Life and letters of Robert Leighton, restoration bishop of Dunblane and archbishop of Glasgow /

Front matter

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“ A purer, humbler, holier spirit never tabernacled in Scottish clay.” — Professor Flint.

“Tauler will be, for the rest of my life, one of my sacred guides, and will stand, after my Bible, with Plato and Leighton, and the Theologia Gerrnanica , and Coleridge, and Tennyson, and the German and Wesley hymns. A strange jumble, you will say, of heterogeneous springs of thought ! Yet all, I think, assuaging to the same thirst.” — Dr. James Martineau.

Contents

PAGE

CHAPTER V

Robert Leighton — Youth and Student Life ... 48

Chapter I Tiie Leightons Of Usan

“ Man ! Trust me, ’tis a clay above your scorning,

With God’s image stamped upon it, and God’s kindling breath within.”

E. B. Browning.

SAN is an ancient Scottish estate, in the parish of

Craig, near Montrose. The first recorded proprietors of it were the Rossies, who held it for at least two generations, during which time the name was written Hulysham. It is now vain to conjecture when it received the Homeric desig¬ nation of Ulysseshaven or Ulishaven, or when that name passed into the shorter form of Usan.

Usan is situated, as the old statistical map indicates,1 in that part of the present parish known anciently as Inchbrayoch, from the church of St. Braoch, which was situated on an island in the middle of the South Esk. Braoch may be the same as Brioc, who was a saint of Brittany,2 and may indicate that the early settlers brought their native patron saint’s name to their new home. Besides this old place of worship there were others in the parish. The chapel of St. Fergus exists only in name ; that of St. Mary is now marked by the burial-places of several proprietors of Usan, and is situated on the sea-shore not far from the entrance to the Usan property. The chapel of St. Skeoch is romantically situated upon a cliff by the sea-shore to the south-west of

2 Baring-Gould’s Lives of the Saints, appendix-vol. p. 116.

A.L. I

Usan and doubtless originated in being the abode of a hermit, who is supposed to have been one of the twelve disciples of St Columba. There are three saints of this name in the Irish Calendar, and Dr. Reeves considers the word a corruption of Echoid or Eochaidh, which is found under the name of Skeoch in some of the south-western districts of Scotland. The situation is an impressive one : —

“ St. Skeas’ grey rock stands frowning o’er The troubled deep ;

A structure formed by nature’s hand,

A bridge with wave-worn arches planned,

Whose echoing depth the surges spanned,

Where wind and wave Their voices raise, in concert grand,

When tempests rave.”

Usan has been long famous as a fishing village, and in old times when the King or Court resided at Forfar it is said that fresh fish were conveyed daily from it to the county town, by a road which led through Montreathmont Muir, the track of which is known to this day as “ the King’s cadgers’ road.” 1 It may be added that the ancient Forfarshire family of Tulloch (which before 1493 merged by marriage into that of Wood and between whom and the Leightons there were also intermarriages) 2 is said to have held the adjoining lands of Bonnington under the tenure of supplying fresh fish to the royal table.

The mansion-house of Usan is more inland, although it commands a lovely and extensive view of the ocean. Not the present house, but one on a site near the present lodge and nearer the extensive gardens, was the home of the Leighton family for centuries.

The surname of Leighton is said to be of Saxon origin, and to signify a place or town of pasture. It is believed to have

1 New Statistical Account^ vol. xi. p. 251.

3 Register of Privy Seal.

been assumed from the barony of Leighton in the county of Bedford, where there were persons of the name prior to the Norman conquest. Soon after that event, Sir Richard, son of Sir Titus de Leighton, who was a co-founder of the Abbey of Buldewas in Salop, made a grant to that monastery.1 The family may have followed the general movement of leading families northward about this period, but the Leightons appear first in the county of Forfar and in the neighbourhood of Montrose.3 As early as 1260 William of Lechton is wit¬ ness to a grant by Walter of Rossy, whose ancestors, vassals of the old Norman family of Malherb, held the lands from which they assumed their surname and also those of Usan from at least 1245. Probably the Leightons acquired the lands of Usan from the lords of Rossy, and perhaps Dominus Wilhelmus de Legheton, miles, who gave homage to King Edward I on July 17, 1291, 3 was the son of the baron who witnessed the charter above referred to. His designation of knight indicates that he had rendered good service to his country.

