The following is a list of notable former pupils of the Royal High School of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Anthropology
Daniel Wilson (1816–1892), anthropologist and university administrator Brian Lang (born 1945), anthropologist and university administrator
Architecture
Robert Adam (1728–1792), architect to George III Robert Mylne (1733–1811), architect and engineer Thomas Hamilton (1784–1858), architect William Burn (1789–1870), architect David Bryce (1803–1876), architect James Fergusson (1808–1886), architectural historian George Henderson (1846–1905), architect
Asian studies
Arthur Keith (1879–1944), Sanskritist and jurist H. A. R. Gibb (1895–1971), Arabic scholar
Chemistry
James Keir (1735–1820), chemist and industrialist Thomas Hope (1766–1844), chemist and educationist James Syme (1799–1870), discoverer of the solvent for rubber George Wilson (1818–1859), chemist and museum director Alexander Crum Brown (1838–1922), chemist
Commerce and industry
Thomas Coutts (1735–1822), London merchant banker William Forbes (1739–1806), banker and philanthropist James Matheson (1796–1878), Hong Kong merchant and politician David Yule (1858–1928), Calcutta merchant and industrialist, 'Empire's Richest Man'Stockton & Tees-side Herald (18 August 1928), p. 5, col. d. Malcolm Stewart (1872–1951), brick and cement manufacturer William Denholm Barnetson, Baron Barnetson (1917–1981), Chairman of United Newspapers, Reuters and Thames Television Gerry Forsgate (1919–2001), Hong Kong transport entrepreneur Fraser Doherty (born 1988), entrepreneur
Classical studies
John Burnet (1863–1928), Ancient Greek scholar
Earth sciences
Robert Sibbald (1641–1722), physician and geographer James Hutton (1726–1797), geologist Alexander Rose (1781–1860), geologist John Bartholomew (1860–1920), cartographer and geographer Charles Normand (1889–1982), meteorologist
Economics
John Kay (born 1948), economist
Education
John Watson (died 1762), benefactor of John Watson's School William Fettes (1750–1836), Lord Provost of Edinburgh and benefactor of Fettes College James Pillans (1778–1864), educational reformer and classical scholar, inventor of the blackboard Leonard Horner (1785–1864), geologist, a founder of the Edinburgh Academy and University College School Walter Scott Dalgleish (1834–1897), writer
Engineering and design
James Short (1710–1768), maker of optical instruments James Nasmyth (1808–1890), inventor of the steam hammer Thomas Stevenson (1818–1887), lighthouse designer James Balfour (1831–1869), New Zealand marine engineer Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), inventor of the telephone
Entertainment
William Chippendale (1801–1888), actor Charles Cameron (1927–2001), magician Ronnie Corbett (1930–2016), comedian David Robb (born 1947), actor Ian Charleson (1949–1990), actor Glenn Chandler (born 1949), creator of TV series Taggart Eleanor Morton, comedian
Games and sport
John Boak (1837–1876), cricketer John Russel (1849–1902), cricketer Alexander Laing (born 1865), rugby union player David Addison-Smith (1873–1937), cricketer Edward Wilson (1907–1982), cricketer and badminton player Dougie Lawrence (1929–2000), cricketer and cricket administrator Jim Roberts (1933–2021), cricketer David Fraser (born 1943), cricketer Colin Telfer (born 1947), rugby union player Ronnie Wood (born 1960), ice hockey player Iwan Tukalo (born 1961), rugby union player Ben Cairns (born 1985), rugby union player Alan MacDonald (born 1985), rugby union player Alistair McCann (born 1999), footballer
History and archaeology
William Erskine (1773–1852), historian of India Patrick Tytler (1791–1849), historian of Scotland Cosmo Innes (1798–1874), antiquary of Scotland William Skene (1809–1892), historian and Celtic scholar Alexander Murray (1841–1904), museum curator Gordon Donaldson (1913–1993), historian of Scotland
Law
