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The Motivated Mind
For the first time ever the work of each contributor is presented in a single volume
so readers can follow the themes and progress of their work and identify the
contributions made to, and the development of, the fields themselves.
Each book in the series features a specially written introduction by the contributor
giving an overview of their career, contextualizing their selection within the
development of the field, and showing how their thinking developed over time.
Arie W. Kruglanski
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Arie W. Kruglanski
The right of Arie W. Kruglanski to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Kruglanski, Arie W., author.
Title: The motivated mind : the selected works of Arie W. Kruglanski /
Arie W. Kruglanski.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017060861 (print) | LCCN 2017061073 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315175867 (Ebk) | ISBN 9781351708029 (Adobe) |
ISBN 9781351708012 ( Epub) | ISBN 9781351708005 (Mobipocket) |
ISBN 9781138039438 (hbk)
Subjects: LCSH: Motivation (Psychology) | Cognition.
Classification: LCC BF503 (ebook) |
LCC BF503. K78 2018 (print) | DDC 153.8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017060861
Typeset in Baskerville
by Keystroke, Neville Lodge, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
PART I
How people know 17
PART II
How people want 205
Index 367
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Taylor & Francis for permission to include the following:
Kruglanski, A. W., Dechesne, M., Orehek, E., & Pierro, A. (2009). Three decades of lay
epistemics: The why, how and who of knowledge formation. European Review of Social
Psychology, 20, 146–191
Epistemic motivations
My argument that the inferential principle of lay knowledge is of the “if–then”
form was influenced by my immersion in the contemporary philosophy of
science that was making exciting strides in the 1960s and the 1970s, as
represented in the writings of Karl Popper (e.g., 1949, 1966), Thomas Kuhn
(1962), Imre Lakatos (1971), Paul Feyerabend (1975), and their counterparts.
One notion that their analyses made crystal clear is that the process of knowledge
formation is never complete. It is always possible to test one’s hypotheses again
and again, to gather further information, or replicate one’s former observations.
Confidence is never conferred by an objective state of affairs. It constitutes a
psychological state of mind rather than one uniquely determined by actual
states of the world. How is it, I then wondered, that individuals are able to reach
confident knowledge, and why is it that given the same amount of information
some persons may experience supreme confidence, whereas others may feel
uncertain and indecisive?
In my attempt to solve this puzzle, I proposed the notion of epistemic motivations.
These are motivations concerning the features of desired beliefs. I distinguished in
this regard between the needs for specific and nonspecific closure, the former
representing the quest for (non-directional) certainty on a topic—the latter the
need to reach judgments consistent with one’s wishes. The function of these
epistemic motivations is to serve as stopping mechanisms instilling in the individual
the confidence that she or he has enough evidence to warrant a definite judgment.
As mentioned earlier, such confidence constitutes a subjective experience and is in
the eye of the beholder.
The work on the need for cognitive closure benefited from my collaboration
with several outstanding researchers at diverse world locations: Antonio Pierro
and Lucia Mannetti of the University of Rome, Malgorzata Kossowska of the
Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Arne Roets of the University of Ghent, and
Ying Yi Hong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This research resulted in
scores of empirical articles including three theoretical analyses published in the
Psychological Review (Kruglanski, 1980; Kruglanski & Webster, 1996; Kruglanski,
Pierro, Mannetti, & De Grada, 2006). The most recent review of the closure work
was published in 2015 authored by an international team headed by Arne Roets
(Roets, Kruglanski, Kossowska, Pierro, & Hong, 2015).
Speaking in general 5
Epistemic authority
The third facet of my theory of lay epistemics, concerned the source of the infor-
mation. The source may often serve as evidence for the validity of a proposition;
it may function as an antecedent in the inferential “if–then” rule according to a
premise of the kind “if the information comes from source X, then it can be
trusted.” There are two quintessential sources that fulfill this evidential function.
One is the individual’s own epistemic “machinery,” that is, her or his senses, per-
ceived access to information and self-ascribed deductive ability, on all of which
individuals may vary. In other words, individuals may attribute to themselves dif-
ferent degrees of epistemic authority, reflecting the degree of confidence they may
have in understanding a given aspect of the world on their own.
