Alexander Murray


The ruined home of Alexander Murray.
The ruined home of Alexander Murray.

When I first came across the story of Alexander Murray it seemed too good to be true, but in those days there was no internet and no Wikipedia with which to check the duplicated leaflet I was given by the Tourist Board office in Newton Stewart. Since then both those conveniences have become available and yes, the story is true.

It does, of course, raise the interesting question: St Paul tells us that "all things work together for them that love God", but surely there was some less drastic way in which God could have intervened to elevate the humble shepherd lad from his poor crofter background to one of Scotland's leading professors?