picture of ‘Prince Charles Edward and the Highlanders entering Edinburgh after the Battle of Preston,’ in which he introduced the portraits of several eminent Scotchmen then living, and which appeared again in the Royal Scottish Academy in 1841. ‘The Waefu' Heart,’ an illustration from the ballad of ‘Auld Robin Gray,’ now in the Sheepshanks collection, South Kensington Museum, was his contribution to the Royal Academy exhibition of 1841, and ‘Scene on Benormen, Sutherlandshire’ (or ‘Deerstalking’), to that of 1842; while to that of 1843 he sent ‘Prince Charles Edward asleep after the Battle of Culloden, protected by Flora Macdonald and Highland Outlaws.’ Both these pictures of Prince Charles Edward became the property of Mr. Alexander Hill, and were engraved, the first by Frederick Bacon, and the second by H. T. Ryall. These works led to his election in 1843 as an associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1844 he exhibited pictures of ‘Cupid’ and ‘The Martyrdom of John Brown of Priesthill, 1685,’ the latter of which is now in the Glasgow Corporation Galleries of Art. This was his last exhibited work, with the exception of a masterly portrait of himself, which appeared at the Royal Academy in 1846, after his death, and which was purchased by fifty Scottish artists and presented by them to the Royal Scottish Academy. Shortly before his last illness he received a commission from the Marquis of Breadalbane to paint a picture in commemoration of Queen Victoria's visit to Taymouth Castle, and a finished sketch for it, together with an unfinished sketch of ‘George Wishart on the day of his Martyrdom dispensing the Sacrament in the Prison of the Castle of St. Andrews,’ appeared in the exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1846. He died in Edinburgh, 25 April 1845, from a tumour on the brain, and was buried in the Edinburgh cemetery at Warriston. His principal pictures represent scenes in Scottish history, and show a considerable gift for colour. His portraits are faithfully and skilfully rendered, and evince delicate feeling for female beauty and keen appreciation of Scottish character. They include those of Sir John m'Neill, Professor Miller, Lord Robertson, Lord Colonsay, Dr. Gordon, and Dr. Chalmers. Several of Duncan's works are in the National Gallery of Scotland: ‘Anne Page inviting Master Slender to Dinner,’ ‘Jeanie Deans and the Robbers,’ ‘Bran, a celebrated Scottish Deerhound,’ ‘The Two Friends, Child and Dog,’ and portraits of himself, Lady Stuart of Allanbank, John m'Neill of Colonsay and Oronsay, and Duncan m'Neill, lord Colonsay. The original model of a bust of Duncan, by Patrick Park, R.S.A., is in the Royal Scottish Academy.
[Chambers's Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen 1868, i. 507; Bryan's Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, ed. Graves, 1886, i. 436; Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists of the English School, 1878; Armstrong's Scottish Painters, 1888, pp. 62–3; Scotsman 30 April 1845, Art Journal, 1847, p. 380, with portrait engraved by J. Smyth from a painting by himself; Catalogues of the Exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1828–46; Catalogues of the Exhibitions of the Royal Academy, 1840–6; Catalogue of the National Gallery of Scotland, 1883.]
DUNCAN, WILLIAM (1717–1760), professor of philosophy at Aberdeen, son of William Duncan, an Aberdeen tradesman, by his wife Euphemia Kirkwood, daughter of a wealthy farmer in Haddingtonshire, was born in Aberdeen in 1717. He was sent to the Aberdeen grammar school, and afterwards to Foveran boarding school under George Forbes. When sixteen he entered the Marischal College, and studied Greek under Thomas Blackwell (1701–1757) [q. v.] In 1737 he took his M.A. degree. Having a dislike for the ministry, for which he was intended, he proceeded to London and wrote for the booksellers. His first works were published anonymously. He assisted David Watson with his ‘Works of Horace,’ 2 vols. 1741, 8vo. He published: 1. ‘Cicero's Select Orations,’ in English with the original Latin, London, 17 …, 8vo (a well-known school book often republished. Sir Charles Wentworth issued the English portion only in 1777). 2. ‘The Elements of Logick,’ divided into four books, part of Dodsley's ‘Preceptor,’ London, 1748, 8vo, and often reprinted. 3. ‘The Commentaries of Cæsar, translated into English, to which is prefixed a Dissertation concerning the Roman Art of War,’ illustrated with cuts, London, 1753, fol. Other editions in 1755, 1832, 1833.
Duncan was appointed by the king to be professor of natural and experimental philosophy in the Marischal College, Aberdeen, on 18 May 1752. He did not enter upon his duties until August 1753.
Duncan died unmarried 1 May 1760. He was sociable, but subject to fits of depression caused by sedentary habits. He was an elder of the church session of Aberdeen. He had several sisters and a younger brother, John, a merchant, three times chief magistrate of Aberdeen.
[Duncan's Works; Statistical Account of Scotland, xii. 1191; Biog. Brit. (Kippis) v. 500; Monthly Review, vii. 467–8; Nichols's Lit.
