Often he would be seen on his way to Arbroath, his web of cloth firmly tied on his back, and his open book in his hand. After delivering his cloth and obtaining fresh material he returned to Carmyllie in the same fashion.

When we enter his classroom, we find him seated on the platform contemplating his shoes and making faces at them. Unceremoniously he starts up and calls upon a student to state the proposition, the figure of which he has drawn on the board. He is an excellent teacher, his method is thorough and his explanations are clear; but his grotesque demeanour distracts somewhat the attention of his pupils. With chalk and duster in his hands, rubbing out and drawing in figures on the board with great earnestness, he forgets himself till he has painted his black attire all over with patches of white. Then throwing away the duster as being too dirty, he uses the palm of his hand to rub out the lines. But this method too, has its disadvantages, for he is in the habit of clutching his nose in order to warm it, he very soon imparts to that prominent member a ghastly hue.

Although the institution is named after Mr Watt ... it is not proposed to confine the instruction to mechanics alone. All classes of tradesmen will be readily admitted as members and lectures will be given on subjects which are interesting and applicable to those who attend, whatever their occupation might be. It is proposed to have a spacious and comfortable lecture room with adjoining apartments for library and philosophical apparatus and a well qualified lecturer will be employed to give lectures as often as may be judged necessary.

... a specimen of powerful and impressive eloquence, the effect of which was perhaps weakened by the breathless rapidity with which it was delivered.

The time, however, was not ripe for such a novel educational venture and the school did not prosper. During May 1829, there were only eight scholars in regular attendance and by July of that year it was apparent to the directors that with such slender support it was futile to keep the school open any longer. Consequently the school was closed and Lindsay presented with all the money accruing from scholars' fees.

Previous to the discovery of Oersted, I had made many experiments on magnetism, with the view of obtaining from it a motive power. No sooner, however, was I aware of the deflection of the needle and the multiplication of the power of coils of wire than the possibility of power appeared certain, and I commenced a series of experiments in 1832. The power on a small scale was easily obtained, and during these experiments I had a clear view of the application of electricity to telegraphic communication. The light also drew my attention, and I was in a trilemma whether to fix upon the power, the light, or the telegraph. After reflection I fixed upon the light as the first investigation, and had many contrivances for augmenting it and rendering it constant. Several years were spent in experiments, and I obtained a constant stream of light on 25th July, 1835.

J B Lindsay resumes classes for cultivating the intellectual and historical portions of knowledge and instruction on April 14, 1834, in South Tay Street, Dundee.

In a few weeks hence a course of lectures will be formed on frictional, galvanic, and voltaic electricity; magnetism; and electro-magnetism. The battery, already powerful, is undergoing daily augmentation. The light obtained from it is intensely bright, and the number of lights may be increased without limit.

A great number of wheels may be turned [by electricity], and small weights raised over pulleys.

Houses and towns will in a short time be lighted by electricity instead of gas, and heated by it instead of coal; and machinery will be worked by it instead of steam - all at a trifling expense.

A miniature view of all these effects will be exhibited, besides a number of subordinate experiments, including the discoveries of Sir Humphry Davy.

... shortly after entering upon the duties of this office, he might have obtained an appointment at the British Museum - a situation that would have been more congenial to Mr Lindsay's taste, and, in all probability, would have led to a fuller recognition of his rare abilities; but being unwilling to leave his aged mother, he declined the tempting offer.

... one youth, who was detained a much longer period than usual in the Prison, was carried by Mr Lindsay so far in mathematical knowledge, that he was able to calculate eclipses.

In 1841 he was appointed teacher at the Dundee prison, which appointment he held till he resigned it in 1858. During the whole of this time he scarcely ever moved from his house, except to the prison and back, and the result of a portion of his labours was discovered to his friends in conversations and experiments relating to electrical phenomena, which revealed to them the fact that, alone and unaided - from the sheer force of his genius - he had discovered as early, if not earlier, than Morse or Wheatstone, the principles of the present system of electric telegraphy. Immediately after the public adoption of the present system of land-telegraphy, Mr Lindsay directed his attention to the sending of messages across water by means of insulated wires, and succeeded - after several trials on ponds and sheets of water in the neighbourhood - in establishing on a sure basis the principles of electric communication by means of insulated submerged wires.

