Early Life
He was born at Inverugie Castle near Peterhead, the second son of William, 9th Earl Marischal of Scotland. Through his careful education under the historian Robert Keith, and subsequently at the University of Aberdeen in preparation for the legal profession, he acquired that taste for literature which secured him the esteem of the most distinguished savants of Europe, but at an early period his preference for a soldier's career was clear. The Jacobite rising of 1715, in which he displayed qualities that gave some augury of his future eminence, compelled him to seek safety on the Continent (Nihtinen 1998).
After spending two years in Paris, chiefly at the university, he took part in abortive risings in 1719 in support of James Stuart, son of the deposed King James VII and pretender to the Scottish throne.
Read more about this topic: James Francis Edward Keith
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Make-believe is the avenue to much of the young child’s early understanding. He sorts out impressions and tries out ideas that are foundational to his later realistic comprehension. This private world sometimes is a quiet, solitary
world. More often it is a noisy, busy, crowded place where language grows, and social skills develop, and where perseverance and attention-span expand.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)
“Truth is the kind of error without which a certain species of life could not live. The value for life is ultimately decisive.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)