In 1337 Thomas of Lychton, probably a son of Sir William, was clerk of the livery at Kildrummy Castle, and in 1342 a person of the same name and surname is designated Canon of Moray and collector of the customs of Inverness.4 Walter of Lichton is witness to a charter in 1390, and in 1406 Walter Lychton is described as the son of the late Walter Lychton. This latter was the laird of Usan, who fell at the feud of Glasclune in 1391, betwixt the first Earl of Crawford and his relative the Wolf of Badenoch. Leighton was half-brother to Sir Walter Ogilvy, Sheriff of Angus, who also fell there ; and the incident is thus referred to by Wyntoun —

1 Dugdale’s Monasticon.

2 Calendar of Documents , vol. ii. p. 124.

3 Jervise’s Memorials Oj Angus and M earns , p. 264 ; Warden’s Angus or Forfarshire, vol. lii. p. 15 7*

Gud Schir Walter of Ogylwy,

That manly knycht and that worthy,

Scherrave that tyme of Angus,

And a gud Sqwyer of gret renown,

His Bruthir Wat cald of Lichtoun :

(To this gud Schirrave of Angus Half Brothir he wes, and rycht famous :

Of syndry Fadirs was thai twa,

Of lauchful bed ilkdne of thd).1

The son of this ill-fated man, probably on account of his relationship with the Ogilvys, had a small annuity out of the lands of Campsie in Lintrathen, and contemporary with him and his father was Duncan of Lichtoun, who in 1391 is de¬ signated “locum tenens vice comitis de Forfar,” and in 1409 is a witness in a charter 3 of a part of the lands of Kinnaird. In 1428 Alexander de Lichtoun — “miles, prior domus de Torfychyne ” — knight and prior of the hospital or preceptory of Torphichin,3 which from 1153 was the principal Scottish residence of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem — appears as a witness in a charter to Patrick de Ogilvy of the lands of Maines.4

In 1483, on the death of William, Abbot of the Tyronensian Abbey at Arbroath, and the college being divided in opinion regarding the election of a successor, the settle-

1 Chronicle , ii. 369.

3 In the Libri Bullarum of the Order of St. foh7i of fencsalem there is a “Licentia” of the Grand Master, Philebert de Naillac, dated August 23, 1418, granting leave of absence from the Convent for three years to a Scottish Knight of Rhodes, named Alexander de Lichton.

Another Alexander de Lychtoun occurs as Bishop of Brechin in 1415 (Hutton MSS., Stafford Club).

In Burkes General Armory the arms of the Lichtons of Usan are given as : “ Lighton (Ullishaven, Scotland) argent, a lion rampant, gules armed or crest, a lion’s head. Motto, ‘ Light On.’ ” Leighton used the family crest as his seal when Bishop (Blair’s Life , p. 47).

ment was entrusted to the Prior of Fyvie, who made choice of Sir David of Lichtone, who was of the Usan family and at that time held the offices of Clerk of the King’s Treasury and Archdeacon of Ross. So popular was the appointment that 3,000 gold ducats were voted by the Convent to defray the expenses of expediting Leighton’s bulls at Rome.1 He held the office of abbot down to at least 1505, and during his abbotship a relative of his own — Walter Lichton, son to the laird of Usan — acted as justiciary of the regality of the abbey. This officer administered the formidable jurisdiction of the abbot, who held all his lands “in free regality,” i.e. with sovereign power over his people and the unlimited emoluments of criminal jurisdiction. The noblest thought it no degradation to hold their lands as vassals of the great abbey of Arbroath.

