Career
Both his contemporary and later critics have called him “the Canadian Robert Burns”, an earlier Scottish national poet who also authored Scottish traditional verse. McLachlan’s bound verse includes the titles The Spirit of Love (1846), Lyrics (1858), The Emigrant (1861) and Poems and Songs (1871). McLachlan was born in Johnstone, Scotland, to Charles McLachlan and Jean Sutherland.
In 1820, his father immigrated to Canada and settled in Caledon Township on 100 acres of land, leaving his family in Scotland.
At some point in the 1830s, he died, leaving Alexander his land. McLachlan immigrated in 1840.