Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leigh, Samuel
LEIGH, SAMUEL (fl. 1686), author of a metrical version of the Psalms, born about 1635 (Wood), was son of Samuel Leigh of Boston, Lincolnshire. He was entered a commoner of Merton College, Oxford, in Michaelmas term 1660; left the university without a degree; retired to his patrimony, and was living in 1686 (ib.) He was the author of a solitary literary effort, 'Samuelis Primitiæ, or an Essay towards a Metrical Version of the whole Book of Psalms ' (London, 1661), in which his portrait appears. The book is dedicated 'to my most honoured father-in-law, Charles Potts, Esq., son to Sir John Potts, Knight and Barronet.' The title states that the work was 'composed when attended with the disadvantagious circumstances of youth and sickness.' The version, though eulogised by Dr. Manton and Gabriel Sanger, is of no value.
[Holland's Psalmists of Great Britain, ii. 54; Wood's Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, iv. 478; Foster's Alumni Oxon.]