Clan Nesbitt

Alexander Nisbet (1657-1725)
One of the most important authors on Scottish heraldry. He is still much-cited, and his publications are still in print after nearly 300 years.

Scion of the ancient Borders family of Nisbet of Nisbet House, near Duns, Berwickshire, Alexander Nisbet was a grandson of Adam Nisbet, an Edinburgh lawyer. He matriculated at Edinburgh University in 1675, then became a private student of heraldry, earning a modest living as a writer in Edinburgh. He died in poverty on 5 December 1725, and was buried in the family vault in Greyfriars Kirk. In 1934 Nisbet's kinsman, Robert Chancellor Nesbitt, arranged for John Buchan to unveil a memorial plaque in Greyfriars Kirk, still visible in the church.