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Concept
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo
Summary
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714; died 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767 he became a judge in the Court of Session.
As such, Burnett adopted an honorary title based on the name of his father's estate and family seat, Monboddo House. Monboddo was one of a number of scholars involved at the time in development of early concepts of biological evolution. Some credit him with anticipating in principle the idea of natural selection that was read by (and acknowledged in the writings of) Erasmus Darwin. Charles Darwin read the works of his grandfather Erasmus and later developed the ideas into a scientific theory.
James Burnett was born in 1714 at Monboddo House in Kincardineshire, Scotland. After his primary education at the parish school of Laurencekirk, he studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen, from where he was graduated in 1729. He then studied Civil Law at the University of Groningen for three years. He returned to Scotland to stay in Edinburgh in 1736 on the day of the Porteous Riots and got caught in the crowds, witnessing the lynching of Captain John Porteous on his first night in the city. He took examination in Civil Law at Edinburgh University in 1737 and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates.
Burnett married Elizabethe Farquharson and they had two daughters and a son. The younger daughter Elizabeth Burnett was an Edinburgh celebrity, known for her beauty and amiability, but who died of consumption (tuberculosis) at the age of 24. Burnett's friend the Scottish poet Robert Burns, had a romantic interest in Elizabeth and wrote a poem, "Elegy on The Late Miss Burnet of Monboddo", praising her beauty, which became her elegy.
Monboddo's early work in practising law found him in a landmark piece of litigation of his time, known as the Douglas "cause", or case.
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