OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Legh, Alexander

​LEGH, ALEXANDER (d. 1501), ambassador, appears to have been born in Scotland. He was educated at Eton and elected to King's College, Cambridge, in 1450. On 22 May 1468, being then M.A., he was collated to the rectory of Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire, but resigned before 23 April 1473. In 1469 he became canon of Winasor. In September 1470 Legh and Alexander Carlisle, sergeant of the minstrels, gave Edward IV, then near Nottingham, information of the treason of the Marquis of Montagu [see under Neville, John, Marquis of Montagu, d. 1471, and Edward IV], and thus probably saved the king's life, a service which Edward did not fail to reward. On 14 Sept. 1471 Legh became prebendary of Grindall in York Minster, and on 26 Sept. 1471 he was made rector of St. Bride's, London, by the abbot and convent of Westminster; he resigned St. Bride's in 1485. He was also appointed king's almoner and proceeded LL.D. In 1474 and subsequent years he was employed in embassies to Scotland, In 1478 he became prebendary of Barnby in the church of Howden, Yorkshire, but resigned in the following year. He had a patent 26 May 1480, allowing him to live in England though born in Scotland, and this, if indeed it refers to the ambassador, was confirmed on 17 Aug. 1484. In 1481-2 he became one of the councillors for Berwick-on-Tweed, and in December 1483 he was appointed with George Bird as royal commissioners to survey the walls and bridge of Newcastle-on-Tyne. In 1484, when he seems to have been living at Ougham in Kent, he was a commissioner to carry out the truce with Scotland, in 1490 he was temporal chancellor of Durham Cathedral, and in 1493 he was rector of Spofforth in Yorkshire, though he seems from a letter in the 'Plumpton Correspondence' to have been non-resiaent. Legh aied in the early part of 1501.
[Athenæ Cantabr. i. 520; 9th Rep. Deputy-Keeper of Public Records, App. ii. pp. 57, 101; Plumpton Correspondence (Camd. Soc.), pp. 52, 105.]
W. A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halifax, Earls of

​HALIFAX, Earls of. [See Montagu, Charles, 1661–1715; Dunk, George Montague, 1716–1771.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halifax, Marquis of

​HALIFAX, Marquis of. [See Savile, George, 1633–1695.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halkerston, Peter

​HALKERSTON, PETER (d. 1833?), Scotch lawyer, received a university education, and took the degree of M.A. He studied law, and became a member of the Society of Solicitors to the Supreme Courts of Scotland. For ten years he acted as one of the examiners of that body, and was their librarian for a still longer period. He also held for some time the office of bailie of the abbey of Holyrood. During his tenure of office he studied the records of the place, and produced in 1831 'A Treatise on the History, Law, and Privilege's of the Palace and Sanctuary of Holyrood House.' Halkerston, who seems to have directed himself rather to the theoretical than the practical side of his profession, received the honorary degree of LL.D., and was also elected an extraordinary member ​of the Royal Physical Society. His other works were: 1. 'A Compendium or General Abridgment of the Faculty Collection of Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session from Feb. 4 1754 to the Session of 1817,' Edinb. 1819-20. 2. 'A Translation and Explanation of the Technical Terms in Mr. Erskine's Institutes of the Law of Scotland,' Edinb. 1820; 2nd edition, 1829. 3. A Collection of Latin Maxims and Rules in Law and Equity, with an English translation,' Edinb. 1823. 4. 'An Analysis of the Act of Parliament 6 Geo. IV, and the Acts of Sederunt founded thereon,' Edinb. 1827. These acts remodelled the procedure in the court of session. 5. 'A Digest of the Law of Scotland relating to Marriage. Book i.,' Edinb. 1827; new edition, 1831.
[References in works above quoted; Cat. of Advocates' Library.]
F. W-t.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halifax, John

​HALIFAX, JOHN (d. 1256). [See Holywood.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halkerstone, David

​HALKERSTONE, DAVID (d. 1680), covenanter. [See Hackston.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Haliday, William

