James Wilson, the author of this, and the four following poetical pieces, belonged to Hexham, where he taught school until he removed to Morpeth, under pecuniary embarrassment: while here, he found a friend in the late Wallis Ogle, Esq. and was by him conducted to Cawsey Park School, where he shortly after died. When at Hexham, he published a volume of Poems printed by T. Angus, Newcastle, in 1778.
Apollo, your aid I request,
Direct and embellish each line;
With influence warm my breast,
To sing the sweet Banks of the Tyne.
If Phœbus proposes the theme,
Both reason and duty combine,
To pay my respects to the stream,
And honour the Banks of the Tyne.
Here oft with great pleasure I stray,