2 66 The Scottish Naturalist. 



the high-flown language of courtiers of the day — his royal patron 

 being compared in it to Kings David and Solomon, while the 

 mining region itself was likened to the Garden of Eden. 



III. Brief Historical Account of the Mines of Wanlockhead. 

 By the late Dr Watson^ of that village. 



IV. Caledonia : an Account — historical and topographical — of 

 North Britain. By George Chalmers. 4 vols., 4to. 1807- 

 1824. 



V. The Lives of the Lindsays : a Memoir of the Houses of 



Crawford and Balcarres. By Lord Liiidsay (now the Earl 

 of Crawford and Balcarres). 2d edition, 3 vols. 1858. 



VI. The Gold - rocks of Great Britain and Ireland. By John 

 Calvert., mining surveyor (from Australia). 1853. 



It contains chapters on the " History of Gold in Scotland " 

 and on " The Gold-fields of Scotland." 



I know that this book has long been looked upon with dis- 

 favour both by mineralogists and miners in Scotland — for various 

 reasons, and among others, the alleged fanciful views and inac- 

 curacies of its author. But there is no gainsaying that he has 

 brought together a large amount of information concerning the 

 gold " mynes " of Scotland, and has enabled us to compare them 

 and their produce with gold-workings in other auriferous countries. 

 He cites, moreover, his authorities, who can be consulted at 

 first-hand by those who wish to estimate the authenticity of the 

 statements made by old chroniclers. With all its imperfections 

 — whatever these may be — Calvert's work contains the fullest 

 and best account we yet possess of the Scottish gold-fields and 

 gold-diggings. He gives copious quotations from the Cottonian 

 MS. of the British Museum, as well as from the quaint old work 

 of Atkinson — extracts more copious by far than those given by 

 any other writer either before or since the date of his work. 

 Thus he quotes from Atkinson both in the original and as printed 

 by the Bannatyne Club. And these quotations alone would 

 render Calvert's work the most important that has yet appeared 

 on the gold-fields, gold-mines, and gold-diggings of Scotland. 



VII. Illustrations of the History and Antiquities of Perthshire. 

 By Rob. S. Fittis, of Perth. 1874. 



Five of its chapters relate to "The Search for Scottish Gold in 

 Olden Times;" and this account of the ancient gold "mynes" 

 of Scotland is at once the fullest, most accurate, and most mod- 

 ern with which I am acquainted. 



