Laing, Malcolm, Scottish historian, born in Orkney; passed through Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, to which he was called in 1785, but proved an unsuccessful advocate; turning to literature, he edited “Ossian,” and wrote a “History of Scotland from James VI. to Anne” (1800), in a subsequent edition of which he inserted the well-known attack on Mary Stuart (1762‒1818).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Laing, David * Laïs