Other members of the Usan family were Churchmen, and some of them were connected with the Chapter of Brechin Cathedral, but the greatest and best known of the Churchmen who came from Usan was Henry de Lichtoun, Bishop of Moray, and afterwards of Aberdeen. He succeeded at Elgin Bishop Innes (1406-1421) who was a Churchman of great repute, and was “ the greatest builder of the greatest and fairest fabrick in the kingdom — the Cathedral of Elgin. The work itself, the common tradition, and the inscription on his tomb, confirm what is said sufficiently — notabile opus incepit et per septenium potenter aedificavit. He died young and seems to have given much from his estate towards the Cathedral.” 2 Leighton was certainly not an unworthy successor to this beneficent prelate, and continued his work of restoration. The “ Wolf of Badenoch ” had descended from the hills in 1390 with a band of wild Scots, and burned a considerable part of the town of Elgin, St. Giles’ C hurch

2 The Familie of Innes , pp. 12, 13.

the Maison Dieu, the manses of the clergy, and the Cathedral itself. Notwithstanding his great age, Bishop Bur proceeded with the restoration of the Cathedral, Bishops Spynie and Innes persevered, but Bishop Leighton continued it, accept¬ ing the office at considerable sacrifice. His first preferment in the Church appears to have been in the Cathedral of Moray, where he was canon and chanter. In 1414 he assisted at a meeting of the Chapter of Moray, held upon the death of Bishop Innes, where it was resolved that whichever of the canons succeeded, should devote a third part of his revenues to the expenses of building the Cathedral, till its completion. The choice fell on Leighton, and on March 8, 1414, he was consecrated1 Bishop of Moray, taking the oath that he would devote one-third of his income to the work of restoration. He was Bishop of Moray from 1414 to 1422 and fulfilled his obligation, part of which may be seen in portions of the west front and the interior of the chapter house, which indicate by their architecture that they belong to the fifteenth century.2 If Bishop Leighton was a cathedral-restorer at Elgin he helped with equal generosity in the erection of St. Machar’s Cathedral at Aberdeen. The precise date of his translation is uncertain, but it was prob¬ ably in 1421 or 1422, and he remained there till his death in 1440. As Bishop of Aberdeen he witnessed the charter (Feb. 20, 1423) founding a chaplainry at St. Mary’s altar in the choir of the Cathedral. He was one of the Commissioners to England to arrange the ransom of King James I, and after the king’s return from his imprisonment, the bishop was one of those selected for an embassy to Rome, from which he appears to have returned before June 20, 1427, on which day, at the desire of the Abbot and Convent

1 In the Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis, it is stated (p. xiv.) that Leighton or Lychton was consecrated at Valentia by Pope Benedict XIII

2 Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 122 of Arbroath, he confirmed to their call at Ardlogy, the vicarage of their church at Fyvie. On October 28, 1427, he converted the revenues of Bishop Matthew, which he alleged to have been abused, to the maintenance of his episcopal table and support of two chaplains at St. Peter’s Chapel in the Cathedral — a questionable transaction which was sanc¬ tioned by Pope Eugenius IV in 1435. On July 17, 1428, letters passed the Great Seal, appointing him one of three ambassadors to the French Court for treating of the marriage of the infant Princess of Scotland with the Dauphin. He was still in Scotland on August 7 of that year, and seems to have returned from his embassy before October 9, 1431, for on that day he made a transaction at Aberdeen for enlarging the episcopal palace or its grounds. On April 20, 1439, he founded an anniversary for himself, and the same year made a similar endowment to the vicars of the choir for the anniversaries of his father and mother. He also founded the chapel of St. John (in which he after¬ wards rested) and made during his episcopate several donations to the church of books, vestments and plate.1