For instance, individuals may differ in the acuity of their eyesight, some boasting
20/20 vision while others having impaired vision for various reasons. A person
whose eyesight is weak would not trust the evidence of his or her eyes to the same
degree as a person whose eyesight was good, for example. One’s self-ascribed
epistemic authority might also vary across domains, depending on one’s extent of
training and expertise in a given subject matter. A person might feel confident
about his or her assessment of abstract art, but feel completely at a loss when it
comes to plumbing, car mechanics, medicine, etc.
The other source of knowledge on which we may rely is other people assumed to
have general or specific epistemic authority in various domains. It is to them that
we turn for interpretation and elucidation when our own perceived self-authority
in given domains is lacking. Little children rely in this way on their adult caregivers,
as do adults in areas outside their sphere of expertise.
These three dimensions of lay epistemics, the inferential, the motivational and the
evidential, are represented in Chapter 2, on the how, the why and the who of knowl-
edge formation. Chapter 3, on “seizing” and “freezing,” describes the extensive
work on the need for cognitive closure carried out by my colleagues and me,
looking at this motivation’s implications for judgment and decision making at the
individual level of analysis. Chapter 4 is written in collaboration with Gerd
Gigerenzer and is devoted to an analysis of the inferential aspect of epistemics.
This chapter argues that the basic inferential mechanism involved in what has
been generally regarded as two qualitatively distinct modes of reaching judg-
ments, that is, the “fast” and the “slow” ways of thinking (Kahneman, 2011) or the
reflexive and reflective modes (Strack & Deutsch, 2004). Indeed, this Kruglanski
and Gigerenzer chapter elaborates a parsimonious, evidence-based, alternative
to the popular dual process theories known as the unimodel, whereby the different
instances of judgment share the same underlying process and vary along quan-
titative parameters (e.g. on the extent of processing) rather than qualitatively.
Political ideology
The last chapter in this section is the most “famous” (i.e., most often cited) of the
four. It applies the theory of lay epistemics to the realm of political behavior, and
6 Kruglanski
in particular to a significant motivational difference between conservatives and
liberals on the need for cognitive closure. Specifically, a meta-analysis of the last
fifty years of research (up until 2003) on the motivational make-up of these
ideologies’ adherents yields evidence that the conservatives are significantly higher
on the need for cognitive closure than are the liberals. This relates to the assured
decision-making style of many conservative politicians (George W. Bush comes to
mind as a prototypical example), and to their apparent tendency to be more
group-centric (i.e., more nationalistic, and supportive of cultural traditions and
stereotypes) than are the liberals.
Of curious interest, the publication of the Jost, Kruglanski, Glaser, and Sulloway
(2003) paper occasioned a flurry of intensely angered reactions on the part of
conservative pundits and journalists as well as a fair share of hate mail, largely by
individuals who didn’t actually read the original paper but rather learned about it
second-hand. This unwanted excitement about our work subsided when John Jost
and I published an opinion piece in the Washington Post that explained that the
need for cognitive closure isn’t necessarily a bad thing and that in certain
circumstances the confidence it instills is preferable to the indecision and lack of
resoluteness that the need to avoid closure may confer. In addition, the tendency
under high need for closure to be committed to one’s group (to one’s family,
one’s friends, one’s nation, or one’s values) is often considered a good thing, and
uncommitted relativism fostered by a low need for closure is often frowned upon.
So, as in nearly all domains of psychology, the consequences of a given variable or
factor are neither “good” nor “bad” universally. There are no panacea or silver
bullets in psychology, rather it is all a matter of tradeoffs.
