John Home
John Home Leith Grammar School | |
---|---|
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Genre | Playwright |
Notable works | Douglas |
Rev John Home
Biography
He was born on 2 September 1722 in
John was educated at the
In July 1746, Home was presented to the parish of Athelstaneford in East Lothian, which had been left vacant by the death of Robert Blair. In his spare time he visited his friends in Edinburgh and became especially close to David Hume who was a distant cousin. Other friends included Adam Smith, Adam Fergusson and William Robertson.
Home's first play, Agis, founded on Plutarch's narrative, was completed in 1747. He took it to London, England, and submitted it to David Garrick for representation at Drury Lane, but it was rejected as unsuitable for the stage. The tragedy of Douglas was suggested to him by hearing a lady sing the ballad of Gil Morrice or Child Maurice (Francis James Child, Popular Ballads, ii. 263). The ballad supplied him with the outline of a simple and striking plot.
After five years, he completed his play and took it to London for Garrick's opinion. It was rejected, but on his return to Edinburgh his friends resolved that it should be produced there. It was performed on 14 December 1756 with overwhelming success, in spite of the opposition of the
In 1758, Home became private secretary to Lord Bute, then secretary of state, and was appointed tutor to the prince of Wales; and in 1760 his patron's influence procured him a pension of £300 per annum and in 1763 a sinecure worth another £500. Garrick produced Agis at Drury Lane on 21 February 1758. By dint of good acting and powerful support, according to Genest, the play lasted for eleven days, but it was lamentably inferior to Douglas. In 1760 his tragedy, The Siege of Aquileia, was put on the stage, Garrick taking the part of Aemilius. In 1769 another tragedy, The Fatal Discovery ran for nine nights; Alonzo (1773) also had fair success; but his last tragedy, Alfred (1778), was so coolly received that he gave up writing for the stage.[1]
Home was also an active participant in the social life of Edinburgh, and joined the Poker Club in 1762.[6]
In May 1763 he succeeded George Lind as MP for Edinburgh.[7]
On 15 July 1770, he married Mary Home (died 1816)(his second cousin, once removed). [8] Mary was the daughter of the Reverend William Home (c1706-1784), minister of firstly Polwarth, then secondly Fogo. They had no children.
In 1778, he joined a regiment formed by the Duke of Buccleuch. He sustained severe injuries in a fall from horseback which permanently affected his brain, and was persuaded by his friends to retire. From 1767, he resided either at Edinburgh or at a villa which he built at Kilduff near his former parish. It was at this time that he wrote his History of the Rebellion of 1745, which appeared in 1802.
Home died at Merchiston Bank, near Edinburgh, in his eighty-sixth year, on 4 September.[1] He was buried on 5 September in South Leith Parish Church.[9]
Works
The Works of John Home were collected and published by
Memorials
Home is amongst the sixteen writers and poets depicted on the lower capital heads of the Scott Monument on Princes Street in Edinburgh. He appears at the far right side on the east face.
A small bronze plaque stands near the site of his home on Maritime Street in Leith. His house was demolished in the 1950s and now holds a modern housing development (Bell's Court).
References
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Home, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 626. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ [1][1722 HOME, JOHN (Old Parish Registers Births 692/ 2 Leith South) Page 213 of 699]
- ^ Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh; vol. 6, p. 240
- ^ Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh; vol. 6, p. 240
- ^ Boswell, Life, ed. Croker, 1348, p. 300
- ^ Poker Club Archived 12 August 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Scots Magazine May 1763 vol 23
- ^ The_Works_of_John_Home_Esq Volume 1.pdf Page 63
- ^ "South Leith Gravestones". The History of Leith. 20 December 2003. Archived from the original on 1 January 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ "Review of The Works of John Home, Esq.; now first collected: to which is prefixed an Account of his Life and Writings. By Henry Mackenzie, Esq., F.R.S.E. 3 vols. 1824". The Quarterly Review. 36: 167–216. June 1827.
External links
- John Home at James Boswell – a Guide
- Graham, Henry Grey (1901), "John Home" in Scottish Men of Letters in the Eighteenth Century, London: Arthur & Charles Black, pp. 60–77