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The Scottish Nation
Tytler


TYTLER, the surname of a family distinguished in the literature of Scotland, one branch of which possesses the estate of Balnain, Inverness-shire, and another that of Woodhouselee, Mid Lothian, -- the “haunted Woodhouselee” of Sir Walter Scott’s ballad of ‘The Gray Brother.’ The family name originally was Seton, that of Tytler having been assumed by the ancestor of the family, a cadet of the noble house of Seton, who temp. James IV., in a sudden quarrel at a hunting match, slew a gentleman of the name of Gray, fled to France, and changed his name to Tytler. His two sons returned to Scotland in the train of Queen Mary in 1561, and from the elder the families of Balnain and Woodhouselee descend.

TYTLER, WILLIAM, historian and antiquarian, the son of Alexander Tytler, a writer in Edinburgh, was born there October 12, 1711. He received his education at the High School and at the university of his native city, and in 1744 was admitted into the society of writers to the signet, which profession he exercised till his death. His portrait, from a painting by Raeburn, engraved by Beugo (In Scots Magazine, vol. lxiii.), is subjoined:


[portrait of William Tytler]

In 1759 he published, in one volume, his celebrated ‘Inquiry, Historical and Critical, into the Evidence against Mary, Queen of Scots.’ In this work he warmly vindicated the cause of the unfortunate Mary, and with much ingenuity and plausibility exposed the fallacy of the proofs on which the charges against her had been founded. In 1783 he published ‘The Poetical Remains of James I., King of Scotland,’ with a Dissertation on the Life and Writings of that monarch. He was an active member, and one of the vice-presidents of the Edinburgh Antiquarian Society, and besides the works named, he wrote an ‘Essay on Scottish Music,’ appended to Arnot’s History of Edinburgh, as well as several papers inserted in the ‘Antiquarian Transactions.’ To the sixteenth number of ‘The Lounger’ he contributed a paper on the ‘Defects of Modern Female Education, in teaching the Duties of a Wife.’ He died September 12, 1792. He married, in 1745, Anne, daughter of James Craig, Esq. of Costerton, in the county of Mid Lothian, writer to the signet, by whom he left one daughter, Christina, and two sons, Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, and Major Patrick Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, and Lieutenant-colonel Patrick Tytler, fort-major of the castle of Stirling. His works are:

A Historical and Critical Inquiry into the Evidence produced against Mary Queen of Scots, and an Examination of the Histories of Dr. Robertson and Mr. Hume with respect to that evidence. Edin. 1759, 1767, 8vo. Third edit. With Additions, and a Postscript. Edin. 1772, 8vo. Fourth edit. Lond. 1790, 2 vols, 8vo. With large additions.
The Poetical Remains of James I. of Scotland; consisting of the King’s Quair, in six Cantos, and Christ’s Kirk on the Green; to which is prefixed, a Dissertation on the Life and Writings of King James. Edin. 1783, 8vo.
A Dissertation on Scottish Music, first subjoined to Arnot’s History of Edinburgh.
A Dissertation on the Marriage of Queen Mary to the Earl of Bothwell. Printed in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. i. 1791.
Observations in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries on the Vision; a Poem; first published in Ramsay’s Evergreen. This may be considered as a part of the literary history of Scotland.
On the Fashionable Amusements in Edinburgh during the last century. Ib.
He also contributed No. 16 to ‘The Lounder.’