Two other important aspects of his career must not be forgotten. The first brings him before us as a reconciler of parties. After the death of the ill-fated King James I, Chancellor Crichton and Sir William Livingston, between whom a feud existed as to the custody of the young King James II, met in the Church of St. Giles’, Edinburgh, and came to a mutual understanding. But they had not come there at their own instigation. When their rivalry was at its height, and was likely to be attended with most disastrous effects to the kingdom, two of the Scottish bishops, Leighton of Aberdeen and Winchester of Moray, induced the disputants to meet for conference. Unarmed and slenderly attended, they repaired to St. Giles’ Church,2

1 Preface to Registrum Episcopatus Aberdoiiensis , pp. xxxvi.-xxxviii.

2 Ty tier's History , vol. iv. p. 21.

where they debated their differences and were reconciled to each other — the charge of the youthful monarch being entrusted to Livingston, whilst the Chancellor was rewarded with an increase of his individual authority.1

The second, more continuous and distinguishing aspect of his career as Bishop of Aberdeen was the splendid work he did as the builder of the Cathedral of St. Machar. Up to this time the Cathedral had a rather chequered history. The third Bishop of Aberdeen had begun the building of a cathedral church between 1183 and 1199 to supersede the primitive church then existing, “ which (new) building, because it was not glorious enough, Bishop Cheyne threw down.”2 The second cathedral was begun about 1282, but was interrupted by the Scottish war with Edward I during the Bishop’s absence in temporary banishment. Robert the Bruce “ seeing the new cathedral he had begun, made the church to be built with the revenues of the Bishopric.” 3 This cathedral was again thrown down by Bishop Alexander Kininmond, who succeeded in 1355 and began the present cathedral about 13 66. Of his operations there remain two large piers for the support of the central tower, which form the earliest portion of the structure of St. Machar now remaining.4 The Dean and Chapter (of which Barbour, the father of Scottish poetry, was a member) taxed themselves for the fabric in sixty pounds annually for ten years : the Bishop surrendered revenues worth about twice that sum : the Pope in 1380 made a grant of indulgences to all who should help the work. But all these appliances only availed to raise the foundatio7is of the nave a fezv feet above ground , and forty years elapsed before the Cathedral restorer from

1 Dr. Lees’ St. Giles', Edinburgh, Church, College and Cathedral , pp. 25-6.

2 View of the Diocese, p. 48.

4 Ecclesiastical Architecture, vol. iii. p. 75.

Elgin appeared upon the scene. His work at Aberdeen still stands as a monument to his memory, for Leighton completed the wall of the nave (which may be said to be all of one period), reared the two great western towers, founded the northern transept or St John’s Aisle, and commenced the building of the central tower, which was finally completed by the good Bishop Elphinstone about 151 1.1 In St. John’s Aisle (St. John was evidently his favourite saint) the beautiful sculpture of Bishop Leighton’s effigy now lies inglorious beneath a rough brick arch, although it appears to have been entire when Orme wrote his history of the Cathedral.2 He describes it as an effigy in pontificalibus on an altar tomb with a canopy, under which is this inscrip¬ tion — “ Hie jacet bone memorie Henricus de Lichtoun,” etc. If the mediaeval Scottish Church had had many such Churchmen as Bishop Leighton “ of good memory ” and his illustrious, although not immediate, successor in the See, Bishop Elphinstone, it is beyond doubt that the Scottish Reformation would have been less drastic than it was, and one cannot but think that as Robert Leighton recalled the history of his ancestral home at Usan, one of the brightest and most helpful forms that rose up from the past would be the figure of the good fifteenth century Bishop of Aberdeen.

We have now to proceed from the record of peaceful churchmen to times of violence, with which the house of Usan was connected and which affected the fortune of the family. The laird of Usan who lived towards the middle of the sixteenth century, married a lady named Helen Stirling. He predeceased her, and she afterwards became the wife of James Straton, who is regarded as a cadet of the old family of Lauriston in the Mearns. They lived at Dalladies in the same county, and of this property Straton had probably been

1 View of the Diocese , p. 150.

IO laird.1 By Leighton she had a son named John who suc¬ ceeded his father, and who from some cause unknown, enter¬ tained a mortal hatred to his mother after her second mar¬ riage. By instigation, it appears that both she and her maid¬ servant suffered violent deaths “within the Place of Dallady,” where they were murdered in cold blood on the night of April 24, 1 549 — crimes which were aggravated by the fact that both were pregnant at the time.

