JOHN

See also:

• JOHN KAY (1742-1826)
• KAY, JOSEPH (1821-1878)

KAY (1742-1826)  , Scottish caricaturist, was born near Dalkeith; where his father was a mason . At thirteen he was apprenticed to a barber, whom he served for six years . He then went to Edinburgh, where in 1771 he obtained the freedom of the city by joining the corporation of barber-surgeons . In 1785, induced by the favour which greeted certain attempts of his to etch in aquafortis, he took down his barber's pole and opened a small print shop in Parliament Square . There he continued to flourish, painting miniatures, and publishing at short intervals his sketches and caricatures of local celebrities and oddities, who abounded at that period in Edinburgh society . He died on the 21st of February 1826 . Kay's portraits were collected by Hugh Paton and published under the title A series of original portraits and caricature etchings by the late John Kay, with biographical sketches and illustrative anecdotes (Edin., 2 vols . 4to, 1838; 8vo ed., 4 vols., 1842; new 4to ed., with additional plates, 2 vols., 1877), forming a unique record of the social life and popular habits of Edinburgh at its most interesting epoch .