Davidson, John

Davidson, John, 1857–1909, Scottish poet. After teaching in Scotland he went to London. There, struggling with poverty and illness, he wrote Fleet Street Eclogues (1893; Ser. 2, 1896), Ballads and Songs (1894), New Ballads (1897), literary dramas, and novels. He established a small reputation as a lyric poet, but he earned little money. Despairing, he drowned himself in the ocean near Penzance in 1909.