DUNCAN,
a surname of Norwegian origin, ennobled in the person of Admiral,
Viscount Duncan, in 1797, of whom a memoir is subsequently given below.
The family of Duncan of Lundie in Forfarshire, to which he belonged, was
a very ancient one, and originally was designated of Seaside. At what
time the barony of Lundie came into the possession of the Duncans is not
stated, but we find the family designed of Lundie before 1678. They had
also the estate of Gourdie in the same county. One member of it, Sir
William Duncan, M.D., an eminent physician of London, married Lady Mary
Tufton, daughter of the earl of Thanet. Soon after their marriage they
went to the East Indies, where Sir William realized a large fortune. On
his return to London he became one of the physicians to his majesty, and
was, in 1764, created a baronet, but the title became extinct at his
death in 1774. Admiral Lord Duncan was his nephew. The father of the
latter, Alexander Duncan of Lundie, provost of Dundee, distinguished
himself by his attachment to the reigning family during the rebellion of
1745, and died in 1771. He married Helena, a daughter of Mr. Haldane of
Gleneagles, Perthshire. [See HALDANE, surname of.] The admiral succeeded
to the family estates on the death of his elder brother, Colonel Duncan,
who died without issue in 1793. Two of Lord Duncan’s sons died before
him in early youth, and he was succeeded in his titles and estates y the
third and eldest surviving son, Robert Dundas Duncan-Haldane (the latter
name being assumed from his maternal grandmother, having inherited her
estate) second Viscount Duncan, born in 1785, and created in 1831, earl
of Camperdown, from the place where the great victory of his father was
gained. He married a daughter of Sir New Dalrymple Hamilton, baronet,
with issue. His eldest son, Adam (named after his grandfather) Viscount
Duncan, M.P., succeeded in 1859 as 2d earl. The 1st earl’s
younger brother, Captain the Hon. Sir Henry Duncan, R.N., C.B., K.C.H.,
held the office of surveyor general of the ordnance, and died 1st
November 1835.
It is
remarkable that the crest of the family, now borne over the arms of the
earls of Camperdown, is a dismantled ship, intended to commemorate,
according to heraldic tradition, the escape from shipwreck of an heir of
Lundie, about two centuries since, who, while acting as supercargo on
board a vessel bound from Norway to his native place, Dundee, was
overtaken by a tremendous storm, in which the ship was dismantled, and
with great difficulty reached its destined port.
DUNCAN I., King of
Scots,
“the gracious Duncan” of Shakspeare, succeeded his grandfather, Malcolm
the Second, in 1033. He was the son of Bethoc, (or Beatrice) a daughter
of King Malcolm, by Crinan, abbot of Dunkeld. In those early times,
before Romish superstition and intrigue had introduced the law of the
celibacy of the clergy into the church, the marriage of churchmen was
allowed, and even down to the period of the reformation the dignity of a
mitred abbot was equal to that of a bishop. Pinderton conjectures either
that Crinan, Duncan’s father, was Malcolm’s minister of state, as was
then usual for churchmen, who alone possessed such learning as the age
afforded, or that his marriage with his daughter took place before
Malcolm became king, and he gives a list of all the most conspicuous
instances in history, of priests, abbots and bishops holding the highest
state offices in the different countries to which they belonged, and of
being princes, distinguished military leaders, and chief councillors of
their respective sovereigns. [Pinkerton’s Inquiry, vol. ii. p.
194.] The dynasty of Kenneth Macalpine, which for so many generations
had filled the Scottish throne, appears to have terminated with Malcolm,
who was defeated and slain in a great battle, on the southern shore of
the Beauly firth, by Thorfinn, a powerful Norwegian earl, styled in the
Orkneyinga Saga the richest of all the earls of Orkney, possessing nine
earldoms in Scotland, the whole of the Sudreys, and a large riki
or district in Ireland. On the accession of Duncan there remained to the
Scots north of the firths of Forth and Clyde, only the districts of
Fife, Strathern, Menteith, Gowrie, and Lennox, with Athol and Argyle in
the north. A considerable part of the territories of the northern Picts
also remained unconquered by the Norwegians. During the whole of
Duncan’s reign the Scots enjoyed almost uninterrupted tranquility. IN
1035, he is said by Simeon of Durham to have besieged that city without
success. In 1039, taking advantage of the absence of Thorfinn in an
English expedition, Duncan, with the view of recovering some of the
territories of the Scots, of which they had been deprived by
the Norwegians,
raised an army and advanced as far as Moray, without encountering any
resistance. The Gaelic inhabitants of the north, however, had never
admitted his right to the throne, although he was a chieftain of their
own race, and under Macbeth, the maormor of Moray, they attacked him at
Bothgowanan (in Gaelic, the Smith’s dwelling) near Elgin, defeated his
army, and slew himself. This happened in 1040. Macbeth immediately
seized the sceptre, which he claimed in right of his cousin Malcolm, and
the two sons of Duncan, (he is said to have married the sister of Siward,
earl of Northumberland) were obliged to fly. The elder, Malcolm,
surnamed Canmore, took refuge in Northumberland, while the younger,
Donald Bane, escaped to the Hebrides. [Skene’s Highlanders of
Scotland, vol. i. p. 115.] The story of the assassination of Duncan,
on which Shakspeare has founded his tragedy of Macbeth, appears to have
been an invention of Hector Boece. Five years afterwards, Crinan, the
aged abbot of Dunkeld, was slain in battle, in the attempt to revenge
his son’s death and obtain the restoration of the throne to his
grandchildren.
