Boston Public Library - Electric Scotland

THE ANCIENT ALISON HOME. 27
The following is also an extract from the " Scottish Nation," upon the
Rev. Archibald Alison, D. D. :
The reverend author of "Essays on the Nature and Principles of
Taste" was the second son of a magistrate of Edinburgh, and sometime
lord provost of the city, whei*e he was born in 1757.
In 1772 he went to the University of Glasgow, and afterwards became
an exhibitioner at Baliol college, Oxford, where he took the degrees of
A. M. and LL. B. Entering into Holy Orders, he obtained the curacy of
Brancepeth, county of Durham, and was subsequently made prebendary
of Sarum. Having acquired the friendship of the late Sir William Pulteney,
he was indebted to him for preferment in the church.
In 1784 he married, at Edinburgh, the eldest daughter of the celebrated
Dr. John Gregory, by whom he had six children.
In 1800, on the invitation of Sir William Forbes, baronet, and the vestry
of the Episcopal chapel, Cowgate, Edinburgh, he became senior minister
of that place of worship. The congregation having removed to St.
Paul's church, York place, in the same city, he continued to officiate
there until a severe illness in 1831 compelled him to relinquish all public
duties. He was one of the early Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
and the intimate friend of many of its most distinguished members.
He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. His principal
work, the "Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste," published
in 1790, has passed through several editions, and was translated
into French. He died on the 17th of May, 1839. His works are,—
Essay on the Nature and Principles of Taste, 1790.
A Discourse on the Fast Day, 1809.
A Thanksgiving Sermon, 1814.
Sermons, chiefly on particular occasions, 1814.
Life and Writings of the Hon. Alexander Eraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee,
1818.
Rev. Alexander Alison, formerly of Philadelphia, Pa., now (1893) of
Seattle, Wash., was from Fife, Scotland, where some of the Alisons of
Cairnduif or vicinity went about 1630.
Rev. Dr. Alison, of Edinburgh, Scotland, and his brother, Arthur Alison,
the advocate, are from Eagles Law, next parish to Avondale, and
probable descendants of an early Alison who went to Paisley.
ALISONS OF AVONDALE, SCOTLAND.
1. James Alison ^ is the first ancestor of this immediate
branch of the Alisons at Cairnduff, Avondale, county of
Lanark, Scotland, whose Christian name is definitely known,
after the family again emerged into historic prominence.
The name of his father is not known, but it was probably
John or Alexander Alison, as those Christian names seemed
to alternately prevail during the long historical obscurity iu
which the Alisons rested.
James Alison was born at Cairnduff in 1621. and resided
on the farm at Windyedge, where he died about 1670. He
married Jean, daughter of Samuel Wilson, of Rigfoot, East
Kilbride. She survived her husband, and it was from his
cottage at Windyedge that the notorious Claverhouse, the
persecutor of the Covenanters, received refreshments while
on his flight, after his defeat at the battle of Drumcloy, iu
1679. The date of his death is unknown.