Scottish poet and philosopher. His best known work, Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth (1770) was both successful and influential. His poem The Minstrel (1771-1774) details the natural education of a young shepherd who eventually attains poetic genius. He published a number of other philosophical, theological, and linguistic works, several collections of poems, and, in 1778, a collection entitled Essays on Poetry and Music As They Affect the Mind.