Goal systems
Throughout my whole career, I have been passionately interested in the topic of
motivation. As my views of human psychology crystallized I was increasingly
impressed by the central role that this aspect of our psyche plays in human behav-
ior; this includes motivation’s role in human cognition, which process is importantly
driven and selectively directed by epistemic needs for nonspecific and specific
closure. “Thinking is for doing,” William James famously asserted (1890/1983,
p. 18) and doing is guided by our wishes and desires; thus, ultimately thinking is
“for” the gratification of our wants. In this sense motivation is the dog and cognition
the tail, or to put it differently cognition serves as the handmaiden of motivation.
What makes things particularly intriguing is that motivation and cognition inter-
weave as if in a twisting and turning Moebius strip (see Figure 1). Even as cognition
is motivationally driven so motivation is cognitively represented; the two are
‘connected at the hip’ as it were and you can’t have the one without the other.
Throughout my career as a psychological scientist my work has invariably addressed
a motivational problem of some sort. Early on, as an attributional researcher I was
interested in the issue of intrinsic motivation; this is the aforementioned case where
Speaking in general 7
Goal shielding
A paper by Shah, Friedman, and Kruglanski (2002) demonstrates the principle of
finitude (or constant sum) in reference to attentional resources allocated to goal
pursuit. Specifically, the greater the individual’s commitment to one of several con-
current goals, the lesser is this person’s commitment of resources to the remaining
goals. This phenomenon is capable of occurring outside individuals’ conscious
awareness and manifests itself in such micro phenomena as retarded latency of
responding to those alternative goals. Functionally, the reallocation of resources to
a committed goal shields it from distraction and interference from other concurrent
objectives. An interesting implication of the goal shielding phenomenon is the less-
ening or removal of constraints that the alternative goals may exercise on means to
the focal (highly committed to) goal (see Köpetz, Faber, Fishbach, & Kruglanski,
2011). Specifically, to the extent that these alternative goals were active, means that
the focal goal that undermined them would tend to be “disallowed,” or avoided.
For instance, a hungry person who at the same time was concerned about her or his
health and figure would tend to abstain from fattening, unhealthy, foods that while
satisfying the hunger-reduction goal were detrimental to the health goal. Under
those conditions, the individual may be selective in what she or he chooses to
consume and, should the appropriate foods be unavailable, be willing to bide her or
his time and postpone food consumption until they were found. In other words,
one’s active concern about the health goal would constrain the means to the hunger
reduction goal (foods one would allow oneself to eat) and restrict them to those
which alongside satisfying hunger are also healthy and nutritious.
However, if hunger became particularly intense, commitment to the hunger
reduction goal would be enhanced which (according to the goal shielding principle)
would reduce the commitment to the health/figure goal. In turn, this would
weaken or completely remove the constraints on means of hunger reduction,
expanding the set of available means to that goal. In consequence, one might
forego all constraints, pull out all the stops and be prepared to eat “anything that
moves” as it were, including unhealthy, fattening, and disgusting foods.
Extremism
Recently we applied this type of reasoning to understanding the phenomenon of
extremism in general and the phenomenon of violent extremism in particular.
Speaking in general 9
These are addressed in Part III, namely the work of Kruglanski, Gelfand et al.
(2014) and Kruglanski, Jasko, Chernikova et al. (2017). Extremism can be defined
as behavior, attitude, or opinion that runs counter to or deviates from what most
people (in a given group) would engage in or endorse. The latter behaviors and
attitudes characterizing a majority of persons represent moderation; they are
constrained by a variety of goals one may attempt to satisfy. But when one of those
objectives looms particularly large and becomes dominant, the others are
suppressed, their constraints are, therefore, removed, allowing deviant (and hence
‘extreme’) behaviors/attitudes/opinions eschewed by most people to be embraced
or enacted. In other words, I assume that people have a set of basic needs (cf. Ryan
& Deci, 2000; Fiske, 2010; Higgins, 2012), defining goals they strive to attain.
Such balanced striving defines moderation exhibited by most people. Only small
minorities are capable and willing to let those basic concerns be unaddressed or
frustrated; these are the people whose overriding commitment to one thing, their
“idée fixe,” prompts them to “forget all else.” In this way, daredevils who pursue
extreme sports (like bungee jumping, wingsuit flying, or rock skiing) are forgoing
concerns about safety and survival; similarly, individuals committed (addicted) to
various substances are willing (at certain moments) to relinquish their professional,
or familial, obligations only to feed their habit, and so on.
