HANNAY

hannay, james (1827-1873), scottish critic, novelist and publicist, was born at dumfries on the 17th of february 1827. he came of the hannays of sorbie, an ancient galloway family. he entered the navy in 1840 and served till 1845, when he adopted literature as his profession. he acted as reporter on the _morning chronicle_ and gradually obtained a connexion, writing for the quarterly and monthly journals. in 1857 hannay contested the dumfries burghs in the conservative interest, but without success. he edited the _edinburgh courant_ from 1860 till 1864, when he removed to london. from 1868 till his death on the 8th of january 1873 he was british consul at barcelona. his letters to the _pall mall gazette_ "from an englishman in spain" were highly appreciated. hannay's best books are his two naval novels, _singleton fontenoy_ (1850) and _eustace conyers_ (1855); _satire and satirists_ (1854); and _essays from the quarterly review_ (1861). _satire_ not only shows loving appreciation of the great satirists of the past, but is itself instinct with wit and fine satiric power. the book sparkles with epigrams and apposite classical allusions, and contains admirable critical estimates of horace (hannay's favourite author), juvenal, erasmus, sir david lindsay, george buchanan, boileau, butler, dryden, swift, pope, churchill, burns, byron and moore. among his other works are _biscuits and grog, claret cup_, and _hearts are trumps_ (1848); _king dobbs_ (1849); _sketches in ultramarine_ (1853); an edition of the _poems_ of edgar allan poe, to which he prefixed an essay on the poet's life and genius (1852); _characters and criticisms_, consisting mainly of his contributions to the _edinburgh courant_ (1865); _a course of english literature_ (1866); _studies on thackeray_ (1869); and a family history entitled _three hundred years of a norman house_ (the gurneys) (1867).