​HALIDAY, WILLIAM (1788–1812), Irish grammarian, born in Dublin in 1788, was son of William Haliday or Halliday, an apothecary, and elder brother of Charles Haliday [q. v.] He was bred a solicitor, and learnt Irish from three Munstermen who lived in Dublin, MacFaelchu, O'Connaill, and O'Cathasaigh; and so despised in his middle sphere of society was the native language of Ireland that Haliday assumed the name of William O'Hara when he began to take lessons from O'Cathasaigh. In 1808 he published in Dublin 'Uraicecht na Gaedhilge: a Grammar of the Irish Language,' under another assumed name, Edmond O'Connell. This is a compilation based upon Stewart's 'Gaelic Gramir.' He was one of the founders in 1807 of the Gaelic Society of Dublin, established for the investigation and revival of ancient Irish literature, and in 1811 published in Dublin the first volume of a text and translation of Keating's 'History of Ireland.' He had begun an Irish dictionary when he died, 26 Oct. 1812. He was an enthusiastic student of Irish literature of the same kind as O'Reilly the lexicographer. Their work is defective in thoroughness, because of their imperfect training, but has been of great service to many more learned persons, and has given much enjoyment to many of the unlearned.
N. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halifax, Viscount

​HALIFAX, Viscount. [See Wood, Charles, 1800–1885.]
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Halket, George

​HALKET, GEORGE (d. 1756), Scottish song-writer, is said by Peter Buchan (Gleanings of Scotch, English, and Irish Old Ballads) to have been a native of Aberdeenshire. In 1714 he was appointed schoolmaster, precentor, and session-clerk in the parish of Rathen, Aberdeenshire. One apartment served for dwelling and schoolhouse, and when, in 1718, Halket married Janet Adamson, the heritors being severely economical caused his box-bed to be reversed, so that its back should be a partition between school and bedroom, while they let a window into the north wall to insure the comfort of the sleepers. Halket's unsteady habits led to his dismissal from Rathen in 1725, and with his wife and three children he settled at Cairnbulg, some distance off, and was a more or less successful schoolmaster there for twenty-five years. In 1750 he removed to Memsie, becoming tutor in the families of Colonel Fraser and Sir James Innes, besides doing other private teaching. His last change was to Tyrie, where he died in 1756. According to Buchan, he is buried in Fraserburgh old churchyard.
Halket's only undoubted publication is a thin 12mo volume, entitled 'Occasional Poems upon Several Subjects,' printed at Aberdeen in 1727 for the author, who figures on the title-page as 'George Hacket.' There are four poems in the work: 'Advice to Youth,' based on Ecclesiastes, xii. 1-2; 'Good Friday,' in which the author illustrates one part of his theme with severe references to the treatment of Charles I by Scottish and English whigs; 'Easter Day;' and an insipid 'Pastoral.' The volume containing these poems is extremely rare and was unknown to Buchan. Perhaps the only existing copy is in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. It has not much value as literature, nothing in it approaching the rapid movement and the pungent satirical thrusts of the Jacobite ballad, 'Whirry Whigs, Awa' Man,' and nothing suggestive of the romantic tenderness, the cheerful and resolute self-dependence, and the lyrical grace of 'Logie o' Buchan.' Halket is credited with both of these poems, but there is a total lack of evidence on the point. As, however, there is no one else of the period to whom they can be assigned, it is just possible that they are his, and at any rate his claims are supported by a persistent tradition and the weighty surmise of Peter Buchan. Halket is quite likely to have written 'A Dialogue between the Devil and George II,' a perusal of which, in 1746, caused the Duke of Cumberland to offer a reward of 100l. for the author 'alive or dead.' He may also have been the author of a ballad entitled 'Schism Displayed.'
[Peter Buchan's Gleanings, as above; William Walker's Bards of Bon-Accord.]
T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lesieur, Stephen

​LESIEUR, Sir STEPHEN (fl. 1586–1627), ambassador, seems to have been a Frenchman. He was living at Dunkirk in January 1586, and in October of that year became secretary to the French ambassador in England. In May 1589 he tried to become a denizen, and succeeded shortly afterwards. Cecil took him into the public service about 1598. In October 1602 he was sent with Lord Eure, Sir John Herbert, and Dr. Daniel Donne, to treat with the king of Denmark and the Hanse Towns at Bremen. While he was at Bremen the queen died, to the great injury, he afterwards complained, of his prospects. On 25 June 1603 he was sent on an embassy to the emperor, Rudolph II. In March 1605 he was living next to York House in London. He seems to have had a pension of 50l. a year from 1605, and on 31 Jan. 1607–8 he received a grant of 4,000l. of old crown debts to recover. James I also, on 23 March 1608, gave him 1,000l. In 1608 he seems to have been in Florence, in 1609 he went on an embassy to the archduke, and in Nov. 1609 he set out for Florence again, when the Bishop of Winchester asked him to take his son with him. At Florence he had small success, and going to the emperor in 1612–3, he was recalled as ‘unacceptable.’ He remained, however, at Prague till April 1614, and wrote his name in an autograph book belonging to John Opsimathis of Moravia, which is preserved in the British Museum (Eg. MS. 52). Letters of Lesieur between 1597 and 1603 are mentioned in ‘Hist. MSS. Comm.’ 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Reps. He seems to have had no further public employment, and in 1627 petitioned Charles I for the continuance of the pension which James I had granted to him. The date of his death is uncertain. He married by license, granted 21 Dec. 1592, Mary, widow of Francis Littleton.
W. A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lesley, Alexander

