James McLagan
| James McLagan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 September 1728 Ballechin, Perthshire, Scotland |
| Died | 3 May 1805 Blair Atholl, Scotland |
| Occupation | Folklorist, minister |
| Language | Scottish Gaelic, English |
| Alma mater |
University of St Andrews (no degree) |
| Spouse | Catherine Stuart |
The Rev. James MacLagan or McLagan (Scottish Gaelic: Seumas MacLathagain; 1728–1805) was a Church of Scotland minister and collector of Scottish Gaelic poetry and song. He was the creator of the McLagan Manuscripts, a collection of some 250 manuscripts containing 630 items of primarily Gaelic song and poetry collected in the second half of the eighteenth century including many of the most well-known 17th- and 18th-century Gaelic poets such as Iain Lom, Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh and Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair.
McLagan was born in 1728 at the Ballechin estate near Strathtay, Perthshire. A son of Donald McClagon, a farmer, his birth (or baptism) is recorded in the parish of Moulin, Perthshire, on 8 September 1728. In 1750, he matriculated at the University of St Andrews in the 1750/51 session. It is not known what he studied or when he left, but he is subsequently recorded as being ordained in the Church of Scotland by the presbytery of Dunkeld on 6 February 1760. His first position as minister was at the chapel of ease in Amulree, Perthshire, between 1760-64.
He left Perthshire in 1764 when he was appointed chaplain to the 42nd Regiment of Foot, known as the Black Watch regiment, which had originally been raised at Aberfeldy, Perthshire. He succeeded Adam Ferguson, later professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, in this post. He continued as chaplain with the regiment until 1788 during which time he served in the Isle of Man, Ireland and in the United States where the regiment was involved in the American War of Independence. The freedom of the city Glasgow was conferred on him 5 April 1776.
He did not spend all of the time he was employed with the regiment in their company, as on 7 June 1784, he married Catherine Stuart, daughter of the Rev. James Stuart, the minister of Killin who worked on the translation of the New Testament into Scottish Gaelic. She was half her husband's age in 1784, and they had a family of four sons and three daughters. Their eldest son, also James, was minister of Kinfauns, became professor of divinity at King's College, Aberdeen, and authored Spiritual Views of the Divine Government (1831).
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