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A New Edition. Octavo. VIII,236 pages. Hardcover / Original full leather with gilt ornament to spine. Working copy of Daniel Conner with his name in ink to endpaper. With a further inscription in ink verso: "JGrant & D Conner, Esq. - Brothers - Two good boys". Two endpapers missing at front and rear. With annotations to rear pastedown and last page. Last two pages creased. Otherwise in very good and firm condition with only minor signs of wear. Neilson, William (Mac Néill, Uilliam) (1774 1821), presbyterian minister, classical and Irish-language scholar and writer, was born 12 September 1774 at Rademon, Kilmore, Co. Down, fourth among seven sons of the Rev. Moses Neilson (1739? 1823), schoolmaster and presbyterian minister of Rademon, and Catherine Neilson (née Welsh). Moses Neilson, who descended from an Ayrshire family, was an impressive scholar in his own right: graduating MA from Glasgow University in 1763, he was fluent in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Irish, the language he used to conduct his services. It is likely that the young William Neilson grew up in a household where Irish was used as the first language. He attended the academy that his father had established at Rademon, before attending the University of Glasgow (1789 93), but left without taking a degree. Returning to Ireland, he taught in his father's academy while also taking lessons from Pádraig Ó Loinsigh of Loughinisland, Co. Down, a noted classical and Gaelic scholar. During this period, he also worked for Whitley Stokes (qv), transcribing manuscripts. In December 1796 he was licensed as a presbyterian minister, and in March 1797 was appointed pastor of the Dundalk congregation. He preached through Irish and used the language for his everyday pastoral work, becoming popular with the predominantly Irish-speaking population of Dundalk. During the 1798 rebellion he was arrested on one occasion while giving a sermon in Irish and was only released when his identity and loyalty had been established. Renowned for his charitable work in the town, he later worked tending those who had been wounded in the rebellion. He established a school at Dundalk which was based on the same lines as his father's. Many of his students, who included Nicholas Joseph Callan (qv), later a priest and noted scientist, and the Young Irelander John O'Hagan (qv), distinguished themselves in their university careers. He did not neglect his own scholarship and in 1804 published Greek exercises in syntax, ellipsis, dialects, prosody and metaphrasis. This work, dedicated to Provost John Kearney (qv) of TCD, had run to eight editions by 1846. The publication of this work increased his academic reputation considerably, and in 1805 Glasgow University awarded him an honorary DD. He went on a preaching tour of Ulster, delivering his sermons in Irish, and in 1806 was a founding member of the Gaelic Society. His fellow presbyterian ministers were generally supportive of this work and Neilson was elected moderator of the Synod of Ulster (1806). Devoting his spare time to the study of the Irish language, he published Introduction to the Irish language (1808), often referred to simply as Neilson's grammar , in which he showed himself to be an expert in Irish grammar and morphology, using examples of everyday dialogue to illustrate the nuances of the language. On the basis of his linguistic studies, he was elected MRIA in 1808. In 1810 he published Greek idioms exhibited in select passages from the best authors and also a short primer for the London Hibernian Society, Cead leabhar na Gaoidheilge. This was the first elementary class book to be published in the Irish language. In his address to the presbyterian synod of 1813, he spoke in favour of catholic emancipation. Appointed professor of classical, Hebrew, and Irish languages at the Belfast Academical Institution in July 1818, he became a prominent member of the Belfast Literary Society, serving as its president 1819 20. He continued to immerse himself.
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