Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tytler/Tytler, William

3. William Tytler (1711-1792), of Woodhouselee, writer on historical and antiquarian subjects, was the son of Alexander Tytler, writer in Edinburgh, and was born in that city on 12th October 1711. He was educated at the High School and the university, and, having adopted his father's profession, was in 1744 admitted into the society of Writers to the Signet. While successfully practising as a lawyer, he found time to devote attention to historical investigation. In 1759 he published an Inquiry, Historical and Critical, into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots, and an Examination of the Histories of Dr Robertson and Mr Hume with respect to that Evidence. This work, which warmly defended the character of the queen, met with great success. Four editions, the later ones considerably enlarged, were published in the author's lifetime; and it was translated into French. In 1783 he published the Poetical Remains of James the First, King of Scotland, to which he added a dissertation on the life and writings of the royal author. He wrote an essay on "Scottish Music," which was appended to Arnot's History of Edinburgh. His "Dissertation on the Marriage of Queen Mary to the Earl of Bothwell" and "Observations on the Vision, a Poem," appeared in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1791-92). A paper in the Lounger, on "Defects of Modern Female Education," and an Account of Fashionable Amusements in Edinburgh in the Seventeenth Century complete the list of his works. He died at Edinburgh on 12th September 1792.