DUNCAN II., King of
Scots,
was the eldest of all the sons of Malcolm Canmore. His mother was
Ingiobiorge, widow of Thorfinn, the Norwegian earl of Orkney mentioned
in the preceding article. Historians generally have considered him an
illegitimate son of Malcolm, but according to the Orkneyinga Saga, it
would appear that his father married Ingiobiorge, (the princess
Margaret, the sister of Edgar Atheling, being his second wife,) and
therefore, by the Saxon rule of succession, on his father’s death in
1093, he had the best right to the throne. In accordance, however, with
the Celtic laws of inheritance, which preferred brothers to sons, his
uncle, Donald Bane, was considered to have a prior right to it, and by
the aid of the Gaelic inhabitants and the men of the Hebrides, among
whom he had spent most of his life, the latter was advanced to the
sovereignty. Duncan had, in 1072, while yet a mere youth, been delivered
to William the Conqueror, as a hostage for his father’s fidelity in
maintaining peace with England, and in consequence received his
education at the Norman court. By William Rufus he was invested with the
honour of knighthood, and retained in his service. After the death of
his father, assisted by that monarch, and accompanied by a numerous band
of English and Norman adventurers, he advanced into Scotland in 1094,
and expelling Donald Bane, made himself king. By Scottish historians
Duncan is usually styled and treated as a usurper, and whether
legitimate or illegitimate, he was undoubtedly considered so by the
Celtic portion of Scotland, which continued firm in its allegiance to
Donald Bane. To obtain the support of the native chiefs he unwisely
consented to dismiss from the kingdom the English and Normans by whose
aid he had succeeded in getting possession of the throne; but no sooner
had he done so than the former attacked and slew him, after a short
reign of little more than a year, replacing Donald on the throne. [Skene’s
Highlanders of Scotland, vol. i. p. 126.] A half-brother of his own,
named Edmund, third son of Malcolm Canmore by Queen Margaret, joined in
the conspiracy against him; and it is stated that for his treachery he
was to obtain a portion of the kingdom from his uncle, Donald Bane. At
their instigation Duncan was assassinated by Malpedir, maormor of Moern.
According to William of Malmesbury, Edmund, for his accession to the
murder of his brother, was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and
being touched with remorse, on his deathbed he acknowledged the justice
of his punishment, and in token of his repentance desired that he should
be buried in his chains. Lord Hailes thinks that his imprisonment took
place after the accession of his brother Edgar to the throne, and infers
from this that Duncan was not a usurper, but a regent during the
minority of the children of Malcolm, [Hailes’ Annals, vol. i. p.
46] but as the condition of Edmund’s assistance to Donald Bane’s project
was a partition of the kingdom between them, it seems most likely that,
on the success of their plot, it was the latter who threw Edmund into
prison, to avoid fulfilling his part of the infamous compact.
Duncan left a
son, William, who had also a son named William, called the Boy of
Egremont, who after the death of David the First, disputed the claim to
the throne of his grandson Malcolm the Fourth, and was supported in his
pretensions by the Gaelic or Scots part of the population. The
Orkneyinga Saga states that “Ingiobiorg Jarslmoder (Earl’s-mother, or as
it has been translated, ‘the mother of the earls’), widow of Earl
Thorfinn, married Melkolf, king of Scotland, who was called Langhals
(Malcolm Canmore, or Great Head), Their son was Dungad (Duncan) king of
Scotland, the father of William, who was a good man. His son was William
Odlinger, (the Noble,) whom all the Scots wished to take for their
king,” There can be no doubt that this desire was expressed by the
only constitutional body then existing in Scotland, namely, the earls of
the seven provinces into which the country was at that period divided,
when, in 1160, Ferquhard earl of Strathern, and five other of these
earls conspired to seize the person of Malcolm, and place Duncan’s
grandson on the throne in his stead. Winton mentions the Boy of Egremont
as being among the conspirators on this occasion, as well as Gilleandres
earl of Ross. [See Skene’s Highlanders of Scotland, vol. i. pp.
1261, 262, App.]
In Anderson’s
Diplomata is contained a charter (No. IV.) Granted by Duncan to the
monks of St. Cuthbert, said to be the oldest original charter concerning
Scotland now known. At the commencement of it he styles himself
‘Dunecanus filius Regis Malcolumb, contans herditarie Rex Scotie,’ and
among the names with crosses subscribed to it are those of ‘Eadgari’ and
‘Malcolumb,’ whom he styles his brothers. Lord Hailes thinks it singular
(Annals, vol. i. p. 45, note) that Edgar should have
resided at the court of Duncan; but if Duncan was, as has been shown, no
usurper, but the legitimate possessor of the throne, there is nothing
surprising in the matter. As for Malcolumb, he deems him to have been a
natural son of Malcolm the Third, but he was in fact the younger brother
of Duncan, by his mother Ingiobiorge, and legitimate. Subjoined is a fac-simile
of the seal of Duncan at this ancient charter, which seal is believed to
be the oldest extant:
[seal of Duncan]
DUNCAN, MARK,
an eminent professor of the sixteenth was the son of Thomas Duncan of
Maxpoffle, Roxburghshire, and Janet, his wife, daughter of Patrick
Oliphant of Sowdoun, in the same county. A manuscript account, preserved
by an English branch of the family, states that he was the son of
Alexander, and the grandson of John Andrew Duncan of Airdrie, if
Fifeshire, and that he was born in London; but this statement is
altogether erroneous. His birth is supposed to have taken place about
1570, and it is supposed that after laying the foundation of his great
learning in Scotland, he completed his academical studies on the
continent; but is not known in what university he took his degree of
M.D. He was appointed professor of philosophy in the university of
Saumur, in France, the chief seminary of the French protestants. Hare he
attained to great celebrity, and by the publication in 1612 of his
‘Institutio Logica,’ he greatly extended his reputation as an acute and
able logician. Of this work, which he dedicated to the celebrated Philip
du Plessis Morney, there are at least three editions. Dr. Duncan married
a French lady of good family, and to his academical labours he added the
practice of physic, to his own profit and the increase of his
reputation. From King James he received an invitation to England, his
majesty transmitting to him, at the same time, a formal appointment as
his own physician; but the reluctance of his wife to quit her native
country prevented him from taking advantage of so promising a road to
preferment. He was afterwards promoted to the office of principal of the
university of Saumur, with which he retained his professorship of
philosophy. IN 1634 he published, but without his name, a tract under
the title of ‘Discours de la Possession des Religieuses Ursulines de
Lodun,’ (64 pages 8vo) on the supposed possession of the Ursuline nuns
of Loudun, on whose evidence, Urbain Grandier, curate and canon of
Loudun, had the preceding year been committed to the flames, on a charge
of sorcery exercised upon them. In this tract Dr. Duncan, at some risk
to himself, exposed this infamous and cruel imposture. He died in 1640,
regretted both by catholics and protestants. He had three sons and three
daughters. The eldest son, Marl Duncan de Cerisantes, distinguished
himself as a scholar, by the elegance of his Latin verses, and as a
soldier by his well-tried courage, and he likewise rose to some eminence
as a diplomatist. In 1641 he was sent as an envoy to Constantinople, and
having afterwards entered the service of the queen of Sweden, he, in
1645, succeeded Grotius as her resident ambassador at the court of
France. After he quitted the queen’s service, he renounced the
protestant faith, and was employed by the French king to observe the
conduct of the duke of Guise, during his expedition to Naples. In a
general attack on the Spanish posts, he was wounded in the ankle by a
musket ball, and died on the 28th or 29th of
February 1648.
