Alexander Nisbet
Encyclopedia
Scottish heraldry
Heraldry in Scotland, while broadly similar to that practised in England and elsewhere in western Europe, has its own distinctive features. Its heraldic executive is separate from that of the rest of the United Kingdom.-Executive:...
. He is still much-cited, and his publications are still in print after nearly 300 years.
Scion of the ancient Borders family of Nisbet
Clan Nesbitt
Clan Nesbitt is a Scottish clan recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms and first mentioned in a Scottish charter of 1139. It is a lowland family centred in Berwickshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh and Ayrshire, with a significant historical presence in Northumberland and Durham...
of Nisbet House, near Duns
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
, Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
, Alexander Nisbet was a grandson of Adam Nisbet, an Edinburgh lawyer. He matriculated at Edinburgh University in 1675, then became a private student of heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
, earning a modest living as a writer in 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...
. He died in poverty on 5 December 1725, and was buried in the family vault in Greyfriars Kirk
Greyfriars Kirk
Greyfriars Kirk, today Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland Kirk, is a parish kirk of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh, Scotland...
. In 1934 Nisbet's kinsman, Robert Chancellor Nesbitt
Robert Chancellor Nesbitt
Robert Chancellor Nesbitt was a distinguished solicitor in the City of London, and a Unionist politician and member of legal, financial and Church of England bodies in the early 20th century....
, arranged for John Buchan to unveil a memorial plaque in Greyfriars Kirk, still visible in the church.
Nisbet's historical significance lies partly in his manuals on Scottish heraldry, but mainly on his comprehensive survey of the heraldry of Scottish families, A System of Heraldry, Speculative and Practical: With the True Art of Blazon. This remains much cited, in part because Nisbet took a clear-headed view of heraldic practice, and partly because the book is a record of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
and family papers long since lost.
Publications
- An Essay on Additional Figures and Marks of Cadency (Edinburgh, 1702)
- An Essay on the Ancient and Modern Use of Armories (Edinburgh, 1718)
- A System of Heraldry (1722)