TYTLER, ALEXANDER FRASER, LORD WOODHOUSELEE, elder son of the subject of the preceding notice, was born at Edinburgh, October 15, 1747. In his eighth year he was sent to the High School of his native city, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency, and in the last year of his course became dux of the rector’s class. In 1763 he was placed under the care of a Mr. Elphinston, who kept an academy at Kensington. Here he cultivated, with assiduity, his talent for Latin versification, and one of his poems having been shown to Dr. Jortin, that eminent scholar, as an encouragement to him to proceed, presented him with a copy of his own Latin poems. After residing at Kensington for two years, he returned home, and, in 1765, entered the university of Edinburgh, where he prosecuted his studies with great success. In 1770 he was admitted advocate, and in the spring of 1771 he accompanied his relation, Mr. Kerr of Blackshiels, on a tour to Paris, returning by Flanders and Holland. In 1771 he published, at Edinburgh, ‘Piscatory Eclogues, with other Poetical Miscellanies, by Phinehas Fletcher; illustrated with Notes, Critical and Explanatory.’ To the Works of Dr. John Gregory, published in 1778, he contributed the Preliminary account of the Author’s Life and Writings. During the same year he published a folio volume, Supplementary to Lord Kames’ Dictionary of Decisions. In 1780 he was appointed, conjunctly with Mr. Pringle, professor of civil history in the university of Edinburgh, and in 1786 he became sole professor. For the use of his students he printed, in 1782, ‘A Plan and Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Universal History, Ancient and Modern,’ which he afterwards enlarged and published, in 1801, in 2 vols. 8vo, under the title of ‘Elements of General History, Ancient and Modern.’ In 1791 appeared, anonymously, his best work, being an ‘Essay on the Principles of Translation,’ the third edition of which, considerably enlarged, was published in 1813.

In 1790, through the influence of Lord Melville, Mr. Tytler was appointed judge-advocate of Scotland; and on the death of his father, in 1792, he succeeded to the estate of Woodhouselee, near Edinburgh. He had previously, on the death of his father-in-law, became possessed, in right of his wife, of the estate of Balnain, in the county of Inverness. In 1799 he published an edition of Dr. Derham’s Physico-Theology, with an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, and a short ‘Dissertation on Final Causes,’ accompanied by notes. During the same year he wrote a pamphlet, which was published at Dublin, under the title of ‘Ireland Profiting by Example; or the Question Considered, whether Scotland has Gained or Lost by the Union?’ which came out at such a seasonable time that, on the day of publication, the sale amounted to three thousand. In 1800 appeared from his pen an ‘Essay on Military Law, and the Practice of Courts-Martial;’ a second edition of which was printed at London in 1806. Lord Woodhouselee’s portrait is subjoined.


[portrait of Alexander Fraser Tytler Lord Woodhouselee]

Having been appointed a senator of the college of justice, he took his seat on the bench of the court of session, February 2, 1802, with the title of Lord Woodhouselee, and in 1811 he became a judge of the justiciary court. In 1807 he published at Edinburgh, in two vols. 4to, ‘Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Hon. Henry Home, Lord Kames;’ and in 1810 he produced ‘An Historical and Critical Essay on the Life and Character of Petrarch; with a Translation of a few of his Sonnets.’ Among other literary projects, which his death prevented his completing, was the Life of George Buchanan. He died at Edinburgh, January 5, 1813, in the 68th year of his age. He was a contributor to the Mirror and the Lounger, and also communicated some papers to the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which he was an original member. By his wife, Ann, eldest daughter of William Fraser, Esq. of Balnain, whom he married in 1776, he left four sons and two daughters. The eldest son succeeded to the estate of Balnain, and the second to that of Woodhouselee. Another son, Alexander, published, in 1815, a work in two volumes, entitled ‘Considerations on the Present Political State of India.’ Lord Woodhouselee’s principal works are:

The Decisions of the Court of Session, from its first institution to the present time; abridged and digested under proper heads in form of a Dictionary. Edin. 1778, fol. 1797, 2 vols. fol. (A Supplement to Lord Kames’ Dictionary.)
Plan and Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Universal History, ancient and modern, delivered in the University of Edinburgh. Edin. 1783, 8vo.
Essay on the Principles of Translation. Lond. 1797, 8vo.
An Essay on Military Law and the Practice of Courts-Martial. Edin. 1800, 8vo.
Elements of General History, ancient and modern; to which is added, a Table of Chronology, and a Comparative of ancient and modern Geography. Edin. 1801, 2 vols. 8vo.
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Hon. Henry Home of Kames; containing Sketches of the Progress of Literature and general Improvement in Scotland during the greater part of the eighteenth century. Edin. 1807, 2 vols. 4to. Supplement. 1810, 4to.
An Historical and Critical Essay on the Life of Petrarch; with a Translation of a few of his Sonnets. Lond. 1810, 8vo. Edin. 1812, 8vo.
An Account of some extraordinary Structures on the tops of Hills in the Highlands; with Remarks on the Progress of the Arts among the ancient Inhabitants of Scotland. Trans. Soc. Edin. 1790, vol. ii. 3.
Remarks on a mixed Species of Evidence in Matters of History. Ib. 1805, vol. v. 119.

