Thomas Blacklock
Thomas Blacklock was a Scottish poet who went blind in infancy.
Life
He was born near Annan, Dumfriesshire, of humble parentage, and lost his sight as a result of smallpox when six months old. He began to write poetry at the age of 12, and studied for the Church. He was appointed minister of Kirkcudbright, but was objected to by the parishioners on account of his blindness, and gave up the presentation on receiving an annuity.During the 1750s he was sponsored by the empiricist philosopher David Hume.
He then retired to Edinburgh, where he took in boarders and became a tutor, with considerable success. He studied divinity and was made D.D. in 1767 from the Marischal College.
He published miscellaneous poems, some of which are preserved in the "Village Hymns for Social Worship" written by Asahel Nettleton and published in 1826. He is chiefly remembered for having written a letter in 1789 to Robert Burns, which dissuaded him from going to the West Indies, indirectly saving his life since the ship sank on the voyage.
The building in which he lived now contains two pubs: Peartree House and The Blind Poet.