A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Melville, James

by John William Cousin

Melville, James (1556-1614). -- Scottish divine and reformer, s. of the laird of Baldovie, in Forfarshire, and nephew of the great reformer and scholar, Andrew M., by whom, when Principal of the Univ. of Glasgow, he was chosen to assist him as a regent or professor. When, in 1580, Andrew became Principal of St. Mary's Coll., St. Andrews, James accompanied him, and acted as Prof. of Hebrew and Oriental Languages. He wrote many poems, but his chief work was his Diary, an original authority for the period, written with much naïveté, and revealing a singularly attractive personality. M., who for his part in Church matters, had been banished to England, d. at Berwick on his way back to Scotland.