In the case of violent extremism, the quest for personal significance and mattering
(we argued) leads individuals to commit to various sanctified causes (e.g., their
religion or their nation) whose defense lends them the venerated status of martyrs
and heroes, and for which they are willing to risk life and limb (Kruglanski, Chen,
Dechesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009; Kruglanski, Gelfand et al., 2014; Kruglanski,
Jasko, Chernikova et al., 2017).
Our Part III chapter on violent extremism (Chapter 9, Kruglanski, Jasko,
Chernikova et al., 2017) also addresses the question of means selection for serving
best the goal of personal significance. This function is fulfilled by a violence-justi-
fying narrative that identifies aggression and terrorism as the supreme road to
personal significance. It is here, at the level of the narrative, that counter- and
de-radicalization interventions may best succeed. The quest for personal matter-
ing and significance is fundamental and difficult to uproot. Nor would one want to
uproot it, for its immense motivating potential should not be wasted. What can be
done, instead, is to redirect it toward pro-social and constructive means, rather
than condoning violence and mayhem as representing the road to mattering.
Finally, understanding of violent extremism would be incomplete without
appreciating the role in this phenomenon of violence supporting social networks
(Sageman, 2004; 2007) and group dynamics that put individuals under the net-
works’ spell. As discussed earlier, individuals’ in-groups serve as revered epistemic
authorities; they validate the violence-justifying narrative and dispense the signifi-
cance (admiration, veneration) that the individual craves. Thus, they provide the
shared reality (Hardin & Higgins, 1996) concerning values and what it means to
matter, have significance, and lead a worthy life.
10 Kruglanski
Between liking and doing
Thinking in goal terms turns out to have intriguing implications for one of social
psychology’s most persistent questions, concerning the relation between attitudes
and behavior. Because prediction of behavior was hailed as one of psychology’s
main tasks (Watson, 1913, p. 158), and because attitudes were thought to lead to
behavior (that is, of approaching things which one liked, and avoiding things one
did not like), attitudes have become of central interest to social psychologists. But
is it necessarily so? Should attitudes necessarily prompt behavior? Chapter 7 (“The
rocky road . . .”) questions the assumption of a direct link between attitudes and
behavior and delineates the conditions under which attitudes will or will not
promote behavior. The novelty of this contribution is the introduction of the goal
concept as a critical moderator of conditions under which attitudes will or will
eventuate in behavior. Prior theories of the attitude behavior relations (extensively
reviewed in this “rocky road” chapter) did not explicitly mention goals though the
empirical research cited in their support implicitly created conditions where goals
were inevitably present. Unsurprisingly, this should have been so if we assume (as
most psychologists do) that behavior is purposive, that is goal driven. Nonetheless,
the goal construct was conspicuously absent from prior discussions of the attitude
behavior nexus; a gap in knowledge we set out to redress.
So, when do attitudes lead to behavior and when don’t they? They do so where
liking of (a positive attitude toward) an object or a state of affairs is translated into
an approach goal and disliking (or a negative attitude) is translated into an avoid-
ance goal. Such translation does not invariably take place. But liking and wanting
are hardly the same thing! Influential research by Kent Berridge and his colleagues
(e.g., Berridge, Robinson, & Aldridge, 2009; Berridge & Aldridge, 2008), compel-
lingly demonstrate the separateness of these concepts on the hormonal level. A
commonsensical analysis echoes this distinction: You may like something but
already have it, so not wanting it (in the sense of orienting toward a desirable
future state) is engendered. Also, you may like something that you do not have but
like it less than what you have, again without any implications for wanting. Or you
may dislike something (say a root canal) but like something else even less (having
one’s tooth extracted). In this case, an approach goal would be formed toward a
disliked procedure. To cut a long story short, wanting and consequent goal forma-
tion require a discrepancy between a present or impending (liked or disliked) state
of affairs and another future state that is liked more or disliked less than that
present (or impending state).
