No. 2.] MISCELLANEOUS. 235 



approached ; and those who knew him most intimately acknow- 

 ledge that he was never known to fail his friends in the hour of 

 need, but was ready to aid them with his advice, his influence, 

 and his purse, as many a young scientific man amongst us can 

 testify. 



Burn at Tarradale, in Ross-shire, he received his early educa- 

 tion as a boy at the Grammar School at Durham. 



But the associations of his Highland home — his ancient Scot- 

 tish pedigree, numbering in the long roll many a staunch sup- 

 porter of the Stuarts, who had freely laid down their lives for 

 their Sovereign — combined with the stirring events which marked 

 the period of his own youth, no doubt powerfully influenced 

 young Murchison in selecting a profession, until in imagination 

 he too, like lloderick Vich Alpine, heard the mountains say — 



*' To you as to your sires of yore, 

 Belong the target and ela3'more ! " 



Having made up his mind to follow the military profession, he 

 was sent by his father, Mr. Kenneth Murchison, to the Royal 

 Military College, Grreat Marlow, after which, having pursued his 

 studies for a few months at the University of Edinburgh, he ob- 

 tained a commission in the army in 1807, and joining his regi- 

 ment the following year, served in the 3Gth Foot with the army 

 in Spain and Portugal under Lord Wellington, afterwards on the 

 Staff" of his uncle, General Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and lastly 

 as Captain in the 6th Dragoons. He took an active part in 

 several of the most important battles in the war, and earned the 

 reputation of being a brave and able officer. He carried the 

 colours of his regiment at the Battle of Vimiera, and afterwards 

 accompanied the army in its advance to Madrid and its junction 

 with the force under Sir John Moore, and shared in the danirers 

 and retreat at Corunna. At the end of the war in 1815, he 

 married Charlotte, only daughter of the late General Francis 

 Hugonin. It was Sir Roderick's own conviction that to his 

 wife's influence was mainly to be attributed the choice he made 

 in follow^ing scientific pursuits with her, and giving up, as he did, 

 the ordinary amusements of a retired cavalry ofl&cer.* She was 

 his friend, companion, and fellow-labourer in geology, aiding him 

 in his observations, and making for him those remarkable geolo- 



* See notice of Lady Murchison, Geol. Mag., 1869, Vol. VI., p. 227, 

 by Prof. Geikie, F.R.S., President Edinburgh Geological Society. 