​LESLEY, ALEXANDER (1693–1758), jesuit, born in Aberdeenshire 7 Nov. 1693, was third son of Alexander Leslie, third baron of Pitcaple, by his second wife Henrietta Irvine of Drum. After having gone through a course of classics at Douay he completed his studies at Rome; entered the ​Society of Jesus 12 Nov. 1712, and taught literature at Sora and Ancona. He passed through his theological course at the Collegio Romano, and subsequently delivered lectures on the Greek language in that institution. In 1728 he taught philosophy in the Illyrian College of Loreto. He was professed of the four vows 2 Feb. 1728–9, and being sent to the Scottish mission, laboured in Aberdeenshire. In 1734 he returned to Italy and taught in the colleges of Ancona and Tivoli. He came back to England in 1738 at the request of Lord Petre, who desired to have the services of an ecclesiastic who was versed in antiquarian lore. He was associated with the English province of the society, and in 1751 was a missioner in the ‘College of the Holy Apostles,’ which comprised Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. Returning to Rome in 1744 he was prefect of studies in the Scots College till 1746, was professor of moral theology for two years in the English College (1746–8), and in 1749 was associated with the learned jesuit Emanuel de Azevedo in preparing the ‘Thesaurus Liturgicus’ for publication. He fixed his residence in the Collegio Romano, where he died on 27 March 1758, after having published a mere fragment of the projected ‘Thesaurus,’ viz. ‘Missale mixtum secundum Regulam Beati Isidori dictum Mozarabes,’ with a preface, notes, and appendix, 2 vols., Rome, 1755, 4to; reprinted under the editorship of J.P. Migne, Paris, 1850, 8vo. This was a reprint of the Mozarabic Missal printed at Toledo in 1500 by order of Cardinal Ximenes. ‘Lesley's preface and notes,’ says M. Lefebre in the ‘Biographie Universelle,’ ‘are invaluable to those who desire to trace the origin of the Mozarabic rite and its variations.’ He is said to have left in manuscript:
* ‘Notes on the Mozarabic Breviary.’
* ‘Notes on a Greek Medal struck by the inhabitants of Smyrna.’
* ‘Iter Litterarium.’
* Two collections of inscriptions, viz. ‘Lapides Tiburtini’ and ‘Lapides Britannici.’
* ‘Refutation of Dr. Conyers Middleton's “Pagan and Modern Rome compared,”’ an uncompleted work.
* Notes on Father John Tempest's ‘Letters from Palestine.’
* ‘De præstantia veterum lapidum,’ in imitation of the work of Spanheim.
* ‘De præstantia numismatum.’
* ‘De Legionibus,’ an important work, in which he distinguished, by means of inscriptions, all the grades of the Roman army.
[Biog. Univ. xxiv. 296; Caballero's Bibl. Script. S. J. supplementa, i. 294; De Backer's Bibl. de la Compagnie de Jésus, ii. 717; Foley's Records, v. 533, vii. 452; Leslie's Records of the Family of Leslie (1869), iii. 396; Oliver's Jesuit Collections, pp. 24, 204; Stothert's Catholic Mission in Scotland, p. 571; Zaccaria's Annali letterarii d'Italia (Modena, 1764), vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 494; Zaccaria's Bibl. Ritualis, ii. 225.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lesley, William Aloysius

William Aloysius Leslie in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​LESLEY, WILLIAM ALOYSIUS, D.D. (1641–1704), jesuit, born in Aberdeenshire in 1641, entered the Society of Jesus at Rome at the age of twenty-five, being then a doctor of divinity. For some time he taught philosophy at Perugia, and on 10 Feb. 1673–4 he was appointed superior of the Scots College at Rome, which he governed for nine years. On his petition, in conjunction with his cousin William Lesley, agent at Rome for the Scottish clergy, the festival of St. Margaret, which previously had been celebrated in Scotland only, was inserted in the Roman breviary and missal. During the last ten years of his life Lesley served the mission in Scotland, where he died on 26 March 1704.
He published ‘Vita di S. Margherita, Regina di Scozia, raccolta da diversi autori,’ Rome, 1675, 1691, and 1718, 12mo, pp. 105.
[Catholic Miscellany, ix. 38; De Backer's Bibl. de la Compagnie de Jésus, ii. 718; Foley's Records, vii. 454; Lowndes's Bibl. Man. (Bohn), p. 1343; Oliver's Jesuit Collections, p. 28; Southwell's Bibl. Scriptorum Soc. Jesu, p. 311; Stothert's Catholic Mission in Scotland, pp. 196–8.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macfarlane, Robert (1734-1804)

