Thomas Wilson Bayne

“ In May 1886 he was appointed junior clerk to the general assembly and in 1894 he was moderator, closing the meetings with a lucid and stirring address on 'The Church of Scotland, its Present and its Future' Next year he became senior clerk of the assembly, holding the position for the rest of his life. ”

“ About 1850 the family went to Glasgow, where the father for several years owned and edited the 'Sentinel,' the 'Glasgow Times,' and the 'Penny Post,' journals expounding his socialistic views. After attending a preparatory school, Buchanan went successively to a Rothesay boarding-school, to Glasgow Academy, and to Glasgow high school. In 1857-8 he completed his education by joining the junior classes of Greek and Latin at Glasgow University. ”

“ Buchanan wrote too much and too variously to achieve the highest results, but his lyric gift was strong, and there was abundant, if often ill-regulated, force in his novels and plays. He was loyal through life to the anti-religious tradition in which he was bred. ”

“ HASTIE, WILLIAM, D.D. (1842–1903) , professor of divinity at Glasgow, third son and fourth child in the family of four sons and three daughters of James Hastie by his wife Catherine Kell, was born on 7 July 1842 at Wanlockhead, Dumfriesshire, where his father was a manager of lead mines. After education in the local school he taught in the neighbourhood, and studied privately. Entering Edinburgh University in 1859, he distinguished himself in both his arts and divinity courses, graduating M.A. with first-class honours in philosophy in 1867 and B.D. in 1869. ”

“ Andrews Presbytery, Birrell for two years held the post of tutor at the College Hall, St. Andrews. In 1863 he became assistant to Dr. Robertson at Glasgow Cathedral, and in 1864 he was presented by the senatus of St. Andrews, then patrons of the living, to the parish of Dunino adjoining that of St. Andrews. He was there able to maintain his hold on academic life. He was examiner in classics in the United College, St. Andrews, in 1862-6, for some years assisted Dr. John Cook, professor of church history, and was clerk to the Senatus Academicus. ”

“ Rossetti protested in the 'Athenæum' against 'The Stealthy School of Criticism ' 16 Dec. 1871) , while Swinburne, with biting causticity, denounced Buchanan in 'Under the Microscope' (1872) . Having re- vised and amplified his attack, Buchanan in 872 issued it as a pamphlet with his name and the title 'The Fleshly School of Poetry and other Phenomena of the Day.' The warfare was long continued. Swinburne, under the mocking signature of 'Thomas Maitland St. Kilda,' renewed his attack on Buchanan in a letter entitled 'The Devil's Due,' published in the 'Examiner' on 28 Dec. 1875. ”

“ In 1879 he was Baird lecturer, taking for his subject 'The Messianic Prophecies.' A new church was completed in 1881 to meet the needs of his growing congregation. Although no ardent ecclesiastic, he moved in the general assembly of the Church of Scotland of 1887 for the relaxation of the eldership test. ”

“ In the 'Spectator' on 15 Sept. 1866 Buchanan had published under the pseudonym 'Caliban' a poem called 'The Session of the Poets,' in which he wrote insolently of Swinburne, and satirically of other leading poets of the day. In a pamphlet on Swinburne's 'Poems and Ballads' (1867) , W. M. Rossetti retorted by calling Buchanan 'a poor but pretentious poetaster.' Reviewing Matthew Arnold's 'New Poems' (1867) Swinburne attacked David Gray's 'poor little book' in a merciless foot-note (Essays and Studies p. 153) . Buchanan now retaliated with vehemence. ”

“ After attending the village school of Swinton, Berwickshire, he became an apprentice in Hartlepool shipyard. Presently he was advanced to the counting-house, where his growing knowledge of continental languages and his business tact led to more responsible occupation. ”

“ He bequeathed 20,000l. to Glasgow University, for the endowment of a chair of modern languages to be named after him. To the Glasgow Athenæum Commercial College and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce respectively he left 1000l., and he bequeathed 1000l. each to the Edinburgh Border Counties Association and the Glasgow Border Counties Association to establish scholarships to be called by his name. Jacks married on 23 Oct. 1878 Matilda Ferguson, daughter of John and Emily Stiven, Glasgow. His wife survived her husband, but there was no family. ”

“ In 1903 he gave a fresh illustration of poetical power and critical acumen in 'The Festival of Spring, from the Divan of Jelaleddin : Rendered in English Gazels after Rückert's Version, with an Introduction and Criticism of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám.' The trenchant discussion of Omar is virile criticism. ”

“ A memorial 'Hastie Lecture' has been established in Glasgow University.
Besides his Croall lecture, Hastie contributed to learned dogmatic theology 'Theology as Science, and its Present Position and Prospects in the Reformed Church' (Glasgow, 1899) , a compact and philosophic survey and argument. An intuitionist, he treated the divine immanence as a fundamental conception {Theology as Science, p. ”

“ After her marriage she contributed occasionally to 'Fraser,' 'Good Words,' and the 'Quiver,' edited the 'Argosy' for a short time, and published some volumes of poems and juvenile histories. She died at Brockley, Suffolk, on Dec. 1903.
In verse Mrs. Knox produced nothing that surpassed the Burns ode. Her first volume, 'Poems by Isa' (1866) , showed some promise, and some lyric Quality appeared in 'Poems: an Offering to Lancashire' (1863) ; 'Duchess Agnes, a Drama and other Poems' (1864) ; and 'Songs of Consolation' (1874) . Dr. A. H. Japp edited a 'Selection from Mrs. Knox's Poems' in 1892. ”

“ In childhood she lost both parents, and was reared by her grandmother, leaving school in her tenth year. A close study of standard English authors developed literary tastes; and, after contributing verses to the 'Scotsman' with the signature 'Isa,' she was regularly employed on the paper in 1853. ”

“ Story's chief publications were: 1. 'Memoir of [his father] the Rev. Robert Story,' Cambridge, 1862, an admirable contribution to ecclesiastical biography. 2. 'The Life and Remains of Robert Lee, D.D.,' 1870. 3. ”

“ DICKSON, WILLIAM PURDIE (1823–1901) , professor of divinity and translator, third son of George Dickson, parish minister of Pettinain, and afterwards of Kilrenny, Fifeshire, by his first wife, Mary Lockhart, was born at Pettinain manse, Lanarkshire, on 22 Oct. 1823. After attending Pettinain parish school and the grammar school, Lanark, he studied at St. ”

“ With various colleagues he completed there a distinguished record during the remaining thirty-seven years of his life. Mainly through his exertions the old parish church was superseded in 1894 by a new edifice, which, with its equipment, cost about 50,000l. ”

“ Examiner of secondary schools in Scotland from 1876 to 1888, he originated and carried out with great success the scheme (afterwards superseded by the system of leaving certificates) of university local examinations at St. ”

“ His prose work included, beside the volumes already mentioned, two characteristic miscellanies, 'A Look round Literature' (1887) , and 'The Coming Terror and other Essays' (1891) ; and the following novels: 1. 'The Martyrdom of Madeline'; 2. 'Love Me for Ever'; and 3. ”