xlii MEMOIR OF SIR J. G. DALYELL. 



Sir John was also a contributor to the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," 

 " Douglas' Peerage," and " Burke's Baronetage." From his extensive ac- 

 quaintance with ancient documents, and matters of antiquity generally, 

 he possessed many advantages as a genealogist, and was frequently ap- 

 plied to by friends and others to make out their family descent. In this 

 way he was called upon to discover the chief of the Buchanans, an inquiry 

 which had baffled all who attempted it. He was successful in tracing the 

 honour to Dr [Buchanan] Hamilton of Leny. 



From this narrative it will be seen, that Sir John was a proficient in 

 various branches of literature and science. He was a thorough linguist, 

 mathematician, mechanist, antiquary, genealogist, musician, historian, 

 and zoologist. In this latter character, the North British Review, for 

 November 1854 observes "Indeed it (Torquay) may well claim the ho- 

 nour of being the original home of marine zoology and botany in England, 

 as the Firth of Forth, under the auspices of Sir John G. Dalyell, has been 

 in Scotland." Sir John was no copyist. All his labours were in unex- 

 plored fields, and his aim seems to have been not to multiply books, but 

 to illustrate history, and advance science by the production of what was 

 new or not generally known. 



Being a member of the Faculty of Advocates, and for the better in- 

 dulgence of his literary and scientific tastes, he found it necessary to reside 

 permanently in Edinburgh, which he did with his mother, and four sisters, 

 in the family town-house. One of the sisters having married, and the 

 other two dying, the care of Sir John, who was always delicate, devolved 

 upon his mother and youngest sister. On the death of Lady Dalyell, in 

 1825, the latter became his sole help and companion. The demise of his 

 venerable parent greatly affected him, and in order to divert his mind, he 

 and his sister proceeded on an excursion to the Island of Bute, where their 

 time was chiefly spent in exploring the antiquities and natural history of 

 the place. Here Sir John saw for the first time a living Conger, which 

 had been caught in the harbour at Rothsay. On his return to Edinburgh 

 he was seized with a violent fever, and continued very ill for some time. 



As delicately alluded to by Sir John himself, and explained in Pro- 

 fessor Fleming's preface to the second volume of the " Powers of the 



