Laing, DAVID, a learned antiquary, was the son of an Edinburgh bookseller, and was born in 1795. For thirty years he followed his father's trade, earning the esteem of all the antiquaries and scholars of his time by his remarkable knowledge and his readiness to communicate it. In 1837 he became librarian of the Signet Library, a post which he held till his death, October 18, 1878. Laing was honorary secretary of the Bannatyne Club throughout, and himself edited many of its issues; while his contributions to the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland were innumerable, yet all stamped with characteristic thoroughness. He received the degree of LL.D. from Edinburgh in 1864, and left behind him a private library of unusual value even for his exceptional opportunities; many books at the sale in London realised unheard-of prices. A valuable collection of MSS. was bequeathed to Edinburgh University.
David Laing's knowledge of the ecclesiastical and literary history of Scotland was profound, and his more important works will long retain their value. These were his edition of Robert Baillie's Letters and Journals (3 vols. 1841-42), the works of John Knox (6 vols. 1846-64), and of the Scottish poets, Sir David Lyndsay, Dunbar, and Henryson. His literary life covered the long period of more than sixty years, and death surprised him busy on Wyntoun and a new edition of Lyndsay.