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Author: Erskine, Ralph

Biography:

Erskine, Ralph  (1686-1752: ODNB)

Secessionist minister and poet, he was born at Monilaws, Northumberland, to Henry Erskine (a Presbyterian minister) and Margaret (Halcro) Erskine. He attended the University of Edinburgh, graduating MA before being employed as a private tutor. He was licensed by the presbytery of Dunfermline in 1709 and ordained in 1711. He married Margaret Dewar in 1714 and they had ten children; two years after her death in 1730, he married Margaret Simson with whom he had four sons. Erskine was very actively engaged in the complex religious controversies of the day, and he joined the Associate Presbytery in 1737, seceding from the Church of Scotland. A very popular preacher, he undertook preaching tours throughout Scotland. Many of his sermons were printed and reprinted both within his lifetime and after his death. He died at Dunfermline of a fever, just days after preaching what was to be his final sermon. (ODNB 19 Nov 2018)

 

Books written (5):

Glasgow: W. Smith and J. Bryce, 1778