writing classes in Ayr academy for a quarter of a year. Proceeding then to Edinburgh, he was for some time employed in the house of Charles Hay, after which he obtained an engagement in the family of General Hay of Rannes, in honour of whose daughter, who had nursed him while suffering from typhus fever, he composed the well-known song, ‘Bonnie Mary Hay,’ which originally appeared in the ‘Ayr and Wigtownshire Courier.’ Returning to Ayr with his earnings in 1811, he entered into business as a grocer, but this not proving successful he became an auctioneer, and also took a small shop for the sale of furniture. Having been indulged by his employers with the use of their libraries, Crawford had found the means of cultivating his literary tastes, and in 1819 ventured on authorship, by publishing anonymously ‘St. James's in an Uproar,’ of which three thousand copies were sold in Ayr alone, and for which the printer was apprehended and compelled to give bail for his appearance. In the same year Crawford began to contribute to the ‘Ayr and Wigtownshire Courier’ a number of pieces in prose and verse. They included a series of sketches founded on traditions in the west of Scotland, which in 1824 were published by subscription in a volume under the title ‘Tales of a Grandfather,’ new and enlarged edition in two volumes, by Archibald Constable & Co. in 1825. Shortly afterwards, in conjunction with one or two friends, he commenced a weekly serial in Ayr entitled ‘The Correspondent,’ which, however, on account of a disagreement between the originators, was only continued for a short time. Subsequently he brought out, on his own account, ‘The Gaberlunzie,’ which extended to sixteen numbers. To the publication he contributed a number of tales and poems, among the latter of which ‘Scotland, I have no home but thee,’ was set to music and soon became popular. In his later years he contributed articles in prose and verse to the ‘Ayr Advertiser.’ He died at Ayr 6 Jan. 1843.
[Charles Rogers's Modern Scottish Minstrel, vi. 31–3; Anderson's Scottish Nation.]
CRAWFURD, GEORGE (d. 1748), genealogist and historian, was the third son of Thomas Crawfurd of Cartsburn. He was the author of a ‘Genealogical History of the Royal and Illustrious Family of the Stewarts from the year 1034 to the year 1710; to which are added the Acts of Sederunt and Articles of Regulation relating to them; to which is prefixed a General Description of the Shire of Renfrew,’ Edinburgh, 1710; ‘The Peerage of Scotland, containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom,’ Edinburgh, 1716; and ‘Lives and Characters of the Crown Officers of Scotland, from the Reign of King David I to the Union of the two Kingdoms, with an Appendix of Original Papers,’ vol. i. 1726. The ‘Description of the Shire of Renfrew’ was published separately, with a continuation by Semple, at Paisley in 1788, and a second edition, with a continuation by Robertson, also at Paisley, 1818. The works, though now practically superseded, display considerable learning and industry. When Simon Fraser resolved to lay claim to the barony of Lovat, he employed Crawfurd to investigate the case, and to supply materials to support his pretensions. It is said to have been chiefly due to the researches of Crawfurd that Fraser obtained a favourable decision, but he nevertheless declined to pay Crawfurd anything for his trouble. Justly indignant at his meanness, Crawfurd used to call him one of the greatest scoundrels in the world, and threaten if he met him to break every bone in his body. The ‘Letters of Simon, Lord Fraser, to George Crawfurd, 1728–30,’ while the case was in progress, are published in the ‘Spottiswoode Miscellany,’ 400–9. He died at Glasgow, 24 Dec. 1748. By his wife, Mary, daughter of James Anderson, author of ‘Diplomata Scotiæ,’ he had four daughters.
[Scots Mag. x. 614; Spottiswoode Miscellany as above; Anderson's Scottish Nation; Cat. of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]
CRAWFURD, JOHN (1783–1868), orientalist, was born on 13 Aug. 1783, in the island of Islay, where his father had settled as a medical practitioner. He received his early education in the village school of Bowmore, and in 1799, at the age of sixteen, he entered on a course of medical studies at Edinburgh. Here he remained until 1803, when he received a medical appointment in India, and served for five years with the army in the North-west Provinces. At the end of that time he was, most fortunately in the interests of science, transferred to Penang, where he acquired so extensive a knowledge of the language and the people that Lord Minto was glad to avail himself of his services when, in 1811, he undertook the expedition which ended in the conquest of Java. During the occupation of Java, i.e. from 1811 to 1817, Crawfurd filled some of the principal civil and political posts on the island; and it was only on the restoration of the territory to the Dutch that he resigned office and returned to England. In the interval thus afforded him from his official duties he wrote
