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," etc., and his translation of the first book of the "Iliad" was so good as to rouse the jealousy of Pope (1686-1740).