HOME, JOHN (1722-1808), Scottish dramatic poet, was born at Leith. Graduating M.A. at Edinburgh university he was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Edinburgh in 1745. In July 1746 Home was presented to the parish of Athelstaneford, Haddingtonshire. His first play, Agis: a tragedy, founded on Plutarch, was rejected by Garrick. The ballad of Gil Morrice or Child Maurice (F. J. Child, Popular Ballads, ii. 263) supplied him with the outline of the simple and striking plot of Douglas, on which he spent five years' labour. The play was rejected by Garrick, but was produced in Edinburgh on Dec. 14, 1756 with overwhelming success, in spite of the opposition of the presbytery, who summoned Alexander Carlyle to answer for having attended its representation. Home wisely resigned his charge in 1757, after a visit to London, where Douglas was brought out at Co vent Garden on March 14. Peg Woffington played Lady Ran dolph, a part which found a later exponent in Mrs. Siddons. Gray said that the author "seemed to have retrieved the true language of the stage," but Samuel Johnson held aloof from the general enthusiasm. Home died at Merchiston Bank, near Edin burgh, on Sept. 5, 1808.
The Works of John Home were collected and published by Henry Mackenzie in 1822 with "An Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. John Home." Poems omitted from this edition are printed in vol. ii. of Original Poems by Scottish Gentlemen (1762) . See also Sir W. Scott, "The Life and Works of John Home" in the Quarterly Review (June, 1827). Douglas is included in numerous collections of British drama.