Definition of Alexander wilson

For other people named Alexander Wilson, see Alexander Wilson (disambiguation).

Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, the son of an illiterate distiller. In 1779 he was apprenticed as a weaver. His main interest at this time was in writing poetry, and his poems commenting on the unfair treatment of the weavers by their employers got him into trouble with the authorities. The "golden age of Renfrewshire song" is embodied in the persons of Wilson and Robert Tannahill. Robert Burns was eight years older than Tannahill. He was born near the Hammils, a broad if not steep waterfall in Paisley where the River Cart skirts Seedhill. It does indeed appear to be the case, as William Motherwell states, that a great amount of literary activity began in Paisley around this time.