Miller, Hugh (1802–1856)

Scottish writer and geologist. He published Poems 1829 and Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland 1835 and wrote a series of strikingly original geological essays, collected in The Old Red Sandstone 1841. In this, and in Rambles of a Geologist, he was the first to present geological information in a popular form.

Born in Cromarty, he worked as a stonemason. Through his personal interest and dedication he acquired the literary style and scientific learning which won him renown. In 1839 he became editor of The Witness and was active on the Free Church side in the Disruption of 1843. (See Free Church of Scotland.) He studied the fossiliferous rocks of northern Scotland, forming an unrivalled collection of fossil fish from the old red sandstone.