David Crawford (or Crawfurd or Craufurd) (1665–1726), of Drumsoy, was a Scottish Historiographer Royal.

Life and death

Crawford was the son of David Crawford of Drumsoy. He was educated at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

. He was appointed Historiographer for Scotland by Queen Anne. Crawford died in 1726, leaving an only daughter and heiress, Emilia, who died unmarried in 1731.

Works

In 1706 Crawford published his ''Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, containing a full and impartial account of the Revolution in that Kingdom begun in 1567. Faithfully published from an authentic manuscript''. The manuscript was, he said, presented him by Sir James Baird of Saughton Hall, who purchased it from the widow of an episcopal clergyman. The memoirs were dedicated to the Earl of Glasgow, and the stated aim in publishing them was to provide an antidote to

George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...

's ''History''. On 27 July 1706, Crawford wrote to George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie, describing his appointment and controversy over the memoirs. He wrote "the title of historiographer is a terrible eyesore to some folks." For more than a century, Crawford's work was taken as a genuine unedited transcript of the manuscript, and relied on 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 ...

, William Robertson and other historians. In 1804,

Malcolm Laing 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; Samuel Laing and Gilbert Laing ...

published ''The Historie and Life of King James the Sext'' as contained in the Belhaven manuscript, a prototype of Crawford's ''Memoirs''. Laing asserted that the memoirs of Crawford were akin to a forgery. Passages unfavourable 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 ...

, had been omitted, and statements taken from the published works of

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland that relates la ...

, John Spottiswood,

James Melville of Halhill Sir James Melville (1535–1617) was a Scottish diplomat and memoir writer, and father of the poet Elizabeth Melville. Life Melville was the third son of Sir John Melville, laird of Raith, in the county of Fife, who was executed for treason ...

and others added. Another version of the original text, the Newbattle manuscript of the ''Historie of James the Sext'', in the possession of the Marquis of Lothian, was published by the

Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history ...

in 1825. Crawford was also the author of three novels and two dramas:Graves, Charles, "Drama", in Reid, J.M. (ed.) (1951), ''Scome Scottish Arts: An Outline'', Serif Books,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, pp. 15 & 16 His works include: * ''Courtship-a-la-mode, a comedy'', 1700. * ''Ovidius Britannicus, or Love Epistles in imitation of Ovid'', 1703. * ''Love at First Sight, a comedy'', 1704.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, David 1665 births 1726 deaths Historians of Scotland 18th-century Scottish historians

Life and death

Works

See also

Notes