LAING, Alexander Gordon (1793–1826), an African explorer, was born at Edinburgh 27th December 1793. At first it seemed that he would follow his father’s profession, that of a teacher of the classics; but, his fancy being fired with the military ardour of the time, he set out for Barbados, where his maternal uncle Colonel Gordon was then stationed. Here he met with Sir George Beckwith, who procured him a commission in the York light infantry. His career as a traveller began in 1822, when he was sent on a mission to the country of the Sulimas and advanced as far as the sources of the Rokelle. By ascertaining that the source of the Quorra or Niger was not more than 1600 feet above the sea, he dispelled the idea that it was connected with the Nile. The further elucidation of the other questions that were then connected with this great river formed the principal object of his next journey, undertaken in 1825 under the auspices of Lord Bathurst. From a letter sent May 10, 1826, from Blad Sidi Mohammed to Consul Warrington at Tripoli we know that he had barely escaped with his life from an attack in which he had received twenty-four wounds. He managed to reach Timbuctoo by August 18th, but shortly afterwards fell a victim to the treachery of his servant. The history of the vain attempt to recover the traveller’s journals will be found in the Quarterly Review, vol. xlii. (1830). The narrative of his first journey was published in 1825.
LAING, David (1793–1878), a distinguished Scottish antiquary, especially eminent for his bibliographical knowledge, was the son of William Laing, a bookseller in Edinburgh, and was born in that city in 1793. He was brought up to his father’s business, and continued for many years in partnership with him. Shortly after the death of the latter, however, a vacancy having occurred in the librarianship of the Signet Library, Laing was elected to that office in 1837, and continued to hold it till the time of his death. In addition to, it is believed, an almost unexampled knowledge of the titles and value of books, Laing possessed on intimate acquaintance with the early literary history of Scotland. His knowledge of Scottish art was also very extensive; and the ecclesiastical history of his native country, particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries, had long been the subject of his profound investigation. It is perhaps to be regretted that with all this knowledge he never produced any large independent work, but confined himself to the editing of the works of others. Of these, the chief are—Dunbar’s Works, 2 vols., 1834, with a supplement added in 1865; Robert Baillie’s Letters and Journals, 3 vols., 1841–42; John Knox’s Works, 6 vols., 1846–64; Poems and Fables of Robert Henryson, 1865; Andrew of Wyntoun’s Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, 3 vols., 1872–79; Sir David Lyndsay’s Poetical Works, 3 vols., 1879. Laing was for more than fifty years an active member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and during that period he contributed upwards of a hundred separate papers to their Proceedings. He was also for more than forty years secretary to the Bannatyne Club, many of the publications of which were carefully edited by him, and few of them we believe failed to benefit by his assistance. A complete list of his productions would occupy many pages. His literary activity ended only with his life. He was struck with paralysis when attending to his duties in the Signet Library, and it is touchingly recorded of him that, on awakening out of the fit, he looked about him and asked if a proof of Wyntoun had been sent up from the printers. He died a few days afterwards, on October 18, 1878, at the age of eighty-six years. Perhaps few men who ever lived possessed so much recondite knowledge on subjects connected with Scottish history and literature, and no one could be more ready to communicate whatever he knew to those who were engaged in investigations similar to his own. In 1864 the university of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of LL.D. In the course of his long life Laing had collected an immense library, a large portion of the books being illustrative of the literature or history of Scotland, and many of them being of extraordinary rarity. It was dispersed by auction in London soon after his death, and the enormous prices obtained for many of the books were such as had hardly ever been known even in the most celebrated of previous book sales. A valuable collection of MSS., chiefly relating to Scotland, was bequeathed by him to the library of Edinburgh university.
LAING, Malcolm (1762–1818), a Scottish historian, was born at his paternal estate on the Mainland of Orkney in 1762. Having studied at the grammar school of Kirkwall and the university of Edinburgh, he was called to the bar in 1785, but never obtained an extensive practice as advocate. In 1793 he completed the last volume of Henry’s History of Great Britain, the portion which he wrote being, in its strongly liberal tone, at signal variance with the preceding tenor of the work. In 1800 he published a History of Scotland from the Accession of James VI. to the Reign of Queen Anne, a work of considerable research. In a dissertation prefixed to an edition of his History published in 1804 he endeavoured to prove the participation of Queen Mary in the murder of Darnley. In the same year he published an edition of the Historie and Life of King James the Sext. His only other publication is an edition of the Poems of Ossian. For a short period in 1807 Laing represented his native county in parliament. He died in November 1818.
LAI-YANG, a city in the Chinese province of Shan-tung, situated in 37° N. lat. and 120° 55′ E. long., about the middle of the eastern peninsula, on the highway running south from Che-foo to Kin-Kea or Teng-tsi harbour. It is surrounded by well-kept walls of great antiquity, and its main streets are spanned by large pailows or monumental arches, some of which date from the time of the emperor Tai-ting-te of the Yuen dynasty (1324). There are extensive suburbs both in the north and south, and the total population is estimated at 50,000. The so-called Ailanthus silk produced by Saturnia cynthia is woven at Lai-yang into a strong fabric; and the manufacture of the peculiar kind of wax obtained from the la-shoo or wax tree insect is largely carried on in the vicinity.
