Robert Ferguson (Fergusson Robert)

(1750-1774)
Born September 5, 1750 in Edinburgh. His parents were simple people, the family - a large. Ferguson was educated at a grammar school in Dundee and the University of St Andrews, where to cast more than hope, not justified because of poverty and ill health. He was forced to leave school and go to the court clerk in the office, where he worked for the remaining years of his short-lived.
Early poetry Ferguson has been sustained by the adoption in 18 in. pastoral tradition, but he soon turned to the specifics of Scotland, followed by A. Ramsay (1686-1758) and anticipating R. Burns. The successes and failures Ferguson, the poet goes back to the general problem of the close link between the Scottish and English literature. The question was: should the Scottish poet to imitate the conventions and language of English poetry, such as allegory of the court 15 in. or artificial pastorals 18. or write about the real life of their region in their native language. Ferguson chose the latter - and achieved something spectacular, something questionable success. Hopeless poverty and ailments ultimately brought Ferguson to the insanity. Ferguson died in Edinburgh on 16 October 1774.