W. F. Marshall

Reverend William Forbes Marshall BA. LLB. DD. MRIA (8 May 1888 - January 1959) was a Presbyterian Minister and poet from Sixmilecross, County Tyrone, Ireland.

Marshall's father was principle teacher in Sixmilecross National School, where he was first educated. He was further educated at Royal School Dungannon (for which Marshall wrote the school song) and then Queens College Galway. He served as a Presbyterian Minister at Castlerock, County Londonderry for over thirty years.

Known as "The Bard of Tyrone", Marshall composed poems such as "Hi Uncle Sam", "Me an' me Da" (subtitled "Livin' in Drumlister"), "Sarah Ann" and "Our Son".

Marshall was a leading authority on the Ulster Scots language and broadcast a series on the BBC entitled "Ulster Speech". A prolific writer and poet, he also wrote "Ulster Sails West", a book on people from Ulster who settled in North America during the 18th century.

The W.F. Marshall Summer School is an annual event held at Magee College in Londonderry in honour of Marshall.

External links

* [http://www.ulsterancestry.com/newsletter-content.php?id=377]
* [http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/wfmarshall.htm Ulster History Circle]