John Stuart (also spelt Stewart or Steuart) (1743–1821) was a Scottish

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

scholar, and reviser of the New Testament in Gaelic of his father James Stuart of

Killin Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...

. John Stuart's revised Gaelic New Testament was published in 1796 with a print run of 21,500 copies. He was the main translator of the Old Testament in Gaelic which was published in 1801.

Life

He was born on 31 July 1743 at

manse, the son of the Rev James Stuart and his wife, Elizabeth Drummond. He was licensed as a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

minister by the presbytery of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 27 February 1771, and was presented to the congregation of Arrochar by Sir James Colquhoun in October 1773, and was ordained on 12 May 1774. He was translated to

Weem WEEM-FM (91.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a student-run high school radio station of Pendleton Heights High School in Pendleton, Indiana. It broadcasts in the Contemporary hit radio, CHR music format. The station is owned by South Madison Community S ...

on 26 March 1776, and to

Luss Luss (''Lus'', 'herb' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of Loch Lomond. The village is within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. History Historically in the County of Dunbarton, its origina ...

on 1 July 1777. In 1783 he was 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 ...

. He received an honorary doctorate

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

from

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

in 1795.. Stuart died in Luss manse on 24 May 1821 and is buried there.

Works

Stuart was a Gaelic scholar. His father had already translated the New Testament into Gaelic, and at the time of his death had begun a translation of the Old Testament. This work was continued by his son, and the complete translation was published at Edinburgh in 1767, under the auspices of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge; another edition was published in London in 1807. John Stuart also assisted the publication of the Gaelic poems of

Duncan Ban MacIntyre Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, anglicized as ''Duncan Ban MacIntyre'' (20 March 1724 – 14 May 1812), was one of the most renowned of Scottish Gaelic poets. He formed an integral part of one of the golden ages of Gaelic poetry in Scotland d ...

. For his services as translator he received from the Lords of the Treasury £1,000 in 1820, and the thanks of the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...

were conveyed to him from the chair, Very Rev Thomas MacKnight, on 28 May 1819. Stuart studied natural history and botany, attending John Hope's classes in Linnaean Botany 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 ...

in 1766. In 1772, he accompanied

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (14 June Old Style, OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales ...

on his ''Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides'', providing the author with information on natural history, the Gaelic language and Highland customs. He also assisted Rev. John Lightfoot with the preparation of his ''

Flora Scotica The Reverend John Lightfoot (9 December 1735 – 20 February 1788) was an English parson-naturalist, spending much of his free time as a conchologist and botanist. He was a systematic and effective curator of the private museum of Margaret Ben ...

'' (1777). He was the author of "The Account of the Parish of Luss" in vol. xvii. of

Sir John Sinclair Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1754 – 21 December 1835), was a British politician, a writer on both finance and agriculture, and was one of the first people to use the word ''statistics'' in the English language, in h ...

's ''

Statistical Account of Scotland The ''Statistical Accounts of Scotland'' are a series of documentary publications, related in subject matter though published at different times, covering life in Scotland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The ''Old (or First) Statistical Ac ...

''.

Family

On 24 July 1792 he married Susan McIntyre, daughter of Rev Dr Joseph McIntyre of Glenorchy. She died on 7 July 1846, leaving a son, Joseph McIntyre, later minister of

Kingarth Kingarth ( sga, Cenn Garad; gd, Ceann a' Gharaidh) is a historic village and parish on the Isle of Bute, off the coast of south-western Scotland. The village is within the parish of its own name, and is situated at the junction of the A844 and ...

, and a daughter. His brother-in-law was

James McLagan James MacLagan or McLagan ( gd, Seumas MacLathagain; 1728–1805) was a Church of Scotland minister and collector of Scottish Gaelic poetry and song. His manuscript collection, known athe McLagan Collection comprises some 250 manuscripts of prim ...

, minister of Amulrie in Perthshire, and author of ''Spiritual views of the divine government'' 1831.; .

Notes

References

* * * * * Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, John 18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Translators of the Bible into Scottish Gaelic 1743 births 1821 deaths Founder Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Stirling (council area) Scottish linguists Alumni of the University of Glasgow 19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Scottish translators Members of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh