Poet and Orientalist, was born at East Anstruther, Fife, and educated at a school in the place, and at the University of St. Andrews, whither he went in 1799. In 1801 he became clerk to his brother, who was a corn factor at Glasgow. In 1812 he published his humorous poem, “Anster Fair,” which gradually became famous, and was at length favourably noticed by Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review. In 1813 Tennant had accepted the situation of parish schoolmaster at Denino, near St. Andrews, became teacher at Lasswade, near Edinburgh, in 1816, and in 1835 professor of Oriental languages in the University of St. Andrews. In 1840 he published grammars of the Syriac and Chaldee languages. He was also the author of a poem, “The Thane of Fife” (1822), a tragedy, “Cardinal Beaton” (1823), and a drama, “John Balliol” (1825), but their success was indifferent.

Anster Fair, 1812

  The author of “Anster Fair,” cannot long remain concealed. It contains, in my opinion, unequivocal marks of strong original genius; a vein of humour of an uncommon cast, united with a talent for natural description of the most vivid and characteristic species, and, above all, a true feeling of the sublime—forming altogether one of the most pleasing and singular combinations of the different powers of poetry that I have ever met with.

  The great charm of this singular composition consists, no doubt, in the profusion of images and groupes which it thrusts upon the fancy, and the crowd and hurry and animation with which they are all jostled and driven along; but this, though a very rare merit in any modern production, is entitled perhaps to less distinction than the perpetual sallies and outbreakings of a rich and poetical imagination, by which the homely themes on which the author is professedly employed are constantly ennobled or contrasted, and in which the ardour of a mind evidently fitted for higher tasks is somewhat capriciously expanded. It is this frequent kindling of the diviner spirit—this tendency to rise above the trivial subjects among which he has chosen to disport himself, and this power of connecting grand or beautiful conceptions with the representation of vulgar objects or ludicrous occurrences, that first recommended this poem to our notice, and still seem to us to entitle it to more general notoriety. The author is occupied, no doubt, in general, with low matters, and bent upon homely mirth;—but his genius soars up every now and then in spite of him;—and “his delights”—to use a quaint expression of Shakespeare—

  William Tennant, in his very original poem of “Anster Fair,” gave Frere and Byron more than a hint for “Whistlecraft” and “Beppo:” nor is it unjust to say that the imitators have not at all equalled the life, the naïveté, the ludicrous dashed with the solemn, and the witty with both, which characterize the poet of Dollor.

  Tennant’s first was, beyond all comparison, also his best poem.

  There was classic imagery on familiar subjects—supernatural machinery (as in the “Rape of the Lock”) blended with the ordinary details of domestic life, and with lively and fanciful description. An exuberance of animal spirits seemed to carry the author over the most perilous ascents, and his wit and fancy were rarely at fault. Such a pleasant sparkling volume, in a style then unhackneyed, was sure of success…. “Anster Fair” is the most diversified and richly humorous of them all, and besides being an animated, witty and agreeable poem, it has the merit of being the first work of the kind in our language.

  The author of “Anster Fair,” is an extraordinary instance of a single-poem poet…. Whether Tennant’s poetic vein was exhausted, or crushed beneath his weight of learning, or simply abandoned as out of keeping with his grave and reverend professorial character, we have no means of knowing. The abundance and freshness of the vein almost negatives the hypothesis of exhaustion. Even when read after “Don Juan,” “Anster Fair” must excite admiration by the flexibility and rapid freedom of its verse. There is no trace of poverty in the ornaments embroidered on the fantastically cut garment, the artist runs riot in the wealth of his fantastic imagination, spending prodigally as if from an inexhaustible purse. Tennant had told us himself that it was in laughing over “Peebles to the Play” the humorous extravaganza ascribed to James I. of Scotland, that the first thought of “Anster Fair” occurred to him, and his diction shows that he was a delighted student of Spenser and Shakespeare. It was probably from these native sources and not from the Italian masters that he drew his inspiration. His discipleship to Spenser is proclaimed in the Alexandrine with which he closes his eight-rhyme stanza. But he was no mere imitator and copyist; home-grown popular legends and popular sports supplied him with his materials, and he handled them boldly in his own fashion, transporting them into a many-colored atmosphere of humorous imagination.

  There are few poems of equal merit that are less known than “Anster Fair.” The earliest and only success of its author, it obtained a ready and hearty recognition benorth the Tweed, but its general reputation has never been at all commensurate with its excellence…. It is characterised by a vivacious freshness which nearly a hundred years have failed to destroy; a wealth of fancy that bubbles up with inexhaustible profusion, and sparkles with undimmed lustre still; an exuberance of animal spirits which is yet contagious; and an imagination prismatic in its outlook and kaleidoscopic in its rapidity of change. It is difficult to understand why it should be so little known, and still more difficult to think it can ever fail to interest while the eye loves colour and the heart loves fun.