Lire or MAcMILnan. 17 
Confession of Faith, in a fly-leaf of which I deciphered an inscrip- 
tion by Alexander M‘Millan, dated 27th December, 1732, bearing 
that certain persons (presumably his own children) were born at 
certain dates, as under :— 
1. [Part torn or burned off] ... eed! 
2. John M‘Millan is ao ee ElOse, 
3. James M*Millan va ae son LES) 
4. Mary M‘Millan ee jd ee AU) 
On another leaf is a note as follows :— 
“James M‘Millan aught this book, God give him grace 
thereon to look; and I grant it may be restored to my son, John 
M‘Millan, at my death; as witnesseth my hand this 12 of 
Febuorrie, 1732. James M‘Millan.” 
I at once thought of the minister of Balmaghie, and it 
occurred to me to inquire whether the commonly received state- 
ment of his birthplace and date was settled by any conclusive 
authority. Mr Thomson of Hightae gives the statement without 
citing any authority: so does Mr Hutchison. The monument at 
Dalserf says: ‘‘ Died December first, 1753, aged eighty-four.” 
The rare tract, called ‘“‘ Observations on a Wolf in a Sheepskin,” 
published in 1753, says “in the eighty-fourth year of his age.” 
But we know how often ages are misstated. If the John Mac- 
millan of this fly-leaf is our man, he was born at Glenhead in 
1682, about ten miles from Barncauchlaw farm-house, as the 
crow flies; and he was 71 years old, not 84, when he died at 
Broomhill, Bothwell. 
I consulted the registers of Edinburgh University, and found 
that John M‘Millan matriculated there in 1695, and graduated two 
years after A.M., i June, 1697. In 1695 the Glenhead John 
would be 13 years old, at which age, and even earlier, Scottish 
students then went to college. A two-years’ course was probably 
enough to secure the Master’s degree, being a certificate chiefly of 
knowledge of the classics. Three years more for divinity studies 
bring us to 1700, when he was licensed by the Presbytery of Kirk- 
cudbright. Here the question of age emerges again. If born in 
1682 he would at license be only eighteen. Nowadays license 
to preach is not granted till the age of twenty-one. Principal 
Tulloch, as Mrs Oliphant* relates, was kept back because he was 
“Dies {de 20; 
