Brownlie at­tend­ed the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Glas­gow and the Free Church Coll­ege. He was li­censed by the Pres­by­te­ry of Glas­gow in 1884, and in 1885 be­came As­sist­ant Min­is­ter of Trin­i­ty Free Church in Port­pat­rick, Wig­ton­shire; he suc­ceed­ed the the sen­ior pas­tor there up­on the latter’s death in 1890. He joined the l­ocal School Board in 1888, and be­came a gov­er­nor of Stran­raer High School in 1897, and Chair­man of the gov­er­nors in 1901. Glas­gow Un­i­ver­si­ty award­ed him an hon­o­ra­ry DD de­gree in 1908 for his work in hymn­ol­o­gy. His works in­clude:

• Hymns and Hymn Writ­ers of the Church Hymn­ary, 1899
• Hymns of Our Pil­grim­age, 1889
• Zionward, Hymns of the Pilg­rim Life, 1890
• Pilgrim Songs, 1892
• Hymns of the Ear­ly Church, Be­ing Trans­la­tions from the Poetry of the Latin Church, 1896
• Hymns of East and West, Being Transl­a­tions from the Poetry of the Latin and Greek Churches, 1898
• A commentary on the 1898 Church Hymn­ary (hymn­al of the Pres­by­ter­i­an Church of the United Kingdom)
• Hymns of the Greek Church, Trans­la­ted with In­tro­duc­tion and Notes, 1900
• Hymns of the Ho­ly East­ern Church, Trans­lat­ed from the Se­rvice Books, 1902
• Hymns from the Greek Of­fice Books, To­ge­ther with Ce­ntos and Sug­gest­ions, 1904
• Hymns from the East, Be­ing Cen­tos and Sug­ges­tions from the Of­fice Books of the Ho­ly East­ern Church, 1906
• The Hymns and Hymn Writ­ers of the Church Hymn­ary (Lon­don: Hen­ry Frowde, 1911)

Sources

Hymns

1. Close Beside the Heart That Loves Me
2. Ever Onward, Ever Upward
3. Flowers Have Closed Their Eyes, The
4. Girt with Heavenly Armor
5. Glory to God! The Morn Ap­point­ed Breaks
6. I Wan­dered Sore Dis­tressed
7. Hark! the Voice of An­gels
8. O Bind Me with Thy Bonds, My Lord
9. O God, Thy Glo­ry Gilds the Sun
10. Spake My Heart by Sor­row Smit­ten
11. There Is a Song Which the An­gels Sing
12. Thou Art My Por­tion, Saith My Soul

Translations

1. God of All Grace, Thy Mercy Send
2. King Shall Come when Morn­ing Dawns, The
3. Let Thy Blood in Mer­cy Poured
4. Lord, to Our Hum­ble Pray­ers Attend
5. O King En­throned on High
6. O Light That Knew No Dawn
7. Thou, Lord, Hast Pow­er to Heal