TYTLER, PATRICK FRASER, author of the History of Scotland and other historical and biographical works, youngest son of the subject of the preceding memoir, was born at Edinburgh 30th August 1791. He was educated at the High School of his native city, and in 1805 entered the university. Having studied for the bar, he was admitted a member of the faculty of advocates 3d July 1813, and for some years held the office of king’s counsel in exchequer. Belonging to a literary family, his tastes and inclinations had the same bent, and he soon forsook the law for the laborious paths of historical research. On the peace of 1814, when the continent, so long closed, was thrown open to British travelers, Mr. Tytler, in company with Mr., afterwards Sir Archibald Alison, baronet, author of the History of Europe, and John Hope, advocate, afterwards lord-justice-clerk, visited France and Belgium; and to a work published anonymously the following year, by the former of these gentlemen, entitled ‘Travels in France during the years 1814-15,’ he is understood to have communicated the journals of his residence at Paris during the stay of the allied armies there. He subsequently contributed to the pages of the Edinburgh Magazine and Blackwood’s Magazine. A ‘Life of Walter Scott’ and ‘A Literary Romance’ are particularly mentioned as among these early productions.

His first separate publication was the ‘Life of James Crichton of Cluny, commonly called the Admirable Crichton,’ which appeared at Edinburgh in 1819. In this work, which was very carefully written, he adduced the most satisfactory evidence, to establish the authenticity of the testimonies and authorities on which the statements regarding the marvelous stories related of Crichton rest. A second edition of it, corrected and enlarged, with an appendix of original papers, appeared in 1823. The same year he also published, in one volume, an interesting and elaborate work, entitled ‘An Account of the Life and Writings of Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton, including Biographical Sketches of the most eminent Legal Characters, from the Institution of the Court of Session, by James V., till the period of the Union of the Crowns.’ In 1826 he published anonymously the ‘Life of John Wickliffe.’

His principal work, ‘The History of Scotland,’ was undertaken chiefly by the advice of Sir Walter Scott, who at one time had the intention of preparing one himself, the want of a complete, accurate, and comprehensive history of our country having been long felt. The first volume appeared in the summer of 1828. It professed to be an attempt “to build the history of Scotland upon unquestionable muniments.” In the prosecution of this important work, Mr. Tytler anxiously and carefully examined the most authentic sources of information, and consulted the state papers in London, and all other attainable documents bearing on the events of the times commemorated. Successive volumes of his history appeared at intervals, and the ninth and last was issued in the winter of 1843. He concluded his labours on it with this touching paragraph: -- “It is with feelings of gratitude, mingled with regret, that the author now closes this work – the history of his country – the labour of little less than eighteen years; -- gratitude to the Giver of all good, that life and health have been spared to complete, however imperfectly, an arduous undertaking; regret that the tranquil pleasures of historical investigation, the happy hours devoted to the pursuit of truth, are at an end, and that he must at last bid farewell to an old and dear companion.” The work commences with the accession of Alexander III. in 1249; the period when our national annals become particularly interesting to the general reader, -- and continues to the accession of James VI. to the throne of England in 1603. Mr. Tytler’s style is plain and perspicuous, always animated, and often elegant and vigorous. His laborious researches begin especially to be most effective when he reaches the troublous times of the fifth James. He is then most successful in bringing new sources of information to light, in correcting old mistakes, and combating and overturning cherished prejudices. The first and second volumes were reviewed by Sir Walter Scott in the Quarterly, and he intended, had he lived, to have criticized the work throughout, for he considered it, says Mr. Lockhart, as a very important one in itself, and had, moreover, a warm regard for the author, the son of his early friend, Lord Woodhouselee. Mr. Tytler’s high church Episcopalian principles pervade the tone of his admirable history, and a charge which, in the seventh volume, he brought against John Knox, of being ‘Pre-cognizant of and implicated in” the murder of David Rizzio, was ably answered by the Rev. Thomas M’Crie, D.D., son of the distinguished biographer of Knox, in the Appendix to his ‘Sketches of Scottish Church History,’ as well as by other writers, jealous for the character and honour of the great reformer. The evidence adduced by Mr. Tytler certainly appears altogether insufficient to sustain such a charge, in the face of all historical testimony to the contrary. Mr. Tytler’s ‘History of Scotland’ introduced him to the notice of Sir Robert Peel, when premier, and a pension of £200 a-year was bestowed upon him by government.

