chinks left in the basalt in the process of its volcanic formation. Burns, during his residence near Kirkoswald, must have often heard of their reputation as haunts of the fairies. They are six in number, and are thus described in the Rev. Mr Biggar's statistical account of the parish of Kirkoswald: "Of the three towards the west, the largest has its entry as low as high water mark. The roof is about fifty feet high, and has the appearance as if two large rocks had fallen together, forming a gothic arch, though very irregular; it extends inwards about two hundred feet, and varies in breadth. It communicates with the other two, which are both considerably less, but of much the same irregular form. Towards the east are the other three coves, which likewise communicate with each other. They are nearly of the same height and figure with the others; but their dimensions have not been ascertained. To the largest of the three westmost coves, [those immediately under the castle] is a door or entry, built of free stone, with a window three feet above the door, of the same kind of work; above both of these is an apartment, from which might be sent down whatever could annoy the assailants of the door." We have seen reason to surmise, that this mason work is as old as the former mansion of Colzean: it gives the place all the appearance of having been designed as a habitation, and one calculated to protect its

inmates from hostile assault.

JOHN MOORE, M. D.

JOHN MOORE, M.D., one of the first men of established literary reputation who befriended the Ayrshire poet, was the son of the Reverend Charles Moore, minister of the gospel at Stirling. This gentleman, although born in Ireland, was a cadet of the Scotch house of Mure of Rowallan, in Ayrshire; his ancestor, Captain Alexander Mure, the son of Sir William Mure of Rowallan, and Anna Dundas of Newliston, having been slain in an action about the year 1648, with the rebels in Ireland, where his family continued to reside. The son of this gentleman was a military officer, who also served in Ireland under William the III.; and it was perhaps owing to the family connection with Scotland, as much as to his talents, and exemplary character, that the son of the last Captain Moore was, although an alien to the country, advanced in early life to the parochial charge at Stirling, where his son, Dr John Moore, the subject of the present notice, was born, in 1730.* His father died while Dr Moore was yet a child, when his mother removed with him to Glasgow, where she possessed some property, inherited from her father, Anderson of Dowhill, whose family, once in circumstances of great affluence in that city, had suffered

*The family of Mure of Rowallan is said to have been originally of the tribe of O'More in Ireland, so that Captain Mure's descendants in changing the spelling of the name, only reverted to the original orthography. Robert II., king of Scotland, married Elizabeth Mure, daughter of Sir Adam Mure of Rowallan, and from this marriage the royal family of Stuart is descended.-See Historie and Descent of the House of Rowallan, by Sir William Mure, knight of Rowallan.

much, according to Wodrow, the historian, from fines imposed in the reign of James the II., for their adherence to Presbyterianism; and the participation of the last laird of Dowhill, in the Darien expedition, reduced the family to comparative poverty. On a temperament such as that of the author of Zeluco, it does not seem unreasonable to conclude, that the position in which his earlier years were passed, may have exercised no inconsiderable influence in promoting those habits of industry and exertion, for which, in after life, he was eminently distinguished. At Glasgow, Dr Moore received both his elementary and academical education. So precocious were his talents, that in 1747, when only seventeen years of age, he was honoured with the especial patronage of Colonel Campbell, of the 54th regiment, afterwards the fifth Duke of Argyle, by whom he was introduced to the hospitals connected with the British army in Flanders, and brought under the notice of various distinguished officers, as a young man likely to be an ornament to the medical profession. At the conclusion of the war, he was for some time an attaché to the British Embassy of Lord Albemarle, in Paris. He afterwards settled in practice in Glasgow, as the partner of Mr Hamilton, the university professor of anatomy. While, however, the professional accomplishments of Dr Moore were never made the subject of doubt, a certain dislike to the drudgery of medical practice prevented him from enjoying that amount of public patronage to which he was entitled by his talents. It was therefore with no unwilling mind that, early in 1769, though for some years married and the father of several children, he agreed to take the charge of the young Duke of Hamilton, step-son of his first patron, a youth of fourteen, possessed of the most excellent dispositions, but whose health was such as to require the constant attendance of a physician. With this young nobleman, Dr Moore made one short excursion on the continent. But the connection was abruptly dissolved in July by the death of the Duke, upon whose tomb his affectionate attendant inscribed a poetical epitaph, testifying to the promise which was thus early blighted.

