William Lithgow, a Scottish traveller, born in the parish of Lanark in 1583, died there in 1640. He was of humble parentage, and as soon as he attained manhood commenced a pedestrian tour on the continent. After travelling in Germany. Bohemia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France, he proceeded to Italy, then visited Greece, western Asia, and Egypt, and returned to England, bringing with him "certain rare gifts and notable relics'1 from Jordan and Jerusalem, which he presented to King James and the queen. Having remained a year in London, he set out for Africa, and traversed Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, returning home through Hungary, Poland, and Germany. In 1619 he departed on a third tour, bearing recommendatory letters from King James to all kings, princes, and potentates. These documents however did not much avail him, for on arriving at Malaga in Spain he was arrested as a spy and subjected to torture; his limbs were mangled and crushed, and his body lacerated with tightened cords. Through the intervention of the British consul he at length obtained his liberty, and was conveyed to England in 1621, a helpless invalid. His condition was so deplorable that he had to be presented at court reclining on a feather bed.

On recovering his health Lithgow was so imprudent as to assault the Spanish ambassador in the presence chamber, which consigned him for nine months to the Marshalsea prison. His latter days were passed in Scotland. The first edition of his "Adventures" was published in London in 1614, the latest in 1814. He was also the author of a history of the siege of Breda (1637).