Epilogue
As I look back at this selection of papers and the body of my work more generally,
I am struck that implicitly or explicitly I was guided by the principle of the “gist”
(Kruglanski, 2004a), striving for the most general explanation of phenomena of
interest, as noted earlier. Typically, this entailed stripping from the phenomena
their enticing context and content, their so-called surface structure, and delving to
unearth their deep structure, the general underlying mechanism that made them
tick. This approach turned out to have several implications. Some of these were
beneficial to the work and enhanced its contribution. Others were less advantageous
and posed difficulties in communicating my ideas to colleagues.
A major advantage (at least, according to my philosophy of science) is that the
gist-guided approach afforded integration of research domains that previously
were considered foreign and unrelated to each other. For instance, cognitive con-
sistency theories (e.g., Heider, 1958; Festinger, 1957) were typically viewed as
having precious little to do with attribution theory (e.g., Jones & Davis, 1965;
Kelley, 1967), yet from the epistemic perspective both have to do with the principle
of knowledge validation (Kruglanski, 1989, chapters 4 and 5): consistency theories
12 Kruglanski
address the case where (desirable) knowledge is invalidated by information incon-
sistent with that knowledge, and attribution theory—where causal knowledge is
validated by information consistent with a given pattern of causality (what Harold
Kelley (1967) labeled as “attributional criteria”).
For another example, consider the “unimodel” (e.g. Kruglanski & Gigerenzer,
2011; Kruglanski, Pierro, Mannetti, Erb, & Chun, 2007; Kruglanski & Thompson,
1999); it underscores the fundamental inferential commonality between what
generally were considered two qualitatively distinct modes of judgment (i.e., the
central versus peripheral modes, the heuristic versus systematic modes, System 1 versus
System 2 ways of thinking, etc.). Instead, my colleagues and I proposed that in all
cases of judgment, individuals are guided by “if–then” rules and the differences
between instances of judgment reside in the contents of those rules (e.g., different
heuristics versus statistical rules), the number of rules considered, their accessibi-
lity etc., the latter representing quantitative continua rather than qualitative
dichotomies, as has been generally assumed.
For yet another example, consider our current work on intrinsic motivation, a
topic that was rarely connected to behavioral learning theory (but see Eisenberger
& Cameron, 1996). In a recent paper, however, we make the connection explicit
by proposing a means-ends fusion model defining a continuum of intrinsicality,
reflecting the degree of perceptual mesh between an activity and its goal
(Kruglanski, Fishbach, et al., 2017) and reflecting the phenomenon of secondary
reinforcement discovered long ago by animal learning researchers (cf. Hilgard,
Kimble, & Marquis, 1961). In short, the “gist-quest” approach that has guided my
research over the years led me to seek commonalities among rarely interconnected
phenomena, thus fostering integration under shared principles and reaching
across seemingly diverse topics highlighted at different periods in the history of
psychological science.
The disadvantage of the gist approach resided in the difficulty of communicat-
ing the integrative ideas and abstract formulae to the research community and
replacing in their terms familiar and cherished notions. Though I never intended,
nor do I feel comfortable to be cast in the role of a scientific “rabble rouser,” I may
have been perceived as such by colleagues and reviewers committed to prior, more
specific and contextualized, theories of phenomena. The theory of lay epistemics
(Kruglanski, 1989; 2004b), by now an innocuous “classic,” encountered consider-
able resistance on its first introduction, as Harold Kelley wisely presaged in his
generous introduction to my 1989 volume. Similar was the fate of the unimodel
that had to “fight” its way to the major journals over many years. And even as
I write this, a paper of ours that questions the widely presumed “general need for
cognitive consistency” is struggling against opposition by reviewers. In fact, it has
been my distinct impression that the more important a given paper was (in my
estimation of importance), the more “revolutionary” and integrative its message,
the tougher was its road to acceptance.