DUNCAN, WILLIAM,
an ingenious critic and translator, was born at Aberdeen in July 1717.
His father, William Duncan, was a tradesman in that city, and his
mother, Eu0hemia Kirkwood, was the daughter of a farmer in
Haddingtonshire. After receiving the rudiments of his education partly
at the grammar school of Aberdeen, and partly at the boarding school at
Foveran, kept by a Mr. Forbes, he finished his studies at the Marischal
college of his native city, and in 1737 took his degree of M.A. He was
originally destined for the church, but not liking the clerical
profession, he removed to London, where he devoted himself to
literature. He wrote ‘The Elements of Logic’ for Dodsley’s Preceptor,
which was afterwards printed in a separate form in 1752, in which year
he was appointed regius professor of philosophy in the Marischal
college, Aberdeen. He was also the author of a faithful and elegant
version of ‘Caesar’s Commentaries,’ rendered still more valuable by a
learned preliminary discourse on the art of war among the ancients. He
likewise translated those ‘Select Orations of cicero’ which occur in the
common Dauphin edition, accompanied with judicious explanatory notes. He
died unmarried, May 1, 1760, in the forty-third year of his age.
DUNCAN, ADAM, Viscount Duncan,
a distinguished naval commander, was, as already stated, the second son
of Alexander Duncan, Esq. of Lundie, Forfarshire, and was born at
Dundee, of which town his father was provost, July 1, 1731. His mother
was Helena Haldane, heiress of Gleneagles in Perthshire, lineally
descended from Duncan earl of Lennox, who died in the year 1424. He
received the rudiments of his education in his native town, and entered
the navy in 1746, under his relative Captain Haldane, on board the
Shoreham frigate, with whom he continued for about three years. He was
next a midshipman in the Centurion of fifty guns, the flag-ship of
Commodore, afterwards Lord Keppel, then appointed commander-in-chief on
the Mediterranean station. In 1755 he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant and appointed to the Norwich, a fourth-rate of fifty guns,
commanded by Captain, afterwards Admiral Barrington, one of the squadron
under Keppel, sent out with troops to General Braddock, in consequence
of the various encroachments of the French on the British settlements in
North America. He returned to England in the Centurion, and remained on
the home station for about three years. Appointed second lieutenant of
the Torbay, of seventy-four guns, he proceeded in that ship on the
expedition sent against the French settlement of Goree on the coast of
Africa, where he was slightly wounded. Soon afterwards he became first
lieutenant of the Torbay, in which capacity he returned to England. In
September 1759 he was made master and commander, and on February 25,
1761, post captain, when he was appointed to the Valiant of seventy-four
guns, on board of which Keppel hoisted his flag as commander of the
expedition against the French island of Belleisle. In 1762 he served
under Admiral Pococke at the reduction of the Havannah.
He afterwards accompanied Keppel to the Jamaica station, where he
remained till the conclusion of the war. In 1779 he commanded the
Monarch, a seventy-four, which was one of those placed under the orders
of Sir George Rodney, who sailed with a powerful squadron to the relief
of Gibraltar, then closely blockaded by a Spanish army on the landside,
and a strong flotilla by sea. On the 16th January 1780, the
British fleet being then off Cape St. Vincent, fell in with a Spanish
squadron of eleven ships of the line, commanded by Don Juan Augustin de
Yardi, stationed there to intercept Rodney’s squadron, which was
supposed to consist of no more than four ships of the line, having a
fleet of victuallers and transports under their protection. Captain
Duncan’s ship, the Monarch, although not remarkable as a swift sailer,
was the first to get into action. On being warned of the danger he
incurred by dashing so hastily amidst the enemy’s squadron, he replied
with the utmost coolness, “Just what I want, I wish to be among them.”
In a short time he found himself alongside the San Augustin, one of the
Spanish ships of seventy guns, and much larger than the Monarch, while
two others of similar rate and dimensions lay within musket shot to the
leeward of him. After a short but animated resistance, the San Augustin
struck her colours, while the other two ships had taken to flight. The
prize was found to be not worth taking possession of, being too much
shattered by the Monarch’s fire, and as it then blew hard, and the whole
fleet was on a lee-shore, its crew were enabled to escape with it. In
1782 Captain Duncan was appointed to the Blenheim of ninety guns, with
which ship he joined the Channel fleet under Lord Howe, and in the
engagement which took place off the mouth of the straits of Gibraltar in
October of the same year, with the combined fleets of France and Spain,
he led the larboard division of the centre squadron. He was subsequently
removed to the Edgar, seventy-four, a Portsmouth guard-ship.
In September 1787 he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue, and on
a second advancement of flag-officers, in 1790, he became rear-admiral
in the white squadron. In February 1793 he was made vice-admiral of the
blue, and in 1794 of the white. Hitherto his merit had been entirely
overlooked by those in power, and although he had frequently solicited a
command, he remained for years without being engaged in active service.
