DOIG, David, the most learned of Scotish schoolmasters in modern times, was born in the year 1719. His father, who was a small fanner in the county of Forfar, died when he was yet in his infancy; and his mother contracted a second marriage with a worthy man, who, though by no means in affluent circumstances, and soon burdened with children of his own, treated him with the tenderness of a parent. A constitutional defect in his sight prevented him from learning to read till he was twelve years of age, but his subsequent progress was uncommonly rapid. Having for the space of three years attended a parochial school, where he was instructed in writing, arithmetic, and Latin, he became a successful competitor for a bursary, or exhibition, in the university of St Andrews. Here he completed the usual course with great approbation; and, having taken the degree of A. B. he enrolled himself as a student of divinity, but his scruples respecting some articles in the Confession of Faith prevented him from entering the church. What those articles were, we have not discovered; but it appears sufficiently evident that his scruples had no reference to the essential doctrines of Christianity. Reconciling himself to the more humble avocations of a parochial schoolmaster, he for a considerable number of years taught the schools of Monificth in his native county, and of Kennoway and Falkland in the county of Fife. He was afterwards appointed master of the grammar school of Stirling; and this office, as a late writer remarks, he discharged for forty years with the greatest ability, and with the respect and esteem of all who knew him.

His accomplishments, not only as a classical scholar, but as a man of general erudition, procured him no mean reputation long before he was known as an author. Of his extensive knowledge of languages, the earliest specimen which he imparted to the public is to be found in about twenty pages of annotations on the Gaberlunzie-man, inserted in an edition published by his learned friend and neighbour Mr Callander.^[1. Two ancient Scottish Poems, the Gaberlunzie-man, and Christ’s Kirk on the Green: with notes and observations, by John Callander, Esq. of Craigforth∙ Edinb. 1782, 8vo. ] His contribution is introduced in the following terms: “For the following elucidations of the general principles laid down in the preface, and exemplified in the notes on the foregoing ballad, the public and I are indebted to a learned and worthy friend of the author, ŵhose extensive erudition is only equalled by the modesty and candour conspicuous in his whole deportment. I am sure our learned readers will regret with me, that he has not pushed his researches further than he has done. But from the little he has here given us, the general principles of etymology I have endeavoured to establish will derive new force, and our readers new entertainment.” Although his learning did not procure him any academical preferment, it at least procured him a due share of academical honours. On the same day he received a diploma of A. Μ. from St Andrews, and another of LL. D. from Glasgow 1 .