Persons named Waldy, Tracy and Fothringhame were con¬ victed and hanged for these murders; James Shorewood found caution to appear for the same crime, but Leighton himself, making his escape before the trial, was “ denounced rebel and put to the horn.” On December 1, 1561, Shorewood was brought before the court, and James Straton and James Lychtoun, the latter of whom was parson of Dunloppy, appeared as prosecutors, when a protest was entered against Lychtoun by the defenders setting forth that “ conform to the lawis ” the parson “ suld tyne his benefice,” by which it would appear that in those days the clergy were not allowed to prosecute in criminal cases. No further record of this barbarous murder is preserved ; but apart from that charge it appears the assassins were also accused of “ breaking up the chests of the said James Stratoune, and stealing and reiving, furth of the said place and chests, all the goods and jewels contained therein.”2

This murder had a bad effect upon the fortunes of the house of Usan, although the property was afterwards restored to the family.3 In 1591 Leighton of Usan (evidently son to the preceding laird) is again charged with murder (along with others),4 and in course of the first half of the seven¬ teenth century it is believed that the family ceased to have

1 Jervise’s Memorials , p. 266.

2 Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials , vol. i. pt. ii, p. 344.

4 Pitcairn, vol. i. pt. i. p. 264.

ii possession of the estate, and John who in 1619 was served heir to his father Robert Leighton in the south or sunny side of the estate — the north or shady side being then in other hands1 — is the last of the family found mentioned in connexion with the property. This Robert is supposed to be nephew to the celebrated Dr. Alexander Leighton,2 of whom we shall hear more in the next chapter, and who was the father of the celebrated Archbishop of Glasgow. John Leighton, or Lichton, is the last of the name who appears to have had any connexion with Usan, and Sir John Carnegie of Craig, third son to the first Earl of Southesk, had a charter of a portion of Ulishaven from his father in 1618. In 1672 the Lord Treasurer Maitland, taking advantage of the confidence reposed in him by James VII, appropriated to himself large possessions in almost all parts of the kingdom, and added to these the barony of Usan, of which he and his heirs had power to dispose at pleasure.3 Of the old “ tour and fortalice ” of Usan mentioned in his charter, there is now no trace.

The Leightons of Usan4 thus suffered from storms as adverse to their destiny as those that beat upon their rocky coast ; no trace of their mansion-house or their resting-place even survives in the district ; subsequent proprietors are

2 Jervise, p. 267.

3 Douglas Peerage, ii. 514 : Acta. Pari. viii. 122.

4 In the “ House of Carnegie of Southeskf the following members 01 the family are mentioned, having been jurors : —

Duncan Lychtoune of Ulishaven (Feb. 20, 1409).

Walter Leighton of do. ( March 5, 1506).

Walter Leighton of do. (April 29, 1514).

Thomas Leighton of do. (April 13, 1532).

In the Record of the Convention of Royal Burghs, Robert Leighton appears as Commissioner for Montrose between 1575 and 1591 (vol. i. pp. 41, 121, 229, 244, 353) and Patrick Leighton between 1612 and 1630 (ii. 377; iii. 217, 305, 310, 321, 324). The name is still not an unknown one in Montrose.

