David Arnot

David Arnot(t) (1803–1877) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland who served as minister of St Giles Cathedral. He was also a noted religious author, poet, painter, sculptor and a gifted musician. Life He was born in Blacketyside farmhouse on the south Fife coast (east of Leven) on 20 March 1803 the son of Janet Kellock and her husband William Arnot, a farmer. He was educated at nearby Largo Parish School. He then studied at the University of Edinburgh and studied Divinity at St Mary's College, St Andrews. He was licensed to preach as a minister of the Church of Scotland by the Presbytery of St Andrews in 1828. His first position was as assistant in the small parish of Ceres in Fife. In 1836 he moved to St Paul's Church in Dundee first as assistant and then as minister. Following the Disruption of 1843 he stayed in the established church and replaced Robert Gordon as minister of St Giles Cathedral. The University of St Andrews awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity (DD) later that year. At this stage he lived at 7 Forth Street in the New Town.