Edwin Waugh

Edwin Waugh (1817 Rochdale – 1890 New Brighton), poet, son of a shoemaker, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12. While still a young man he worked as a journeyman printer, travelling all over England, but eventually returned to his old job in Rochdale.Hollingworth, Brian, ed. (1977) Songs of the People. Manchester: Manchester University Press; p. 155

Waugh read eagerly, and in 1847 became assistant secretary to the Lancashire Public School Association and went to work in Manchester. He first attracted attention by his sketches of Lancashire life and character in the Manchester Examiner. His first book Sketches of Lancashire Life and Localities was published in 1855 while he was working as a traveller for a Manchester printing firm. He wrote also in prose Factory Folk, Besom Ben Stories, and The Chimney Corner. By 1860 he was able to become a full-time writer but by 1881 he was in poor health and was granted a Civil List pension of £90 p.a. His best work was, perhaps, his Lancashire dialect songs, collected as Poems and Songs (1859), which brought him great local fame. He was possessed of considerable literary gift, and has been called "the Lancashire Burns." His most famous poem is "Come whoam to thi childer an' me", 1856.Hollingworth...
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