Thomas Craig (c. 1538 – 1608), lawyer, jurist and poet John Bonar (1747–1807), lawyer Henry, Lord Cockburn (1779–1854), lawyer, Senator of the College of Justice, author, and a founder of the Edinburgh Academy James Craig (1765–1850), lawyer and politician Mark Napier (1798–1879), lawyer and historian John Inglis, Lord Glencorse (1810–1891), Lord President of the Court of Session Theodore Martin (1816–1909), lawyer and biographer
Literature
William Drummond (1585–1649), poet and pamphleteer William Strahan (1715–1785), printer William Smellie (1740–1795), encyclopaedist Henry Mackenzie (1745–1831), writer Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), poet Walter Scott (1771–1832), poet and novelist Francis Jeffrey (1773–1850), writer and judge Adam Black (1784–1874), publisher, Lord Provost of Edinburgh and Liberal backbencher George Borrow (1803–1881), writer and traveller Robert Garioch (1909–1981), poet and translator Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), poet Karl Miller (1931–2014), literary critic
Medicine
James Wardrop (1782–1869), surgeon to King George IV Robert Knox (1791–1862), anatomist and ethnologist Robert Christison (1797–1882), toxicologist Andrew Combe (1797–1882), honorary physician to Queen Victoria and the King of the Belgians Charles Morehead (1807–1882), physician Douglas Maclagan (1812–1900), surgeon James Spence (1812–1882), surgeon Caleb Saleeby (1878–1940), public health advocate
Music
Thomas Erskine, Lord Kellie (1731–1781), composer Al Fairweather (1927–1993), jazz trumpeter Sandy Brown (1929–1975), bandleader and acoustic architect Frankie Poullain (born 1967), bassist for the band The Darkness
Philosophy
Dugald Stewart (1753–1838), philosopher James Ferrier (1808–1864), philosopher Henry Calderwood (1830–1897), philosopher Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison (1856–1931), philosopher W. D. Ross (1877–1971), philosopher
Politics
George Drummond (1687–1766), Lord Provost of Edinburgh and civic improver Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Rosslyn (1733–1805), Whig lord chancellor and defender of Clive of India William Brodie (1741–1788), deacon and thief Henry Dundas, Lord Melville (1742–1811), Tory politician and political manager Thomas Erskine, Lord Erskine (1750–1823), Whig lord chancellor Robert Dundas, Lord Melville (1771–1851), Tory First Lord of the Admiralty James Abercromby, Lord Dunfermline (1776–1858), Whig Speaker of the House of Commons Francis Horner (1778–1817), Whig backbencher Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778–1868), Whig Lord Chancellor George Clerk (1787–1867), Tory Vice-president of the Board of Trade William Craig (1797–1878), Liberal Lord of the Treasury, Lord Clerk Register and keeper of the Signet James Robertson (1845–1909), Unionist politician and Lord President of the Court of Session Douglas Henderson (1935–2006), SNP deputy leader Chris Harvie (born 1943), SNP MSP backbencher Robin Cook (1946–2005), Labour Foreign Secretary and Lord President of the Council Ian Blackford (born 1961), SNP leader in the House of Commons Sarah Boyack (born 1961), Labour MSP, former Transport Minister Kenneth Macintosh (born 1962), Labour MSP, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
Public service
Cadwallader Colden (1688–1776), Lieutenant Governor of New York John Campbell (1753–1784), soldier Lachlan Macquarie (1761–1824), army officer and colonial governor Adam Ferguson (1770–1854), army officer and Deputy Keeper of The Scottish Regalia George Ramsay, Lord Dalhousie (1770–1838), army officer, Governor General of British North America, Commander-in-Chief in India George Murray (1772–1846), army officer, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies Alexis Greig (1775–1845), naval officer in the Russian service Frederick Maitland (1777–1839), naval officer, received the surrender of Napoleon Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859), Governor of Bombay Charles Napier (1786–1860), naval officer and politician George Hay, Lord Tweeddale (1787–1876), army officer and Governor of Madras Thomas Campbell Robertson (1789–1863), colonial administrator in India, Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces William Keith (1873–1937), colonial administrator in Burma Eric "Winkle" Brown (1919–2016), Royal Navy officer, world record holder for most aircraft carrier landings
