James Burn, on his first contact with literature after years of having seen none: '"In the latter end of the year of 1826, a friend made me a present of an old edition of Chevalier Ramsay's "Life of Cyrus". This little volume opened up to my enquiring mind a rich field of useful knowledge. The apendix to the work contained the [italics]heathen mythology[end italics]: this part of the work completely fascinated me, and for a considerable time became my constant companion."'