Born in 1508, about 1530 he slew a priest named Thomas Froster, in a curiously selected place, the belfry tower of Montrose.

Nobody seems to have thought anything of it, nor should we know the fact, if the record of the blood-price paid by Mr.
Erskine to the priest's father did not testify to the fervent act.

Six years later, according to Knox, "God had marvellously illuminated" Erskine, and the mildness of his nature is frequently applauded.

He was, for Scotland, a man of learning, and our first amateur of Greek.

Why did he kill a priest in a bell tower! In the winter or autumn of 1555, Erskine gave a supper, where Knox was to argue against crypto-protestantism.