A minor English poet, born at Bridekirk, Cumberland; enjoyed the friendship and favour of Addison, who praised him in the Spectator , and held till his death the appointment of secretary to the Lords Justices of Ireland; his poetry does not count for much in the history of English literature, but he was happy in the composition of occasional poems, e. g . "The Prospect of Peace," "The Royal Progress," and in ballads, such as "Colin and Lucy," &c., and his translation of the first book of the "Iliad" was so good as to rouse the jealousy of Pope (1686-1740).