William Cleland (c. 1661 – 21 August 1689) was aScottish poet and soldier.

William was the son of Thomas Cleland, gamekeeper to theMarquess of Douglas, chief of theHouse of Douglas. He was probably brought up on the Douglas estate, centred atDouglas Castle,Lanarkshire, and was educated atSt Andrew's University. Immediately on leaving college he joined the army of theCovenanters, and was present at theBattle of Drumclog, where, saysRobert Wodrow, some attributed to Cleland the manoeuvre which led to the victory.^[1]

He also fought at theBattle of Bothwell Bridge. He and his brother James were described in a royal proclamation of 16 June 1679, among the leaders of the insurgents. He escaped toHolland, but in 1685 was again in Scotland in connection with theabortive invasion led byArchibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll. He escaped once more, to return in 1688 as agent forWilliam III of England (William of Orange).^[1]

He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of theCameronian regiment raised from the Marquess' tenantry and a minority of the western Covenanters who consented to serve under William II. The Cameronians were entrusted with the defence of Dunkeld, which they held against the fierce assault of theJacobites on 21 August at theBattle of Dunkeld where William Cleland was killed. His Major was wounded and the command fell toGeorge Munro. The defeat of the Jacobites at Dunkeld ended theJacobite rising, but Cleland fell in the struggle^[1] from gunshot wounds to the head and liver.^[2]

HisCollection of several Poems and Verses composed upon various occasions was published posthumously in 1697. OfHullo, my fancie, whither wilt thou go? only the last nine stanzas are by Cleland. His poems have small literary merit, and are written, not in pureLowland Scots, but in English. with a large admixture of Scottish words. The longest and most important of them are the mock poemsOn the Expedition of the Highland Host who came to destroy the western shires in winter 1678 andOn the clergie when they met to consult about taking the Test in the year 1681.^[1]

• Scottish literature

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cleland, William".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 481.

• Scottish male poets
• 1660s births
• 1689 deaths
• Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action
• Covenanters
• People of the Jacobite rising of 1689
• 17th-century Scottish poets
• 17th-century Scottish male writers

• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica articles with no significant updates