Robert Macfarlan in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​MACFARLANE, ROBERT (1734–1804), miscellaneous writer, a native of Scotland, was born in 1734, and received his education at the university of Edinburgh, where he proceeded M.A. He settled in London, and for some years kept a school with great success at Walthamstow, Essex. At one time he was editor of the 'Morning ​Chronicle' and 'London Packet.' His retentive memory enabled him to faithfully report some of the finest speeches in parliament during Lord North's administration, especially those delivered in the debates on the American war. On the evening of 8 Aug. 1804, during the Brentford election, he was killed by being accidentally thrown under a carriage at Hammersmith (Faulkner, Hammersmith, pp. 297-8).
Marfarlane was engaged by Thomas Evans, the publisher, of Paternoster Row, to write a 'History of the Reign of George III,' the first volume of which was issued in 1770. In consequence, however, of some misunderstanding, Evans employed another writer to continue the work, the second volume of which appeared in 1782, and the third in 1794. On being reconciled to Evans, Macfarlane wrote in 1796 a fourth volume, which was severely handled by the critics. Macfarlane defended himself in an 'Appendix, or the Criticks Criticized,' 8vo, London, 1797.
He was an enthusiastic admirer of the poems of Ossian, and translated them into Latin verse, publishing in 1769 the first book of 'Temora' as a specimen. At the time of his death he had in the press an elaborate edition of the poet, which was afterwards issued under the auspices of the Highland Society of London, with the title 'The Poems of Ossian in Gaelic, with a literal Translation into Latin, with a Dissertation on their authenticity by Sir J. Sinclair, and a Translation from the Italian of the Abbe Cesarette's Dissertation on the Controversy respecting Ossian, with Notes by J. McArthur,' 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1807.
In 1797 Macfarlane published 'An Address to the People of the British Empire on Public Affairs,' and in 1799 a translation of George Buchanan's 'Dialogue concerning the Rights of the Crown of Scotland,' with two dissertations prefixed, one on the pretended identity of the Getes and Scythians, and the Goths and Scots, and the other vindicating the character of Buchanan as an historian.
[Gent. Mag. 1804, ii. 791; Anderson's Scottish Nation, ii. 731-2; Green's Diary of a Lover of Literature, 1810, p. 65.]
G. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macfarlane, Patrick

​MACFARLANE, PATRICK (1768–1832), Gaelic scholar, born in 1758, was for some time schoolmaster at Appin, Argyllshire, but latterly resident in Glasgow, where he died towards the end of 1832. His work in Gaelic literature consisted mostly of translations published by the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. Among the authors whose works he translated into Gaelic are Baxter, Dr. Blair, Bunyan, Doddridge, and Guthrie. He corrected the proofs of the Gaelic New Testament of 1813 and of McLeod and Dewar's Dictionary. He also compiled a manual for family devotion (1829), published a small collection of Gaelic poems (1813), and a vocabulary of Gaelic and English (1815).
[Reid's Bibl. Scoto-Celtica; Brit. Mus. Cat; Gent Mag. 1833, pt. i. p. 93.]
J. R. M.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macfarlane, Duncan

