Eric Mackay, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Eric Mackay

British poet

Date of Birth: 25-Jan-1831

Place of Birth: London

Date of Death: 02-Jun-1898

Profession: poet

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

George Eric Mackay (1835–2 June 1898) was an English minor poet, now remembered as the sponging half-brother of Marie Corelli, the best-selling novelist.
Mackay and Corelli, born Mary Mackay, were the children of Charles Mackay, by different mothers (Mary was illegitimate, with Charles marrying her mother subsequently).
As a poet he is described as "execrable", and reliant on Corelli's promotion of his works.
His first works appeared in periodicals in the early 1860s; he achieved some reputation in his time for Letters of a Violinist (1886).
It sold 35,000 copies; he repaid Corelli's efforts by implying he wrote her novels.A 1940 biography of Corelli, George Bullock's Marie Corelli: The Life and Death of a Best-Seller, hinted that the relationship was incestuous; this has generally been discounted, though Eric's laziness and lack of scruples are acknowledged.
This was an old rumour, attributed to Edmund Gosse.