Author: Douglas, Neil
Biography:
DOUGLAS, Neil (1750-1823: ODNB)
pseudonym: Britannicus
Minister, reformist. Educated at the University of Glasgow, he became minister of the Relief Church, Cupar, Fife. He subsequently moved to Dundee and, having studied Gaelic, undertook a hazardous journey into the Highlands which he described in his Journal of a Mission to the Highlands (1797). He also lived in Edinburgh, Greenock, and Glasgow. Douglas was a reformer far in advance of his time, campaigning against social ills including slavery. In 1817 his reformist writings, including his comparison of George III to Nebuchadnezzar and the House of Commons to a den of thieves, led to a charge of sedition and imprisonment but he was unanimously acquitted. He died at Glasgow. James Burgh (1714-1775), whose “Britain’s Remembrancer” is included in Monitory Address to Great Britain, was a committed anti-Jacobite. (ODNB as Niel Douglas 26 Oct 2018) SR
Other Names:
- N. Douglas