commemorated in their burying-ground at St. Skeoch’s or St. Mary’s churchyards, but in neither of these nor in the old churchyard of Inchbrayoch, is there any monument to be found belonging to this old family, although it is almost certain that the place of family sepulture must have been in one of the three churchyards, probably in Inchbrayoch as the Rev. Robert Scott, Minister of Craig, thinks. The present mansion-house is long subsequent to the time of the Leightons and is comparatively modern ; the old one was near the present lodge, but not even a stone of it remains on the site. The well of the old house is still used, and not far from the lodge is an ancient ash tree with a great spreading root and a wide-spreading head, described to the writer by the gardener as the “ grandfather of all the ash trees on the estate.” It bears indications of extreme age, and could only have reached its present height, colossal in relation to all the surrounding trees, by being protected in its early stage from the violent sea-winds. West of the tree all is cultivated land, and east of it and between it and the present lodge, probably stood the old house of Usan — north of which again was the stately garden. On no other hypothesis but on that of protection — unique protection — can the height and massiveness of the ash tree be explained on this stormy coast, and its great age is beyond doubt.

When the good Robert Leighton visited the house which his fathers occupied for nearly four centuries, this ash tree in its early stage may have met his eyes on the lawn at the west side of the house, while the neighbouring ruined chapels, with the dust of the hamlets and his forefathers sleeping around them, must have uttered much to his rever¬ ent heart. While there was much in the tradition around the old place of which he might be justly proud, the untimely effects of violence, the variability of human things and the turmoil which self-will produced could not fail to suggest many of those thoughts that afterwards pervaded his writings in such a vein. But another and an eternal voice would also speak out, which he so often heard and so well obeyed —

“ What is that to thee ? Follow thou Me.” 1

Appendix To Chapter I

(I539) Oct. 31. — Remiffion to Thomas Lichtoune of Vllishavin, for the Slaughter of Andrew Tait, &c. (Apud Falkland).

Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials (vol. i. part ii. p. 252.)

John Lichtoune, of Vllishaven, denounced rebel, and put to the horn, as fugitive from the law, for the Murder of the faid Helen Striueling, his mother, and Jonet Sawlie, her servant, (Helen Striueling is described in the previous paragraph as “ Lady Ullifhavin, fpoufe of James Stratoune”) — the “ said Helen and Jonet her fervant being pregnant at the time of the faid Murder ” (Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials vol. i. part ii. p. 344.)

(1550) May 10. — James Schoriswod and twelve others found caution to underly the law, on Jul. 8, for the cruel Slaughter and Murder of Helen Striueling Lady Ullifhavin, and Jonet Saule her servant {Ibid. p. 350.)

(1561) Dec. 1. — James Schoriswod delatit for arte and ’parte of pe crewell Slauchter of vmqleHelene Stirling, Lady Ullefhevene. Prulocutouris for pe panned Mr. George Strang , James Crawmond oj Aldbar.

The quhilk day comperitin jugement James Stratoune, and James Lychtoune, Parfone of Dunloppy ; and ^>ai being requirit be fie faid James Schorifwood, gyf pai wald perfew him of his lyfe for pe faid Slauchter ? Anfuerit, pat pa\ wald perfew him for pe famyn. And i>airupon pe faid James Schoirifwod afkit ane Act of Court and inftrumentis, and proteftit pat pe faid Parfone fuld tyne his bene¬ fice conforme to pe lawis.

Thomas Guthre of Kynbach protestit for his dampnage and fkayth fuftenit be him pat infafar as he was chargit be pe Letteris to underly pe law, and pat no party comperit to perfew him, that he mycht recouer pe famyn, ovther vpone pe officiar executour of

1 Cf. Sermons berore Scottish Parliament.

J>e Letteris or party : and />air upoune afkit inftrumentis. {Ibid. p. 41 1.)