After an interval of ten years, he published “Two Letters on the Savage State, addressed to the late Lord Kaims.” Lond, 1792, 8vo. This work, which consists of 157 crown pages, is dedicated to Dr Horne, bishop of Norwich, and is introduced by a preface written by the author’s friend Dr Gleig, a learned episcopalian clergyman of Stirling. The first letter, written in 1775, was sent to Lord Kames, who was passing his Christmas vacation at Blair-Drummond, and who was much struck with the learning and ability of lìis anonymous correspondent. Having without much difficulty detected the author, he invited him to dine with him next day; when they met and parted with mutual satisfaction, but with no abatement of the confidence of either party in the correctness of his own views as to the primitive condition of the human race. After a very copious and free discussion of the savage state, each of the disputants retained his own opinion; but they nevertheless laid the foundation of a cordial friendship, which continued uninterrupted during the lifetime of the judge, who survived till the year 1782. It was scarcely to be anticipated that his lordship should abandon the favourite paradox which pervades his Sketches of the History of Man; namely, that the tribes of mankind were originally placed in the condition of savages, from [7:8:92]which they were enabled to emerge by the slow and gradual operation of certain instinctive principles implanted in their nature. This was a paradox which he did not himself devise, but which had already been exhibited in a variety of shapes by Condillac, Rousseau, Hume, Smith, Monboddo, and divers other speculators. Some of these lovers of wisdom delight in representing the human species as very closely allied to what we venture to describe as the lower animals; and whether the remote ancestors of men were not downright monkies, or at least ourang-outangs, they feel a very philosophical degree of hesitation in deciding. Rousseau is much inclined to doubt whether certain animals resembling the human species, but by travellers supposed to be beasts, either on account of some difference in their external formation, or merely on account of their wanting the faculty of speech, are not in reality savage men, whose race being anciently dispersed in the forests, had never had occasion to develope any of the virtual faculties, had never attained to any degree of perfection, and therefore still continued in the primitive state of nature. A shaggy skin and a long tail he did not consider as infallible marks of distinction between one race of beings and another. If such individuals as Montesquieu, Buffon, Diderot, Duclos, d’Alembert, or Condillac, had appeared in the capacity of travellers into unknown regions, he would have been disposed to listen to them when they affirmed that one animal was a man, and another a beast; but he considers it as a piece of great simplicity to leave such a matter to the decision of stupid travellers, in relation to whom one might sometimes be tempted to raise a question similar to that which they take upon themselves to determine in the case of other animals.^[2. Rousseau, Discours sur l’Origine et les Fondemens de l’inégalité parmi les Hommes, p. 237∙ Amst. 1755, 8vo. “Je dis que quand de pareils observateurs affirmeront d’un tel animal que c’est un homme, et d’un autre que c’est une bête, il faudra les en croire; mais ce seroit une grande simplicité' de s’en rapporter là dessus à des voyageurs grossiers, sur lesquels on seroit quelque fois tente' de faire la même question qu’ils se mêlent de résoudre sur d’autres animaux.” ] The philosophers of this school are clearly of opinion that man, however created, was left to his own unaided exertions in the formation of an articulate language; but they are so intimately acquainted with the texture of human thought, that they find no difficulty in explaining the entire process which he must have followed. Dr Smith has ascertained that “the institution of nouns substantive” must have been one of the first steps towards the formation of language; and by another philosopher the geography of language is adjusted in a manner not less satisfactory; Rousseau thinks it highly probable that articulate speech must have taken its rise in islands, and must there have been carried to perfection before it was known on the continent.

Dr Doig was of opinion that “had all mankind, without exception, been once in a state of absolute savagism, they would not only have continued in that state, but would have still sunk lower and lower, till they had at last, in a manner, put off the character of humanity, and degraded themselves to the level of the beasts that perish.” All the learning, religion, laws, arts, and sciences, and other improvements that have enlightened Europe, a great part of Asia, and the northern coast of Africa, were so many rays diverging from two points, on the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile. In proportion as nations receded from these two sources of humanity and civilization, in the same proportion were they more and more immersed in ignorance and barbarism. “I think it obvious, beyond all possibility of contradiction,” he adds, “that all those nations, and societies of men which were removed to a considerable distance from the grand sources of civilization above-mentioned, had early degenerated into a state of savagism; that this degeneracy encreased exactly in proportion to their distance from those two points; that none of those nations who are known to have sunk into that state, ever became civilized, till they had renewed their correspondence with nations, or individuals, who had derived light and knowledge from the oriental sources;^[3. Relative to the barbarism and civilization of Greece, the following passage occurs in the work of a very ancient philosopher : ∏aλ- aax∣s yap κaι γtγovt ×aι iστaι ßaļßaças il 'Ελλ«;, o'υχ ι vπ' avûįutraiv µovov γιvι>μlvr l μsrava<rτaτ0S∙> άλλα και i>π ’ aiιτns τr∣s <ξ>υσzωs aù μιiζ<nt>s aùĩs μn-οοί aLrr,s γwoμmr∣s, iλλa κa∣ wτ i .ζaι άη, τζt>s iιμaf iζχ>w λaμβawurns. (Ocellus Lucanus de Universi Natura, cap. iii. edit. Gale 1688.) ] that previous to the opening of this correspondence, no one s people discovered the least propension or. tendency towards culture and civilization; that, consequently, had all mankind been, at any one period, absolute savages, they would have continued in that unhappy state as long as the world existed; that if this train of reasoning should happen to be just, there must always have existed, in some part of the globe, a select society, a civilized race of men, among whom the knoavledge of arts and sciences was always preserved, and from whom the blessings of civilization, and a cultivated state of life, were, in process of time, propagated to all the other nations, which at this day enjoy these invaluable benefits.” This reasoning, supported with much ingenuity and learning, directly leads to the conclusion, which he leaves the reader to draw for himself, that the scriptural account of the primeval history of the human race is much more consonant with the principles of sound philosophy, than the account devised by the united wisdom of modern philosophers.

