. the ballad of Cumnor Hall , which suggested to Scott the writing of Kenilworth . He is perhaps best remembered, however, by the beautiful lyric, There's nae luck aboot the Hoose , which, although claimed by others, is almost certainly his.