Wardlaw
Wardlaw names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Wardlaw RALPH, a Scotch Congregationalist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
RALPH, a Scotch Congregationalist; born in Dalkeith, Dec. 22, 1779. He studied at the University of Glasgow, and at the Selkirk "Hall" of the Burgher Synod; but, becoming dissatisfied with the tenets of that body and of Presbyterianism in general, he embraced the doctrines of the Independents. He held office in that body, first at Perth, then at Dumfries, and finally (1803) at Glasgow. He also (1811) became principal Professor of Theology at the "Hall" of his denomination in that town. In 1818 Wardlaw received the degree of D. D. from Yale College. He wrote a large number of works, chiefly of a polemical character; the chief were: "Discourses on the Socinian Controversy" (1814), "Unitarianism Incapable of Vindication" (1816), "Dissertation on the Scriptural Authority, Nature and Uses of Infant Baptism" (1825), "Discourses on the Sabbath" (1832), "Christian Ethics" (2d. ed. 1839), and "National Church Examined" Establishments (1839). He died Dec. 17, 1853. American
Wardlaw ELIZABETH, LADY
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ELIZABETH, LADY, a 377; the second Scotch poet; born in 1677; daughter of Sir Charles Halkett, of Pit- She married in 1696 Sir Henry firrane. Wardlaw, of Pitreavie, also near Dunfermline. Her pseudo-archaic ballad, "Hardyknute, a Fragment," was first published in 1719 as a genuine antique, and, expanded from 216 to 336 lines, had been two or three times reprinted, when Percy in the second edition of his "Reliques" revealed the secret of its authorship. To Lady Wardlaw also Dr. Robert Chambers in 1859 ascribed "Sir Patrick Spens," "The Douglas Tragedy," and of the finest traditional many more Scotch ballads. Indorsed though it be by Professor Masson in his "Edinburgh Sketches" (1892), the theory is untenable; still our debt to Lady Wardlaw is a heavy one, for "Hardyknute," says Scott, was "the first poem I ever learnt, the last I shall ever forget." She died in 1727.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both Wardlaws are long-settled historical figures, and Collier's 1921 accounts still read soundly. On Lady Wardlaw, the 1921 verdict has held: "Hardyknute" (1719) is still credited to her as a pseudo-archaic forgery passed off as genuine antique, while Robert Chambers's sweeping claim that she also wrote "Sir Patrick Spens" and "The Douglas Tragedy" remains, as Collier's said, "untenable" -- Francis James Child's great ballad edition of 1882-98 effectively closed the question. The institutional world of Ralph Wardlaw, however, is gone: the Scottish Congregational denomination whose Glasgow theological "Hall" he led from 1811 voted itself out of separate existence in 2000, merging into the United Reformed Church, and his polemics against Unitarianism and against national church establishments are now read, if at all, as documents of the Scottish voluntary controversy that led to the Disruption of 1843.
Written for this edition, 2026.