fresh style, and is especially direct in its descriptions of contemporaries. His sketch of John Knox at St Andrews is one of his best passages. It is an original authority for the period, written with much naïveté, and revealing an attractive personality. Verse As a writer of verse he compares unfavourably with his uncle. All his pieces, with the exception of a libellus supplex to King James, are written in Scots. He translated a portion of the Zodiacus vitae of Palingenius, and adapted some passages from Scaliger under the title of Description of the Spainyarts naturall. His Spiritual Propine of a Pastour to his People (1598), The Black Bastill, a lamentation for the kirk (1611), Thrie may keip Counsell, give Twa be away, The Beliefe of the Singing Soul, Davids Tragique Fall, and a number of sonnets show no originality and indifferent technical ability. The Diary was printed by the Bannatyne Club in 1829, and by the Wodrow Society in 1842. Large portions of it are incorporated in David Calderwood's (1575-1650) History of the Kirk of Scotland (first printed in 1678). For the life and times, see Thomas M'Crie's Life of Andrew Melville. Notes References External links The Diary of Mr James Melville, Bannatyne Club (1829) googlebooks 1556 births 1614 deaths Scottish poets Scottish diarists Alumni of the University of St Andrews Principals of the University of St Andrews Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland