MEMOIR OF SIR J. G. DALYELL. xxv 



cocquet, or seal of the regality," says Sir John, " I fortunately recovered 

 from Dunfermline, and have deposited it in the Advocates' Library, along 

 with another of equal antiquity. Both are? in good preservation, en- 

 graven on copper, and fully as old as the fourteenth century." 



In 1811 Sir John, in a thin 8vo., published by Constable, gave 

 " Some account of an Ancient Manuscript of Martial's Epigrams. Illus- 

 trated by an Engraving, and occasional anecdotes of the manners of the 

 Romans." This Avas a valuable gift to the classical scholar. Martial's 

 Epigrams are well known, and frequently quoted by the historical anti- 

 quary. Many of them, however, are obscure, as in the printed edition, 

 and not a few of them wholly unintelligible. This arises partly from in- 

 accuracies in transcription, and our superficial acquaintance with the man- 

 ners and customs of the Romans. The manuscript in question, from a 

 careful comparison with others, and the character of the penmanship, ap- 

 pears, in Sir John's opinion, to be as old as the middle of the ninth cen- 

 tury, 850. It has been preserved in the Advocates' Library for upwards 

 of a hundred years ; but its history is imknown. " The only date it 

 bears is 1632, there being inscribed on a blank leaf. Jacobus Marchant 

 Imnc libruin possidet ex dono Francisci Desmeuliere amici sui : Scdani 

 3 Decemhris 1632." It does not seem to have been consulted by any of 

 the editors of Martial, and from the various readings given by Sir John 

 in illustration, we have no doubt of what he states, that " should a 

 genuine edition of Martial's Epigrams be desired," it would, " in no incon- 

 siderable degree facilitate the undertaking." 



An interesting and popular work was published by Constable & Co., 

 in 3 vols., in 1812, entitled " Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea ; or Histori- 

 cal Narratives of the most noted Calamities and Providential Deliverances, 

 which have resulted from Maritime Enterprize : with a Sketch of various 

 Expedients for Preserving the Lives of Mariners." No author's name 

 was attached, but the compiler was Sir John. The narratives commence 

 with the " Shipwreck of Pieti'o Quirini, near the coast of Noi'way" in 1431 , 

 and close with the " wreck of the Nautilus, Sloop of War, on a Rock in 

 the Archipelago" in 1807. They were carefully selected from the best 

 and most original authorities, and in many cases re-written, or put into a 



more condensed and intelligible form, Besides furnishing a most readable 

 d 



