320 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Ckmtess of Loudoun, etc., amongst whose paternal honours it is not least that
she is the representative of the ancient family of Crawfurd of Loudoun, one
of whom gave birth to the renowned and immortal Wallace.” In the introductory
sketches of the lives of Earbour and Henry, if the author has failed
in adding any previously unknown facts, he has been happy enough to expose
several gross inaccuracies of former biographers ; and while the text is revised
with the utmost care, many doubtful passages are explained and illustrated
in copious notes by the Editor. Two notable events in the life of Wallacethe
‘(burning of the barns, or barracks of Ayr,” and his betrayal by ‘‘ the
false Menteith,” as related by Henry -he effectually vindicates from the
scepticism of the learned author of the “Annals of Scotland.” Were it
not for the length to which they extend, we could willingly quote Dr. Jamieson’s
remarks on these popular incidents, not only because the work itself is
scarce, but as a specimen of the writer’s felicity of argument in matters of
controversy.
In 1851 Dr. Jamieson published his “Historical Account of the Ancient
Culdees of Iona” ‘-a work characterised by the author’s usual depth of research.
Though somewhat heavy, and probably defective in style, the antiquarian reader
is amply repaid for his perusal, by the erudition and ingenuity with which the
author contends for the apostolic mode of church government which prevailed
while Christianity flourished in this country under the propagation of the
nionastics of Icolmkill.
In 1827 Dr. Jamieson was admitted a member of the Bannatyne Club,
which was founded by Sir Walter Scott. This literary Society is strictly limited
in number ; and it is almost as difficult to procure adinission as it is to obtain
a seat in Parliament. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh;
of the American Antiquarian Society ; of the Society of Northern Literature
of Copenhagen ; and an Associate of the First Class of Royal Associates of the
Royal Society of Literature of London.
The ‘(Views of the Royal Palaces of Scotland,” which appeared in 1828,
we believe,. was the last acknowledged publication by the venerable author. In
1830, in consequence of old age and increasing infirmities, Dr. Jamieson
resigned the charge of the congregation over which he had so long presided, and
in whose affections his learning, piety, and benevolence secured for him a lasting
hold. It is gratifying to think that his literary labours, directed as they were
chiefly to subjects of antiquity, and less likely to prove remunerative than the
works of more popular authors, were not entirely overlooked by Government.
The small pension he enjoyed was no more than a just appreciation of his
arduous historical researches and laborious philological investigations.
Dr. Jamieson married, in 1781, Charlotte, daughter of Robert Watson, Esq.
of Easter Rhind, Perthshire. Out of a family of seventeen children only two
In Lockhart’a Life of Scott it is mentioned that the publishers lost considerably by the limited
sale of this work.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 321
daughters and one son survived. One of his sons, the late Robert Jameson,
Esq., advocate, was a distinguished member of the Scottish bar ;’ and whose
premature demise alone prevented his being raised to the bench ; another, Mr.
Alexander, bookseller in Edinburgh, was the reputed author of a well-known
little work entitled “A Trip to London in a Berwick Smack.”
The following, we believe, is a pretty accurate list of Dr. Jamieson’s works :-
Sermons on the Heart. 2 vols. 8vo. 1789.
Sorrows of Slavery; a Poem, containing a faithful
statement of facts respecting the Slave Trade.
Loud 1789. 12mo.
Socinianism Unmasked, occasioned by Dr. Macgill’s
Practical Essay on the Death of Christ. 8vo.
An O r d i t i o n Sermon. 8vo.
A Dialogue between the Devil and a Socinian
Divine, on the contlnp.8 of the other world.
8vo.
An alarm to Great Britain ; or an Inquiry into the
Rapid Progress of Infidelity in the present age.
Loud. 1795. l2mo.
Vindication of the Doctrine of Scripture, and of the
Primitive Faith, concerning the Divinity of Christ,
in reply to Dr. Priestly’s History of Early Opinions,
&e. 2 vols. 8vo. 1795.
Conga1 and Fenella, a Tale. 8vo.
Eternity; a Poem, addressed to Freethinkers and
Philosophical Christians, 8vo. Loud. 1798.
Remarks on Rowland Hill’s Journal. 8vo. Loud.
1799.
The Use of Sacred Histot?., especially as illustrating
and confirming the Qreat Doctrines of Revelation.
To which are prefixed Two Dissertations,
the first on the Authenticity of the History contained
in the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua ;
the second, proving that the Books ascribed to
Moses were actually written by him, and that he
wrote them by Divine Inspiration. 2 vols. 8vo.
Loud. 1802.
Important :Trial in the Court of Conscience. 8vo.
Lond. 1806.
An Etymological Dictionary OP the Scottish Language
; illustrating the words in their different
significations by examples Prom ancient and modern
writers; showing their affinity to those of other
languages, and especially the Northern: explaining
many terms which, though now obsolete in
England, were formerly common to both countries
and elucidating National Rites, Customs, and I n
stitutions, in analogy to those of other Nations
To which is pretlxed a Dissertation on the Origin
of the Scottish Language. 2 vols. 4tO. Edm.
1809-10. Two supplemental volumes were added
in 1825.
rhe Same Abridged, and published under the title
of An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish
Language, in which the words are explained in
their differeLt senses, authorised by the names OP
the writers by whom they are used, or the titles of
the works in which they occur, and deduced from
their originals. 8vo. Edin. 1814.
Phe Beneficent Woman, a Sermon. 8vo. 1811.
Bermes Scythicus, or the Radical Affinities oP the
Greek and Latin Languages to the Qothic, illustrated
from the Moeso-Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, French, .
Alemannic, Suio-Qothic, Islandic, etc. To which
is pretixed a Dissertation on the Historical Proofs
of the Scythm Origin of the Greeks. 8vo. Lond.
1814.
On the Origin of Cremation, or the Burning of the
Dead. Tram. Soc. Edin. viii 83. 1817.
The Hopes of an Empire reversed ; or the Night OP
Pleasure turned into Fear : a Sermon on the Death
of the Princess Charlotte. 1818.
The Duty, Excellency, and Pleasantness of Brotherly
Unity, in Three Sermons. 8vo. 1819.
Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees oP Iona,
and of their Settlement in Scotland, England, and
Ireland. 4to. Edin. 1821.
Sletzer’s Theatrum Scotiaz, with Illustratious, etc.
Folio.
Views of the Royal Palacps 01 Scotland, with Historical
and Topopphical Illustrations. Royal 4to
1821.
Remarks on the Progress of the Roman Army in
Scotland during the Sixth Campaign of Agricola,
and an Account of the Roman Camps of Battledykes
and Hwrfauds with the Via Mdlituris extending
between them, in the County of Forfar ; forming
part of Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, No.
36, 4to.
The Water Kelpie, or Spirit of the Waters, with a
Glossary, published in the third volume of Scott‘s
Mimtrelsy of the Border.
Besides the above acknowledged publications, Dr. Jamieson contributed
occasionally to the periodical works of the day. In particular, he was the writer
of an article in the Westminster Review upon the Origin of the Scottish Nation,
which attracted considerable notice. Nor, amid the cares of advancing
Mr. Robert Jameson wiw also a member of the Bannatyne .Club, and presented 85 his contribution,
in 1830, a beautiful reprint, in 4t0, of “Simeon Grahame’s Anatomie of Humours,” originally
printed at Edinburgh in 1609 ; and the “ Passionate Sparke of a Relenting Minde,” also by Grahame,
and published at London in 1604. He spelt
his name differently from his father, uniformly writing Janaeson in place of Jamison.
To which there is prefixed a brief prefatory notice.
VOL 11. 2T
