John Kay was a Scottish miniature painter, draughtsman and etcher of portrait caricatures. Born at Dalkeith, he originally worked for a barber until a pension from a benefactor enabled him to set himself up as a printseller and artist. From 1784 he started etching caricatures of Edinburgh characters, producing over nine hundred. A Series ofr Original Portraits and Charicaature Etchings. 1837