David Ferguson (reformer)

David Ferguson
plaque on David Ferguson's grave
Personal details
Born	David Ferguson or Fergusson 1533 (or before)[1] Dundee (probably)
Died	23 April 1598 Dunfermline
Denomination	Church of Scotland
Alma mater	none

David Fergusson or Ferguson (c. 1533–23 April 1598) was a Scottish reformer and minister of the Church of Scotland.^[2] He twice served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland: 1573 and 1578.

He is said to have been a native of Dundee, though this is not certain. The date of his birth is also conjectural. Spottiswood believed it to be about 1533, while Wodrow suggests ten, or even twenty years earlier, and David Laing thought it could not have been later than 1525.^[3] Ferguson was a glover to trade, and though he never attended a university he had a good knowledge of classical languages and had given much study to divinity. He was nominated to Dunfermline on 19 July 1560. He had Rosyth under his care in 1567, and in 1574 Carnock and Beath, Rosyth being excluded. He was a member of thirty-nine General Assemblies – from 25 June 1563 to 10 May 1597, and in two of these, 6 March 1572 and 24 October 1578, he was Moderator. He had a place on all the important committees of the Church, and assisted the Moderator in arranging the business of the Assemblies – a position analogous to a modern Convener of the Business Committee. He was one of the ministers who attended the Regent Earl of Morton at his execution on 2 June 1581. In 1576, and again in 1582, he was appointed Visitor or Commissioner for various districts in establishing kirks and settling ministers. He was frequently selected as intermediary when the Assembly wished to communicate matters of importance to the King, and he did not hesitate to admonish King James "to beware of innovations in Court, to try reports before credit was given to them, and to put him in remembrance of Holt, the English Jesuit." "He jocularly said that Fergus was the first King of Scotland, and that he was Fergus - son; but, recognising that King James had the possession, and was 'an honest man,' he would give him his right." By his tact and ready wit he was able to calm the more turbulent spirits, and upon one occasion he so effected a conciliation that when the ministers departed the King "laid his hands [shook hands] upon every one of them." At a meeting of Synod at Cupar in February 1597–8, Ferguson (then the oldest minister in Scotland) strongly opposed a proposal for giving ministers a vote in parliament, comparing it to a "busking up of the brave horse for the overthrow of Troy". He died Father of the Church on 23 August 1598. He is described as "a good preacher, wise, and of jocund and pleasant disposition". He had a remarkable knowledge of the Scottish vernacular, and many of his sayings lingered long in the speech of the people. A portrait of him painted on timber in a small oval, and presented by John Row to the University Library, Edinburgh, cannot now be traced.^[4]