Editing Adam Smith (section)

===Early life===

Smith was born in [[Kirkcaldy]], in [[Fife]], Scotland. His father, Adam Smith senior, was a Scottish [[Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet|Writer to the Signet]] (senior [[Scots law#Legal profession|solicitor]]), [[Advocate#Scotland|advocate]] and [[Prosecutor#Scotland|prosecutor]] (judge advocate) and also served as [[comptroller]] of the customs in Kirkcaldy.<ref name="rae 1895 1">{{harvnb|Rae|1895|p=1}}</ref> Smith's mother was born Margaret Douglas, daughter of the landed Robert Douglas of Strathendry, also in Fife; she married Smith's father in 1720. Two months before Smith was born, his father died, leaving his mother a widow.<ref>{{harvnb|Bussing-Burks|2003|pp=38–39}}</ref> The date of Smith's baptism into the [[Church of Scotland]] at Kirkcaldy was <!-- 5 June is OS; 5 June is NS. -->5 June 1723<ref>{{harvnb|Buchan|2006|p=12}}</ref> and this has often been treated as if it were also his date of birth,<ref name="rae 1895 1"/> which is unknown.

Although few events in Smith's early childhood are known, the Scottish journalist [[John Rae (biographer)|John Rae]], Smith's biographer, recorded that Smith was abducted by [[Romani people|Romani]] at the age of three and released when others went to rescue him.{{efn|In ''Life of Adam Smith'', Rae writes: "In his fourth year, while on a visit to his grandfather's house at Strathendry on the banks of the Leven, [Smith] was stolen by a passing band of gypsies, and for a time could not be found. But presently a gentleman arrived who had met a Romani woman a few miles down the road carrying a child that was crying piteously. Scouts were immediately dispatched in the direction indicated, and they came upon the woman in Leslie wood. As soon as she saw them she threw her burden down and escaped, and the child was brought back to his mother. [Smith] would have made, I fear, a poor gypsy."<ref name="rae 1895 5" />}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/placename/?id=1451|title=Fife Place-name Data :: Strathenry|website=fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk|access-date=11 November 2020|archive-date=19 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719200533/https://fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/placename/?id=1451|url-status=live}}</ref> Smith was close to his mother, who probably encouraged him to pursue his scholarly ambitions.<ref name="Bussing-Burks 2003 39">{{harvnb|Bussing-Burks|2003|p=39}}</ref> He attended the [[Burgh School of Kirkcaldy]]—characterised by Rae as "one of the best secondary schools of Scotland at that period"<ref name="rae 1895 5">{{harvnb|Rae|1895|p=5}}</ref>—from 1729 to 1737, he learned [[Latin]], mathematics, history, and writing.<ref name="Bussing-Burks 2003 39"/>