Artist, poet and author. Born James Ballington in Edinburgh, Ballantine began as a house painter. He studied art and became one of the earliest to revive the craft of glass-painting, his most notable commission being the stained glass windows for the House of Lords (Westminster, London). Edinburgh Central Library holds various of his treatise on stained glass.
His publications include The Gaberlunzie's Wallet (initially published in parts and then, in 1843, as a complete volume), Miller of Deanhaugh (1845), Poems (1856), 100 Songs with Music (1865), and a Life of David Roberts, R.A. (1866), a biography of the noted artist.
Ballantine died in Edinburgh and is buried in Warriston Cemetery (Edinburgh).
