Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Tennant, William

TENNANT, WILLIAM, a Scotch poet; born in Anstruther, Fifeshire, May 15, 1784, studied for some time at the University of St. Andrews, was for several years a clerk, devoted himself then to teaching, and, being a good Oriental linguist, was in 1835 appointed to the chair of Oriental languages in St. Mary's College, St. Andrews. His chief production is “Anster Fair,” a humorous poem of Scottish life in the same stanza as Byron's “Don Juan,” which it preceded, being published in 1812. Besides “Anster Fair,” Tennant was the author of several other poems and some dramas. None of them, however, attained any success. Grammars of the Syriac and Chaldee tongues were also published by him. He died near Dollar, Scotland, Feb. 15, 1848.