William Tytler
William Tytler
Life
The son of Alexander Tytler, a lawyer ("writer") in
Tytler was interested in archaeology and history. He joined the Select Society founded by Allan Ramsay the painter, in 1754, and took part in its debates. His prescription for a happy old age has been often quoted: "short but cheerful meals, music, and a good conscience".
His first recorded address (1773) is Campbell's Close off the Grassmarket in south-west Edinburgh.[3]
He died at Woodhouselee on 12 September 1792. He was an accomplished player on the harpsichord and on the flute, and was an original member of the Musical Society of Edinburgh.[2]
He is buried in the family vault in the sealed south-west section of Greyfriars Kirkyard known as the Covenanter's Prison. His son Alexander Fraser Tytler and grandson Patrick Fraser Tytler lie with him.
Works
Tytler contributed papers to The Lounger, including one on the Defects of Modern Female Education in teaching the Duties of a Wife (No. 16). His first independent work, published in 1759, was The Inquiry, Historical and Critical, into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots, and an Examination of the Histories of Dr. Robertson and David Hume with respect to that Evidence. Anticipated in its stance of apologetics for
In 1783 Tytler published The Poetical Remains of James I, King of Scotland, as the discoverer in a manuscript in the Bodleian Library of the Kingis Quair, the authorship of which he ascribed on grounds now widely accepted to the king.[2] John Thomas Toshach Brown contested the attribution (1896), and his views were followed up by Alexander Lawson, in The Kingis quair and the quare of jelusy (1910).[4] Christ's Kirk on the Green, a comic ballad, which Tytler also attributed to James, is now thought to be of a later date.[2]
Tytler also wrote Observations on the Vision, a poem first published in Ramsay's Evergreen, in which he defended Ramsay's title to its authorship; and An Account of the Fashionable Amusements and Entertainments of Edinburgh in the Last Century, with the Plan of a grand Concert of Music on St. Cecilia's Day, 1695.[2]
Family
In 1745 he married Anne Craig (died 1783), daughter of James Craig of Costerton. They had eight children, four of whom predeceased him. The survivors were
His son Lt Col Patrick Tytler married Isabella Erskine, daughter of James Erskine, Lord Alva (one of his legal colleagues).[6]
Notes
- ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Williamson's Edinburgh Directory 1773
- ^ Alexander Lawson, The Kingis quair and the quare of jelusy (1910) p. v;archive.org.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27969. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Grave of James Erskine, Lord Alva, St Cuthbert's Churchyard, Edinburgh
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Mackay, Aeneas James George (1899). "Tytler, William". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 552.
- Mackay, A. J. G.; Couper, Sarah. "Tytler, William (1711–1792)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27969. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)