Charles Gray (captain)

Charles Gray (1782–1851) was a Scottish captain in the Royal Marines, known as a song-writer.

Life

Gray was born at Anstruther, Fifeshire, on 10 March 1782. His education and early training fitted him for the sea, and in 1805, through the influence of a maternal uncle, he received a commission in the Woolwich division of the Royal Marines. He was thirty-six years in the service, and retired on a captain's full pay in 1841. He spent the remainder of his days in Edinburgh.

Works

He published in 1811 Poems and Songs, which went into a second edition at the end of three years. In 1813, on a visit to Anstruther, he had joined in the formation of a ‘Musomanik Society,’ a medium through which, in the four years of its existence, the members made original contributions to Scottish song.

During his naval career, Gray had practised lyric composition, and when he retired in 1841 he published his second volume Lays and Lyrics. Several of these poems were set to music by Peter M'Leod, and in one of them—‘When Autumn has laid her sickle by’—he makes almost the only pointed allusion to his life at sea. He contributed to Wood's ‘Book of Scottish Song,’ and he is one of the numerous lyrists in ‘Whistle-Binkie.’

Besides his original verse Gray wrote some criticism. About 1845 he contributed to the Glasgow Citizen ‘Notes on Scottish Song,’ which include passages on Robert Burns.

Family

Gray married early, his wife, Jessie Carstairs, being sister of the Rev. Dr. Carstairs, of Anstruther. She and one of her two sons predeceased Gray, at whose death, on 13 April 1851, the remaining son was a lieutenant in the Royal Marines.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gray, Charles". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

Persondata
Name	Gray, Charles
Alternative names
Short description	Captain in the Royal Marines
Date of birth	10 March 1782
Place of birth	Anstruther, Fifeshire
Date of death	13 April 1851
Place of death