382 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sebs. lxxix. 



In support of this I may cite also the fact that his name 

 appears as " of Elie " in documents of the day. 1 



At the time of his marriage he could not be a practitioner 

 in Edinburgh, because the privilege of the Royal College of 

 Physicians to grant a licence to practise within the City 

 and liberties of the City of Edinburgh was then strictly 

 reserved, and Arthur had not applied for such a licence, and 

 did not do so until three years later. That he had entry 

 to the leading society in Edinburgh of his day is evidenced 

 by his matrimonial alliance with the family of Clerk of 

 Penicuik, his wife being sister of the distinguished Baron 

 of Exchequer, John Clerk, second Baronet of Penicuik, 

 who was then one of the most influential men in the 

 capital of Scotland. The pedigree table included here 

 shows the connections Arthur established by his marriage, 

 and these have an interesting bearing upon the events I 

 am about to relate. Through this connection, doubtless, 

 we find Dr. Arthur attending the Baron professionally in 

 company with Dr. John Clerk, first cousin of his wife. In 

 his Memoirs 2 (p. 85) Sir John Clerk says : — 



" About the end of June 1713 I catched cold at the 

 pouting on the moors, and fell into a feaver, which con- 

 tinued with me for 3 weeks. I was brought very low, but 

 by the will of God and the assistance of Dr. Clerk and Dr. 

 Arthur, two young physitians, I happily recovered. My 

 chief pain and truble lay in my head, which I found 

 vastly eased by the application of a Blister to my back, 

 and a cataplasm of popies to my head. I have made 

 a particular journal of m}^ distemper, so shall say no 

 more here." 



It was in this year 1713, probably, that Dr. Arthur 

 definitely settled in Edinburgh, for the records of the 



1 My references are mislaid. The following suggests residence : — 

 Precept of Clare Constat by Robert Lundie of that Ilk, superior, in 

 favour of Anna, Isobella, Sophia, Margaret, and Mary Lundie, as lawful 

 daughter and nearest heirs of the late James Lundie, for infefting them 

 in the Keirs and Damside and the Mains of Strathairlie, bounded and 

 described as in former writs, No. 2544 and 2626 supra, being parts of 

 the lands of Strathairlie. — At Lundin, 5th October 1708. Witnesses, 

 Sir John Inglis of Cramond, Baronet ; Mr. William Arthur, M.D. ; 

 Humphrey Lundin, Writer in Edinburgh, and others. — The Laing 

 Charters, p. 703. 



2 Memoirs of the Life of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik. Edited by 

 John M. Gray for the Scot. Hist. Soc, 1892. 