To clarify, I am not complaining. In fact, I consider myself very lucky for having
had the support I have had from colleagues and cherished students. Thus, basically
I am a happy scientist and grateful for the excitement that new ideas have brought
Speaking in general 13
to my life. As for the struggles and the uphill battles, I relish them as well, and
gladly (would you believe, reluctantly) accept that there is a price to be paid for
having one’s voice heard (cf. Popper, 1949), and to challenging the shared reality
of one’s scientific community. As in most of life’s domains, the “no pain—no
gain” dictum holds fast in the realm of ideas as well.
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Part I
The label homo sapiens by which humankind is designated translates into “the
knowing person,” hinting at the essential importance for human affairs of knowl-
edge and its construction. As individuals we form new knowledge constantly and
continually. To carry out even the most mundane activities we need to know a
variety of things. Before embarking on a bit of intelligible behavior, no matter how
small, we need to orientate ourselves in time and space, decide what our imple-
mentation intentions are for that particular instant, divine their feasibility under the
circumstances, and so on. All these are types of knowledge that individuals need to
formulate on a moment-to-moment basis.
Our social interactions are also suffused with prior knowledge. We quickly form
a preliminary impression about our partners’ identity (e.g., as regards their age,
gender, nationality, or social status). We figure out what language they speak, what
they know about a topic at hand, and what their attitudes and opinions are, so that
we tailor our communications accordingly. In addition, our lives as group members
and participants in larger collectivities (societies or cultures) are fundamentally
guided by our shared knowledge of concepts, norms, and worldviews.
Given the ubiquity of knowledge formation concerns, and their essential psy-
chological relevance to human thought, feeling, and action, understanding how
knowledge is formed and changed defines a task of considerable importance for
psychological science. Indeed, psychological researchers and theorists have exam-
ined epistemic processes in a variety of paradigms including those concerned with
attitude formation and change (e.g., Maio & Haddock, 2007; Petty & Wegener,
1999), impression formation (Brewer, 1988; Fiske & Neuberg, 1990), judgment
under uncertainty (Kahneman, 2003), and attribution (Hilton, 2007). Typically
too, such endeavors, though insightful and useful, have addressed localised issues
specific to a given content domain of knowledge (for a review see Kruglanski &
Orehek, 2007).
More than 20 years ago, a paper published in the Psychological Review (Kruglanski,
1980) became the first in what was to become a long string of research reports
and essays on the psychological factors involved in a general knowledge form-
ation process. A more elaborate theory on this topic was featured in a volume
20 Kruglanski et al.
called Lay Epistemics and Human Knowledge published nearly a decade later
(Kruglanski, 1989). Whereas the initial theoretical effort centered on a general-
ized, lay epistemic interpretation of attribution theory, subsequent work extended
the approach to further topics, including cognitive consistency theories, attitudes
and attitude change, cognitive therapy, social comparison processes, and the social
psychology of science.
Subsequent to this early publication, extensive empirical and conceptual develop-
ments in lay epistemics took place under the aegis of three fairly separate research
programs, namely those on closed-mindedness (see Kruglanski, 2004), the unimodel (see
Kruglanski et al., 2007), and epistemic authority (see Kruglanski et al., 2005). The
purpose of the present chapter is to offer an integrative, up-to-date synopsis of this
work, affording a bird’s eye perspective on knowledge formation processes and their
ramifications for a broad variety of social psychological phenomena.
In what follows we first briefly recapitulate the theory of lay epistemics and
describe the three separate research programs it inspired, including the descrip-
tion of substantial novel data not covered in prior reviews. We conclude with a
conceptual integration of these research programs and indicate how the processes
that they address form an integral part and parcel of the knowledge formation
enterprise of potentially considerable real-world relevance.
