Robert Stephen Hawker (b.
Stoke Damerell[?] December 3,
1803 d.
August 15,
1875 in
Plymouth) was the poet vicar and
antiquarian of
Morwenstow[?] in
Cornwall, and best known as the writer of Cornwall's "national anthem" "The Song of the Western Men", better known for its chorus line "
And shall Trelawney die?". His name became nationally famous after
Charles Dickens acknowledged his authorship of "The Song of the Western Men" in the serial magazine
Household Words.
His eccentric life was the subject of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould's The Vicar of Morwenstow (1875). The book was not well-received by Hawker's many friends.
He is buried in Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth, England.