Robert Boyd (1578-1627)

Robert Boyd of Trochrig (1578-1627) was Principal of Edinburgh University from October 1622 to November 1623.

Biography

Born in Glasgow, Robert Boyd was the eldest son of James Boyd of Trochrig, Archbishop of Glasgow and Margaret Chalmers, daughter of James Chalmers, Baron of Gaithgirth. When his father died in 151, his mother moved to Trochrig, near Ayr. Educated forst at Ayr Grammar School, Boyd graduated MA under Patrick Sands at Edinburgh University in 1594. He went on to study Divinity under Robert Rollock, Principal of Edinburgh University and Professor of Theology. He continued his studies in France and taught for five years at the Protestant University in Montauban. He moved to Verteuil in 1604, where he was ordained as a pastor of the Reformed Church. In 1605, his congregation agreed to release so that he could take up the post of Professor of Philosophy at the University of Saumur. In 1608, he was appointed to the Chair of Divinity at Saumur. In 1614, however, James VI ordered him to return to Scotland to assume the post of Principal of the University of Glasgow. In this position, Boyd became involved in the controversy as to whether the Church of Scotland should, as King James believed, have bishops. James was angered when Boyd assumed a Presbyterian stance and opposed the Five Articles of Perth (1618) through which the King sought to impose an Episcopalian model on the Kirk. In 1621, Boyd resigned the Principalship of Glasgow, retiring to Trochrig. In October 1622, however, following the resignation of Patrick Sands, Boyd was invited to become Principal of Edinburgh University.

Boyd as Principal Boyd accepted, but as soon as James VI heard he wrote to the provost, bailies, and town council of Edinburgh telling them, ‘we think his byding ther will do much evil and therefor … we command you to put him not only from his office but out of your town … unless he conform totally’ (Wodrow, 189). Boyd refused to comply, and was deprived.

He also taught theology, Hebrew and Syriac as well as being minister at Govan. In 1621, Boyd resigned from the post when he became involved in the controversy regarding whether the Church of Scotland should have bishops, and angered the King in his opposition to the five articles of Perth. In 1622, he was invited to become Principal of Edinburgh University, which also included being the minister of Greyfriars Church. King James, on hearing of the appointment, wrote to the town council of Edinburgh dissuading them from keeping Boyd in post. He failed to regain his position as Principal at Glasgow, even after signing a declaration of conformity, in 1624. In 1625 he was offered the ministry of Paisley, which he accepted, but due to disturbances caused by the Marchioness of Abercorn, he resigned in 1626. In 1626 he became very ill with a swelling in the throat, and died in early 1627

The Poet and Scotlahr Admired in Saumur for his fluent French sermons he impressed his Scottish students, like John Livingston, and subordinates like Robert Blair, with his extempore lectures in flowing Latin, as well as his encyclopaedic knowledge of theology, and his personal kindness. His commentary on the epistle to the Ephesians, in progress while he was in France but published only after his death, as Robert Bidii … in epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios (1652), was a vast work of astonishing learning, and he also wrote excellent Latin poetry, some of which was published in Hetacombe Christiana (1627) and translated by Sir William Mure in A Spirituall hymne (1628).

His first year satisfactorily accomplished, Boyd agreed to stay on at Glasgow, but as time passed he became embroiled in the controversy over whether the Church of Scotland should have bishops. He believed that it should not. James VI and I was angry when he opposed the five articles of Perth, and in 1621 Boyd resigned, retiring to Trochrig. In October 1622, however, he was invited to become principal of Edinburgh University and minister of Greyfriars church. He accepted, but as soon as James VI heard he wrote to the provost, bailies, and town council of Edinburgh telling them, ‘we think his byding ther will do much evil and therefor … we command you to put him not only from his office but out of your town … unless he conform totally’ (Wodrow, 189). Boyd refused to comply, and was deprived.

Back in Ayrshire, Boyd was in 1624 given hopes that he might be restored to his position as principal at Glasgow, but although he signed a qualified declaration of conformity he was not allowed to return. Instead, on 18 December 1625, he accepted an invitation to become minister of Paisley. Even there, however, he was not to have a peaceful life. He had always maintained a wide-ranging correspondence, which he continued, but while one relative, Lady Boyd, wrote to thank him for his care for her spiritual welfare, another was less appreciative. Marion Boyd, the widowed countess of Abercorn, had recently converted to Roman Catholicism. At her urging her second son, Claud, Lord Strabane, broke into Boyd's house, scattering his beloved books and hurling his furnishings into the street. Horrified, Boyd retreated once more to Trochrig and at the end of 1626 fell seriously ill with a painful swelling in his throat, caused by cancer. He travelled to Edinburgh to consult doctors, but died three weeks later, on 5 January 1627 at the age of forty-eight, leaving books worth £1551 and a reputation as ‘a very learned and holy man, eminent both in the school and the pulpit’ (John Row, in Wodrow, 241). André Rivet, brother-in-law of Pierre du Moulin and professor of theology at Leiden, who had known him since his time in France, wrote a sympathetic life, which was in turn a source of Robert Wodrow's biography.

Writings

His commentary on the epistle to the Ephesians, written while he was in France was published after his death, as Robert Bidii in epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios (1652). He also wrote Latin poetry, some of which was published in Hetacombe Christiana (1627) and translated by Sir William Mure in A Spirituall hymne (1628).

Positions

• Chair of Divinity, Academy of Saumur, 1608
• Principal of the University of Glasgow, 1614-1621
• Principal of University of Edinburgh, 1622-1623
• Minister of Paisley, 1625-1626

Relationships

• Son of James Boyd of Trochrig, Archbishop of Glasgow, and Margaret Chalmers, daughter of James Chalmers, Baron of Gaithgirth.
• Husband of Anna (d. c1654), daughter of Sir Peter de Maliverne of Vineola
• Studied Divinity under Robert Rollock

Sources

• Rosalind K. Marshall, 'Boyd, Robert, of Trochrig (1578-1627)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Sept 2004) [[1], accessed 16 July 2010]