William Henry Ogilvie

William Henry Ogilvie (21 August 1869 – 30 January 1963) was a Scottish-Australian narrative poet and horseman. He was born near Kelso, Borders, Scotland and arrived in Australia in 1889 returning to Scotland after a decade [http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poet/500.html] .

Ogilvie had a deep love of horses and riding and he naturally became interested in the outback. Before long he became an expert station hand, drover and horse breaker, working on such stations as Belalie on the Warrego, and Maoupe in South Australia. [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110076b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography] ] He was a friend of Harry "Breaker" Morant [http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/42203-William-Henry-Ogilvie-Harry-Morant Old Poetry] ] and was described as a quiet-spoken Scot of medium height, with a fair moustache and red complexion. He wrote lyrical and romantic poetry noted for its balladic style, with expressive descriptions of outback life and characters. Will, as he was known, also wrote a great deal of work on English and Scottish themes and his work has been included in collections of English and Scottish poetry. All of his work was originally published in and he is most closely associated with Australia.

His love of the outback, dogs and horses is well-reflected in his work ("My Life in the Open, Kelpies, The Australian"). A collection of Will Ogilvie's poetry was published in ("Saddle for a Throne" 1952 ISBN 0-9599299-4-0) and was "Dedicated to Comrades of Camp-fire and Muster"; the book contains a foreword by R. M. Williams, who met him in the late 1940's and who was instrumental in publishing the works.

A formal portrait of Ogilvie posing with his Miniature Fox Terrier hangs in the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

A cairn to Ogilvie exists between the villages of Ashkirk and Roberton in Scotland. [http://www.treklens.com/gallery/photo333672.htm TrekLens] ]

Bibliography

Poetry Collections

* "Fair Girls and Gray Horses: with other verses" (1898)
* "Hearts of Gold and Other Verses" (1903)
* "Rainbows and Witches" (1907)
* "The Land We Love" (1910)
* "The Overlander and Other Verses" (1913)
* "Gray Horses" (1914)
* "Fair Girls" (1914)
* "The Australian and Other Verses" (1916)
* "Galloping Shoes: verses" (1922)
* "Scattered Scarlet" (1923)
* "Over The Grass" (1925)
* "My Mither's Aunt And Other Verses" (1926)
* "Hunting Rhymes" (1927)
* "A Handful of Leather" (1928)
* "A Clean Wind Blowing : songs of the out-of-doors" (1930)
* "The Collected Sporting Verse of Will H. Ogilvie" (1932)
* "Saddles Again" (1937)
* "From Sunset to Dawn" (1946)
* "Saddle For a Throne" (1952)
* "Breaker's Mate : Will Ogilvie in Australia" (1996)

hort Story Collections

* "The Honour of the Station" (1914)

References