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Thereafter he wrote little. Of a simple and gentle character, he made many friends, including the Duke of Argyll, Carlyle, and Lord Houghton. He generally wrote under the name of "Surfaceman." Churchman and scholar, was b. in London, and ed. at Merchant Taylor's School and Cambridge, where he took a fellowship and taught divinity.
When first I met him he was in the railway service, a labourer on the permanent way, what is called a surfaceman in Scotland, a platelayer in England and a milesman in Ireland. Self taught, he became proficient in French, German and Italian, and was able to enjoy in their own language the literature of those countries.
The author, who was probably more or less insane, is described as having a very peculiar aspect, with the manner of a gentleman, scarcely ever stirring abroad except at dusk. He reached the age of 97. Poet, s. of a quarrier at Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, became a surfaceman on the railway.
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