Oct. 28, 1591 . . . Lichtane of Vsane, Johnne L., Archibald and Alexander Ogiluyand Johnne Smith his feruandis, George Ogiluysone to Alexander O. of Drummis, now feruand to James Lord Ogiluy, Williame and . . . O. sonis to Johnne O. of Quheich, . . . O.

brother to Innerquharritie, (and sundry others, fervants to the Lairds of Teiling and Balfour, &c.) were charged, “that quhair vpoun the xvj day of August, laft paft or thairby,” they “ with convocatioun of his Maiefteis liegis, to the nowmer of thre fcoir perfonis or thair¬ by, all bodin is feir of weir with jakkis, fpeiris, haequebutis,piftolettis and vtheris waponis, invasiue, prohibite to be worne be the lawis of this realme and actis of Parliament, off the speciall caufing, fending, hounding oute, command, 6°c. of the faid Lord, come vpoun vmqle Robert Campbell in Milhorne, Williame of Soutarhous, Thomas C. portionarof Kethik and Johnne C. of Muretoun, and maift cruellie and vnmercifullie murdreift and flew thame, vpoune fett purpois, prouifioun and foirthocht fellouny, in hie and proude contemptioune of his Maieftie, and encouragement of vtheris to committ the like fhamefull and cruell flauchteris, heireftir,” &c. — The Letters raifed were at the inftance of “ the wyffis, bairnis and re¬ manent kin and friendes ” of the deceafed perfone, chargingthe above parties to appear before the King and Council : and they not obey¬ ing the charge, were ordained to be denounced rebels, etc.” Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials , vol. i. part i. p. 264).

CHAPTER II “ Conscience reverenced and obeyed

As God’s most intimate presence in the Soul, And His most perfect image in the world.”

Wordsworth.

“ Whatever fault we may find with many of their beliefs, we have a right to be proud of our Pilgrim and Puritan fathers among the clergy. They were ready to do and suffer anything for their faith, and a faith which breeds heroes is better than an unbelief which leaves nothing worth being a hero for.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes.

LEXANDER LEIGHTON, the father of the Arch-

Ji\_ bishop, was born presumably at Usan, and evidently suffered from the fallen fortunes of the house. His per¬ sonality is sufficiently distinct, but the course of his life is not very well known. He was born about 1568, and studied at St. Andrews, where he graduated probably in 1587. He himself distinctly states in his petition to the High Court of Parliament in 1640 that he was a graduate of St. Andrews. In the list of students who subscribed the Articles of Religion in St. Leonard’s College in 1586, there is a name resembling “ Alexander Leighton,” but the signa¬ ture is very obscure. It is said that he was professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh in 161 1, the year of his son’s birth, but there is lack of evidence for this. There is an undated petition1 from Leighton, not earlier than 1606, and not later than 1612, addressed to Adam Newton, Dean of Durham and tutor to Prince Henry. In it he asks for a i6 small church preferment in the gift of the Dean and Chapter, “donativum nomine St. lies,” i.e. possibly St. Giles; and states that after taking his Master’s degree at St. Andrews he had occupied himself “ docendo et praedicando Corealibus hisce partibus Anglicanis.” His occupation was thus teaching and preaching in the Eastern parts of England, and it was therefore with the English, and not with the Scottish Church, that Leighton was dissatisfied.1 He may have been at this period one of the “ lecturers,” of which we shall hear more. He then removed to London, whence he betook himself to Leyden in 1617, studied medicine, and took the degree of doctor of medicine. In The Index to English Speaking Students who Graduated at Leyden University , there appears the following entry, “ Leighton, Alexander, Anglus, Londiniensis.” 2 In his petition after¬ wards to the Parliament of 1640, Leighton himself, referring to his suffering in 1630, adds that “ the Degrees of the person censured did exempt him from any such punishment, besides inbred generosity : a Master of Arts, I commenced also Doctor : for my capability in these degrees I have the seals of two Universities, St. Andrews and Leyden, with more than ordinary approbation,” etc. He was subjected to an examination on his return to England by the Censors’ Board of the College of Physicians, who were probably not very anxious to detect his knowledge, as Mr. Gardiner suggests,3 and he was interdicted from practising medicine in England. This was on September 24, 1619. We find him again before the same Court on July 7, 1626, and January 5, 1627. He seems to have practised clandestinely,4 while reverting to his