James Crichton is perhaps the most celebrated member of the Clan Crichton. He is known in history as "Admirable Crichton" due to his superb mental and physical prowess. He is said to have mastered all of the knowledge of his time and been able to speak and write in ten different languages, all by the age of twenty; he was also a feared swordsman. James Crichton studied at the University of St Andrews then travelled to Paris, where he challenged professors of the city to dispute with him on any branch of science or literature, offering to answer in any of his ten languages. The following day he was declared champion at a public joust. In 1582 Crichton was set upon by a gang, of which he killed five. Recognizing the sixth—the gang leader—as one of his own students, he dropped his guard, whereupon he was stabbed in the heart.