A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Home, John
Home, John (1722-1808).—Dramatist, s. of the Town Clerk of Leith, where he was b., ed. there and at Edin., and entered the Church. Before doing so, however, he had fought on the Royalist side in the '45, and had, after the Battle of Falkirk, been a prisoner in Doune Castle, whence he escaped. His ministerial life, which was passed at Athelstaneford, East Lothian, was brought to an end by the action of the Church Courts on his producing the play of Douglas. This drama, which had been rejected by Garrick but brought out in Edin. in 1756, created an immense sensation, and made its appearance in London the following year. H. then became private sec. to the Earl of Bute, who gave him the sinecure of Conservator of Scots Privileges at Campvere in Holland. Thereafter he was tutor to the Prince of Wales (George III.), who on his accession conferred upon him a pension of £300. Other plays were The Siege of Aquileia, The Fatal Discovery (1769), Alonzo, and Alfrec (1778), which was a total failure. He also wrote a History of the Rebellion. In 1778 he settled in Edin., where he was one of the brilliant circle of literary men of which Robertson was the centre. He supported the claims of Macpherson to be the translator of Ossian.