Lauchlan MacLean Watt

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(24 October 1867 – 11 September 1957) was the minister of

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, from the 12th ...

from 1923–34, and the

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1933. He was a published poet and author, and a literary critic.

Life

Glasgow Cathedral from Glasgow Necropolis - geograph

Maclean Watt was born on 24 October 1867 at

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey () is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorms, Cairngorm mounta ...

, Morayshire, the only son of Margaret Gillanders MacLean from

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

, and her husband Andrew MacLean Watt. He studied for a general degree at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

graduating with an MA in 1894. He then went on to study divinity, graduating with a BD in 1897. He was ordained as minister of

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is deriv ...

in 1897. In 1901 he was translated to the joint parishes of

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...

and

Tullibody Tullibody () is a village set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The village is southwest of Alva, Clackmannanshire, Alva, northwest of Alloa and ...

. In 1911 he moved to the prestigious

St Stephen's Church, Edinburgh Saint Stephen's Church is located in the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the bottom of Saint Vincent Street. It was built in 1827–1828, to a design by architect William Henry Playfair (1789–1857). The first Ministe ...

. Soon after arrival he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Rev Thomas Burns, Norman Macleod,

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily known for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

and Arthur Pillans Laurie. In 1907 he accompanied the

King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe Is ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

as a correspondent for ''The Times'', ''The Scotsman'' and ''The Manchester Guardian''. During the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was a chaplain with the

Gordon Highlanders The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...

in the 7th Division. He was sent by the Government as Commissioner to the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1918 to clarify UK war aims. In 1923 he moved to High Kirk of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, better known as

(1923–34). He was Turnbull Trust preacher at The Scots' Church in Melbourne in 1932. 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 ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1933 for his publications. In 1933 he was elected

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, in succession to Very Rev Hugh ross Mackintosh, the highest position in his church. On completion of this duty in the summer of 1934 he retired aged 67. He was succeeded as Moderator by Rev Peter Donald Thomson. He died at Lochcarron on 11 September 1957 and is buried in the Lochcarron Burial Ground at the east end of the Lochcarron Old Parish Church.

Publications

He was a prolific author in prose and verse, on folk-lore, history and antiquities, especially

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

as well as aspects of religion, literature and the life of a soldier, and gave the Warrack Lectures and McNeil-Frazer Lectures on preaching in 1930. A number of his poems and books are war-related. *''I Bind My Heart this Tide'' (hymn - 1907) *''The Tryst: A Book of the Soul'' (1907) *''Scottish Life and Poetry'' (1912) *''In the Land of War'' (1915) *''The Soldier's Friend'' (1916) *''The Heart of a Soldier'' (1918) *''The

'' (1918) *''While the Candle Burns'' (1933) *''Scottish Ballads and Ballad Writing'' *''The Cameron Highlanders'' *''The Hills of Home'' (this appears to be the basis of the song " A Scottish Soldier") *''The Book of the Beloved'' *''The Advocate's Wig'' *''Edragil 1745'' *''By Still Waters'' *''

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

'' *''The Preacher's Life and Work'' *''Douglas's Aeneid''

Family

In June 1897 he married Jenny (or Jeannie) Hall Reid. They had one son, Hector MacLean Watt (b.1900).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Lauchlan MacLean 1867 births 1957 deaths 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Scottish poets Scottish literary critics Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Ministers of Glasgow Cathedral 19th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers