Alexander Tait (poet)

Alexander Tait
Born14 August 1720[1]
Innerleithen, Peeblesshire
DiedCirca 1800[2]
Tarbolton
Occupation(s)Tailor, poet

Alexander Tait, Sawney Tait or Saunders Tait[1] (14 August 1720 - circa 1800)[3] was a tailor, a published poet and also a contemporary of Robert Burns, whom he knew well. Tait was also well acquainted with the published poet and close friend of Burns, David Sillar. Tait spent much of his life in Tarbolton where he was an active member of the community. His poems were exhibited in the 1896 Burn Exhibition, a copy being loaned by the Mitchell Library.[4] He was generally known locally as 'Whip-the-cat', an old expression that referred to itinerant tailors, etc. who went from door to door to do work for others.[5]

  1. ^ a b McKay (2004), Page 81
  2. ^ Paterson (1840), Page 144
  3. ^ Paterson (1840), Page 157
  4. ^ Memorial Catalogue of The Burns Exhibition. Item 1039A.
  5. ^ Lowe (1904), Page 121