BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF EMINENT MEN OF FIFE, OF PAST AND PRESENT TIMES, NATIVES OF THE COUNTY, OR CONNECTED WITH IT BY PROPERTY, RESIDENCE, OFFICE, MARRIAGE, OR OTHERWISE. BY M. F. CONOLLY, AUTHOR OF THE "LIFE OF BISHOP LOW," "PROFESSOR TENNANT," &C. CUPAR-FIFE: JOHN C. ORR. PREFACE. Sir Robert Sibbald, in his History of Fife and Kinross, informs us that "in the ancient language of the Picts it (Fife) was called Ross, which signifieth a peninsula, and that it was the best part of their kingdom, where their kings had their royal seat." Hence it has been the custom to designate it the “ Kingdom of Fife,”—a popular phrase retained to this day; and doubtless there are some little kingdoms on the Continent less deserving of the title. Fife is an extensive and important county. It is, as above stated, in the form of a peninsula, having the waters of Tay on the north, and the Firth of Forth on the south, and terminating in a point on the east, in the German Ocean, commonly called the "East Neuk." Its total area is about 300,000 acres. It lies between 56′ 3′ and 56° 25′ north latitude. It contains sixty-one entire parishes, besides portions of two others, seventeen Royal Burghs, eight weekly newspapers, a University, and 153,989 of population, per census 1861. “Fife,” as has been well observed, "has always occupied a prominent place in the history of Scotland." Though this prominence may be partly owing to the circumstance that both a royal residence and a University were situated therein, still, much must be due to that energy and enterprise which for centuries have characterised the native inhabitants, who have proved themselves equally ready to defend their country from foes, and to forward its best rights and interests. In all the contests of the people for the maintenance of their civil and religious liberties, we never find the "men of Fife" behind in the discharge of their proper duties; but on the contrary, always foremost in the path of honour-as patriots, philosophers, and men of renown. To this fact, an influential foreign journal recently testified in strong terms. Speaking of one of our most eminent hydrographers it says, "He was a native of Fife, a county prolific of illustrious Scotchmen from the earliest period of our national history." Fife, then, we submit, will compare favourably with any other county in Scotland, in reference to the number of distinguished men it has produced, from the days of Sir Michael Scott to those of Adam Smith, and downwards to Dr Chalmers and Principal Tulloch. It will not, therefore, be denied that Fife affords an ample field for a biography peculiarly its own, as well in respect of its population and importance, as of the illustrious men whose lives such a work must necessarily bring before us-lives which can neither be uninteresting nor uninstructive. Perhaps no species of literature is more interesting to the general reader than biography. It combines the charm of the poem with the more substantial teachings of history; it frequently verifies the maxim “That truth is more strange than fiction ;" and it at all times affords useful and instructive reading. And there are no lives which we peruse with more satisfaction and advantage than those of men belonging to the same soil as ourselves; whose conduct and character have rendered them worthy of being held up as patterns and examples in their native land; at the same time it may add to the interest of the work, if its notices should not be confined to Natives of Fifeshire, but comprehend also eminent individuals who have been connected with the county officially or otherwise. Gratifying as it is to know that biographical literature is so popular, and so extensively read in Scotland, it is surprising that no work exclusively devoted to the worthies of Fife, has yet appeared. Up to the present time there has been no volume of Fifeshire biography in existence no collection of lives at once adapted for ready reference and popular entertainment. To supply such a desideratum, the writer has put together the sketches referred to, in the form of a biographical dictionary. In following out the plan of the work, the writer has aimed at producing something more than a mere compilation. In addition to the lives of persons previously commemorated, among the contents will be found biographies of individuals hitherto overlooked, as well as of men of note, who have recently died, and whose lives have been heretofore unwritten. But, besides these, the author has introduced many sketches of contemporary biography, i.e., notices of living men of our own day. These have been written with brevity and caution, with a strict adherence to facts, and avoiding, as far as possible, matters of opinion; because, until the whole career of a man is finished, it is impossible fairly to estimate his life and character. On the whole, what the writer has had chiefly in view is, to save parties of the middle classes, and engaged in active life, the expense of purchasing, and the time and trouble necessary in searching for information about men of Fife in cyclopædias and general biographical dictionaries; to preserve curious scraps and anecdotes, relative to men of mark, which would otherwise be lost and forgotten; and to provide a reliable book of Fifeshire biography, comprised within the compass of a moderatesized volume, and containing about five hundred and fifty names, to be offered at a price which most people can afford to pay. In short, to produce a work which must be within the reach, and not unworthy of a place, in every Fife man's library; embodying a biographical and literary history of the county, and recommending itself to every inhabitant as a record of the honoured and worthy men who have shed lustre on their country's annals, and made Fife respected, through the length and breadth of their native land. CHESTERHILL, BY ANSTRUTHER, |