Donald Elmslie Robertson Watt

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 ...

(15 August 1926 – 18 April 2004) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. Donald Watt was the son of Theodore Watt, managing director of the

Aberdeen University Press Aberdeen University Press (AUP) is the publishing arm of the University of Aberdeen. Launched in October 2013, AUP is built on the legacy of the defunct printing firm and publishing house of the same name, which existed from 1900 to 1996. Unlike ...

. Watt studied at

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...

, before reading history at

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

. He graduated in 1950, and moved to

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, receiving his D. Phil in 1957. Watt taught history at St Andrews University for his entire career, except for one year's study at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He worked for many years on editing and translating a nine volume edition, the first since 1759, of Abbot Walter Bower's ''

Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereby ...

'', a key resource for

Scotland in the late Middle Ages Scotland in the Late Middle Ages, between the deaths of Alexander III in 1286 and James IV in 1513, established its independence from England under figures including William Wallace in the late 13th century and Robert Bruce in the 14th centur ...

. Professor Watt also published on the Scottish church where he was the acknowledged expert on sources, holding the chair in Scottish Church History at St Andrews. He worked for the publication of the ''Atlas of Scottish History'', issued by 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 ...

in 1975 and again, with revisions, in 1995. He served as co-editor of the ''Scottish Historical Review'' for eight years, and as president of the

Scottish History Society The Scottish History Society is a historical and text publication society, which promotes the study of and research in the history of Scotland. It was founded in 1886, as part of the late 19th-century revival in interest in Scottish national id ...

for four. In 2000 he was made an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

by the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Select bibliography

Books

* ''Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A.D. 1410'', 1977, Oxford: Clarendon Press, * (series editor; editor, with John MacQueen, Winifred MacQueen, and others)

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotlan ...

's ''Scotichronicon'' (9 vols, 1987–1997) * (editor) ''A history book for Scots : selections from Scottichronicon'' (1998) * Crawford, Barbara E. (editor), ''Church, chronicle and learning in medieval and early Renaissance Scotland: essays presented to Donald Watt on the occasion of the completion of the publication of Bower's Scotichronicon.'' (1999) * ''Medieval Church Councils in Scotland'', Edinburgh: T & T Clark, (2000) * (with N. Shead) ''Heads of religious houses in Scotland from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries'' (2001)

Articles

* (with Athol L. Murray) '' Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae medii aevi : ad annum 1638'', New Series, Volume 25 (Revised ed.), Edinburgh: The Scottish Record Society, , ISSN 0143-9448

External links

RSE Obituary
by

A. A. M. Duncan Archibald Alexander McBeth Duncan, British Academy, FBA, Royal Historical Society, FRHistS, Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (17 October 1926 – 20 December 2017) was a Scottish historian. From 1962 to 1993 he was Professor of Scottish History ...

.
Obituary
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (1 May 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, D.E.R. 20th-century Scottish historians Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1926 births 2004 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School