Everything about Arthur Johnston totally explained
» For the composer by the same name, see Arthur Johnston (composer).
Arthur Johnston (
1587–
1641) was a
Scottish physician and
poet, and a son of
Aberdeenshire laird, Johnston of Johnston and Caskieben, and a grandson, on his mother's side, of the seventh Lord Forbes.
Johnston is thought to have begun his university studies at one, or both, of the colleges at Aberdeen, but around
1608 he went to
Italy and received an M.D. at
Padua in
1610. Afterwards he lived at
Sedan, France, in the company of the exiled
Andrew Melville, and in 1619 was in practice in
Paris. He appears to have returned to England about the time of
James I's death in 1625, and to have been in Aberdeen in about 1628. He met
William Laud in Edinburgh at the time of
Charles I's Scottish coronation (1633). In that year, he'd published a volume entitled
Cantici Salomonis paraphrasis poetica, which, dedicated to Charles I, brought him to Laud's notice.
Johnston was encouraged by Laud in his literary efforts, possibly as a strike against
George Buchanan's reputation as a
Latin poet. Johnston was appointed rector of
King's College, Aberdeen, in June 1637. Four years later he died at Oxford, on his way to
London at Laud's invitation.
Johnston left more than ten works, all in
Latin. Only two of these, published in the same year, are notable: (a) his version of the Psalms (
Psalmorum Davidis paraphrasis poetica et canticorum evangelicorum, Aberdeen, 1637), and (b) his anthology of contemporary Latin verse by Scottish poets (
Deliciae poetarum Scotorum huius aevi illustrium, Amsterdam, 1637).
The full version of the
Psalms was the result of Laud's encouragement. It was for some time a strong rival of Buchanan's work, though not superior to the latter. The
Deliciae, in two small thick volumes of 699 and 575 pages, was a patriotic effort in imitation of the various volumes (under a similar title) which had been popular on the Continent during the second decade of the century. The volumes are dedicated by Johnston to
John Scot of Scotstarvet, at whose expense the collected works were published after Johnston's death, at
Middelburg (1642). Selections from his own poems occupy pages 439-647 of the first volume, divided into three sections, Parerga, Epigrammata and Musae Aulicae.
He published a volume of
epigrams at Aberdeen in 1632. In these pieces he shows himself at his best. His sacred poems, which had appeared in the
Opera (1642), were reprinted by Lauder in his
Poetarum Scotorum musae sacrae (1739). The earliest lives are by Lauder and Benson (in
Psalmi Davidici, 1741).
Ruddiman's
Vindication of Mr George Buchanan's Paraphrase (1745) began a pamphlet controversy regarding the merits of the rival poets.
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