Malcolm Laing (1762 – 6 November 1818) was a Scottish historian, advocate and politician.

Life

He was born to Robert Laing and Barbara Blaw at the paternal estate of Strynzia or Strenzie, on Stronsay,

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

; Samuel Laing and Gilbert Laing Meason were his brothers. He attended the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

, and was a student at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

. He joined the Speculative Society in 1782. In 1785 Laing was admitted advocate, and from 1789 for five years was advocate for poor litigants. During 1790 he was working on the electoral roll in Orkney, in the Whig interest. In 1794, with Adam Gillies, he defended Joseph Gerrald in his sedition case.

Sir James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...

, a friend, regarded Laing's delivery as far too fast, and an impediment to his legal career;

Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn ( ; 26 October 1779 in Cockpen, Midlothian – 26 April/18 July 1854 in Bonaly, Midlothian) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 183 ...

commented quite positively on his "hard, peremptory, Celtic manner and accent". Laing signed the declaration of the Society of Friends of the People in 1794, and joined the Whig Club. A personal friend of

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

, he was one of a group of advisers of Fox during the first years of the 19th century on his work of British history, with

William Belsham William Belsham (1752 – 1827) was an English political writer and historian, noted as a supporter of the Whig Party and its principles. He justified the American Revolution in excusing Americans in their resistance to the demands of England, a ...

, Samuel Heywood and James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale. He was Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland from 1807 to 1812, brought in by the Ministry of All the Talents. In 1808 Laing suffered a breakdown, and withdrew from public life. He introduced

merino The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...

sheep on the islands of

Eday Eday (, ) is one of the islands of Orkney, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland. One of the North Isles, Eday is about from the Orkney Mainland. With an area of , it is the ninth-largest island of the archipelago. The bedroc ...

and Sanday, purchasing a flock from Tweeddale that had belonged to Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet. At the end of his life he tried to introduce the brown hare.

Works

History

Laing finished Robert Henry's ''History of Great Britain'' with a final volume in 1793, and wrote a ''History of Scotland from the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms'' (1800). In a second edition of the ''History'' in 1804 half the work was devoted to a ''Dissertation on the participation of Mary Queen of Scots in the Murder of Darnley'' and the Casket Letters, hostile to

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

. Like George Brodie and Ebenezer Marshal, Laing dwelled on negative feudal and other features of

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

Scottish history. In 1804 also Laing edited ''The Historie and Life of King James the Sext''. By modern standards, Laing erred by endorsing a "Scottish Gothic" theory of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

: that this founding group of the Kingdom of Scotland were not Celts, but had a Teutonic origin. He endorsed the views of John Pinkerton on the matter, as did John Jamieson and James Sibbald.

Ossian critic

In 1805 Laing published in two volumes ''Poems of Ossian, containing the Poetical Works of James MacPherson in Prose and Verse, with Notes and Illustrations''. It contained

juvenilia Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appear as retrospective publications, some time after the author has become well known for later works. Bac ...

James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...

, collector of the

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

poems, who had died in 1796. It also described how they might be dependent on modern sources that had been borrowed. Laing's flawed criticism was seminal for a far fetched theory that Macpherson had used

Robert Lowth Robert Lowth ( ; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was an English clergyman and academic who served as the Bishop of Oxford, Bishop of St Davids, Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential textbooks of Englis ...

's study of Hebrew verse to construction his own alleged translations. For Charles James Fox, as explained in a letter to Laing, Macpherson was in the ranks of politically mischievous historians, led by

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

and his '' A History of England''. Others they attacked were Sir John Dalrymple, 4th Baronet and Thomas Somerville. The underlying issue was Tory and Jacobite revisionism of the fabricated Whig historical narrative. The "Ossian debate", on the poems' authenticity to supposed ancient sources, was coming to a head that year. Via Robert Anderson, Laing claimed he was in possession of a confession by Macpherson of the complete fabrication to another party, Sir John Elliott, who had mentioned it to Thomas Percy. On the other hand, the ''Report of the Highland Society'' (1805) upheld the authenticity claims. Percy took the eirenic view that the blame game, at least, should cease.

Family

On 10 September 1805 Laing married Margaret Dempster Carnegy, daughter of Thomas Carnegy of Craigo and Mary Gardyne. Margaret's sister was married to Adam Gillies, Lord Gillies.Kay's Originals vol.2 p.419

References

* "Laing, Malcolm." ''British Authors of the Nineteenth Century'' H. W. Wilson Company, New York, 1936.

Notes

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Malcolm 1762 births 1818 deaths People educated at Kirkwall Grammar School Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Orkney and Shetland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies 18th-century Scottish historians Scottish literary critics UK MPs 1807–1812 Writers from Orkney Historians of Scotland Scottish agronomists 19th-century Scottish historians