Throughout life he not only "spoke what he would," but uttered "the Truth" in such a tone as to make it unlikely that his "message" should be accepted by opponents.

Like Carlyle, however, he had a heart rich in affection, no breach in friendship, he says, ever began on his side; while, as "a good hater," Dr.Johnson might have admired him.

He carried into political and theological conflicts the stubborn temper of the Border prickers, his fathers, who had ridden under the Roses and the Lion of the Hepburns.

So far Knox was an example of the doctrine of heredity; that we know, however little we learn in detail about his ancestors.
The birthplace of Knox was probably a house in a suburb of Haddington, in a district on the path of English invasion.

The year of his birth has long been dated, on a late statement of little authority, as 1505.