Alexander Gordon (antiquary)

Alexander Gordon
Born	c. 1692 Aberdeen, Scotland
Died	1755
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation	antiquary
Known for	Itinerarium Septentrionale

Alexander Gordon (c. 1692 – 1755) was a Scottish antiquary and singer. His survey of Roman sites, the Itinerarium Septentrionale, was considered an essential reference by all Roman antiquaries of his time.

Gordon was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, not later than 1692. After earning an M.A. at the University of Aberdeen, where he distinguished himself by his classical attainments, he resided for a time in the city, eking out a living as a teacher of languages and music. He also painted portraits in oil. He afterwards visited the continent, at first probably as a tutor, and returned home an excellent French and Italian scholar, and with a good knowledge of art and antiquities. He told Stukeley that when at Capua with Sir George Byng (afterwards Viscount Torrington) "they sav'd the fine amphitheatre there, the 3rd in the world, which the Germans were going to pull down to repair the fortifications, by speaking to the governor & viceroy at Naples." He studied music in Italy, and when in London he occasionally sang in opera, and among his countrymen was known as "Singing Sandie." At one time he appears to have been an itinerant teacher of music, more especially while collecting the materials for his Itinerarium, some time before 1720.

In 1720 Stukeley, in his Account of a Roman Temple [Arthur's Oon] and other antiquities near Graham's Dike in Scotland, expressed his wonder that no Scotsman had hitherto investigated the Roman antiquities of the country. "This," says Gordon, "was sufficient excitement for me to proceed still more vigorously in collecting what I had begun." During three successive years he visited different parts of Scotland and Northumberland, exploring, drawing, and measuring ancient remains, at much cost and some hardship. Liberal patrons, however, were not wanting, such as the Duke of Queensberry, to whom the work was subsequently dedicated, the Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Findlater, the Earl of Hertford, and Viscount Bateman, whose cabinet of curiosities he was often enabled to enrich during his travels at home and abroad, Edward Chandler, then bishop of Lichfield, and Duncan Forbes of Culloden, at that time lord advocate. His great patron was Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, Edinburghshire. Gordon was a frequent guest at Old Penicuik House, where he had access to a splendid museum of antiquities, and was accompanied by Clerk in his Northumbrian explorations, as well as in others nearer home. The work, which had been largely subscribed for, appeared as Itinerarium Septentrionale; or, a Journey thro' most of the Counties of Scotland, and those in the North of England. . . . Part 1. Containing an Account of all the Monuments of Roman Antiquity. . . . Part 2. An Account of the Danish Invasions on Scotland . . . With sixty-six copperplates [and an appendix]. In this laborious work Gordon proved himself an honest, painstaking antiquary.

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