Among the famous ed. of the _Poems_ may be mentioned the first
(Kilmarnock 1786), Edin. (1787), and the _Centenary_ (1896), by W.E.
Henley and T.F. Henderson.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1759, flax-dresser at Irvine 1781, farms at Mossgiel, has
love affair with Jean Armour, _pub._ first ed. of poems 1786, visits
Edin. 1786, goes to Ellisland, became exciseman 1789, _pub._ songs, _c._
1791, _d._ 1797.


BURTON, JOHN HILL (1809-1881).--Historian, was _b._ and _ed._ at
Aberdeen, was in 1831 called to the Bar, but had little practice, and in
1854 was appointed Sec. to the Prison Board of Scotland, and in 1877 a
Commissioner of Prisons. He became at an early period of his life a
contributor to _Blackwood's Magazine_ and other periodicals, and in 1846
_pub._ a life of Hume, which attracted considerable attention, and was
followed by Lives of Lord Lovat and Lord President Forbes. He began his
career as an historian by the publication in 1853 of _History of Scotland
from the Revolution to the Extinction of the last Jacobite Insurrection_,
to which he added (1867-70) _History of Scotland from Agricola's Invasion
to the Revolution_, in 7 vols., thus completing a continuous narrative.
Subsequently he _pub._ a _History of the Reign of Queen Anne_ (1880).
Other works of a lighter kind were _The Book-Hunter_ (1862), and _The
Scot Abroad_ (1864). B.'s historical works display much research and a
spirit of candour and honesty, and have picturesque and spirited
passages, but the style is unequal, and frequently lacks dignity. On the
whole, however, his is regarded as the most generally trustworthy and
valuable history of Scotland at present existing.