Scottish naval tactician and writer on naval tactics, sixth son of Sir John Clerk of Penicuick; born at Eldin in 1728; died on the 10th of May 1812. He prospered as an Edinburgh merchant, and by 1773 purchased the small estate of Eldin at Lasswade, where he devoted himself to etching, to geology, and to the study of the theory and practice of naval tactics. On April 12, 1782, the manœuver, claimed by him as of his invention, for breaking the enemy’s line was tried by Lord Rodney upon the French commanded by Admiral de Grasse, and a decisive victory was gained.—His son, John Clerk (1757–1832) was raised to the Scottish bench in 1823, when he assumed the judicial title of Lord Eldin.