Nor did he stop here - his searching experiments inspired him with the hope of transmitting messages across rivers and seas without the aid of wires, and he so far perfected his invention as to transmit currents across several small pieces of water - the last occasion on which he publicly experimented with this invention being in Portsmouth, about two years ago, when he was highly successful and the results afforded great satisfaction to the scientific gentlemen who assisted. He directed almost every penny he could spare, after procuring the bare necessaries of existence, to the acquisition of philological, as well as scientific and philosophical tomes - and with an income that never till the last few years, we believe, exceeding 50, collected a library of rare and profound works, valued, by competent judges at from 1300 to 1500. At several times however, he was assisted by friends who took an interest in his efforts, and chief among these the present Lord Lindsay. The last gift from this nobleman was a splendid copy of the works of Confucius, in the original, which is said to be the only complete copy of the works of that philosopher in Great Britain.

About fifteen years ago I made a great variety of experiments in Electricity, and constructed an apparatus for procuring electric light for illumination instead of gas. About ten or twelve years ago I gave two public lectures on this subject, illustrated by experiments, in Dundee. About fifteen years ago I also perceived the applicability of Electricity as a telegraph, and mentioned it to many persons, but such an idea was generally ridiculed as Utopian. This was long before such an application was hinted at in the public prints, and before Electric Telegraphs were in existence. I also made many experiments on the application of the same science for power instead of steam, but do not claim the merit of being the first that did so. About nineteen months ago I proposed and described a submarine Telegraph, and, I am convinced, was the first that made such a proposal. In reference to this, I made many experiments, and telegraphed through ponds in Dundee. An account of this was then given in the local newspapers. The Lexicon alone has kept me from turning my whole attention to Electricity, but, were it finished, I would once more be free. The Electric Light I have obtained, being from a model, is necessarily small, the plates being only one inch square; but by enlarging them, a light could be got far surpassing gas in brilliance.

... he proposed to determine his chronology by such records as he could find of eclipses. He could easily determine the date of any eclipse, whether of the sun, or moon, or planets; and he accordingly searched the records of ancient history for authentic accounts of these phenomena. Notwithstanding the collection of ancient and learned books he had already amassed, he found himself involved, before he had completed fifty pages of his 'Astrolabe,' in an additional expense for new purchases amounting to full 200. [Note by EFR. This seems unlikely since this would be around 35,000 in today's values.] These purchases included the works of Ptolemy, the Byzantine historians, the Asiatic Researches, and the Nautical Almanac in a series of forty-four volumes. His progress was, however, after all arrested by the want of the works of Confucius, the Chinese historian and philosopher, which he could not obtain, and which he knew to contain some valuable materials for his projected work. With the view of securing these books, he took a journey to London, only to find they were not to be had there, and to be informed that they could not be procured in Europe. In these circumstances, he mentioned his difficulty to his clansman, Lord Lindsay; and that nobleman, with prompt and considerate generosity, betook himself to supply the want; and in June 1852 Mr Lindsay received the much coveted prize. The 'Chrono-astrolabe' was published in January 1858, and its appearance attracted the attention of the most eminent astronomers.

At this time Lindsay was elected to the eldership in Free St Paul's, and had signified his acceptance of the office; but before his ordination, his views in regard to the doctrine of Baptism underwent a change, and with that honesty by which he had all along been characterised, he communicated the same to his pastor, the Rev Mr Wilson, and stated his intention to withdraw from the communion of the Free Church. He joined the Baptist congregation at Meadowside, and received the ordinance of baptism according to the rules of the Baptist body. In explanation of his views he published a treatise in Baptism - a remarkable document - exhibiting the extent of the author's learning, and his intimate acquaintance with the languages and writers of antiquity.

A pioneer of electrical science; foretold the application of electricity as an illuminant, a motive power to replace steam and a substitute for coal in heating. He devised an electric telegraph (1832), suggested welding by electricity, produced a continuous electric light (1835), proposed a submarine transatlantic telegraph (1843), and accomplished wireless telegraphy through water (1853), as a philologist his attainments were extraordinary, in 1828 he began the compilation of a dictionary in fifty languages, uncompleted when he died. An accomplished scientist, a profound student and an earnest Christian.

The poor recluse - the timid, unassuming man, who late was known in Union Street by his humility of manner, his threadbare clothes, his meagre diet, his childlike ignorance of common things, and by that honest, dreamy, downcast face of his..... Because he forgot the world, the world forgot him.