During the period when he was chiefly occupied in the composition of his great national work. Mr. Tytler wrote several other works of interest and value, a list of which is given below. One of these, contributed to the ‘Family Library,’ published by Mr. Murray, entitled ‘Lives of Scottish Worthies,’ in 3 vols. 12mo, contained biographies of Alexander III., Michael Scott, Sir William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, John Barbour, Andrew Winton, John de Fordoun, James I., Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, and Sir David Lindsay, and was one of the most attractive of his publications. His life of Sir Walter Raleigh, 1832, is remarkable for the view which he starts and supports on the subject of Sir Robert Cecil’s plots, connected with Raleigh’s ruin. It contains some new materials of interest, and is valuable for its able defence of that adventurous and interesting personage, and for its careful digest of state papers, and graphic descriptions of contemporaneous events. The same indeed may be said of all Mr. Tytler’s works.

With his other attainments, he was a good lyrical poet, and about 1829 he wrote a few verses for one of the ‘Bannatyne Garlands.’ Having in his youth served in the Mid Lothian yeomanry cavalry, the lively songs which he then composed, having reference to the military duties of himself and comrades, were frequently sung with great applause at the mess table. In 1833, in conjunction with Mr. Hog of Newliston, and Mr. Adam Urquhart, advocate, he presented to the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, a volume illustrative of the Revolution, entitled ‘Memoirs of the War carried on in Scotland and Ireland in 1689-91,’ by Major-general Hugh Mackay.

Mr. Tytler’s constitution, never robust, gradually gave way under the exhausting labours of a literary life. He was a severe and in general an accurate historical student; and his pension, it was thought, would have enabled him to continue his researches in British history, and perhaps have induced him to have written a work connected with the annals of England, which he is known to have contemplated, and for which he collected materials. For the last six or seven years of his life, however, the state of his health prevented him from pursuing his favourite studies. He died at Great Malvern, Worcestershire, on Christmas eve, 1849, in his 59th year. He was twice married. His first wife, Rachel Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hog, Esq. of Newliston, died in 1835. By her he had two sons, Alexander and Thomas Patrick, both in the East India Company’s military service, and one daughter. His second wife, Anastasia, daughter of Thomson Bonar, Esq. of Campden Place, Kent, an eminent Russian merchant, survived him.

Mr. Tytler’s works are:

Life of James Crichton of Cluny, commonly called the Admirable Crichton. Edin. 1819, 8vo. 2d edit. Corrected and enlarged, with an Appendix of original papers. 1823.
An Account of the Life and Writings of Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton, including Biographical Sketches of the most eminent legal characters, since the Institution of the Court of Session by James V. to the period of the Union of the two Crowns. Edin. 1823, 8vo.
Life of John Wickliffe, published anonymously. Edin. 1826.
The History of Scotland, in nine volumes imperial octavo. Edin. 1828-1843.
Lives of Scottish Worthies, 3 volumes, 12mo. In the Family Library. London, 1831-33. Published separately, 3 vols. 12mo. London, 1855.
Historical View of the Progress of Discovery on the more northern coasts of America, one vol. 12mo. In Edinburgh Cabinet Library, 1832.
Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, 12mo. In the same. 1833.
Memoirs of the War carried on in Scotland and Ireland in 1689-91, by Major-general Hugh Mackay, 4to. Edited, in conjunction with Mr. Hog of Newliston and Mr. Adam Urquhart, advocate, for the Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, 1833.
Life of King Henry the Eighth. London, 1837.
England under the Reigns of Edward Vi. and Mary, with the contemporary History of Europe; in a series of original Letters never before published; with Historical Introductions, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1839.
To the seventh edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica he contributed the article Scotland, afterwards published in a separate form as a History of Scotland for the use of schools.

