Burns earned his MA de­gree at the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Ed­in­burgh. He re­ceived his the­o­lo­gic­al train­ing un­der Thom­as Chal­mers, and in 1845, be­came a Free Church min­is­ter in Dun­blane, Scot­land. However, he re­signed in 1848 due to bad health. He then took charge of the Pres­by­ter­i­an Church at Fun­chal, Madeira. In 1855, his health improved, he returned to Eng­land and be­came min­is­ter of Hamp­stead Pres­by­ter­i­an Church in Lon­don. Af­ter nine years, he again tra­veled abroad due to ill health. His hymns ap­peared in:

• The Vi­sion of Pro­phe­cy: and Other Po­ems (Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land: Ed­mons­ton and Doug­las, 1854, 1858)
• The Evening Hymns (Lon­don: T. Nel­son & Sons, 1857)
• Memoir and Re­mains of the late Rev. James D. Burns, M.A., of Hamp­stead (Lon­don: J. Nisbet & Co., 1869)

Burns al­so wrote the ar­ti­cle Hymn in the 8th edi­tion of the En­cy­clo­ped­ia Bri­tan­nica.

Sources

Hymns

1. As a Helpless Child Who Clings
2. At Thy Feet, Our God and Father
3. Hushed Was the Evening Hymn
4. Not, Lord, unto That Mount of Dread
5. O Thou Whose Sac­red Feet Have Trod
6. Still with Thee, O My God
7. This Night, O Lord, We Bless Thee
8. Thou, Lord, Art Love, and Everywhere