Alexander Arbuthnot (poet)
Alexander Arbuthnot | |
---|---|
Born | 1538 Aberdeenshire |
Died | 1583 |
Resting place | King's College Chapel, Aberdeen, Scotland |
Nationality | Scottish |
Education | University of Aberdeen |
Occupation(s) | Poet, clergyman and academic |
Movement | Scottish Reformation |
Alexander Arbuthnot (1538–1583) was a Scottish ecclesiastic poet, "an eminent divine, and zealous promoter of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland". He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (the highest position in the Church of Scotland) in both 1573 and 1577.
Family life
He was the third son of Andrew Arbuthnot of Pitcarles, who in turn was the fourth son of Sir Robert Arbuthnot of Arbuthnot. His mother was Elizabeth Strachan, daughter of James Strachan of Monboddo.
Career
After having studied languages and philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, and civil law under the noted Jacques Cujas at the University of Bourges in France, Arbuthnot took ecclesiastical orders, and became in his own country a zealous supporter of the Reformation.
In 1569 he was elected principal of King's College, Aberdeen, an office he retained until his death. He played an active part in the church politics of the period, and was twice Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and a member of the commission of inquiry into the condition of the University of St Andrews (1583).[1]
His attitude on public questions earned him the condemnation of Catholic writers. He is not included in Nicol Burne's list of periurit apostatis, but his policy and influence were disliked by James VI, who, when the Assembly had elected Arbuthnot to the charge of the kirk of St. Andrews, ordered him to return to his duties at King's College.[1]
Minister of Logie Buchan (1568), of Forve and Arbuthnott (1569) Old Machar (1574) and of St Andrews (1583). Moderator of the General Assembly (1573 and 1577). He matriculated his arms.
He died on 10 October 1583 and is buried in the Kirk of St Nicholas in central Aberdeen just in front of the pulpit.[2]
Works
His extant poetical works are three poems, The Praises of Wemen (4 lines), On Luve (10 lines), and The Miseries of a Pure (poor) Scholar (189 lines).[3] [4] The praise of women in the first poem is exceptional in the literature of his age; and its geniality helps us to understand the author's popularity with his contemporaries.[1]
He wrote a volume entitled 'Orations on the Origins and Dignity of the Law', Orationes de origine et dignitate juris, 4to. (Edinburgh, 1572).[5]
He also wrote a Latin account of the history of the Arbuthnott family, Originis et Incrementi Arbuthnoticae Familiae Descriptio Historica, held in Aberdeen University Library in a volume containing a contemporary translation into Scots by William Morrison.[6] An English continuation of the Arbuthnott history, by Dr John Arbuthnot, is preserved in the Advocates Library, Edinburgh.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; vol. 7; by Hew Scott
- ^ Sibbald, James (1802). Chronicle of Scottish Poetry: from the Thirteenth Century, to the Union of the Crowns. Edinburgh: J Sibbald. p. 329.
- ^ Pinkerton, John (1786). Ancient Scottish Poems, Never Before in Print. But now published from the Ms. collections of Sir Richard Maitland, of Lethington, knight. London: C Dilly. p. 138.
- ^ "Scottish Books 1505-1700".
- ^ "History of the family of Arbuthnot (Originis et Incrementi Arbuthnoticae Familiae Descriptio Historica)" (1567-1606) [manuscript volume]. MS 2764 Papers of Arbuthnott of Arbuthnott, File: MS 2764/3/1/1. Aberdeen, Scotland: University of Aberdeen, Special Collections, University of Aberdeen.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arbuthnot, Alexander". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 339.
- The Scottish Studies Foundation, brief bio
- Arbuthnot, Mrs P S-M (1920). Memories of the Arbuthnots. George Allen & Unwin.
- Sir James Balfour Paul, ed. (1908). The Scots Peerage. founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's 'Peerage of Scotland'.
Further reading
- Pinkerton, John (1786). Ancient Scottish Poems, Never Before in Print. But now published from the Ms. collections of Sir Richard Maitland, of Lethington, knight. London: C Dilly. p. 138.
- Sibbald, James (1802). Chronicle of Scottish Poetry: from the Thirteenth Century, to the Union of the Crowns. Edinburgh: J Sibbald. p. 329.
- Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). "Arbuthnot, Alexander" . A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. pp. 67–68 – via Wikisource.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
- Arbuthnot family tree[usurped]
- v
- t
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- Sir Charles George Arbuthnot, GCB
- Charles George James Arbuthnot
- Sir Dalrymple Arbuthnot, 5th Baronet
- Sir Hugh Arbuthnot
- Keith Arbuthnott, 15th Viscount of Arbuthnott
- Sir Robert Arbuthnot, KCB
- Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, KCB
- Alexander Arbuthnot
- Charles Arbuthnot
- Charles George James Arbuthnot
- George Arbuthnot
- Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot
- Sir Hugh Arbuthnot
- James Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom
- Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Bt
- John Arbuthnot (mayor)
- Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Bt
- William Reierson Arbuthnot
- Alexander Arbuthnot
- Alexander Arbuthnot
- Charles Arbuthnot
and traders
- Alexander Arbuthnot
- Alexander George Arbuthnot
- Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot, KCSI
- C. M. Arbuthnot
- George Arbuthnot
- Sir George Gough Arbuthnot
- Robert Arbuthnot
- Alexander Arbuthnot
- Robert Arbuthnott, 1st Viscount of Arbuthnott
- John Arbuthnott, 8th Viscount of Arbuthnott
- John Arbuthnott, 9th Viscount of Arbuthnott
- John Arbuthnott, 10th Viscount of Arbuthnott
- John Arbuthnott, 14th Viscount of Arbuthnott
- Keith Arbuthnott, 15th Viscount of Arbuthnott
- John Arbuthnott, 16th Viscount of Arbuthnott