Carswell, John

Carswell, John a Scotch clergyman, studied at the University of St. Andrews in 1548. He had been a conventual brother in the abbey of Icolmkill; was rector at Kilmartin from 1553 to 1564; embraced the Protestant faith, and was appointed chaplain to the earl of Argyll; was nominated by Parliament as superintendent of Argyll, in 1560; and was promoted to the bishopric of the isles in 1566, by queen Mary. In the General Assembly of 1569 he was reproved for accepting without informing the assembly, and "for assisting at the parliament held by the queen after the murder of Darnley the king." He died between July'10 and Sept. 20, 1572, and was a man of great piety and learning, as well as of wealth: and official power. He published a translation of John Knox's Liturgy, the first book printed in Gaelic, only two copies — of which are known to exist. See Fasti Eccles. Scoticanae, 3, 11, 447; Keith, Scottish Bishops, p. 307.