The Hon David Smyth or David Smythe, Lord Methven

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 ...

LLD (1746–1806) was a Scottish lawyer and judge who rose to be a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

Life

The son of David Smythe of Methven (d.1764), and Mary Graham, daughter of James Graham of Braco, he was born at the family home of

Methven Castle Methven Castle is a privately owned 17th-century house situated east of Methven, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. History The lands of Methven were owned by the Mowbray family from the 12th century. The Mowbrays supported the claim of John Balli ...

on 17 January 1746. Having studied for the law, he was admitted advocate on 4 August 1769. From 1786 to 1793 he served as Sheriff Depute of

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. In 1788 he was elected a 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 ...

. His proposers were Robert Arbuthnot,

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hu ...

and Alexander Fraser Tytler. Smythe was raised to the bench, in succession to Francis Garden of Gardenstone, on 15 November 1793, taking the title of Lord Methven. He was appointed a commissioner of justiciary on the death of Lord Abercromby, 11 March 1796, resigning the post in 1804. In 1797 he was living at 15 St Andrew Square. He was taken ill suddenly while walking and died half an hour later at his house at 28 St Andrew Square in Edinburgh on 30 January 1806. He is buried in

Canongate Kirkyard The Canongate Kirkyard ( en, Churchyard) stands around Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. The churchyard was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century. The most celebrated burials at the kirkyard are ...

on 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 ...

with his second wife. The grave lies within the eastern extension, close to the church.

Family

Smythe married, first, on 8 April 1772, Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Robert Murray, bart., of Hillhead; she died on 30 June 1785, leaving three sons and four daughters. By his second wife, Euphemia Amelia Murray of Lintrose, a noted singer, daughter of Mungo Murray of Lintrose, who was reckoned a beauty of her time and was the subject of one of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

's songs, he had two sons and two daughters. Euphemia was known as "The Flower of Strathmore". Smythe was succeeded in the estate by Robert Smythe, only surviving son of his first marriage; when Robert died in 1847 without issue, the succession fell to the elder son of the second marriage, William Smythe (1805–1895) of

. In 1827 his daughter, Catherine Campbell Smythe, married one of his legal colleagues,

David Boyle, Lord Boyle David Boyle, Lord Boyle FRSE (26 July 1772 – 4 February 1853) was a British judge. Life Boyle was born at Shewalton near Irvine on 26 July 1772, the son of Elizabeth Dunlop, daughter of Professor Alexander Dunlop. and the Honorable Reverend P ...

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Smythe, David 1746 births 1806 deaths Members of the Faculty of Advocates Methven People from Perthshire Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Burials at the Canongate Kirkyard