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Significant Scots
Abercromby,
Patrick |
ABERCROMBY, PATRICK, historian, was the
third son of Alexander Abercromby of Fetterneir, in Aberdeenshire, a
branch of the house of Birkenbog in Banffshire, which again derived its
descent from Abercromby of Abercromby in Fife. Francis, the eldest son of
Abercromby of Fetterneir, was created Lord Glassford in 1685; but as the
patent, by an extraordinary restriction, was limited to his own life only,
the title did not descend to his children. Patrick Abercromby was born at
Forfar in 1656, and was educated at the university of St. Andrews, where
he took the degree of Doctor in Medicine in 1685. His family being
eminently loyal, the young physician is said to have changed his religion,
to please James VII., who consequently made him one of the physicians of
the court. A proceeding so adverse to all propriety, however loyal, and
accordant with the temper of the times, was speedily and severely
punished; for, at the Revolution, Abercromby was deprived of his
appointment. For some years after he appears to have lived abroad; but he
returned to Scotland in the reign of Queen Anne, and devoted himself to
the study of national antiquities. In 1707, he published a translation of
M. Beauge's very rare book, L'Histoire de la Guerre d'Ecosse, 1556, under
the title of, The History of the Campagnes 1543 and 1549; being an exact
account of the Martial Expeditions performed in those days by the Scots
and French on the one hand, and the English and their foreign auxiliaries
on the other: done in French by Mons. Beauge, a French gentleman; with an
introductory preface by the Translator. In the preface, the ancient
alliance between Scotland and France is strenuously asserted. This curious
French work, which gives a complete account of the war carried on by the
Popish government of Cardinal Beatoun, aided by the French, against the
English under Protector Somerset, was reprinted in the original by Mr
Smythe of Methven for the Bannatyne Club, 1329, along with a preface,
giving an account of Abercromby's translation. The great work of Dr
Abercromby is in two volumes, folio, entitled, The Martial Achievements of
the Scots Nation. He tells us in the preface, that, not venturing to write
regular history or biography, he had resolved to relate the deeds of all
the great men of his country, in a less ambitious strain, and with a more
minute attention to small facts, than is compatible with those styles of
composition. He also, with great modesty, apologises for his manner of
writing, by saying, "When my reader is told that 'twas my fate to
spend most part of my youth in foreign countries, to have but viewed, en
passant, the south part of Britain, and to have been conversant with
Roman and French, rather than with English authors, he will not expect
from me those modish turns of phrase, nor that exact propriety of words,
Scotsmen, by reason of their distance from the fountain of custom, so
seldom attain to." The first volume of the Martial Achievements was
published, in 1711, by Mr Robert Freebairn, and shows a respectable list
of subscribers. About one-half of it is occupied by the early fabulous
history of Scotland, in which the author, like almost all men of his time,
and especially the Jacobites, was a devout believer. It closes with the
end of the reign of Robert Bruce. The second volume appeared, with a still
more numerous and respectable list of subscribers, in 1715; it was partly
printed by Freebairn, and partly by Thomas Ruddiman, who not only
corrected the manuscript, but superintended its progress through the
press. This is said by Chalmers to have been the first typographical
effort of Ruddiman. Abercromby's Martial Achievements is upon the whole a
very creditable work for a Scottish antiquary of that period; the author
is not superior to the credulity of his age and party, but he is eminently
industrious, and his narrative is written in an entertaining style. The
work shows a wide range of authorities, and is liberally interspersed with
controversial discussions of the points most contested by antiquaries. Dr
Patrick Abercromby died poor in 1716, or, as other writers say, in 1726,
leaving a widow in distressed circumstances. |
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