Login
Login

John Howie (biographer)

{{Short description|Scottish biographer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox writer

| embed =

| honorific_prefix =

| name = John Howie

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Lochgoin Monument - geograph.org.uk - 1500012.jpg

| image_size =

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption = obelisk in memory of Howie

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| pseudonym =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1735|11|14}}

| birth_place = Lochgoin

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1793|01|05|1735|11|14}}

| death_place =

| resting_place =

| occupation = farmer

| language =

| nationality = Scottish

| citizenship =

| education =

| alma_mater =

| period =

| genre =

| subject =

| movement =

| notable_works =

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| relatives =

| awards =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| years_active =

| module =

| website =

| portaldisp =

}}

John Howie (14 November 1735 – 5 January 1793) was a Scottish biographer.{{cite DNB|last=Bayne|first=Thomas Wilson|volume= 28|wstitle=Howie, John|noicon=1}}{{cite book |last1=Couper |first1=W. J. |title=John Howie of Lochgoin and Fenwick |date=1938 |publisher=Scottish Church History Society |location=Edinburgh |url=https://archive.org/details/rschsv06p1couper/mode/2up}}{{cite ODNB |last=Du Toit |first=Alexander |date=2004|title=Howie, John|id=13992}} His best known work was Biographia Scoticana, first published in 1775, which is often called The Scots Worthies. It deals with Christians and particularly Presbyterians especially in their strivings with church and civil authorities.

Life

John Howie was an East Renfrewshire farmer from Lochgoin, who claimed descent from an Albigensian refugee. The author was the 28th descendant in a direct line, all of whom were called John.{{cite journal |last1=Fleming |first1=David Hay |author-link1=David Hay Fleming |title=John Howie of Lochgoin |journal=The Princeton Theological Review |date=1903 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/princetontheolog7119arms/page/2/mode/2up 1]-28 |url=https://archive.org/details/princetontheolog7119arms/page/n13/mode/2up |publisher=MacCalla & Co. Inc |location=Philadelphia}} Although he was a plain unlettered peasant, cultivating the same farm which his ancestors had occupied for ages, a natural predilection for literary pursuits induced him to take up the task of recording the lives of the martyrs and confessors of Scotland.{{cite book |last1=Irving |first1=Joseph |author-link1=Joseph Irving |title=The book of Scotsmen eminent for achievements in arms and arts, church and state, law, legislation, and literature, commerce, science, travel, and philanthropy |date=1881 |publisher=A. Gardner |location=Paisley |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofscotsmenem00irviuoft/page/220/mode/2up}}{{PD-notice}} His family home at Lochgoin Farm was a noted refuge for Covenanters, and was subject to several searches by government soldiers. The farmhouse was rebuilt in the 18th century, with the date 1187 on a lintel marking when the Howies first settled there. Several relics were kept in what has become a small museum, and in 1896 a stone obelisk was erected nearby as a monument "in memory of John Howie, author of the Scots Worthies". It now lies within the area of Whitelee Wind Farm and has track access from the visitor centre.{{cite web | title=Lochgoin Farmhouse And Monument To John Howie | website=Canmore | date=1956-08-23 | url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/43786/lochgoin-farmhouse-and-monument-to-john-howie | access-date=2016-11-27}}

File:Lochgoin Monument - geograph.org.uk - 1499979.jpg

Works

Howie wrote Lives of the Protestant worthies of Scotland from Patrick Hamilton, the first martyr, under the title of Biographia Scoticana, first published in 1775. It became a classic of Scottish Church History and was often called The Scots Worthies. He revised and enlarged the work, 1781–5, and this edition was reissued, with notes by William McGavin, in 1827. In 1870 the Rev. William Henderson Carslaw revised Howie's text and published it, with illustrations and notes, and a short biographical introduction; and in 1876 a further illustrated edition appeared, with biographical notice compiled from statements made by Howie's relatives, and an introductory essay by Dr. Robert Buchanan.

A Collection of Lectures and Sermons by Covenanting Clergymen was issued by Howie in 1779, with an introduction by himself. He edited in 1780 Michael Shields's Faithful Contendings Display'd, an account of the Church of Scotland between 1681 and 1691.{{sfn|Shields|Guthrie|1780}} He also wrote on the Lord's Supper, patronage, and other topics, and prefaced and annotated other religious works.

The ''Lives'' in ''Biographia Scoticana'' (2nd edition)

File:Themartyrgraves00thomuoft raw 0104.png sword, flag and Bible which were owned by Howie{{sfn|Du Toit|2004}}]]

File:The old Lochgoin Covenanters Museum, East Ayrshire, Scotland.jpg

File:Lochgoin Farm and the John Howie Memorial, East Ayrshire, Scotland - detail.jpg

The list below reflects the chapter order in the book. For an alphabetical list see the "Scots Worthies" template at the foot of the page.

|title=The Scots worthies

|first=John |last=Howie |editor-first=W. H. |editor-last=Carslaw |author-link=John Howie (biographer)

|publisher=Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier |location=Edinburgh |year=1870}}

See also

References

=Citations=

{{Reflist}}

=Sources=

  • {{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=David Hay |author1-link=David Hay Fleming |title=John Howie of Lochgoin : his forebears and his works |date=1909 |publisher=Princeton |edition=Reprinted from the Princeton Theological Review, vol. VII, no. 1, Jan. 1909|location=New Jersey |url=https://archive.org/details/johnhowieoflochg1909flem/}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Shields |first1=Michael |last2=Guthrie |first2=James |author1-link=Michael Shields (Covenanter) |author2-link=James Guthrie (minister) |title=Faithful contendings displayed : being an historical relation of the state and actings of the suffering remnant in the church of Scotland, who subsisted in select societies, and were united in general correspondencies during the hottest time of the late persecution, viz. from the year 1681 to 1691... |date=1780 |publisher=Printed by John Bryce |location=Glasgow |url=https://archive.org/details/faithfulcontendi00shie/page/n3/mode/2up}}

Attribution

  • {{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}}
  • {{DNB|volume= 28|wstitle=Howie, John}}

External links

  • {{Gutenberg author | id=Howie,+John | name=John Howie}}
  • {{Internet Archive author |sname=John Howie |birth=1735 |death=1793}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Scots Worthies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howie, John}}

Category:1735 births

Category:1793 deaths

Category:Scottish biographers

Category:People from East Renfrewshire

Category:18th-century Scottish farmers