At length, in February 1795, he was appointed commander of the fleet in
the North seas, when he hoisted his flag on board the Venerable, of
seventy-four guns, and on the 1st of the following June was
promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue. At this period a large
Dutch fleet was collected in the Texel, for the purpose of co-operating
with the French general Hoche, who was waiting the first opportunity of
invading Ireland, with forth thousand men. After a harassing service of
two years occupied in watching this formidable armament, Admiral Duncan
had the mortification in June 1797, to see the mutiny, which first
commenced in the Channel fleet at Spithead, and then spread to the Nore,
extend to almost all the ships under his command. On the 3d of that
month he assembled the crew of his own ship, the Venerable, and
addressed them in the following simple and pathetic words: “My lads, I
once more call you together with a sorrowful heart, from what I have
lately seen of the disaffection of the fleets: I call it disaffection,
for they have no grievances. To be deserted by my fleet, in the face of
an enemy, is a disgrace which I believe never before happened to a
British admiral, nor could I have supposed it possible. My greatest
comfort, under God, is that I have been supported by the officers and
seamen of this ship, for which, with a heart overflowing with gratitude,
I request you to accept my sincere thanks. I flatter myself much good
may result from your example, by bringing these deluded people to a
sense of the duty which they owe not only to their king and country, but
to themselves. The British navy has ever been the support of that
liberty which has been handed down to us by our ancestors, and which, I
trust, we shall maintain to the latest posterity, and that can be done
only by unanimity and obedience. The ship’s company, and others who have
distinguished themselves by their loyalty and good order, deserve to be,
and doubtless will be, the favourites of a grateful country. They will
also have, from their inward feelings, a comfort which will be lasting,
and not like the fleeting and false confidence of those who have swerved
from their duty. It has often been my pride to look into the Texel, and
see a foe which decided on coming out to meet us. My pride is now
humbled indeed! My feelings are not easily to be expressed. Our cup has
overflowed, and has made us wanton. The all-wise Providence has given us
this check as a warning, and I hope we shall improve by it. On Him then
let us trust, where our only security can be found. I find there are
many good men among us; for my own part, I have had full confidence of
all in this ship, and once more beg to express my approbation of your
conduct. My God, who has thus far conducted you, continue to do so; and
my the British navy, the glory and support of our country, be restored
to its wonted splendour, and be not only the bulwark of Britain, but the
terror of the world. But this can only be effected by a spirit of
adherence to our duty, and obedience; and let us pray that the Almighty
God may keep us in the right way of thinking; God bless you all!” The
whole ship’s crew, dissolved in tears, declared their resolution to
continue faithful to their duty, and, deserted as he was by every ship
in the fleet except his own and the Adamant, he adopted the daring but
successful expedient of blockading the passage from the Texel with the
two ships, practising from time to time the ruse of making
signals, as if his fleet had been in sight, instead of lying
ingloriously inactive in the power of the mutineers. This stratagem
served his purpose, till some of his misguided fleet joined him, and it
was his declared resolution never to quit his post, nor permit the Dutch
fleet to pass the narrow channel which he occupied, without the most
determined resistance. On one occasion, information was brought to the
admiral by one of the officers that the whole of the enemy’s fleet was
in motion to force a passage. He immediately ordered the lead to be
hove, and on hearing the depth of water, calmly replied, “Then when they
have sunk us, my flag will still fly.” At length the deluded men
returned to their duty, and not long after an opportunity was afforded
them of retrieving their conduct and character in the decisive victory
of Camperdown.
The admiral’s ship had been eighteen weeks at sea, and several others
had suffered much from recent gales, and were also in need of provisions
and repairs. Thus circumstanced, the admiral put into Yarmouth roads on
the 3d October 1797, to refit and revictual, leaving a squadron of
observation on the Dutch coast. On the 9th information
reached him that the enemy’s fleet was at sea. On the 11th at
noon he brought them to close action off Camperdown, as they were
seeking to regain their port, and gained one of the most glorious
victories in the annals of naval heroism. At nine o’clock in the morning
a signal was made by Captain Trollope, commanding the Russell, 74, that
the enemy were to leeward. The admiral immediately bore up and made the
signal for a general chase, and soon got sight of them forming on the
larboard tack. “Finding,” says the admiral in his despatch, “there was
no time to be lost in making the attack, I made the signal to bear up,
break the enemy’s line, and engage them to leeward, each ship her
opponent, by which I got between them and the land, whither they were
fast approaching. My signals were obeyed with promptitude; and
Vice-admiral Onslow, in the Monarch, bore down on the enemy’s rear in
the most gallant manner, his division following his example, and the
action commenced about 40 minutes past 12. The Venerable (the admiral’s
own ship) soon got through the enemy’s line and began a close action,
with my division on their van, which lasted two hours and a half.” The
result was that of 15 sail of the line and 11 frigates and smaller
vessels, of which the Dutch fleet consisted, nine of the line and two
frigates were taken, including the Dutch admiral, the brave De Winter,
and the vice-admiral. The English fleet consisted of 14 sail of the
line, one frigate, and three or four cutters. The number of killed and
wounded in this sanguinary battle was near 800 men. Captain Burgess of
the Ardent fell early in the action, to whose memory a handsome monument
has been erected in St. Paul’s Cathedral. This victory, so shortly after
the most formidable mutiny that had ever occurred in the British navy
had been subdued, was doubly gratifying, by proving that British seamen,
after their grievances had been redressed, fought with the most loyal
and heroic zeal for their king and country.
Admiral Duncan arrived at the Nore on the 16th of October. A
patent of baron of the United Kingdom had already been made out, though
not signed, for his intrepid conduct during the mutiny at the Nore, but
his title was now changed to that of viscount, and on the 17th
he was raised to the peerage, by the title of Viscount Duncan of
Camperdown and baron of Lundie, to which estate he had succeeded on the
death of his elder brother. He also received the thanks of parliament
and of the city of London, with a pension of two thousand pounds a-year
to him and his two next heirs. The commanders were presented with gold
medals, Vice-admiral Onslow was created a baronet, and the Captains
Trollope and Fairfax, knights banerets. In 1799 he was created admiral
of the white. His lordship retained the command of the North sea fleet
till 1800, when he retired into private life. In 1804 he went to London,
with the view of again offering his services against the enemies of his
country, when a stroke of apoplexy, which seized him while attending at
the admiralty, obliged him to hasten down to his family in Scotland. He
died at Cornhill near Kelso, on his way home, in August 1804. He
married, in 1777, one of the daughters of Robert Dundas, lord president
of the court of session, and niece to Viscount Melville, by whom he had
several children. He was succeeded by his eldest son, created at the
coronation of William the Fourth, in 1831, earl of Camperdown. A
portrait of Admiral Lord Duncan is below.
