{\b Allan Cunningham}.

{\b Date of Birth}.: 7 December 1784

{\b Date of Death}.: 30 October 1842

{\b Works}.

Scottish poet. He is chiefly remembered for his lyrical poems, such as 'A Wet 
Sheet and a Flowing sea' and 'Hame, Hame, Hame'. He wrote several biographies, 
including Lives of Eminent British Painters, Sculptors and Architects 
(1829-33). He also edited Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish 
Peasantry (1822), The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern (1825) and The 
Works of Robert Burns (1834).

{\b Featured Works}.

'A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea', 'Hame, Hame, Hame', 'Nature', 'The Morning'.

{\b General Comment}.

Cunningham's parents were neighbours of Robert Burns, and he attended Burns' 
funeral when he was twelve. By this time he had already begun his 
apprenticeship as a stonemason, but he was a keen reader in his spare time; 
his enthusiasm for literature was encouraged by his friendship with the poet 
James Hogg. Through Hogg he was introduced to Sir Walter Scott another writer 
he admired greatly.

He began his writing career in 1810, when he succeeded in passing off some of 
his own work as traditional Scottish ballads in Robert Cromek's collection 
Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song. Cromek found  Cunningham a job in 
London, as secretary to the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey. Once he had settled 
in the capital, he established himself as a journalist, writing for the London 
Magazine and Blackwood's, and compiled his books of traditional poems and 
tales. His edition of Burns, which incorporated an important biography, was 
the culmination of a lifelong admiration.