Wilson the Politician
Wilson was undoubtedly a political person. His tales dealt with everyday life of everyday people, with many strong female characters at the centre of them, not just the Kings and heroes of antiquity. This is perhaps why it was said every cottager's dwelling had a copy of The Bible, Scot’s Worthies and Wilson's Tales of the Borders. Not Sir Walter Scott works, but Wilson's were the choice of the common man.
It is clear from his correspondence which survives that he was a man of principle and he campaigned for causes he believed to be right. This included his lectures on the benefits of Temperance. One of his main friends in life was the preacher James Everett who lived in Manchester at the time of Wilson's correspondence with him.
Wilson's political inclination was apparent from an early age. His poem "A Glance At Hinduism" written in his teens was essentially a call to campaign to end the practice of burning the living widows of Hindu dead on their funeral pyres.
He used his position as editor of the Berwick Advertiser to express his views on the political issues of the day and the paper was much expanded and improved during his tenure. Please refer to Mike Fraser's “Powerful magnets draw me North“, published by the project for more analysis of this.
The key debate of his time was what was known as “The perilous question”, which led ultimately to The Great Reform Act of 1832. The issue was whether to widen the entitlement to vote further, with only about 1% of the population actually having a vote in what was supposed to be a democracy. Wilson was all for widening the vote, though the Reform Act only increased this to around 4% of the population. It did however curb the extent of rotten boroughs and give previously unrepresented industrial centres such as Manchester and Birmingham MPs for the first time. But it was another step on from The Magna Carta in a direction that would gather momentum over time.
Wilson died young, on the cusp of success and popularity. One can only wonder what future both literary and political might have lain ahead for him had he survived his fatal illness.
FURTHER READING:
Wilson's correspondence with Everett can be accessed at The National Library of Scotland under reference : MS 11000, folio 77.257-68 and related.