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William 18th Century Edinburgh 's Court Of Session

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Lord Monboddo, one of the most respected, eminent Judges at 18th century Edinburgh 's Court of Session, was definitely an oddball, passionately devoted to the ways of the Ancient Greeks and disapproving of anything he considered modern. As a result he lived simply, because if the Ancient Greeks didn 't use it, neither did he

Brilliant lawyer, philosopher, leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and a striking, complex, flamboyant character to boot. Not bad for a laddie who started his education at Laurencekirk primary school.

Born James Burnett in October 1714 to a minor laird in Monboddo, Kincardineshire, an estate described by James Boswell during his travels with Dr Johnson as "a wretched place, wild and naked with a poor old …show more content…

When the case was finally to be decided before the bench, the new Lord gave a blisteringly powerful closing argument when it looked to all that the case was lost. They should have known better. Monboddo’s five-hour speech turned the tide for Douglas as well as gaining for his Lordship a brilliant legal reputation.

His personal life was not without its personal tragedy though. He married beautiful, accomplished Grace Farquharson. They had a son and two daughters but sadly, Grace died giving birth to child number three. Arthur, his son, also died in childhood.

As he grew older he indulged his passion for writing and in 1773, published a massive tome, ‘Of the Origin and Progress of Man and Language ', a study of evolution predating Darwinian theory. Remarking on the humanoid features of the orang utang, then a little-known primate, Monboddo daringly suggested that the ape might be related to humans. Anticipating Charles Darwin by generations, this offhand observation made him a laughing stock. Unsurprisingly this and other offbeat ideas ‘afforded endless matter for jest by the wags of the day’ although nowadays they are understood to be related to the theory of evolution. In ‘Boswell: Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides,’ Samuel Johnson says, “We talked of the Ouran-Outan and of Lord Monboddo 's thinking that he might be taught to speak. Dr. Johnson treated this with ridicule and said,‘….. it is as possible that the Ouran-Outang does not speak, as that

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