SIR ROBERT SIBBALD. 37 



ander Cranstoun, John Button, John Macgil), 

 William Lauder, John Learmonth, James Halket, 

 William Wright, Patrick Haliburton, and Archi- 

 bald Pitcairn in all twenty-one. 



What method was adopted in the arrangement 

 of the names, we have no means of knowing. 

 The gentlemen who had originally been con- 

 sulted by the judges as the four principal physi 

 cians, are not precisely those whose names first 

 occur in the patent, neither are they those of the 

 number who principally exerted themselves in the 

 attainment of the charter, as they were Drs 

 Stevenson, Balfour, and Sibbald, who stand fourth, 

 fifth, and sixth in order. They were also at 

 greater expense than the others ; for when it 

 became necessary to call upon each member to 

 subscribe towards the expense that had been 

 incurred, Dr Hay, whose name was inserted 

 tirst, absolutely refused to contribute any thing. ; 

 and Dr Brisbaine followed his example : these 

 two were therefore declared to be merely honorary 

 members. And in the beginning of the year 

 1682, Drs Stevenson, Balfour, and Sibbald, the 

 three gentlemen who had, during the settlement 

 of the transaction, been brought under the private 

 notice of the Duke of York, received the honour 

 of knighthood. This was entirely unsolicited, 

 and even unexpected, on their part. As they 

 svere merely desired, on a Saturday night, to 