[portrait of Admiral Lord Duncan]
DUNCAN, ANDREW, senior, M.D.,
an eminent physician, was born at St. Andrews, October 17, 1744. After
studying for the medical profession at the university of his native
place, and at the college of Edinburgh, in the year 1768 he went on a
voyage to China, as surgeon to the Hon. East India Company’s ship Asia.
In October 1769 he received the diploma of M.D. from the university of
St. Andrews, and in the following May was admitted a licentiate of the
royal college of physicians, Edinburgh. During the sessions of 1774 and
1775 he delivered lectures on the theory of medicine in the university
of Edinburgh, in the room of Dr. Drummond, and also illustrated the
cases of poor patients labouring under chronic diseases, by giving
clinical lectures. In June 1776, on Dr. James Gregory being appointed
professor of the theory of medicine at Edinburgh, Dr. Duncan announced
his intention of continuing his lectures independent of the university,
which he did for a period of fourteen years. By his exertions, a public
dispensary was, in 1776, erected in Richmond Street, on the south side
of Edinburgh, in the hall of which his portrait is placed. In 1773 he
commenced the publication of a periodical work, entitled ‘Medical and
Philosophical Commentaries,’ which continued till 1795, when it had
reached 20 volumes. He afterwards continued the work till 1804, under
the title of ‘Annals of Medicine,’ after which it was conducted by his
son, under the name of the ‘Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal.’ In
1790 Dr. Duncan was elected president of the college of physicians in
Edinburgh, and shortly after professor of the Institutions of Medicine
in that university. In 1792 he brought forward a plan for the erection
of a Lunatic Asylum in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh; and a royal
charter having been obtained in April 1807, a building was accordingly
erected at Morningside. He was also the projectof of a scheme for the
establishment of a horticultural society, and of a public experimental
garden, both of which objects were at last successfully attained. In
1821 he was appointed first physician to the king for Scotland. Dr.
Duncan died July 5, 1828, in his 84th year. Besides various
valuable works in medical literature, he occasionally indulged in little
effusions in verse, printed on slips of paper, and distributed amongst
his friends. Of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh he was frequently
elected president, and he was a member of several medical and
philosophical societies both at home and abroad. His third son, General
Alexander Duncan of Gatonside House, who distinguished himself in India,
born in 1780, died in 1859. Dr. Duncan’s works are:
Diss. de Alvi Purgantium natura et usu. 1770, 8vo.
Observations on the Use and operations of Mercury in the Venereal
Disease. Edin. 1772, 12mo.
Elements of Therapeutics. Edin. 1770, 8vo. The same, Edin. 1772, 2 vols.
8vo.
An Address to the Students of Medicine at Edinburgh, introductory to a
course of Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Physic. Edin. 1776,
12mo.
Heads of Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Medicine. Edin. 1776,
1780, 12mo. 4th edit. 1788, 8vo. enlarged.
De laudibus Gulielmi Harveii, Oratio. Edin. 1777. 8vo.
Medical Cases, selected from the Records of the Public Dispensary at
Edinburgh; with Remarks and Observations. Edin. 1778, 8vo. 3d edit.,
1784.
Account of the Life and Writings of the late Alex. Monro, sen., M.D.
Edin. 1780, 8vo.
Letters to Dr. Robert Jones, respecting the case of Mr. Isaacson. Lond.
1782, 8vo.
Lewis’ translation of Hoffman’s System of the Practice of Medicine,
revised and completed. 1783, 2 vols. 8vo.
Account of the late Dr. John Parsens. 1786, 8vo.
An account of the good effects of Vitriolic Acid in the cure of
obstinate Singultus. Med. Com. xiv. p. 371. 1789.
Heads of Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence. Edin. 1792, 8vo. Reprinted,
1801, 8vo.
Annals of Medicine (annually). 1794-1804, 9 vols. 8vo.
History of a singular affection of the right leg, accompanied with
Symptomatic Epilepsy, cured by the use of Galvanism. Annals of Med.
viii. p. 339. 1803.
Thomae Simsoni de re medica, dissertationes quatuor. 1810, 8vo.
A Letter to Dr. Gregory of Edinburgh, in consequence of certain printed
papers distributed by him. Edin. 1811, 8vo.
Letter to His Majesty’s Sheriff-Depute in Scotland, recommending the
establishment of Four National Asylums for the reception of Criminal and
Pauper Lunatics. 1818.
Observations on the distinguishing Symptoms of three different species
of Pulmonary Consumption, the Catarrhal, the Apostematous, and the
Tuberculous; with some remarks on the Remedies and Regimen best fitted
for the prevention, removal, or alleviation of each species. Edin. 1813,
8vo. 2d edit. with Appendix on the preparation and use of Lactucarium,
or Lettuce-opium. 1818, 8vo.
Observations on a case of Diabetes Mellitus; with the history of the
morbid appearances which were discovered on dissection. By A. Monro,
jun. Ib. p. 388.
Letter respecting the Influenza at Edinburgh, in the Spring of 1803. Ib.
p. 437.
Copy of a Memorial which was presented to the patrons of the University
of Edinburgh in 1798, &c.
A short view of the extent and importance of Medical Jurisprudence,
considered as a branch of education; presented to the attention of his
Majesty’s Ministers, by H. Erskine, in 1806, 4to.
Heads of Lectures on the Institutions of Medicine. Edin. 1822, 8vo.
DUNCAN, ANDREW, junior, M.D.,
son of the preceding, was born at Edinburgh, August 10, 1773, and
commenced the study of medicine in 1787. He received the degree of M.D.
in 1794, and after spending some time in London, he proceeded to
Germany, and entered himself a student at the university of Gottingen.
