Biblical scholar, born at Arradowl, Banffshire; was trained for the Catholic Church, and after prosecuting his studies at Paris was appointed to the charge of a Catholic congregation at Auchinhalrig; ten years later he was deposed for heresy, and removing to London took to literary work; his most notable performance is his unfinished translation of the Scriptures, and the notes appended, in which he reveals a very pronounced rationalistic conception of holy writ; this work, which anticipated the views of such men as Eichhorn and Paulus, lost him his status as a priest, although to the end he professed a sincere belief in Christianity; he was the author of volumes of poems, &c. (1737-1802).