Andrew Crosbie of Holm

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FSAScot (1736–1785) was a Scottish lawyer and antiquarian, and a notable figure of the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...

. He was a close friend and companion of

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

and with him co-wrote the legal song ''The Justiciary Opera'', sung by generations of Scottish advocates.

Life

He was born in the Soutergate,

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, the only surviving son of Andrew Crosbie of Holm (d. 1762), the provost of

, and his wife, Jean Grierson. His early education was at

Dumfries Academy Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Andrew Crosbie He studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, and was admitted to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

in 1757. In 1769, together with

, he helped to fund the

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

n rebels fighting under

Pasquale Paoli Filippo Antonio Pasquale de' Paoli (; french: link=no, Pascal Paoli; 6 April 1725 – 5 February 1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who was at the forefront of resistance movements against the Genoese and later ...

. Around 1770, he began building his own house on St Andrews Square at the east end of the then first phase of

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

. However he was financially ruined in 1772 by the demise of Douglas, Heron & Co, a bank in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

in which he was a partner. As a member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society when it was awarded a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

in 1783, he automatically became a founding Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. An office-bearer ('Assassin') of

The Poker Club The Poker Club was one of several clubs at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment where many associated with that movement met and exchanged views in a convivial atmosphere. History The Poker Club was created in 1762 out of the ashes of The ...

, and a friend of Boswell and

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

, Crosbie was the basis of the character Councillor Pleydellin Sir Walter Scotts's novel ''

Guy Mannering ''Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer'' is the second of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, ...

''. In 1780 he was a co-founder of the Royal

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

. In 1783 he was a co-founder of the

. He was elected Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in 1784, two months before his death. He lived on

Advocates Close Advocates Close is a narrow and steep alley in Edinburgh of medieval origin, redeveloped in the early 21st century. With a multiplicity of steps it is not accessible to disabled persons. The close leads from Market Street at the foot of Cockburn ...

off the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

Edinburgh's Old Town The Old Town ( sco, Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-cent ...

, close to the main courts. He moved to Allan's Close and shortly before death moved to a new house on the east side of St Andrews Square in the New Town, immediately north of what is now

Dundas House Dundas House is a Neoclassical building in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at 36 St Andrew Square, in the city's first New Town. The building was completed in 1774 as a private town house for Sir Lawrence Dundas by the architect Sir Will ...

. Popular despite being an acknowledged alcoholic (not helped by his financial ruin), he died in impoverished circumstances in rented accommodation, probably of liver disease, on 25 February 1785, and was interred in a now unmarked grave at

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

in Edinburgh.

Family

Crosbie was married to Elizabeth Barker, a "woman of ill-repute". After he died the Faculty of advocates awarded her a pension of £50 per year.Grant's Old and New Edinburgh vol.1 p.222

Publications

*''Thoughts of a Layman Concerning Patronage and Presentation'' (1769) *''A Treatise on the Office, Duty, and Powers of Judges and Magistrates in Scotland'' (published by

William Creech William Creech FRSE (12 May 1745 – 14 January 1815) was a Scottish publisher, printer, bookseller and politician. For 40 years Creech was the chief publisher in Edinburgh. He published the first Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns' poems, and ...

in 1785)

Artistic recognition

Crosbie was painted in his advocate robes, addressing his courtroom, by David Martin. The portrait was donated by his widow to the Faculty of Advocates following his death and hangs in

Parliament House, Edinburgh Parliament House ( gd, Taigh na Pàrlamaid) in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a complex of several buildings housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The oldest part of the complex was home to the Parliament of Scot ...

(part of the Edinburgh Law Courts). Councillor Paulus Pleydell, in Scott's ''

'', is based on Crosbie.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosbie, Andrew of Holm 1736 births 1785 deaths Members of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 18th-century Scottish people People from Dumfries Members of the Faculty of Advocates Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Scottish antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland