was invited to become a prof. at Coimbra, where he was imprisoned by the
Inquisition as a heretic from 1549-51, and wrote the greater part of his
magnificent translation of the Psalms into Latin verse, which has never
been excelled by any modern. He returned to England in 1552, but soon
re-crossed to France and taught in the Coll. of Boncourt. In 1561 he came
back to his native country, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Hitherto, though a supporter of the new learning and a merciless exposer
of the vices of the clergy, he had remained in the ancient faith, but he
now openly joined the ranks of the Reformers. He held the Principalship
of St. Leonard's Coll., St. Andrews, was a supporter of the party of the
Regent Moray, produced in 1571 his famous _Detectio Mariæ Reginæ_, a
scathing exposure of the Queen's relations to Darnley and the
circumstances leading up to his death, was tutor, 1570-78, to James VI.,
whom he brought up with great strictness, and to whom he imparted the
learning of which the King was afterwards so vain. His chief remaining
works were _De Jure Regni apud Scotos_ (1579), against absolutism, and
his _History of Scotland_, which was _pub._ immediately before his death.
Though he had borne so great a part in the affairs of his country, and
was the first scholar of his age, he _d._ so poor that he left no funds
to meet the expenses of his interment. His literary masterpiece is his
_History_, which is remarkable for the power and richness of its style.
Its matter, however, gave so much offence that a proclamation was issued
calling in all copies of it, as well as of the _De Jure Regni_, that they
might be purged of the "offensive and extraordinary matters" which they
contained. B. holds his great and unique place in literature not so much
for his own writings as for his strong and lasting influence on
subsequent writers.


BUCHANAN, ROBERT (1841-1901).--Poet and novelist, _b._ at Caverswall,