DUNBAR. 520 DUNCAN. The Sport of the Gods (1902) ; and one or two other prodnftious in prose. DUNBAR', WiLLi.vM (c-.14G5-lo2o?). The greaU>st of the old Scottish poets. Of his life very little is known, but lie was born between 1400 and 1465, probably in East Lothian, and is supposed to be the William Dunbar who en- tered Saint Andrews University in 1475 and graduated as M.A. in 1470. He cannot be traced at all during the next twenty-one years. From his poem, "Visitation of Saint Francis," we learn, liowevcr. that he joined tle Order of Franciscans and afterwards left it. He says that as a begging friar he traveled from Berwick to Canterbury, and crossed over to Picardy. By 1500 he was in the service of .James IV. of Scotland. In that year he was granted an annvuil pension of £10, afterwards increased to £20, and then to £80. In 1.501 he seems to have visited England in the train of the ambassadors sent thither to con- clude the negotiations for the King's marriage to Margaret Tudor. Early in 1503, before the Queen's arrival, he composed, in honor of the event, an allegorical poem entitled "The Thistle and the Rose." He seems now to have lived chief- ly about court, writing poems, and sustaining himself with hope of preferment in the Church. After the ruinous defeat at Flodden. and the confusion consequent on the King's death and a prolonged regency. I)inbar's iiame disappears altogether. He probably died between 1520 and 1530. As a poet he possessed a variety of gifts. He is at times as rich in fancy and color as Spenser in the Faerie Queeii : as homely, and shrewd, and coarse as Chaucer in the Miller's Tale; as pious and devotional as Cowper in his Hymns: and as Avildly grotesque in satire as Burns in his Death and Doctor Ttornhool;. Be- sides the beautiful allegory cited above. Dunbar wrote another called "The (iolden Targe." He is at his very best in the satires "The Two ]Mar- ried Women and the Widow" and "The Dance of the Deadlv Sins." His TForts were edited by Laing (2 vols.. Edinburgh. 1S34) : also by Small and Mackav, for the Scottish Text Society (Edin- burgh, 1884-03). Consult Schipper. 'n'illiam Dunbar, sein Leben und seine Gediehte (Berlin, 1884). DUNBAR'TON (Scotland). See Dimb.rton. DUNBIRD, ur DfXKER. See Pochard. DUNCAN, Ad.m, first Viscount Duncan of Canipcnluwn (1731-1804). A British admiral, born at I.undie. Forfar. Scotland. He was edu- cated at Dundee, and entered the navy in 1746, became lieutenant in 1755, and fought against the French at Gorfe, Africa. In 1761 he was promoted to be commander, served in the expedi- tion against Belle Isle, and in the capture of Havana in the following year. He was engaged at the battle of Cape Saint Vincent, in 1780, and at the relief of Gibraltar two years later. He was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue in 1789, and became vice-admiral in 1793. In 1705 Duncan was made commander-in-chief of the United English and Russian squadron in the North Sea, and shortly afterwards was appointed admiral. In the Nore Mutiny (1797), Duncan, who was a man of herculean proportions, six feet four inches in height, and strikingly handsome, quelled the disafTection on his vessel by displays of personal strength and the force of his personal- ity. His strategical blockade of Texcl with two ships was one of the most ellective ever made, and on October 11, 1797, near C'amperdown, he destroyed the Dutch ticct on its way to invade Ireland, and took .dniiral De Winter prisoner. Ten days later he was created Baron of Lundie and Lord Viscount Duncan of Camperdown. While traveling to Edinburgh he died suddenly at Cornhill Inn, near t'oldstream. Consult: James, XaiaJ History of Great Britain (London, 1822) ; Yonge, History of the British Xavy, vol. i. (London, 1863). DUNCAN, John (1706-1870). A Scottish theologian and Hebraist, born at Aberdeen and educated at Marisehal College. He was sent to Pest, in 1840, as a missionary for the conver- sion of the Jews, and counted among his con- verts the celebrated Dr. Edersheim and the Rev. Dr. Adolph .Saphir, afterwards a minister of the English Presbyterian Church, London. After his return from Pest, in 1843, he was appointed professor of Oriental languages in Xew College, Edinbursrh. a position which he retained until his ilcalh. DUNCAN, .John (1805-49). An African traveler, bom near Kirkcudbright, X. B. He enlisted in the army at an early age. In 1842 he went to Africa as a member of the Niger Expedition, and took a prominent part in nego- tiating treaties with the natives. The party subsequently was stricken with fever, and of the 300 men who had embarked in this ex- pedition, only five, including Diincan. succeed- ed, after almost incredible hardships, in reaching England. In 1844 Duncan i)enetrated from the western coast to Whydah. and subsequently passed through Dahomey to Adofidiah. In 1847 he p'.dilished an interesting account of this expe- dition in the work entitled Travels in Western Afrira in 18 'lO and lS'i(>. DUNCAN, Sarah .Teanette. See Cotes, Sarii .Ikanettk. DUNCAN, Thomas (1807-45). A Scottish historical and genre painter, born at Kinclaven. Perthshire. Des|)ite early indication'^ of artistic talent, he was a]i])renticed by his father to a law writer. He studied painting in the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh, under William Allen. His (irst pictures to attract wide attention were a "."Scotch :Milkmaid" and the "Death of Old Mor- tality," exhibited in London, at the Royal In- stitution, in 1829. In 1830 he was made a mem- ber of the Royal Scottish Academy, in which he became a professor, first of color, then of draw- ing. In 1840 he was maile master of the Trustees' -Academy. Edinburgh, and in 1843 an associate of the Royal Academy. He died in Edinburgh, on .])ril 25. 1845. Duncan devoted himself to por- traiture. Init his best-known works are genre and historical pictures, taken from the history and life of the Scottish people. One of his best- known paintings is "Prince Charles and the Highlanders Entering Edinburgh." exhibited in London in 1810. into which he introduced the portraits of distinguished Scotchmen of the day. His best-known genre picture i« the "Waefu' Heart," from the ballad of ". ld Robin Gray." now hung in the South Kensington Museum. The most interesting of his portraits is his own. ex- hibited in 1846. after his death. If was pur- chased by fifty Scottish artists and presented to the Royal Scotch Academy. Duncan's drawing was careful, and his paintings show some gift of
