 Through Leyden, Murray became a contributor to the "Scots Magazine," and he edited the seven numbers of that periodical from February 1802, inserting verses of his own under the signatures "B",' "X", or "Z".For three successive numbers he wrote a biography of James Bruce traveller, which he later expanded into a volume (1808).Constable the publisher then engaged him in September 1802 to prepare a new edition of Bruce's "Travels".