Religion
Robert Haldane (1764–1842), theologian John Campbell (1766–1840), Congregational minister and missionary in Africa James Haldane (1768–1851), Baptist church leader David Welsh (1793–1845), Free Church of Scotland minister and author Archibald Tait (1811–1882), Archbishop of Canterbury William Dalrymple Maclagan (1826–1910), Archbishop of York James Stewart (1831–1905), Church of Scotland missionary to Africa Alexander Gordon (1841–1931), Unitarian minister and historian George Smith (1856–1942), theologian
Visual arts
Alexander Nasmyth (1758–1840), artist and engineer George Heriot (1759–1839), painter and deputy Postmaster General for British North America William Allan (1782–1850), painter and President of the Royal Scottish Academy Robert Lauder (1803–1869), painter and art teacher David Scott (1806–1849), painter and poet William Marshall (1813–1894), sculptor James Archer (1822–1904), painter William Douglas (1822–1891), painter, antiquary, and curator
Zoology
William Baird (1803–1872), zoologist Graham Kerr (1869–1957), zoologist Landsborough Thomson (1890–1977), ornithologist Although the Royal High School long enjoyed a near monopoly on boys' education among the Edinburgh burgesses and county gentry, roll lists before the mid eighteenth century are incomplete. Consequently, attendance by the mathematician John Napier (1550–1617) and the philosopher David Hume (1711–1776) is unconfirmed and may be legend.
On occasion the school has also provided a literally royal education. In 1859 The Prince of Wales received lessons in Roman history from the Rector, Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, and presented the Carson medal at the prize-giving. The following year, 1860, Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans, duke of Alençon (1844–1910), Louis d'Orléans, prince of Condé (1845–1866), and Prince Pierre d'Orléans, duke of Penthièvre (1845–1919), attended classes and were awarded prizes.John Murray, A History of the Royal High School (Edinburgh: Royal High School, 1997), p. 52.
Military and civil honours
First World War
Schoolfellows who gave their lives for their country are commemorated by the memorial porch and brass tablets in the school hall. The upper architrave of the marble Doric portico is inscribed with a phrase from Simonides: ΟΥΔΕ ΤΕΘΝΑΣΙ ΘΑΝΟΝΤΕΣ. They died but are not dead.
A memorial field was laid out at Jock's Lodge in 1919, where a grand pavilion was presented to the school by the Education Authority and opened by Prince Henry in 1925. The perimeter was planted with commemorative trees and a stand was erected by public subscription. The memorial gates, opened in 1950,Barclay, Tounis Scule, plate facing p. 121, p. 142. bear copper shields emblematic of the fighting services. Their vine motif is the Christian symbol of life. Set above is the word Meminerimus (Let us remember), taken from the school song.Barclay, Tounis Scule, p. 35.
The Roll of Honour 1914–1918 contains 1024 names. The number of those who fell is 180.William C. A. Ross (ed.), 1914–1918 Roll of Honour of the Royal High School of Edinburgh (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1920), p. vii; 'Additional Names' (1922), pp. 1–12. Former pupils received many decorations and awards, among them:
Two VCs Two CBs One KCSI One KCMG One CMG Two CIEs One KCVO One CBE 16 DSOs Six OBEs Three OBEs (Military Division) Two DSCs 47 MCs One AFC One KGStJ One AStJ Seven DCMs Five CGMs 20 MMs One DFM Three MSMs One LSM Eleven TDs 91 mentions in despatches One mention in 'B' list of despatches One Certificate of Commendation from Admiralty One Silver Medal from Lloyd's One Order of Leopold (Belgium) Four Croix de guerre (Belgium)