Duncan Macfarlan in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
​MACFARLANE, DUNCAN (1771–1857), principal of Glasgow University, son of Duncan Macfarlane, minister of Drymen, Stirlingshire, was born at Auchingray, 27 Sept. 1771. He was educated for the church at the university of Glasgow, licensed 1791, and ordained to the charge of Drymen, in succession to his father, in 1792. In 1806 he was created a D.D. of his university. He contested unsuccessfully the chair of divinity and the ministry of the Tron Church, where Dr. Thomas Chalmers was elected, after a keen contest, in 1814. He was made one of his majesty's chaplains in 1815, served as moderator of the general assembly in 1819, and presented an address to George IV on his accession in 1820. While still at Drymen he was appointed dean of the Chapel Royal, but resigned both offices on being made principal of Glasgow University and minister of the High Church, Glasgow, in 1824. Opposition was raised to his holding the two offices conjointly, but the general assembly, by 165 to 80 votes, decided that he was acting legally. The colonial mission scheme was originated by him, and he continued its convener over twenty years. In the patron- ​age controversy he defended the established church of Scotland against the seceders, and as a moderator of the general assembly for the second time conducted the church business in the disruption year, 1843. He died at Glasgow, 25 Nov. 1857.
[Scott's Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, 1868, vol. ii. pt. i. pp. 7, 235, 353; J. Smith's Our Scottish Clergy, 2nd ser. 1849, pp. 72-9; G. MacGregor's History of Glasgow, 1881, p. 454; Irving's Book of Scotsmen, 1881, p. 300.]
G. C. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macfarlane, Robert (1802-1880)

​MACFARLANE, ROBERT, Lord Ormidale (1802–1880), senator of the College of Justice, born in 1802, was son of Parlane Macfarlane of Lugs, Dumbartonshire. He was educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh, and admitted a writer to the signet in 1827. He afterwards passed some time in Jamaica, but, determining to proceed to the bar, became advocate at Edinburgh in 1838. He was very successful with juries in civil cases, though not an orator, and in 1853 was made sheriff of Renfrewshire. He was made an ordinary lord of session, with the title of Lord Ormidale, on 13 Jan. 1862, and transferred to the second division in 1874. As a judge he was kind to young barristers, and very painstaking. He had a dislike for showy pleading, and did a great deal after Lord Colonsay's death to reform the procedure of the court of session. His speech upon the condition of the court before the Juridical Society in 1867 caused some controversy, but the act of 1868 abolishing many of the technicalities of pleading was largely due to his advocacy. Ormidale died at Hartrigge, Jedburgh, on 3 Nov. 1880. His wife, a Miss Greigh of Eccles, Berwickshire, whom he married in 1845, predeceased him. Ormidale published : 1. 'The Practice of the Court of Session in Jury Causes,' Edinburgh, 1837, 8vo. 2. 'Reports of Jury Trials in the Courts of Session from 12 March 1838 to 27 Dec. 1839,' Edinburgh, 1841, 8vo. 3. Parts i. to viii. of 'Practical Notes on the Structure of Issues in Jury Cases in the Court of Session,' Edinburgh, 1844-5, 8vo.
[Scotsman, 6 Nov. 1880; Irving's Dict. of Eminent Scotsmen, p. 572; Ann. Reg. 1880, p. 219; Book of Dignities.]
W. A. J. A.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macfarlan, Walter

​MACFARLAN, WALTER (d. 1767), antiquary, second son of John Macfarlan of Arrochar and Helen, daughter of Robert, second viscount Arbuthnot, succeeded his father in 1705. From his early years Macfarlan devoted himself to antiquarian research connected with the history of Scotland. Ecclesiastical records specially attracted him, and he employed a clerk named Tait to make copies of most of the cartularies accessible to him; the copies are notable for their accuracy and neatness. Macfarlan appears to have held strict views on etiquette. 'The late laird of Macfarlan, an eminent genealogist,' wrote Dr. Johnson in his 'Hebridean Tour,' p. 134, 'considered himself as disrespectfully treated if the common addition [i.e. Mr.] was applied to him. "Mr. Macarlan," said he, "may with equal propriety be said to many; but I, and I only, am Macfarlan." ' He died at his house in Canongate, Edinburgh, on 6 June 1767. His library was sold, and the Faculty of Advocates purchased in 1785 his manuscripts, of which there have been printed the cartularies of Aberdeen, Arbroath, Balmerino, Dryburgh, Dunfermline, Kelso, Lindores, Melrose, Moray, St. Andrews, and Scone. These were extensively used by Douglas in his 'Peerage of Scotland,' Macfarlan married in 1760 Lady Elizabeth Erskine, daughter of Alexander, sixth earl of Kelly, and left a son Walter. There is a portrait of Macfarlan in the library of the Society of Scots Antiquaries, which was engraved in 1846. Another by J. T. Seaton, in the National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, was engraved in mezzotint by Alexander Hay.
[Gent. Mag. 1767; Scots Magazine; Johnson's Hebridean Tour; Douglas's Baronage of Scotland; Notes and Queries, 1st ser. iv. 406, 509; Turnbull's Catalogue of Faculty of Advocates' Library; Irving's Eminent Scotsmen; Anderson's Scottish Nation.]
A. F. P.