He next made the tour of Italy and the principal German cities, visiting
the hospitals and medical institutions, and becoming acquainted with the
most celebrated men in the places through which he passed. When he
returned to Edinburgh he became joint-editor with his father of the
‘Annals of Medicine,’ and subsequently re-visited the Continent, when he
resided nine months at Pisa and Florence. On his return he settled at
Edinburgh as a medical practitioner; was elected a fellow of the royal
college of physicians, and soon after one of the physicians of the royal
dispensary, founded by his father in 1776. In 1805 he became sole editor
of the ‘Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal.’ His most valuable work,
however, was the ‘Edinburgh Dispensatory,’ published in 1803, and early
thereafter translated into the German, French, and other languages. By
his exertions the chair of medical jurisprudence was instituted in the
university of Edinburgh in 1807, and he himself was appointed the first
professor. He was shortly afterwards elected secretary and librarian to
the university; in 1819 he was appointed joint-professor with his father
of the theory of medicine; and in 1821 he became professor of materia
medica and pharmacy; distinguishing himself throughout by his unwearied
devotedness to the duties of his chair, and his unquenchable zeal in the
investigation of science. He died May 13, 1832. His works are:
The Edinburgh New Dispensatory: containing, the Elements of
Pharmaceutical Chemistry. 2. The Materia Medica. 3. The Pharmaceutical
Preparatives and Compositions, & c. Illustrated and explained in the
language, and according to the principles of modern Chemistry. With
tables, plates, &c. Edin. 1803, 8vo. 2d edition, enlarged and much
improved. 1804, 8vo. 3d edition, 1806, 8vo. 4th edition,
1808, 8vo. New edition improved. London, 1818, 8vo. Edin. 1822, 8vo.
Supplement, 1829, 8vo. Another edition. Edin. 1830, 8vo.
Tentamen inaugurale de Swietenia Soymida.
Treatise on the diseases which are incident to Sheep in Scotland; drawn
up from Original Commentaries presented to the Highland Society. Edin.
1807, 8vo.
Reports of the Practice in the Chemical Wards of the Royal Infirmary,
Edinburgh, during the months of Nov. and Dec. 1817; and Jan., May, June,
and July, 1818, 8vo.
DUNCAN, HENRY, D.D.,
the founder of savings banks in Scotland, was the third son of the
minister of Lochrutton, Dumfries-shire, in the manse of which parish he
was born, October 8th, 1774. His family, both on father’s and
mother’s side, were connected with ministers settled in almost every
part of Scotland. He was the descendant of a cadet of the family of
Charteris of Amisfield, in Dumfries-shire, who being involved in the
troubles of border warfare, had, early in the seventeenth century, fled
to the Orkney islands, and changed his name to Duncan. At an early age
he gave indications of superior talent, and was always fonder of reading
than of play. Of an imaginative temperament, he loved the romantic
solitudes of nature, and in his youth was addicted to writing verses,
which were marked more by their vein of humour and sentiment than their
poetical merit. He displayed also, we are told, at an early age, a
considerable degree of mechanical ingenuity. He received his early
education first at home, under a private tutor, and afterwards at
Dumfries Academy, and in his fourteenth year was sent to the university
of St. Andrews, where he continued two winters; but in consequence of a
letter to his parents from his near relative, Dr. Currie of Liverpool,
offering to procure him a situation in the banking house of Messrs.
Heywood of that town, he proceeded to that place in the summer of 1790.
Two of his brothers were already settled at Liverpool, and for nearly
three years he remained in the bank to which he had been appointed, but
having a strong desire to enter the ministry, he relinquished his
situation, and repairing to the university of Edinburgh, joined
Professor Dugald Stewart’s moral philosophy class, in November 1793. The
remainder of his college studies were pursued partly in Glasgow and
partly in Edinburgh. During his last two sessions in the latter city he
was a member of the famous Speculative Society, having been admitted on
March 28, 1797, and was a constant associate, among others, of Leyden
and Brougham, the latter of whom, then a student in Edinburgh, became a
member of the society the same year, and with him he maintained a
friendly correspondence as long as he lived. His only essay while a
member was one on the ‘Influence of Commerce on the situation and
relations of Society.’
In 1798, he was licensed to preach the gospel, and in the following year
was presented by the earl of Mansfield, the patron, to the vacant parish
of Ruthwell, in his native county. Dr. Duncan was one of the purest
philanthropists that ever breathed, and on receipt of the presentation
he generously surrendered the standing crop on the glebe, fifty acres in
extent, to which he was entitled, to the widow and family of his
predecessor, an act of liberality which gained for him, at the outset,
the affections of the parishioners. In the long-continued scarcity which
prevailed at the commencement of the present century, he obtained a
cargo of Indian corn from Liverpool, where his brothers were in business
as merchants, which he sold at prime cost to such of his parishioners as
were able to pay, while to the poor among them he supplied it
gratuitously. At other times, when meal was at a very high price, he has
ordered rice from Liverpool, which he furnished to the people of his
parish in the same manner. Indeed, in seasons of scarcity, his
benevolence was unceasing. Often, when he had occasion to go into
Dumfries, did he load his gig with small bundles of flax and wool for
the female portion of his parishioners, and when they had converted it
into yarn, he easily found a sale for it when he again returned to
Dumfries.
In 1803, when the spirit of patriotism, roused by the expected invasion
of the French, became so strong throughout the kingdom that almost every
one who could bear arms was eager to be a soldier, a company of
volunteers was formed in the parish of Ruthwell, of which the parish
minister, at the urgent desire of his parishioners, became captain, and
regularly attended the first year’s training, which extended to a month.
He once, while out on duty, actually preached in a portion of his
regimentals, with his pulpit gown over all, in the new church of
Dumfries, of which his brother was the minister. Feeling, however, the
incongruity of his position as a clergyman, he soon resigned his
commission as captain.
In November 1804, Mr. Duncan married Miss Agnes Craig, the daughter of
his predecessor, and while she recommenced at the manse those charitable
attentions which, in early life, she had bestowed on the poor of the
parish, he was forming schemes of a higher and more comprehensive
benevolence. He began by instituting a friendly society for the benefit
of the working classes. This was followed by the establishment of
another society, on a similar basis, for the female portion of the
parishioners. He soon established a parish library, and in 1808
commenced the publication of ‘The Scottish Cheap Repository,’ a series
of tracts addressed to the humbler classes. This was one of the earliest
attempts in Scotland in the department of popular literature, and its
success was extraordinary. In 1809, with three other individuals, he
started the Dumfries Courier newspaper, of which he was for
several years principal editor, previous to Mr. M’Diarmid being
appointed to its management.
