Biography
He was the son of David Lyndsay, second of the Mount (Fife), and of Garmylton, (Haddingtonshire) (d.circa. 1503). His place of birth and education are unknown, but it is thought that he attended the University of St Andrews, on the books of which appears an entry "Da Lindesay" for the session 1508-1509. He was engaged at court, first as an equerry, then as an "usher" to the future King James V of Scotland. In 1522 he married Janet Douglas, a court seamstress. His first heraldic appointment was as Snowdon Herald and in 1529 he was appointed Lord Lyon King of Arms, and knighted. He was engaged in diplomatic business (twice on embassies abroad—to the Netherlands and France), and was, in virtue of his heraldic office, a general master of ceremonies. He signed the only surviving letter from this time, "Dauid Lyndsay." His handwriting shows no trace of the italic forms used by those Scots who had finished their education abroad.
After the death of James V, in 1542, Lyndsay continued to sit in Parliament of Scotland as commissioner for Cupar, Fife; and in 1548 he was member of a mission to Denmark which obtained certain privileges for Scottish merchants. There is reason to believe that he died in or about 1555.
Read more about this topic: David Lyndsay
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
—Rebecca West [Cicily Isabel Fairfield] (1892–1983)
“The best part of a writer’s biography is not the record of his adventures but the story of his style.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man’s life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.”
—James Boswell (1740–95)