Alexander Smith (1830-1867) was a Scottish poet, and labeled as one of the Spasmodic School. His first job was in a linen factory as a pattern designer. His early poems appeared in the Glasgow Citizen. When his poetry had fallen out of favor, Smith turned his attention to prose, and published Dreamthorp: Essays written in the Country (1863) and A Summer in Skye (1865). After marrying a woman from Skye, Skye became to him the dearest spot on earth. It braced his powers of thought and action. The Introduction says "The book may fitly be described as a prose poem-an idealisation of those aspects of Skye life, scenery, and history which appeal to the poetical and historical imagination. Smith is anything but systematic in the treatment of his theme."