Allan Cunningham was a prolific author in a variety of genres. His poetry, much of it in dialect, is generally accomplished and memorable, although his drama and fiction are only of historical interest. During the latter part of his career he became a literary biographer, producing a reference work on British literature and biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, and James Thomson.

Cunningham was born in a cottage in the parish of Keir in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, on 7 December 1784. His father, John Cunningham, was employed at that time as a factor at Blackwood House, the estate of a Mr. Copeland. Two years later the family moved to Dalswinton, where John Cunningham took a similar position on the estate of Patrick Miller, an eminent businessman who was associated with the development of steam navigation. Allan Cunningham's mother, Elizabeth Harley Cunningham, was the daughter of a Dumfries merchant; Cunningham's biographer...