Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macdonald, Andrew
MACDONALD, ANDREW (1755?–1790), dramatist and verse-writer, son of George Donald, gardener, was born at Leith about 1755. Educated in Leith and at Edinburgh University, he received deacon's orders in the Scottish episcopal church in 1775, when he lengthened his surname to Macdonald. After being tutor for a year at Gask, Perthshire, he was appointed in 1777 to a charge in Glasgow. Although apparently a good preacher, he met with little success, and an imprudent marriage injured his prospects. Resigning his charge, he settled in Edinburgh as a literary man, and ultimately tried his fortune in London. Here his prospects brightened. His tragedy called 'Vimonds,' which had been successfully played in Edinburgh, with a prologue by Henry Mackenzie, was accepted by Colman, and was produced at the Haymarket on 5 Sept. 1787 (Genest, Account of the Stage, vi. 455). It proved popular, and a repetition of the success next year was encouraging, but Macdonald's other dramatic efforts were failures. Adopting the pseudonym of 'Matthew Bramble,' Macdonald amused London for some time with poetical burlesques, cleverly modelled on 'Peter Pindar' (cf. D'Israeli, Calamities of Author's). Macdonald's health failed very suddenly, and he died in Kentish Town, London, 22 Aug. 1790, leaving his widow and a child destitute.
In 1782 Macdonald published 'Velina, a Poetical Fragment'—a clever piece in Spenserian stanza—which was followed in 1783 byan unsuccessful novel, 'The Independent.' Besides ' Vimonda,' published in 1768, on which his dramatic reputation rests, he left an unfinished tragedy, 'The Fair Apostate,' an opera, 'Love and Loyalty,' a comedy, 'Princess of Tarento,' various 'Probationary Odes for the Laureateship,' kc. A posthumous volume of sermons, 1790, secured some popularity, and Macdonald's 'Miscellaneous works,' including all his known writings, appeared in 1791.
[Lives of Scottish Poets, by the Society of Ancient Scots; Baker's Biog. Dramatica 1812; Chambers's Eminent Scotsmen.]