His next publication, which is of a very different description, bears the subsequent title: “Extracts from a Poem on the Prospect from Stirling Castle. I. The Vision. II. Carmore and Orma, a love Tale. III. The Garden. IV. The King’s Knot. V. Three Hymns, Morning, Noon, and Evening.” Stirling, 1796, 4to∙ The entire publication extends to 35 pages. As a specimen of his English versification, we transcribe a passage from the Vision, in which he introduces the shade of Wallace addressing King Robert the night before the battle of Bannockburn. The hero mentioned in the first verse is Sir John Graham.

Great was the hero’s fall, when squadrons round

Mow’d by his well-try’d falchion strew’d the ground; Thrice blest his envy’d fall, maturely dead, Fresh laurels blooming round his sacred head!

While I by Faction’s tumults rudely tost, My country thrall’d, my patriot labours lost, Betray’d, and basely sold, inglorious died, The sport of perjur’d peers and tyrant pride. Go, noble Bruce! fulfill thy happier fate, On thee new glories smile, new triumphs wait: To-morrow’s sun, I see the fulgence rise, Shall seal thy fame, and waft it to the skies; To-morrow’s sun shall blast yon barbarous host, And chase the cloud that low’rs o’er Scotia’s coast. Dread not, great sire, their threats or boasted might, Their skill in council or their fame in fight. Now patriot blood, by impious Edward shed, In flaming vengeance bursts o’er Edward’s head: Far round thy camp, array’d in blazing arms, Thy Scotia’s slaughtered heroes sound th’ alarms; On fiery steeds, unseen they watch the fray, And spread terrific din, and pale dismay;

With dreams of conquer’d foes they fan the fire, And bid ev’n dastard souls to fame aspire, [7:8:93]With shields of proof thy half-arm’d bands protect, Each random lance, each wav’ring shaft direct, Till deeply sped, it reach the deadly wound, And stretch some champion breathless on the ground, Till heaps of carnage choak th’ impurpled flood, And all these fields are drench’d in hostile blood.

I see Caernarvon pale, aghast with fear,

Fly swift, great Douglas thundering in his rear:

Ill fare the faithless churl who shelter lends, And homeward safe the trembling tyrant sends.

These are the only works which Dr Doig published in a separate form. For the reputation of authorship he appears to have felt no particular ambition: he was however an indefatigable student, and wrote many tracts which were never printed, which he probably had no intention of printing. He wrote an elaborate dissertation On the Ancient Hellenes, which appeared in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. iii. He afterwards prosecuted the same subject, and transmitted his manuscript to one of the secretaries of the society; but on the decease of that gentleman, no vestige of it could be found among his papers. His contributions to the third edition of the present work, and particularly the article Philology, exhibit the most conspicuous monument of his erudition. In the articles Mysteries and Mythology, although they bear marks of the same hand, he has not taken so wide a range; but the article Philology is a long and elaborate treatise, distinguished by ingenuity as well as learning. “In addition,” says Lord Woodhousclee, “to the most profound knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, which he wrote with a classical purity, Dr Doig had successfully studied the Hebrew, Arabic, and other kindred dialects, and was deeply versed in Oriental literature.” Of this variegated knowledge he has fully availed himself in his treatise on Philology. That portion of the Encyclopaedia Britannica which contains it, was published in London during the same week with a tract on the Greek verb, written by Dr Vincent, afterwards dean of Westminster,^[4. On this subject, Dr Vincent published two different tracts. The Origination of the Greek Verb; an Hypothesis. Lond. 1794, 8vo. The Greek Verb analyzed; an Hypothesis, in which the Source and Structure of the Greek Language in general is considered. Lond. 179ð, 8vo. ] “who was so struck with the coincidence of Dr Doig’s opinions on many points with his own, that he began an epistolary correspondence with the author; and these two eminent scholars went hand in hand in their researches, and in a free communication of their opinions, with a liberality of sentiment which did honour to both. Such likewise was the conduct of the learned Mr Bryant, who had entered into a correspondence with Dr Doig on the subject of ancient mythology.”^[5. Woodhouselee’s Memoirs of Lord Kames, vol. ii. p. 142. ]

