|
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714 – 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767, he became a judge in the Court of Session. As such, Burnett adopted an honorary title based on the name of his father's estate and family seat, Monboddo House. Monboddo was one of a number of scholars involved at the time in development of early concepts of biological evolution. Some credit him with anticipating in principle the idea of natural selection that was read by (and acknowledged in the writings of) Erasmus Darwin. Charles Darwin read the works of his grandfather Erasmus and later developed the ideas into a scientific theory. Early years James Burnett was born in 1714 at Monboddo House in Kincardineshire, Scotland. After his primary education at the parish school of Laurencekirk, he studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen, from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monboddo House
Monboddo House () is a historically famous mansion in Kincardineshire, The Mearns, Scotland. The structure was generally associated with the Burnett of Leys family. The property itself was owned by the Clan Barclay, Barclay family from the 13th century, at which time a tower house structure was erected. In 1593, the Laird was James Strachan, and thence it passed into the Clan Irvine, Irvine family and thereafter the Burnetts of Leys. There is a notable datestone adornment on the structure with the coat of arms, arms of Irvine Impalement (heraldry), impaling the arms of Clan Douglas, Douglas with initials R.E. and I.E. and dated 1635, representing the 17th-century couple who reconstructed the house, Robert Ervine (:wikt:sic, ''sic'') and Ilizabeth Ervine (:wikt:sic, ''sic''). Monboddo House, with its crow-stepped gable design, is situated in the Howe of Mearns near the village of Auchenblae approximately from the North Sea. The original landholding of the Monboddo Estate was appr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porteous Riots
The Porteous Riots surrounded the activities of John Porteous (soldier), John Porteous, Captain of the City guard, City Guard of Edinburgh, Scotland, who was lynched by a mob for his part in the killing of innocent civilians while ordering the men under his command to quell a disturbance during a public hanging in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh in April 1736. Although the rioters were generally supportive of the convicted smugglers, Porteous seems to have been a somewhat overbearing official, despised by the mob and the underclasses of Edinburgh society. Riot In April 1736 three convicted smugglers, Andrew Wilson, a "notorious smuggler", William Hall and George Robertson, had been tried and condemned to death. While Hall's sentence was commuted to exile, Wilson and Robertson awaited their fate in the condemned cell at Edinburgh's notorious Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh, Tolbooth Prison next to St Giles Cathedral. A few days before their execution the pair tried to escape. Wilson remove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canongate
The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David I of Scotland, by the Great Charter of Holyrood Abbey , authorised the Abbey to found a burgh separate from Edinburgh between the Abbey and the city. The burgh of Canongate which developed was controlled by the Abbey until the Scottish Reformation, when it came under secular control. In 1636 the adjacent city of Edinburgh bought the feudal superiority of the Canongate but it remained a semi-autonomous burgh under its own administration of bailies chosen by Edinburgh magistrates, until its formal incorporation into the city in 1856. The burgh gained its name from the route that the canons of Holyrood Abbey took to Edinburgh—the canons' way or the canons' gait, from the Scots word ''gait'' meaning "way". In more modern times, the easter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliament House, Edinburgh
Parliament House (), located in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a historic Parliament building, parliament and Courthouse, court building containing several buildings which now houses the Supreme Courts of Scotland, the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. The oldest part of the complex, known as Parliament Hall, was home to the Parliament of Scotland from 1639 to 1707, and was the world's first purpose-built parliament building. The complex is spread across seven floors, and contains 700 rooms, with the original building first designed and built by James Gordon of Rothiemay in 1649, costing £10,555 which was paid for by Edinburgh Town Council. Prior to the construction of Parliament House, the Parliament of Scotland, the Court of Session and the Privy Council of Scotland all shared the same building which was located in the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh, Tolbooth in Edinburgh. By 1632, it had become clear that the sharing of space be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hunter (classicist)
