classical phrase and caused a far-sounding shout of Ad scholam to be piped when the hour for opening the school approached. He also taught himself French and two or three other Continental languages, without, of course, becoming scholastically proficient; and I think he also knew a little Greek and Hebrew, on which he occasionally held consultations with his friend the Rev. James Mackenzie of the Free Abbey Church. He kept well abreast, too, with modern science and literature, as his published essays and lectures show. He was held in respect by the most cultured men in the town.In 1850, Macansh's anthology The Social Curse (or Intemperance): A Rhyme and Other Pieces was published in Edinburgh. The 'Rhyme' of the title extended to fifty-three pages and was accompanied by fifty-three 'Other Pieces'. Several of his poems had already been published in the Scotsman in 1828 and 1830, Tait's Magazine and The Edinburgh Literary Journal. Published works The Social Curse (or Intemperance): A Rhyme and Other Pieces published Edinburgh 1850 Two Essays on the Benefits of Savings Banks to the Working Classes by Alexander Macansh and James Cousin. Published Dunfermline 1852 Working Man's Bye-Hours: Essays, Lectures, Poems. published by William Clark, Dunfermline, 1866 References 1866 deaths 1811 births 19th-century Scottish poets People from Dunfermline Scottish male writers