Dr Doig, who was married and left descendants, died on the 16th of March 1800, at the mature age of eighty-one. The following epitaph, written by himself, has been engraved on a marble monument erected to his memory by the town of Stirling, where he was respected for his worth, and admired for his learning:

Edidici quaedam, perlegi plura, notavi

Paucula, cum domino mox peritura suo·

Lubrica Pieriae tentarem pracinia palmae,

Credulus, ingenio heu nimis alta meo-Extincto famam ruituro crescere saxo

Posse putem, vivo quae mihi nulla fuit?

Of his Latin versification we subjoin a more considerable specimen, which relates to the erection of a monument to the memory of Buchanan.

En, Buchanane, pii, longo post tempore, cives

Ingenio statuunt haec monumenta tuo.

Scotia to natum, to Gallia jactat alumnum,

Te canit Europe, qua plaga cunque patet.

Nil opus est saxo, nil indice: laeta sonabunt Carmine Levinium saecula cuncta decus.

Seu decoras Latio divina poemata cultu,

Seu recinis nugas, ludicra, festa, sales, Grandia seu tragicodevolvis verba cothurno, Seu reseras varii claustra viasque poli, Aemula seu captas Patavi praeconia linguae, Foedera dum patriae, bella virosque refers, Eloquio, gravitate, sono, vi, lumine, verbis, Aequiparas veteres, exsuperasque novos. Quod <Graii potuere simul, quod Romula virtus, Tu solus numeris, arte, lepore potes.

Sin aliqua titubas patriae labefactus amore, Aut nimium vera pro pietate pius,

Ipsa notam lecti Libertas plorat alumni,

Ipsa tegit lauri Calliopea comis.

Saepe nitor veri spissis latet obrutus umbris, Nec semper Lynceus cuncta videnda videt.

Besides Latin and English poems, Dr Doig left an immense variety of works in manuscript. The subsequent list includes his most considerable treatises. 1. A rational Demonstration of the Divinity and Incarnation of Christ, 36 pp. fol. 2. The History of the Passion, 45 pp. 4to. 3. On Vicarious Punishments, 19 pp. fol. 4. Strictures on Dr Campbell’s Translation of the Sermon on the Mount, 15 pp. 4to. 5. An Analysis of the Epistle to the Romans, 48 pp. fol. 6. An Analysis of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 60 pp. 4to. 7. A Dissertation on the Place where the Ark rested after the Deluge, 30 pp. fol. 8. An Essay on the Situation of Tarshish and Ophir, 66 pp. 4to. 9. A Dissertation on the Origin of Idolatry, 21 pp. 4to. 10. An Enquiry into the Origin of Statue-Worship, 84 pp. fol. 11. A Philological Dissertation on Chain and Remphan, 135 pp. fol. 12. A Philological Dissertation on the Gods of the Egyptians, 344 pp. 4to. 13. The History of the Titans, 146 pp. 4to. 14. On the Doctrine of Demons, 199 pp. 4to. 15. Letters on Mr Bryant’s Ancient Mythology, 133 pp. fol. 16. An Essay on the Origin of the Greeks, 406 pp. fol. 17. Elucidations of Grecian Antiquities, 98 pp. 4to. 18. On the Origin of the Scots, 33 pp. 4to. 19. On the Origin of Language, 59 pp. fol. 20. Letters to Lord Kames on Language, 112 pp. fol. 21. Strictures on Dr Smith’s Considerations on the Formation of Language, 33 pp. fol. 22. Letters to Dr Vincent on the Formation of Greek Verbs, 48 pp. fol. 23. An Essay on the Utility of the Learned Languages, 49 pp. 4to. 24. Figures of Rhetoric poetically described, 16 pp. 4to. (x.)