FERGUSON, DUGALD (1833-1920) was born in Argyllshire, on the shores of Loch Fyne. At the age of 18 he sailed for Australia in the Sussex and was employed by an uncle on a sheep station in Wimmera. He spent about 10 years on sheep stations far up the Darling River and droving and dealing, and came to Otago in 1862. He had an interest in stations in Southland and at Tapanui and made a good deal of money selling cattle on the West Coast (1865).

Ferguson was fond of poetry and wrote much verse of good quality. His first small volume of poems appeared in the seventies, some of the verses being dated 1873. In 1883 appeared Castle Gay and Other Poems, a considerable collection, followed by Poems of the Heart (1897) and Job and Other Poems (1898). He was a sound versifier and wrote on a great variety of topics. He rarely used the Scots dialect. In 1893 he published in London Bush Life in Australia and New Zealand, an interesting story revealing many of his own experiences.

Ferguson, op. cit. (p); Hocken, Bibliog.; Otago Daily Times, 31 Jan 1920.

Reference: Volume 1, page 140

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