‘you would be sory for the unexresable los I have had of the kindest mother,
and two sisters I am now at Mrs Lind’s where it would be no smal satesfaction to
hear by a Line or two I am not forgot by you drect for me at Mr Linds hous in
Edenburg your letter will come safe if you are so good as to writ Mr Lind his Lady
and I send our best complements to you, he along with Lord aberdour and mr
wyevel how has also wrot to his sister mrs pursal go hand in hand togither makeing
all the intrest they can for the poor capt and meet with great sucess they join in
wishing you the same not fearing your intrest the generals Lady how is his great
friend were this day to speak to the Justes clarck but I have not since seen her, so
that every on of compassion and mercy are equely bussey forgive this trouble and
send ous hop’
737. Caledonian Mercury.
738. Statutes at large, vi. 51.
739. In November 1737, the poet is found advertising an assembly (dancing-
party) ‘in the New Hall in Carrubber’s Close;’ subscription-tickets, two for a
guinea, to serve throughout the winter season.—Cal. Merc.
740. Caledonian Mercury.
741. Newspapers of the time.
742. Caledonian Mercury.
743. Daily Post, Aug. 17, 1738, quoted in Household Words, 1850.
744. His name was William Smellie. The fact is stated in his Memoirs by
Robert Kerr, Edinburgh, 1811.
745. Scots Magazine, January 1739.
746. Scottish Journal, p. 313.
747. Houghton’s Collections on Husbandry and Trade, 1694.
748. Arnot’s History of Edinburgh, 4to, p. 201.
749. Robertson’s Rural Recollections, 1829.
750. ‘The man has not been dead many years who first introduced from
Ireland the culture of the potato into the peninsula of Cantyre; he lived near
Campbelton. From him the city of Glasgow obtained a regular supply for many
years; and from him also the natives of the Western Highlands and Isles obtained
the first plants, from which have been derived those abundant supplies on which
the people there now principally subsist.’—Anderson’s Recreations, vol. ii. (1800)
p. 382.
751. ‘This singular individual died at Edinburgh [January 24, 1788]. In 1784,
he sunk £140 with the managers of the Canongate Poor’s House, for a weekly
subsistence of 7s., and afterwards made several small donations to that institution.
His coffin, for which he paid two guineas, with “1703,” the year of his birth,
inscribed on it, hung in his house for nine years previous to his death; and it also
had affixed to it the undertaker’s written obligation to screw him down with his
own hands gratis. The managers of the Poor’s House were likewise taken bound to
carry his body with a hearse and four coaches to Restalrig Churchyard, which was
accordingly done. Besides all this, he caused his grave-stone to be temporarily
erected in a conspicuous spot of the Canongate Churchyard, having the following
quaint inscription:
“HENRY PRENTICE,
Died.
752. Scots Magazine, Oct. 1740. Act of Town Council, Dec. 19, 1740.
753. Scots Magazine, July 1741.
754. Moncrieff’s Life of John Erskine, D.D., p. 110.
755. Scots Magazine, July 1742.
756. Scots Magazine, Oct. 1712. New Statistical Acc. Scot., art. ‘Lochbroom,’
where many curious anecdotes of Robertson, called Ministeir laidir, ‘the Strong
Minister,’ are detailed.
757. Lays of the Deer Forest, by the Messrs Stuart.
758. Edin. Ev. Courant, Nov. 15, 1743.
759. Spalding Club Miscellany, ii. 87.
760. Old Statist. Acc. of Scot., xv. 379.
761. Domestic Ann. of Scot., ii. 392.
762. Memorabilia of Glasgow, p. 502.
763. Newspaper advertisement.
764. Jones’s Glasgow Directory, quoted in Stuart’s Notices of Glasgow in
Former Times.
765. Culloden Papers, p. 233.
766. Appendix to Burt’s Letters, 5th ed., ii. 359.
767. Tour in Scotland, i. 225; ii. 425.
768. Gentleman’s Magazine, xvi. 429.
769. Scots Magazine, 1750, 1753, 1754.
770. Tour through the Highlands, &c. By John Knox. 1787, p. 101.
771. [Sinclair’s] Stat. Acc. Scot., xx. 424. The minister’s version is here
corrected from one in the Gentleman’s Magazine for January 1733; but both are
incorrect in the historical particulars, there having been during 1728 and the
hundred preceding years no more than six kings of Scotland.
772. Printed in Spalding Club Miscellany, ii. 7.
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