In the following year, Dr Moore was selected to attend the next brother and heir of the deceased Duke-the noted Douglas, Duke of Hamilton, now a sickly boy, and as yet innocent of the vices that ultimately clouded a career which talent and generosity had combined with almost princely rank and fortune to render illustrious. Dr Moore and this young nobleman spent five years in continental travel, finally returning in 1778 when his Grace had attained his majority. In that year Dr Moore removed his family to London, with the design of prosecuting his profession in a higher sphere than could be commanded in Glasgow. As yet, though advanced to middle life, he had given the world no decided proof of his literary talents; but this he now did (1779) by the publication of his "View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland, and Germany,”—a work of so much vivacity and intelligence, that it instantly attained a great popularity in the author's own country, and was translated into French, German, and Italian. Encouraged by the success of his first literary venture, he soon after published a similar work on Italy, which was, however, less favourably received.

That he might not be supposed to have abandoned his profession in favour of letters, he produced, in 1785, a volume entitled "Medical Sketches," which treats, says one of his biographers, "rather in a popular than a scientific manner, on several important topics relative to health and disease, not without an intermixture of pleasant stories and humorous sarcasm-but, though it proved him to be a man of good sense, and one who had studied his profession, it does not appear that his practice in London ever extended beyond his particular acquaintance." It was at the close of the ensuing year that his attention was drawn to the poetry of Burns. Some expressions of admiration which he had employed regarding it, in a letter to Mrs Dunlop, and which that lady transmitted to Burns, led to a correspondence between the learned physician and the comparatively unlettered bard, in which the one party appears kind without the least affectation of superiority, and the other respectful with as little display of servility. To Dr Moore, the poet, in the ensuing August, (1787), addressed a sketch of his own life, which was published in the front of Dr Currie's memoir, and has effectually associated the names of these very opposite men in our literary history.

Dr Moore, when on the verge of sixty, (1789), appeared for the first time as a writer of fiction. His novel of "Zeluco," which was then published, assumed, and has ever since maintained, a respectable place amongst works of that class, on account of the powerful moral painting which forms the most conspicuous feature of its composition. His subsequent novels, entitled "Edward," and "Mordaunt," respectively published in 1796 and 1800, were less esteemed. But before the first of these works was written, his attention had been engaged by the progress of the French Revolution. The interest he felt in the affairs of France, and probably some design of making them the subject of a book, induced him to proceed, late in the summer of 1792, to Paris. He there witnessed the insurrection of the 10th of August, the dethronement of the king, the terrific massacres of September, and the tremendous party struggles which marked the remainder of the year. He was consequently enabled to gratify the curiosity of the British public by a work under the title of "A Journal during a Residence in France, &c." which is allowed by his liberal contemporary, Dr Aiken, to be written with impartiality and discernment. A subsequent work, under the title of "A View of the Causes and Progress of the French Revolution," closes the list of Dr Moore's publications. After several years spent in ease and retirement, at Richmond, he died at his house in Clifford Street, London, February 29, 1802. He left five sons, the eldest of whom was the gallant and lamented Sir John Moore.

Several likenesses of Dr Moore were painted at different times. There is a portrait at Hamilton palace, by Gavin Hamilton, which has been engraved in Anderson's edition of this author's works, but which pourtrays very imperfectly the intellectual features of one, whose name it may be permitted to hope, is destined "to live in his land's language." In Corswall house in Wigtonshire, the seat of his son, Mr James Carrick Moore, there is a fine portrait of Dr Moore, by Sir Thomas Lawrence; but both this portrait, and an en