Wilson, John

John (1785-1854), a Scottish man of letters. He was educated at Glasgow and at Oxford. He was a fine scholar and was considered an athlete. A modest inheritance rendered him independent for a time of his profession of the law. Frequent papers in Blackwood's over the pen name of Christopher North brought him into notice. He became a professor of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. His most popular work is the Noctes Ambrosianae, descriptive extracts from which have found their way into school readers. His magazine articles were collected under the title of Recreations of Christopher North. Such subjects as catching a trout, coursing a hare, and the rescue of a child from the eagle's nest he handles admirably. See Hogg; Jeffrey; Aytoun; Blackwood; William