James Grainger
Encyclopedia
James Grainger Scottish doctor, poet and translator, is well-known figure in 18th century English literature. Grainger graduated in medicine from the University of Edinburgh
in 1753. He is best known for his poem "Sugar-Cane" (1764). He lived in St. Kitts from 1759 on.
, Berwickshire
in southeast Scotland
, the son of a tax collector. Grainger studied medicine in Edinburgh, served as military surgeon between 1745 and 1748 and settled in practice in London, where he became the friend of Dr. Johnson, Shenstone, and other authors. His first poem, "Solitude", appeared in 1755. He subsequently went to the West Indies (St. Kitts), where he married. In 1764, James Grainger published Essay on the more common West-India Diseases, first work from the anglophone Caribbean devoted to the diseases and treatment of slaves. A self-taught Latinist, Grainger published translations of classical Latin poems, the most notable being the Elegies of Tibullus
. The poem "Sugar-Cane" remains one of the best descriptions of working life on an eighteenth-century sugar plantation
.
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in 1753. He is best known for his poem "Sugar-Cane" (1764). He lived in St. Kitts from 1759 on.
Life
James Grainger was born about 1721 in DunsDuns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
, Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
in southeast Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the son of a tax collector. Grainger studied medicine in Edinburgh, served as military surgeon between 1745 and 1748 and settled in practice in London, where he became the friend of Dr. Johnson, Shenstone, and other authors. His first poem, "Solitude", appeared in 1755. He subsequently went to the West Indies (St. Kitts), where he married. In 1764, James Grainger published Essay on the more common West-India Diseases, first work from the anglophone Caribbean devoted to the diseases and treatment of slaves. A self-taught Latinist, Grainger published translations of classical Latin poems, the most notable being the Elegies of Tibullus
Tibullus
Albius Tibullus was a Latin poet and writer of elegies.Little is known about his life. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to Tibullus are of questionable origins. There are only a few references to him in later writers and a short Life of doubtful authority...
. The poem "Sugar-Cane" remains one of the best descriptions of working life on an eighteenth-century sugar plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
.
Poetry
- The Sugar Cane (1764) http://mith2.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=grainger_sugarcane.xml
- Poems of James Grainger (1810)