He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) and entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1708, aged sixteen, but (as was common in those days) he left without obtaining a degree.
He is known to have been George Frederick Handel's librettist for three works: Alexander's Feast (1736), Samson (1743) and the Occasional Oratorio (1746).
His comedy The Petticoat-Plotter was presented at Drury Lane on 5 June 1712 and The Doating Lovers was premièred at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre on 23 June 1715.
His work is discussed in Terence Tobin, Plays by Scots 1660-1800 (University of Iowa Press, 1974) and by Adrienne Scullion in Bill Findlay, A History of Scottish Theatre (Edinburgh: Polygon, 1998)
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