TYTLER, JAMES, an industrious and laborious, but eccentric and unfortunate miscellaneous writer, the son of the Rev. Mr. Tytler, minister of Fern, in the presbytery of Brechin, was born about 1747. He w3as instructed by his father in classical learning, and attained an extensive acquaintance with historical literature and scholastic theology. Having shown an early predilection for the study of medicine, he was put apprentice to Mr. Ogilvie, a respectable surgeon in Forfar, and afterwards attended the medical classes in the university of Edinburgh. He was at one time, it is said, destined for the ministry, but some peculiarities in his religious opinions were the means of his becoming connected with a society of Glasites, to a female member of which sect he was married at an early period of his life. During the college vacations he made two voyages to Greenland in the capacity of surgeon, which partly supplied him with the means for defraying the necessary expenses at the university. After a fruitless endeavour to get into practice as a surgeon in Edinburgh, he opened an apothecary’s shop in Leith, in the hope of being patronized by his religious connections; but his separation from the society, which happened shortly after, disappointed his expectations; and having contracted some debts which he was unable to pay, he was under the necessity of removing, first to Berwick, and subsequently to Newcastle. In both places he was employed in preparing chemical medicines for the druggists, but the remuneration he received being insufficient to provide for the necessities of an increasing family, he returned to Edinburgh in 1772, in extreme poverty, and took refuge from his creditors within the precincts of the sanctuary of Holyrood-house, where debtors are privileged from arrest.

His first attempt in poetry was a humorous ballad, entitled ‘The Pleasures of the Abbey.’ He also wrote two popular Scottish songs, ‘The Bonnie Brucket Lassie,’ with the exception of the first two lines, and ‘I canna come ilka day to woo.’ In 1772 he issued from his sanctuary of Holyrood a volume of ‘Essays on the most important subjects of Natural and Revealed Religion,’ which had the singular merit of having been set up in types by his own hand, as the idea arose in his mind, without any manuscript before him, and worked off by himself, at a press of his own construction. The work was to have been completed in two volumes 8vo, but the author turned aside to attack the opinions of a new religious sect, called the Bereans, in ‘A Letter to Mr. John Barclay, on the doctrine of Assurance,’ in which he again performed the functions of author, compositor, and pressman. He next published a monthly periodical, entitled ‘The Gentleman and Lady’s Magazine,’ which did not go on long; and afterwards issued ‘The Weekly Review,’ a literary miscellany, which came out in 1780, and, in its turn, was soon discontinued. He is also said to have, in the same ingenious manner, commenced the printing of an abridgment of the Universal History, of which, however, he only completed one volume. His publications, though unavoidably disfigured with numerous typographical blunders, made him known to the booksellers, from whom he afterwards found constant employment in compilations, abridgments, translations, and miscellaneous literary work of almost every description, for which he was remarkably well adapted, having a general knowledge of nearly every subject, and of most of the sciences.

He was employed by a surgeon to compile for him a ‘System of Surgery,’ which made its appearance in 3 vols. 8vo, in 1793. This work he had not completed when he was compelled to quit Scotland, but he finished it at Belfast before crossing the Atlantic. He was also an occasional contributor to the “Medical Commentaries,’ and other periodical publications of the time. It is stated by Dr. Watt, in his ‘Bibliotheca Britannica,’ that he conducted a weekly paper called ‘The Observer,’ comprehending a series of Essays, published at Glasgow in 1786, and extending to 26 numbers, folio. Of these, the first number was the only one literally penned by this singular individual, the rest being printed by him without the aid of a manuscript, according to his usual practice.

The principal work on which Tytler was engaged was the second edition of the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica,’ of which he was the principal editor, and furnished to its pages a large proportion of the more considerable scientific treatises and histories, and almost all the minor articles. On his leaving the sanctuary at Holyrood-house, he took lodgings, first at Restalrig, or Duddingstone, and afterwards within the town; but on becoming connected with the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica,’ an apartment was assigned to him in the printing-office, where this extraordinary genius performed the functions of compiler and corrector of the press, at the superb salary of sixteen shillings per week! When the third edition was undertaken, he was engaged as a stated contributor, upon more liberal terms, and wrote a larger share of the early volumes than is ascribed to him in the general preface.

