Life

Alexander Cairncross was descended from the ancient family of Cairncross of Cowmull. For some time he followed the trade of a dye

Dye

A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....

r in the Canongate

Canongate

The Canongate is a small district at the heart of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.The name derives from the main street running through the area: called Canongate without the definite article, "the". Canongate forms the lower, eastern half of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's historic Old Town....

 of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. Subsequently he became parson

Parson

In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...

 of Dumfries

Dumfries

Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...

, where he remained until 1684 when, by the recommendation of the Duke of Queensberry

Duke of Queensberry

The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the 1st Marquess of Queensberry...

 Lewis Daly, he was promoted to the see of Brechin, from which he was in a few months promoted to that of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. Having incurred the displeasure of the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Perth

Earl of Perth

The title Earl of Perth was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1605 for James Drummond, 4th Lord Drummond.The Drummond family claim descent from Maurice, son of George, a younger son of King Andrew I of Hungary...

, he was in January 1687 removed from the see, but after the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

 he obtained the notice of the new powers, and in 1693 was made Bishop of Raphoe in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, where he remained until his death on 14 May 1701. By will he left a great deal of money to the poor of the parish of Raphoe

Raphoe

Raphoe is a town in County Donegal, part of the province of Ulster in Ireland. It is the main town in the fertile district of East Donegal known as the Laggan, as well as giving its name to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raphoe and the Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry and Raphoe.-Name:Raphoe,...

, and the tenth part of his personal estate to the episcopal clergy of the Kingdom of Scotland

Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...

. He was buried in the cathedral of Raphoe.