John Hunter FRSE (7 September 1746 – 18 January 1837) was a Scottish classicist and horticulturalist. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Life Hunter was born in Closeburn, Dumfries and Galloway on 7 September 1746. He was educated nearby at Wallace Hall School. He was then attended the University of Edinburgh, graduation with an MA in 1768. His first role was as private secretary to Lord Monboddo. In 1775 he then accepted the role of Professor of Humanity at the United College in University of St Andrews, continuing in this role until 1826. In 1826 (aged 80) he took on the role of Principal of the twin colleges of St Leonards and St Salvators at the University. The University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in later life. He died at St Andrews on 18 January 1837, and is buried in St Andrews Cathedral churchyard. Family He married twice, firstly around 1770 to Elizabeth Miln and together they had a son, James Hunter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beginning with '' A Treatise of Human Nature'' (1739–40), Hume strove to create a naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. Hume followed John Locke in rejecting the existence of innate ideas, concluding that all human knowledge derives solely from experience. This places him with Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and George Berkeley as an empiricist. Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. Hume argued that inductive reasoning and belief in causality cannot be justified rationally; instead, they result from custom and mental habit. We never actually perceive that one event causes another but only experience ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canongate Books
Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prize winning novel '' Life of Pi'' (2001). Canongate was named the British Book Awards Publisher of the Year in 2003 and 2009. Origins Canongate was founded in 1973 by Stephanie Wolfe Murray and her husband Angus Wolfe Murray. Originally a speciality press focusing on Scottish-interest books, generally with small print runs, its most major author was Alasdair Gray. In 1994, it was purchased from the receiver in a management buyout led by Jamie Byng, using funds provided by his stepfather Christopher Bland and his father-in-law Charlie McVeigh, and began to publish more general works, including the '' Pocket Canons'' editions of books of the Bible, as well as the '' Payback Press'' and '' Rebel Inc.'' imprints. Byng is CEO of the company. In June 2010 it was announced that a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Grave Of Lord Patrick Grant, Greyfriars Kirkyard
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas
Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas (10 July 1748 – 26 December 1827), was a Scottish politician. Early life He was born Archibald James Edward Stewart, in Paris,G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IV, page 441. the twin son of Drummond-Stewart baronets, Sir John Stewart, 3rd Baronet (1687–1764) and Jane Douglas (Lady), Lady Jane Douglas, daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas. The circumstances of the birth were controversial. His mother was the sister of the wealthy Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas, Duke of Douglas. As the Duke was childless, his estate would pass to the next in line, the Duke of Hamilton, unless an heir cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Cause
The Douglas Cause was a cause célèbre and legal struggle contested in Great Britain during the 1760s. The main parties were Archibald Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas, Archibald Douglas (1748–1827) and James Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton, James Douglas-Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton (1755–1769). The affair gripped the nation, leading to death threats and rioting. Background Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas, Archibald Douglas, 3rd Marquess and 1st Duke of Douglas (1694–1761) had been raised to the dukedom by Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen Anne in 1703 at the age of nine in order to secure the loyalty of the powerful Clan Douglas to her new regime. The duke was virtually illiterate and took no part in the affairs of the nation. He lived largely as a recluse and may have suffered from insanity. The duke remained unmarried until late in life and had no issue. His sister Lady Jane Douglas (1698–1753) was his putative heir. In the event of her remaining childless, most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometimes used as a catch-all to denominate texts of a somber or pessimistic tone, sometimes as a marker for textual monumentalizing, and sometimes strictly as a sign of a lament for the dead". History The Greek term ἐλεγείᾱ (''elegeíā''; from , , ‘lament’) originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter (death, love, war). The term also included epitaphs, sad and mournful songs, and commemorative verses. The Latin elegy of ancient Roman literature was most often erotic or mythological in nature. Because of its structural potential for rhetorical effects, the elegiac couplet was also used by both Greek and Roman poets for witty, humorous, and satirical subject matter. O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Central Scots, Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romanticism, Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
