Hugo Arnot of Balcormo was a Scottish advocate

Advocate

An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...

, writer and campaigner.

Arnot was the son of a merchant at Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

, where he was born 8 December 1749. He changed his name from Pollock to Arnot on succeeding to his mother's property of Balcormo, by Arncroach

Arncroach

Arncroach is a small village situated in the East of Fife, a couple of miles inland of the fishing village of Pittenweem and around 10 miles away from the famous St Andrews, on the east coast of Scotland...

, Fife. He became an advocate 5 December 1772. In 1777 he published a satirical paper, called an 'Essay on Nothing,' read before the Speculative Society, and made himself unpopular by his sarcasms. In 1779 he published his 'History of Edinburgh' (a second edition appeared in 1817), and in 1785 a 'Collection of Celebrated Criminal Trials in Scotland.' Both works were pirated in Ireland.

He published the second at his own expense in defiance of the Edinburgh booksellers, and the gross proceeds were 600 pounds. He became prematurely old from asthma, and his irritability and caustic language hindered his success as an advocate. Many anecdotes are told of his eccentricity. He wrote many papers on local politics, opposed local taxation, and is said to have held up for ten years the erection of the South Bridge in Edinburgh. He died 20 November 1786, and left eight children.

He was a favourite subject with John Kay

John Kay (caricaturist)

John Kay was a Scottish caricaturist and engraver.He was born near Dalkeith, where his father was a mason. At thirteen he was apprenticed to a barber, whom he served for six years. He then went to Edinburgh, where in 1771 he obtained the freedom of the city by joining the corporation of...

, the Edinburgh caricaturist, who took full advantage of the extreme slimness of his figure.