Although thus actively engaged, he did not neglect his clerical and
ministerial duties. It was owing to his active efforts that an auxiliary
Bible society was formed in Dumfries, in 25th February, 1810,
under the presidency of the duke of Buccleuch, and in 1814 a missionary
society was formed of which Mr. Duncan himself was chosen first
president. In the beginning of 1810 he first turned his attention to the
erection of an economical bank for the savings of the industrious, and
to the working out of such a scheme his three years’ occupation in
Liverpool as a banker admirably fitted him. Particular circumstances
connected with the state of the poor of Dumfries and its neighbourhood,
and especially a desire to avert the introduction of poor rates, had
induced him to publish several letters on the subject in the Dumfries
Courier, and whilst engaged in the necessary investigations, he had
an opportunity of consulting some books and pamphlets lent to him by Mr.
Erskine, afterwards earl of Mar, among which he found an ingenious paper
giving an account of a scheme proposed by John Bone, Esq., of London,
for gradually abolishing poor rates in England, in a subordinate
provision of which he found the germ of the idea that he afterwards so
successfully brought into operation. He immediately published a paper
proposing to the county gentleman the establishment of banks for savings
in the different parishes of the district, and containing a sketch of
rules and regulations for conducting them. He did not, however, confine
himself to a mere recommendation in the newspaper, but took immediate
measures for giving a proof of its practicability and usefulness by the
establishment of a bank, on this plan, in his own parish. Its success
soon began to attract public attention, and meetings were held in
various parts of the country for the institution of similar societies.
These being for the most part formed in accordance with the Ruthwell
rules, Mr. Duncan was kept almost incessantly employed in detailing the
fruits of his experience, or giving the benefit of his advice. An act of
parliament being applied for, during the session of 1819, in favour of
savings banks, he was invited to London, and the success of that measure
was mainly owing to his unwearied exertions in the matter. The draft of
the bill had originally been drawn up by himself.
As an antiquary and geologist, Dr. Duncan also acquired some
distinction, by the preservation of a remarkable Runic cross, in the
manse garden of Ruthwell, a description of which he gave in his
Statistical Account of the parish, and also furnished a masterly paper
on the subject to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, as a
corresponding member of that body in the year 1832, for which he
received the special thanks of the society; and by his discovery in
1827, of the traces of extinct four-footed animals in the new red
sandstone of Dumfries-shire, which Dr. Buckland, in a letter to him,
declared to be “one of the most curious and most important that has ever
been made in geology.” In reference to Dr. Duncan’s merit in this
discovery, Dr. Chalmers has left his testimony in the following terms:
“He was,” he says, “not only the first to point out traces of now
extinct animals on the strata of former eras, but he at once also
appreciated the importance of these traces as geological phenomena.”
In November 1823, the university of St. Andrews conferred on him the
degree of D.D. Holding a distinguished name in the church, although he
seldom took any prominent part in the discussions of the church courts,
he was in the summer of 1836 elected moderator of the General Assembly.
At the public breakfasts given officially by the moderator he introduced
the practice of inviting the guests half-an-hour earlier, to join in
social prayer, a practice which has ever since been maintained. At the
Disruption in 1843, he quitted the established church, and in the face
of many difficulties, commenced a Free church in the neighbourhood of
Ruthwell. the physical and mental exertions connected with that
movement, combined with his advanced age, to exhaust his energies. While
expounding at a private meeting of his people, he was, on 12th
February 1846, seized with paralysis, and died in a few days.
Dr. Duncan was twice married. By his first wife, who died in January
1832, he had two sons and a daughter, the latter married to the Rev.
James Dodds, Free church minister at Belhaven. The elder son, the Rev.
George John C. Duncan, formerly minister of Kirkpatrick-Durham,
subsequently presbyterian minister at North Shields, published, in 1848,
a Memoir of his father, with a portrait, and a vignette etching of
Ruthwell manse. The younger son, the Rev. William Wallace Duncan, at one
time minister of Cleish, and afterwards of the Free church, Peebles,
married Mary Lundie, daughter of the Rev. Robert Lundie, of Kelso, an
interesting life of whom by her mother, under the title of ‘Memoirs of
Mary Lundie Duncan,’ was published soon after her death in 1840. Dr.
Duncan’s second wife, (whom he married in October 1836,) was Mrs. Lundie,
the mother of his daughter-in-law, and widow of the minister of Kelso.
Besides the Memoirs of her daughter, Mrs. Duncan also published a work
in foolscap 8vo. entitled “Missionary Life in Samoa; as exhibited in the
Journals of George Archibald Lundie, during the revival in Tutuila in
1840-41.”
As a popular writer Dr. Duncan acquired great reputation in his
lifetime. His works are:
The Scottish Cheap Repository. Commenced in 1808.
The Scottish Fireside, or Parish Schoolmaster.
An Essay on the Nature and Advantages of Parish Banks, 1815. The first
of the Treatises which called pubic attention to the important subject
of Savings Banks.
The South Country Weaver; written to imbue the minds of the people with
feelings of attachment to the institutions of the country during the
troublous times of the radical insurrection in 1819. Edin. 1819.
Account of the Tracks and Footmarks of Animals found impressed on the
Sandstone of Dumfries-shire. Royal Society Edin. Trans. vol. xi.
Letter to W.R.K. Douglas, Esq. M.P. 9(afterwards Lord William Douglas)
on the Expediency of the Bill brought by him into Parliament for the
Protection and Encouragement of Savings’ Banks in Scotland. Edin. 1819.
A Letter to the Managers of Banks for Savings in Scotland, comprehending
some observations on the parish bank act and hints for framing the rules
of Institutions taking the benefit of the Statute; with an Appendix,
containing a copy of the Act, and a Schedule explaining the Rules of
Succession to Moveable Property by the Law of Scotland. Edin. 1819.
Letters addressed to W.R.K. Douglas, Esq., M.P., advocating the
Abolition of Commercial Restrictions. 1820.
William Douglas, or the Scottish Exiles; composed with the design of
exhibiting a just view of the character and principles of the
Covenanters, in opposition to Scott’s ‘Old Mortality.’ 3 vols. 8vo.
Edin. 1826. Anonymous.
