David Dutton recounts the unorthodox life-story of the 18th-century biblical scholar and Secession minister John Brown, who became famous during his lifetime as the author of a new and much-admired version of the Bible
It is unlikely that many people in Scotland are aware that 2022 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Reverend John Brown of Haddington. However, by the time of his death in 1787, Brown was a household name in his native land and was beginning to acquire an international reputation. In his Epistle to James Tennant of Glenconner (1791), Robert Burns alludes to Brown’s Self-Interpreting Bible (1778):
My shins, my lane, I there sit roastin’ Perusing Bunyan, Brown, an’ Boston.
During the 19th century, Brown’s fame spread and copies of his Bible became prized possessions throughout the English-speaking world. In the United States 26 editions were published between 1792 and 1909.
Lad o’ pairts
In the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, David Wright describes Brown as ‘a lad o’ pairts’: that is, a youth who, thanks to the democratic nature of Scottish education, rises from humble origins to achieve academic or professional distinction. This article will show that Brown did so in an unconventional manner by teaching himself Latin, Greek and Hebrew, becoming a minister in the Burgher branch of the Secession Church; professor of divinity under the Associate Synod; and one of the most prolific religious writers of his day. Brown’s achievements were the more remarkable because he had to overcome personal tragedy, false accusations and snobbery.
John was born in the farmtoun of Carpow, on the banks of the River Tay, in the Perthshire parish of Abernethy. He was the third of four children born to John Brown and Catherine Millie. His father divided his year between salmon fishing on the River Tay in the summer and weaving flax in the winter. Although Brown senior was largely self-educated, ‘he filled his home with the current literature of the period’. Recalling his childhood, Brown wrote, ‘My parents’ circumstances were such that they were not able to afford me any great length of time at school for reading, writing and arithmetic’. However, it is possible that John did not have to depend on the local dominie for his education and that his mother helped him learn to read and write. According to his eldest sons, by the age of nine, John could read various catechisms and, by the age of twelve, was tackling major theological works.
John’s interest in divinity led his mother to hope that he would become a minister and she i
