A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, in Four Vols (Volume 4) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: A BIOGBAPHICAL DICTIONARY EMINENT SCOTSMEN. MELVILLE, Andbew, one of the moat illustrious of the Scottish reformers, whoso name stands next to that of Kuox in the history of the Reformation, and U second to none in the erudition of the time, was born on the 1st of August, 1545, at Boldovy or Baldowy, an estate on the banks of the South Esk, near Montrose, of which his father was proprietor. The form in which the family name was generally known at that time in Scotland and in foreign countries, was Melvyne or Molvin. Throughout the interesting correspondence, written in Latin, between the subject of this memoir and his amiable and accomplished nephew, whose life is recorded in the next article, the name is uniformly written Melvinus. In Fifeshire, at the present day, the name is commonly pronounced Melvin, and at an earlier period it was frequently both pronounced and written Melin, Mellin, and Mulling. The Melvillcs of Baldowy were a family of some note in the middle of the sixteenth century, and near cadets of Melville of Raitb, who was considered to be the chief of an influential name in the county of Fife. Melville of Dysart, however, was acknowledged by Andrew Melville to have been the chief of the Baldowy branch of the family. Andrew was the youngest of nine sons, and had the misfortune to lose his father, who fell in the battle of Pinkie, while he was yet only two years of age. The death of his mother, also, soon afterwards took place, and he was thus left an orphan. The loss of his i ..rents, however, was in a great measure compensated by the kindness and tenderness of his eldest brother, and the wife of that individual, both of whom watched over his infant years with the most anxious affection and assiduity. The long-tried and unwearied kindness of the latter, in ...