Letters on the West India Question, addressed to Sir George Murray then
Colonial Secretary; first published in the Dumfries Courier under the
name of Presbyter. London, 1830.
Paper on a Remarkable Runic Monument in the Trans. of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland, accompanied by a drawing of each of the four
sides of the column, and of the pedestal of a baptismal font, believed
to have some connexion with it. 1832.
Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, illustrating the Perfections of God in
the Phenomena of the Year. Edin. 1837. 4 vols. 12mo.
To Dr. Brewster’s Edinburgh Encyclopedia he furnished the articles Blair
and Blacklock *(Dr. Blacklock, the poet being his granduncle). He was
also a contributor to the Christian Instructor, when conducted by the
Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson.
DUNCAN, JOHN,
an enterprising traveller in Africa, was the son of a small farmer in
the county of Wigton. At an early age he enlisted in the first regiment
of life-guards, in which he served with credit for eighteen years. About
the year 1840 he was discharged with a high character for good conduct.
In the voyage to the Niger, in 1842, Mr. Duncan was appointed armourer,
and during the progress of that ill-fated expedition, he held a
conspicuous place in all the treaties made by the commissioners with the
native chiefs. He returned to England, one of the remnant of the
expedition, with a frightful wound in his leg, and a shattered body,
from which he long suffered. With the return of health, however, came a
renewed desire to explore Africa, and under the auspices of the council
of the geographical society, he stated, in the summer of 1844, not
without substantial proofs from many of the members, of the interest
they took in his perilous undertaking. The particulars of his journey
along the coast until his arrival in Dahomey, were detailed in letters
to his friends, and published in the ‘Geographical Society’s Journal’ of
that period. From Dahomey he again returned to the coast, having
traversed a portion of country hitherto untrodden by any European, but
broken down in health, and in extreme suffering, from the old wound in
his leg. Apprehensive that mortification had commenced, he at one time
made preparations for cutting off his own limb, a fact which displayed
his great resolution. All these journeys were undertaken on a very
slenderly furnished purse, which, on his arrival at Shydah, was so
totally exhausted that he was compelled to place himself in “pawn,” as
he expressed it, for advances which would take years of labour on the
coast to liquidate. From that disagreeable position his friends of the
Geographical society soon relieved him, by an ample subscription, with
which he proposed to make the journey from Cape Coast to Timbuctoo, but
the state of his health compelled him to return to England. He was
subsequently appointed by government vice-consul to Dahomey, for which
place he was on his way when his death took place, on the 3d November
1849, on board her majesty’s ship Kingfisher, in the Bight of Benin. The
hopes which were entertained that, from his influence with the native
chiefs, and more especially with the king of Dahomey, an effectual check
might be put to the slave trade on that part of the coast, were entirely
frustrated by his untimely death. Although without much education, Mr.
Duncan was a man of much observation, and strong natural good sense, and
under all his trials and hardships displayed a courage and spirit of
endurance worthy of all respect. He left a widow but poorly provided
for.
DUNCAN, THOMAS,
an eminent artist, was born on the 24th May, 1807, at
Kinclaven in Perthshire. He was educated at Perth, to which city his
parents had removed shortly after his birth. He early showed a love for
art by employing every leisure moment in drawing such objects as struck
his fancy, especially the portraits of his young companions; one of
whom, of the name of Findlater, he portrayed in full length, in the
character of MacIvor in Waverley, and this portrait was thought so
highly of, that it was exhibited for some time in a bookseller’s shop
window. While yet at school, he painted the whole of the scenery for a
dramatic representation of ‘Rob Roy,’ which he, in conjunction with his
school-fellows, undertook to perform in a stable-loft. His parents,
however, placed him in the office of a writer in Perth, with whom he
served the usual term of seven years. After the expiration of his
engagement, more than ever anxious to become an artist, he at length
procured the consent of his father to his visiting Edinburgh, where he
was placed under the able instruction of Sir William Allan, afterwards
president of the Scottish academy. His pre-eminent talent speedily
developed itself. He made rapid progress, and soon outstripped all his
competitors in that most difficult department, – the drawing of the
human figure. The picture that first brought him into notice was his
‘Milkmaid,’ and shortly afterwards he exhibited his ‘Old Mortality,’ and
the ‘Bra’ Wooer.’ The correct drawing, fine feeling, and masterly
execution of these early works gave the most promising assurance of the
future excellence of the artist, and his progress, from this time, was
one of uninterrupted improvement; so much so as to cause him to be
appointed, at an unusually early age, to the professorship of colour in
the Edinburgh Academy, and subsequently to the chair of drawing in the
same school. He was likewise enrolled among the members of that body.
Having completed an interesting historical work, ‘Prince Charles Edward
and the Highlanders entering Edinburgh after the battle of Prestonpans,’
he sent it, in 1840, to London for exhibition in the Royal Academy, and
it at once brought him into the most favourable notice in England. An
admirable engraving of this fine picture by Mr. Bacon, made it generally
known. In 1841 Mr. Duncan exhibited a most touching picture from the
ballad of ‘Auld Robin Gray,’ termed the ‘Waefu’ Heart;’ in the following
year, ‘Deer-Stalking;’ and in 1843, ‘Charles Edward asleep after the
battle of Culloden, protected by Flora M’Donald.’ The latter picture
combined, in the highest degree, the great characteristics of
excellence, composition, and chiaro’-scuro. It was engraved by
Mr. Ryall. In the year last mentioned Mr. Duncan was elected an
associate of the Royal Academy. In 1844 his contributions to the
exhibition were ‘Cupid,’ and ‘The Martyrdom of John Brown of Priesthill,
in 1685.’ These were the last pictures by him exhibited in London,
excepting a portrait of himself, which, to the honour of the Scottish
artists, it may be mentioned, was purchased by subscription, and
presented by them to the Scottish Academy. Mr. Duncan died on the 25th
of May, 1845, at the early age of 38. He gave fair promise, had he
lived, to have attained a lofty position as an historical painter. His
portraits were distinguished for faithfulness and skill. As a colourist,
indeed, he had few superiors. As an instructor of his art, he was kind,
conciliatory, and anxious for the improvement of his pupils, and in
every relation of domestic life he continued to secure the esteem and
affection of all around him.
