A LAWYER and the son of a lawyer, Mr. Robert Bird is conspicuous in the life of Glasgow as the energetic organiser of the Liberal Unionist Association, and of the Ratepayers' Federation and the Citizens' Union in civic affairs. He is also known as the writer of pawky legal verse which rivals the satire of Outram and Neaves, and as author of the succession of charming Biblical books for children which began with "Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth."
    Born in Govan in 1854, he is a member of the Society of Friends, and distinguished himself at Glasgow University by taking honours in Scots Law and gaining a prize in the English literature class for a poem on the Glasgow Statue to Burns. After passing as a procurator, he joined his father in practice in Glasgow in 1878, and remains a member of the firm.
    His first appearance as an author was in verses on legal subjects contributed to the columns of Quiz. Both in the pages of that journal and afterwards in a volume of "Law Lyrics," these contributions were anonymous, and many speculations were formed as to the authorship. Another volume of poetry, "The Falls of Clyde," was published in 1888, and "More Law Lyrics" in 1892. Then he made a new departure. "Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth" is said to be the most popular child's life of Christ ever written, and it has been followed by "Joseph the Dreamer," "Paul of Tarsus," "A Child's Religion," and "One Hundred Bible Stories." These books form a library of a new sort for children, telling the old stories in a new, simple, and picturesque way; and, with their local colour and fresh light, they render the narrative wonderfully clear, vivid, and fascinating. Besides all these, Mr. Bird is the author of a novel, "Reversed on Appeal," founded on a modern case involving the question whether a colonial marriage is always binding in this country.

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