W. F. Marshall

Who was W. F. Marshall?

Reverend William Forbes Marshall BA. LLB. DD. MRIA was an Ulster Poet and Presbyterian Minister from Sixmilecross, County Tyrone, Ireland.

Marshall's father was principal teacher in Sixmilecross National School, where he was first educated. He was further educated at Royal School Dungannon and then Queens College Galway. He served as a Presbyterian Minister at Castlerock, County Londonderry for over thirty years.

Known as "The Bard of Tyrone", Marshall composed poems such as Hi Uncle Sam, Me an' me Da, Sarah Ann and Our Son.

Marshall was a leading authority on Mid Ulster English, and broadcast a series on the BBC entitled Ulster Speech. A prolific writer and poet, he also wrote Ulster Sails West, a book on people from Ulster who settled in North America during the 18th century.

The W.F. Marshall Summer School is an annual event held at Magee College in Derry in honour of Marshall.