Editing Scottish Enlightenment (section)

===Literature===
{{Main article|Scottish literature in the eighteenth century}}
Major literary figures originating in Scotland in this period included [[James Boswell]] (1740–95), whose ''An Account of Corsica'' (1768) and ''[[The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides]]'' (1785) drew on his extensive travels and whose ''[[Life of Samuel Johnson]]'' (1791) is a major source on one of the English Enlightenment's major men of letters and his circle.<ref>E. J. Wilson and P. H. Reill, ''Encyclopedia Of The Enlightenment'' (Infobase, 2nd ed., 2004), {{ISBN|0816053359}}, p. 68.</ref> [[Allan Ramsay (poet)|Allan Ramsay]] (1686–1758) laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature, as well as leading the trend for pastoral poetry, helping to develop the [[Habbie stanza]] as a [[poetic form]].<ref>J. Buchan, ''Crowded with Genius'' (London: Harper Collins, 2003), {{ISBN|0-06-055888-1}}, p. 311.</ref> The lawyer [[Henry Home, Lord Kames]] (1696–1782) made a major contribution to the study of literature with ''Elements of Criticism'' (1762), which became the standard textbook on rhetoric and style.<ref>J. Friday, ed., ''Art and Enlightenment: Scottish Aesthetics in the Eighteenth Century'' (Imprint Academic, 2004), {{ISBN|0907845762}}, p. 124.</ref>

[[Hugh Blair]] (1718–1800) was a minister of the Church of Scotland and held the Chair of Rhetoric and [[Belles Lettres]] at the University of Edinburgh. He produced an edition of the works of [[Shakespeare]] and is best known for ''Sermons'' (1777–1801), a five-volume endorsement of practical Christian morality, and Lectures on Rhetoric and ''Belles Lettres'' (1783). The former fused the oratorical arts of humanism with a sophisticated theory on the relationship between cognition and the origins of language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eddy |first1=Matthew Daniel |title=The Line of Reason: Hugh Blair, Spatiality and the Progressive Structure of Language |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |date=2011 |volume=65 |pages=9–24 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1112084 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2010.0098|s2cid=190700715 }}</ref> It influenced many leading thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, including Adam Smith and Dugald Stewart.

Blair was one of the figures who first drew attention to the [[Ossian]] cycle of [[James Macpherson]] to public attention.<ref>G. A. ''Kennedy, Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition Form Ancient to Modern Times'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1999), {{ISBN|0807861138}}, p. 282.</ref> Macpherson (1736–96) was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation. Claiming to have found poetry written by the ancient bard Ossian, he published "translations" that were proclaimed as a Celtic equivalent of the [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] [[Epic poetry|epics]]. ''Fingal'', written in 1762, was speedily translated into many European languages, and its appreciation of natural beauty and treatment of the ancient legend has been credited more than any single work with bringing about the Romantic movement in European, and especially in German literature, through its influence on [[Johann Gottfried von Herder]] and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]].<ref>J. Buchan, ''Crowded with Genius'' (London: Harper Collins, 2003), {{ISBN|0-06-055888-1}}, p. 163.</ref> Eventually it became clear that the poems were not direct translations from the Gaelic, but flowery adaptations made to suit the aesthetic expectations of his audience.<ref>D. Thomson, ''The Gaelic Sources of Macpherson's "Ossian"'' (Aberdeen: Oliver & Boyd, 1952).</ref>

Before [[Robert Burns]] (1759–96) the most important Scottish language poet was [[Robert Fergusson]] (1750–74), who also worked in English. His work often celebrated his native Edinburgh and Enlightenment conviviality, as in his best known poem "Auld Reekie" (1773).<ref name=Carruthers2009pp58-9>G. Carruthers, ''Scottish Literature'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009), {{ISBN|074863309X}}, pp. 53–54.</ref> Burns, an Ayrshire poet and lyricist, is now widely regarded as the [[national poet]] of Scotland and became a major figure in the Romantic movement. As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected [[folk songs]] from across Scotland, often revising or [[Literary adaptation|adapting]] them.<ref>{{cite journal |author=L. McIlvanney |date=Spring 2005 |title=Hugh Blair, Robert Burns, and the Invention of Scottish Literature |journal=Eighteenth-Century Life |volume=29 | issue = 2 |pages=25–46 |doi=10.1215/00982601-29-2-25|s2cid=144358210 }}</ref> Burns's poetry drew upon a substantial familiarity with and knowledge of [[Classics|Classical]], [[Biblical]], and [[English literature]], as well as the Scottish [[Makar]] tradition.<ref name=Literary-Style>Robert Burns: "[http://www.blurbwire.com/topics/Robert_Burns::sub::Literary_Style Literary Style] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016215809/http://www.blurbwire.com/topics/Robert_Burns::sub::Literary_Style |date=2013-10-16 }}". Retrieved on 24 September 2010.</ref>