John Mayne (1759–1836) was a Scottish printer, journalist and poet born in Dumfries.
[1] It is a humorous work on an ancient custom in Dumfries of shooting for the "Siller Gun."
Educated at the local grammar school, he became a printer in the office of the Dumfries Journal.
In 1787 he settled in London, first as a printer, and then as proprietor and joint editor of The Star, an evening paper, in which he placed his poems.
[4] Mayne wrote poetry in Dumfries, and after 1777 he contributed poems to Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, Edinburgh.
[4] Mayne's Siller Gun was based on a Dumfries wapinschaw: the competitors were members of the corporations, and the prize a silver cannon-shaped tube presented by James VI.