Erskine, Ralph, A. M.

, brother of the above, was born at Monilaws in Northumberland, March 15, 1685, was educated along with his brother Ebenezer in the university of Edinburgh, and took the degree of A. M. 1704, after which he was licensed to preach as a probationer in 1709. But notwithstanding his popular abilities as a preacher, yet he did not obtain a settlement in the church till 1711, when he was ordained minister at Dunfermline in Fifeshire. There he continued till 1734, when, joining the st'ceders along with his brother Ebenezer, he was deposed by an order from the general assembly. Esteemed and beloved by his hearers, they built a meeting for him, and attended his ministry till his death, which happened Nov. 6, 1752, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. As a divine, few men were ever more esteemed in Scotland; and the character given of him by the late Mr. Hervey sets his abilities in the highest point of view. His works, in 2 vols. fol. were published in 1764, consisting principally of sermons, “The Gospel Sonnets,” and “A Paraphrase in verse of the Song of Solomon.” ²