At one period of his career he conducted a manufactory of magnesia for a Mr. Robert Wright of Colinton; but after he had fairly established it, he was dismissed, without obtaining either a share in the business or a suitable compensation for his services. One of his most eccentric actions was his attempt to ascend in a balloon, constructed on the plan of Montgolfier, which, however, from some unforeseen defect in the machinery, proved a failure. He was ever afterwards known in Edinburgh as “Balloon Tytler,” Notwithstanding his acknowledged talents and industry, his intemperate habits, and want of prudence and perseverance, kept him always poor and dependent. Burns, in his Notes on Scottish Song, describes him as “an obscure, tippling, but extraordinary body, who drudges about Edinburgh as a common printer, with leaky shoes, a sky-lighted hat, and knee buckles.” As a proof of the extraordinary stock of general knowledge which he possessed, and the ease with which he could write on any subject, almost extempore, the following anecdote is related of him. A gentleman of Edinburgh, who had once occasion to apply to Tytler for as much matter as would form a junction between a certain history and its continuation to a later period, found him lodged in one of those elevated apartments called garrets, and was informed by the old woman with whom he lived that he could not be seen, as he had gone to bed rather the worse of liquor. Determined, however, not to depart without his errand, the gentleman was shown into Mr. Tytler’s apartment by the light of a lamp, where he found him in the situation described by his landlady. The gentleman having acquainted him with the nature of his business, Mr. Tytler called for pen, ink, and paper, and in a short time produced about a page and a half of letter-press, which answered the end proposed as completely as if it had been the result of the most mature deliberation.

Having joined the Society of “Friends of the People,” Tytler published ‘A Pamphlet on the Excise,’ containing an exposition of the abuses of Government. In 1792 he conducted a periodical publication entitled ‘The Historical Register, or Edinburgh Monthly Intelligencer,’ in which he systematically advocated parliamentary reform. About the close of that year he published ‘A Handbill, addressed to the People,’ written in such an inflammatory style as to render him obnoxious to the authorities. Learning that a warrant was issued for his apprehension, he suddenly disappeared from Edinburgh, leaving his family behind him, and finding his way to Ireland, embarked from that country for America. He was cited before the high court of justiciary, but failing to appear, was outlawed, January 7, 1793. On his arrival in the United States, he fixed his residence at Salem, Massachusetts, where he established a newspaper, which he conducted till his death in the end of 1803, in the 58th year of his age.

His known works are:

The Pleasures of the Abbey.
Essays on the most important Subjects of Natural and Revealed Religion. Edin. 1772, 8vo.
Letter to Mr. John Barclay on the Doctrine of Assurance.
The Weekly Mirror; a Periodical Publication, begun in 1780.
The Observer; a Weekly Paper, comprehending a series of Essays, published in Glasgow in 1786, and extending to 26 numbers, folio.
A System of Geography. 1788, 8vo.
A History of Edinburgh. 12mo.
The Edinburgh Geographical, Historical, and Commercial Grammar. 2 vols. 8vo.
A Review of Dritchken’s Theory of Inflammation; with a practical dedication. 12mo.
Remarks on Mr. Pinkerton’s Introduction to the History of Scotland. 8vo.
A Poetical Translation of Virgil’s Eclogues. 4to.
A Pamphlet on the Excise.
The Historical Register; a Periodical Publication.
The Gentleman and Lady’s Magazine; published monthly.
The Weekly Review; a Literary Miscellany. 1780.

TYTLER, HENRY WILLIAM, M.D., physician and translator, younger brother of the preceding, was born at Fern, near Brechin, in 1752; being the son of the minister of that place. Addicting himself to the translation of classic poetry, the first work by which he made himself known was ‘Paedotrophia, or the Art of Nursing and Rearing Children, a Poem in three Books, from the Latin of St. Marthe, with Medical and Historical Notes, and the Life of the Author,’ 8vo, published in 1797. He died at Edinburgh, August 24, 1808. At his death he left in manuscript, ‘The Works of Callimachus, translated into English Verse; the Hymns and Epigrams from the Greek, with the Coma Berenices from the Latin of Catullus; with the original Texts and Notes,’ said to be the first English translation of a Greek poet by a native of Scotland. Its publication was kindly edited by the earl of Buchan. Dr. Tytler was also the author of a ‘Voyage from the Cape of Good Hope,’ and other poems, published in 1804, and of some pieces in the Gentleman’s Magazine and other periodicals. He completed a translation of the Seventeen Books of the Poem on the Punic War, by Silius Italicus, with a Preface and Commentary.


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