Elizabeth S. MacLeod

This article is about the Canadian poet born in 1848; for the 21st-century Canadian writer of similar name, see Elizabeth MacLeod.

Elizabeth Susan MacLeod (23 February 1842 – 15 January 1939) was a Scottish-born Canadian poet, called the "Island Poetess" in reference to her adopted home, Prince Edward Island.

Elizabeth S. MacLeod
Elizabeth S. MacLeod, from an 1893 publication
Born	Elizabeth Susan MacQueen 23 February 1842 Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.
Died	15 January 1939 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Other names	E. S. MacLeod
Occupation	Poet

Early life and education

Elizabeth Susan MacQueen was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of Martin MacQueen and Sophia (or Susan) E. Treherne MacQueen. She attended Bishop's School in Dundee.^[1][2]

Career

MacLeod was known as the "Island Poetess", for her strong identification with Prince Edward Island after immigrating to marry in 1878.^[2][3] Her foray into historical fiction, Donalda (1905), was considered less successful than her patriotic poetry. "She has written some fair verse, but it is quite clear that she knows little of prose," commented a review in The Canadian Magazine.^[4]

Publications

• Carols of Canada (1893, poetry) ^[5]
• "Alexander MacKenzie" (1900, poem)^[6]
• For the Flag; or, Lays and Incidents of the South African War (1901, poetry and nonfiction)^[7][8]
• Donalda, A Scottish-Canadian Story (1905, novel)^[9]
• "The Olden Flag" (1907, poem)^[10]

Personal life

MacQueen married her second cousin, Alexander D. MacLeod, a customs official based on Prince Edward Island. They had sons Victor and Hugh. Her husband died in 1907,^[2] and she died in 1939, at age 96, in Charlottetown.^[11][12]