52 Dr Akchirald's " CuitiosiTiES OF Dumfries." 



doctrinae et inorum, lepidus, cunctis-que benignus ; which may be 

 thus translated : He was distinguished in the medical profession, 

 pious, upright, a lover of learning and morals, amiable, and kind 

 to all." Mr M'DowaH's suggestion that the stone should be 

 removed from " its obscure position " has not yet been followed 

 up. It still remains as he saw it. 



So far as can be gathered from the memoranda available, it was 

 Dr Macdonald's intention to give the Society not exactly a mere 

 transcription of Dr Archibald's '' Account," but to eliminate such 

 of the "curiosities" as are only calculated nowadays to excite a 

 smile, a'nd to present the remainder in the precise words of the 

 text, with expository notes of a character such as might have 

 made the paper one of real value to all interested in the anti- 

 quities of the district. The notes, however, are so fragmentary, 

 and my own scholarship is so sadly at fault, that I have found it 

 quite beyond my ability to carry out the original plan. I must, 

 therefore, beg the Society te be satisfied with the "ipsissima verba" 

 of the "Account," and I have only to add that in order to ensure 

 accuracy, I have myself verified Dr Macdonald's transcription by 

 carefully comparing it with the manuscript in the Sibbald collec- 

 tion. It might be well that I should make two further remarks 

 of a prefatory nature. The first is that the "Account" is appa- 

 rently addressed to a mutual friend of Sibbald's and the writer, 

 who had been employed by the former as a medium of communi- 

 cation, and that it was drawn up and transmitted in two sections. 

 The second is that although the "curiosities" described are said to 

 be "at Drumfriess," Dr Archibald tells us very little about the 

 town, but makes frequent and erratic excursions into the 

 surrounding country. 



DR ARCHIBALD'S PAPER. 



In answer, says the manuscript, to the Doctor (i.e., Dr, after- 

 wards Sir Robert, Sibbald) his advertisement and your desire, I 

 must say — "Messis est vobiscum parca, sed palleas colligamus" 

 [the harvest is scanty, but let us collect the straws]. 



As for the nature of this country, yourself can sufficiently 

 inform the Doctor, and also as to the product, which you know to 

 be wool and cows; fish and tallow for Bordeaux exchanged there 

 with pruns, wine and brandy ; skins and hides for Holland. Our 

 trading is with France, Holland, and Dantzich. 



