author
A. H. (Alexander Hamilton) Laidlaw
1869–1908
Best known today for the poetry collection Soldier Songs and Love Songs, this little-known late-19th-century writer also published short fiction. The surviving record is slim, which gives the work an extra air of discovery for modern listeners.
1 Audiobook
Soldier Songs and Love Songs
by A. H. (Alexander Hamilton) Laidlaw
About the author
A. H. Laidlaw, identified in library records as Alexander Hamilton Laidlaw, lived from 1869 to 1908. His work survives mainly through public-domain archives and catalog records rather than through a large modern biography, so only a few details can be confirmed with confidence.
He is associated with at least two published books: How She Married Him, and Other Stories (1892), a small volume of fiction, and Soldier Songs and Love Songs (1898), a collection of poems. The poetry pairs martial themes with more tender, romantic pieces, showing a writer interested in both public feeling and private emotion.
Because so little biographical material is readily documented, Laidlaw remains one of those authors whose books speak more clearly than the historical record. For listeners, that can be part of the appeal: a chance to meet a voice from the 1890s almost entirely through the writing itself.