John Brownlie

Born in Glasgow in 1857, John Brownlie was educated at the University of Glasgow and the Free Church College. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1884 and soon after became assistant minister at Trinity Free Church in Portpatrick, later succeeding the senior pastor there in 1890.

Brownlie is remembered above all as a hymnodist and translator. His reputation rests on his English versions of early Greek and Latin hymns, collected in books such as Hymns of the Early Church, which helped introduce older Christian hymn traditions to a wider English-speaking audience.

Alongside his church work, he was active in local education, serving as a governor of Stranraer High School and later chairman of its governors. In 1908, Glasgow University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity for his work in hymnology. He died in 1925 in Crieff, Perthshire, and was buried in Portpatrick.