“Simon Roy, Gardener at Dunphail,” was by some ascribed to Sir Walter Scott. His paper (1818) on “The Parallel Roads of Glenroy,” printed in vol. ix. of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, first drew attention to the phenomenon in question. In 1825 and 1827 he published two romances, Lochandhu and the Wolf of Badenoch. He became a frequent contributor to Blackwood and also to Tait’s Magazine, and in 1830 he published An Account of the Great Floods of August 1829 in the Province of Moray and adjoining Districts. Subsequent works were Highland Rambles, with Long Tales to Shorten the Way (2 vols. 8vo, 1837), Legendary Tales of the Highlands (3 vols, 12mo, 1841), Tour round the Coasts of Scotland (1842) and Memorial of the Royal Progress in Scotland (1843). Vol. i. of a Miscellany of Natural History, published in 1833, was also partly prepared by Lauder. He was a Liberal, and took an active interest in politics; he held the office of secretary to the Board of Scottish Manufactures. He died on the 29th of May 1848. An unfinished series of papers, written for Tait’s Magazine shortly before his death, was published under the title Scottish Rivers, with a preface by John Brown, M.D., in 1874.
LAUDER, WILLIAM (d. 1771), Scottish literary forger, was born in the latter part of the 17th century, and was educated at Edinburgh university, where he graduated in 1695. He applied unsuccessfully for the post of professor of humanity there, in succession to Adam Watt, whose assistant he had been for a time, and also for the keepership of the university library.
He was a good scholar, and in 1739, published Poetarum Scotorum Musae Sacrae, a collection of poems by various writers, mostly paraphrased from the Bible. In 1742 Lauder came to London. In 1747 he wrote an article for the Gentleman’s Magazine to prove that Milton’s Paradise Lost was largely a plagiarism from the Adamus Exul (1601) of Hugo Grotius, the Sarcotis (1654) of
J. Masen (Masenius, 1606–1681), and the Poemata Sacra (1633) of Andrew Ramsay (1574–1659). Lauder expounded his case in a series of articles, and in a book (1753) increased the list of plundered authors to nearly a hundred. But his success was short-lived. Several scholars, who had independently studied the alleged sources of Milton’s inspiration, proved conclusively
that Lauder had not only garbled most of his quotations, but had even inserted amongst them extracts from a Latin rendering of Paradise Lost. This led to his exposure, and he was obliged to write a complete confession at the dictation of his former friend Samuel Johnson. After several vain endeavours to clear his character he emigrated to Barbadoes, where he died in 1771.
LAUDER, a royal and police burgh of Berwickshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 719. It is situated on the Leader, 29 m. S.E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway’s branch line from Fountainhall, of which it is the terminus. The burgh is said to date from the reign of William the Lion (1165–1214); its charter was granted in 1502. In 1482 James III. with his court and
army rested here on the way to raise the siege of Berwick. While
the nobles were in the church considering grievances, Robert
Cochrane, recently created earl of Mar, one of the king’s favourites,
whose “removal” was at the very moment under discussion,
demanded admittance. Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus,
opened the door and seized Mar, who was forthwith dragged to
Lauder Bridge and there, along with six other obnoxious
favourites, hanged in sight of his royal master. It was in
connexion with this exploit that Angus acquired the nickname of
“Bell-the-cat.” The public buildings include a town-hall and
a library. The parish church was built in 1673 by the earl of
Lauderdale, in exchange for the older edifice, the site of which
was required for the enlargement of Thirlestane castle, which,
originally a fortress, was then remodelled for a residence. The
town is a favourite with anglers.
LAUDERDALE, JOHN MAITLAND, Duke of (1616–1682), eldest surviving son of John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. 1645), who was created earl of Lauderdale in 1624, and of Lady Isabel Seton, daughter of Alexander, earl of Dunfermline, and great-grandson of Sir Richard Maitland (q.v.), the poet, a member of an ancient family of Berwickshire, was born on the 24th of May 1616, at Lethington. He began public life as a zealous adherent of the Presbyterian cause, took the
covenant, sat as an elder in the assembly at St Andrews in July 1643, and was sent to England as a commissioner for the covenant in August, and to attend the Westminster assembly in November. In February 1644 he was a member of the committee of both kingdoms, and on the 20th of November was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with the king at Uxbridge, when he made efforts to persuade Charles to agree to the establishment
of Presbyterianism. In 1645 he advised Charles to reject the proposals of the Independents, and in 1647 approved of the king’s surrender to the Scots. At this period Lauderdale veered round completely to the king’s cause, had several interviews with him, and engaged in various projects for his restoration, offering the aid of the Scots, on the condition of Charles’s consent to the establishment of Presbyterianism, and on the 26th of December he obtained from Charles at Carisbrooke
“the engagement” by which Presbyterianism was to be established
for three years, schismatics were to be suppressed, and
the acts of the Scottish parliament ratified, the king in addition
promising to admit the Scottish nobles into public employment
in England and to reside frequently in Scotland. Returning
to Scotland, in the spring of 1648, Lauderdale joined the party
of Hamilton in alliance with the English royalists. Their
defeat at Preston postponed the arrival of the prince of Wales,
but Lauderdale had an interview with the prince in the Downs
in August, and from this period obtained supreme influence over
the future king. He persuaded him later to accept the invitation
to Scotland from the Argyll faction, accompanied him thither
in 1650 and in the expedition into England, and was taken
prisoner at Worcester in 1651, remaining in confinement till
March 1660. He joined Charles in May 1660 at Breda, and, in
spite of the opposition of Clarendon and Monk, was appointed
secretary of state. From this time onwards he kept his hold
upon the king, was lodged at Whitehall, was “never from the
king’s ear nor council,”[1] and maintained his position against
his numerous adversaries by a crafty dexterity in dealing with
men, a fearless unscrupulousness, and a robust strength of will,
which overcame all opposition. Though a man of considerable
learning and intellectual attainment, his character was exceptionally
and grossly licentious, and his base and ignoble career was
henceforward unrelieved by a single redeeming feature. He
abandoned Argyll to his fate, permitted, if he did not assist in,
the restoration of episcopacy in Scotland, and after triumphing
over all his opponents in Scotland drew into his own hands the
whole administration of that kingdom, and proceeded to impose
upon it the absolute supremacy of the crown in church and
state, restoring the nomination of the lords of the articles to
the king and initiating severe measures against the Covenanters.
In 1669 he was able to boast with truth that “the king is now
master here in all causes and over all persons.”
His own power was now at its height, and his position as the favourite of Charles, controlled by no considerations of patriotism or statesmanship, and completely independent of the English parliament, recalled the worst scandals and abuses of the Stuart administration before the Civil War. He was a member of the cabal ministry, but took little part in English affairs, and was not entrusted with the first secret treaty of Dover, but gave personal support to Charles in his degrading demands for pensions from Louis XIV. On the 2nd of May 1672 he was created duke of Lauderdale and earl of March, and on the 3rd of June knight of the garter. In 1673, on the resignation of James in consequence of the Test Act, he was appointed a commissioner for the admiralty. In October he visited Scotland to suppress the dissenters and obtain money for the Dutch War, and the intrigues organized by Shaftesbury against his power in his absence, and the attacks made upon him in the House of Commons in January 1674 and April 1675, were alike rendered futile by the steady support of Charles and James. On the 25th of June 1674 he was created earl of Guilford and Baron Petersham in the peerage of England. His ferocious measures having failed to suppress the conventicles in Scotland, he summoned to his
- ↑ Pepys’s Diary, 2nd of March 1664.
