Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/62

90 Charles Douglas. After the conclusion of the war, the gallant officer was intrusted with the command of the Nova Scotia station, which, however, he resigned in consequence of some proceedings of the Navy Board with which he was displeased. During the preparations for war in 1787, he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and next year he was re-appointed to the Nova Scotia station. He expired, however, January 1789, in the act of entering a public meeting at Edinburgh, a stroke of apoplexy having cut him off in a single moment Over and above all his claims to the honours of the 12th of April, he left the character of a brave and honest officer. His mechanical inventions have been followed up by his son, Sir Howard, whose work on naval gunnery is a book of standard excellence.

DOUGLAS,, one of the most eminent of our early poets, was the third and youngest son of Archibald, fifth earl of Angus, by Elizabeth Boyd, only daughter of Robert, lord Boyd, high chamberlain of Scotland. The earls of Angus were a younger branch of the family of Douglas, and helped, in the reign of James II., to depress the enormous power of the main stock; whence it was said, with a reference to the complexions of the two different races, that the red Douglas had put down the black. Archibald, the fifth earl, father to the poet, is noted in our history for his bold conduct respecting the favourites of James III., at Lauder, which gained him the nickname of Bell-the-cat. His general force of character amidst the mighty transactions in which he was engaged, caused him to be likewise designated "the great earl." According to the family historian, he was every way accomplished, both in body and mind; of stature tall, and strong made; his countenance full of majesty, and such as bred reverence in the beholders; wise, and eloquent of speech; upright and regular in his actions; sober, and moderate in his desires; valiant and courageous; a man of action and undertaking; liberal also; loving and kind to his friends ; which made him to be beloved, reverenced, and respected by all men.

Gavin Douglas, the son of such a father, was born about the year 1474, and was brought up for the church. Where his education was commenced, is unknown; but, according to Mr Warton, there is certain evidence that it was finished in the university of Paris. He is supposed, in youth, to have travelled for some time over the continent, in order to make himself acquainted with the manners of other countries. In 1496, when only twenty-two years of age, he was appointed rector of Hawick, a benefice probably in the gift of his family, which has long held large property and high influence in that part of the country. We are informed by the family historian, that in youth he felt the pangs of love, but was soon freed from the tyranny of that unreasonable passion. Probably his better principles proved sufficient to keep in check what his natural feelings, aided by the poetical temperament, would have dictated. However, he appears to have signalized his triumph, by writing a translation of Ovid's " Remedy of Love." He alludes in a strange manner to this work, in his translation of Virgil; giving the following free reading of the well known passage in the Æneid, where his author speaks of the Bucolics and Georgics, as having been his former compositions:

In those days, it does not seem to have been considered the duty of a translator to put himself exactly into the place of the author; he was permitted to substitute