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William Forbes Skene (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 historian
Historian

A historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time....
 and antiquary, was the second son of Sir Walter Scott's friend, James Skene (1775–1864), of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen
Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous City status in the United Kingdom and one of Scotland's 32 Local government in Scotland Council areas of Scotland....
.

He was educated at Edinburgh Academy
Edinburgh Academy

The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school. It is self-governed and financed, though it remains subject to inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education most recently in 2006....
 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
 and at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between 1410 and 1413....
, taking an especial interest in the study of Celtic
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
 philology
Philology

Philology, derived from the Greek language considers both morphology and Meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies....
 and literature. In 1832, he became a Writer to the Signet (WS), and shortly afterwards obtained an official appointment in the bill department of the Court of Session
Court of Session

The Court of Session is the Supreme courts of Scotland civil court of Scotland. It is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal and sits exclusively in Parliament House, Edinburgh in Edinburgh....
, which he held until 1865.






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William Forbes Skene (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 historian
Historian

A historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time....
 and antiquary, was the second son of Sir Walter Scott's friend, James Skene (1775–1864), of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen
Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous City status in the United Kingdom and one of Scotland's 32 Local government in Scotland Council areas of Scotland....
.

He was educated at Edinburgh Academy
Edinburgh Academy

The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school. It is self-governed and financed, though it remains subject to inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education most recently in 2006....
 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
 and at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between 1410 and 1413....
, taking an especial interest in the study of Celtic
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
 philology
Philology

Philology, derived from the Greek language considers both morphology and Meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies....
 and literature. In 1832, he became a Writer to the Signet (WS), and shortly afterwards obtained an official appointment in the bill department of the Court of Session
Court of Session

The Court of Session is the Supreme courts of Scotland civil court of Scotland. It is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal and sits exclusively in Parliament House, Edinburgh in Edinburgh....
, which he held until 1865. His early interest in the history and antiquities of the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east....
 bore its first fruit in 1837, when he published The Highlanders of Scotland, their Origin, History and Antiquities.

In 1847, during the Highland Potato Famine
Highland Potato Famine (1846 - 1857)

The Highland Potato Famine was a food crisis caused by potato blight that struck the Scottish Highlands causing over 1.7 million people to leave Scotland during the period 1846?52....
, he was appointed Secretary to the Central Board for Highland Relief. In this position he worked closely with Sir Charles Trevelyan, Assistant Secretary to the Treasury.

His chief work, however, is his Celtic Scotland, a History of Ancient Alban (5 vols., Edinburgh, 1876-1880), perhaps the most important contribution to Scottish history
History of Scotland

The history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years ago, when humans first began to inhabit what is now Scotland after the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, the last ice age....
 written during the 19th century. In 1879 he was made a Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law

Some universities, such as the University of Oxford, award Doctor of Civil Law degrees instead of Doctor of Laws degrees.At Oxford, the degree of Doctor of Civil Law by Diploma is customarily conferred on foreign Heads of State, as well as on the Chancellor of the University....
 (DCL) of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
, and in 1881 Historiographer Royal
Historiographer Royal

The Historiographer Royal is a member of the Great Officer of State in Scotland. The office was created in 1681, and was in abeyance from 1709 until 1763 when it was revived for Principal William Robertson of Edinburgh University....
 for Scotland. He died in Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
 on August 29, 1892.

The most important of Skene's other works are: editions of John of Fordun
John of Fordun

John of Fordun was a Scotland chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the cathedral of Aberdeen....
's Chronica genus Scotorum (Edinburgh, 1871–1872); of the Four Ancient Books of Wales
Four Ancient Books of Wales

The Four Ancient Books of Wales is a term coined by William Forbes Skene to describe four important medieval manuscripts written in Middle Welsh and dating from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries....
 (Edinburgh, 1868); of the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots (Edinburgh, 1867); and of Adomnán's Vita S. Columbae (Edinburgh, 1874); an Essay on the Coronation Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone

The Stone of Scone , also commonly known as the Stone of Destiny or the Coronation Stone is an oblong block of red sandstone, about by by in size and weighing approximately ....
 (Edinburgh, 1869); and Memorials of the Family of Skene of Skene (Aberdeen, 1887).

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