biography
| name: |
Crichton, James
|
| |
known as the Admirable Crichton
|
pronunciation:
[kriytn]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1560–c.1582)
|
| biography:
| Leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, born in Clunie, Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, UK. He studied at St Andrews, and earned a tremendous reputation as a scholar, poet, linguist, and swordsman on the European mainland. While in Mantua in the service of the duke, he was killed in a nocturnal brawl by the duke's son. His popular reputation rests on the fantastic account of his exploits written by Sir Thomas Urquhart in his panegyric on the Scots nation, The Discoveryie of a Most Exquisite Jewel (1652). ‘Admirable Crichton’ became synonymous with all-round talents, the ideal man; the phrase was used by J M Barrie for his play about a perfect butler, The Admirable Crichton (1902). |
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