Person

Drummond, William Henry, 1854-1907

1854-1907

William Henry Drummond, dialect poet and physician, was born April 13, 1854, at Currawn House, near Mohill, County Leitrim, Ireland, the son of George Drummond (originally Drumm), offer of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and of Elizabeth Morris Soden. In 1856, the Drummond family moved to Tawley near the "Three Sisters" mountains and the Bay of Donegal, where they lived at Tawley Manor House. Drummond's three brothers, John, George, and Tom, were born here. Paddy McNulty, the teacher at the village school, became Drummond's life-long friend. At this time, Drummond learned the art of finishing which he practised throughout his life.

The family moved to Montreal in 1864. Drummond attended the High School of Montreal, but left at age fifteen to study telegraphy. His work as a telegrapher brought him into contact with the habitant farmers and woodsmen whose broken English he was to imitate in his poetry. Drummond entered McGill in 1878 to study Medicine but failed his second year. He received his M.D. from Bishop's Medical School in 1884. After a short period in Knowlton, Quebec, Drummond set up practice in Montreal. At this time, he became interested in the breeding of Irish Terriers. In 1894, he married May Isabel Harvey of Savanna la Mar, Jamaica. His book, The Habitant, was published in 1897 with an introduction by Louis Frechette. Drummond died in 1907 as a result of a stroke while assisting in a smallpox outbreak at Cobalt, Ontario, where he owned mining property.