xxxiv A SKETCH ОЁ THE LIFE OF 
“ This Inqu'sition was made in the Court of the Sheriffdom of Edinburgh before an honourable 
man George Тай, Esquire, Sheriff Substitute of the said Sheriiflom, on the 9th day of the month 
of July in the year of the Lord 1828, by these generous worthy men and faithful to their country 
underwritten, viz: -John Grahame Dalyell, Esquire Advocate, Chancellor, James Balfour, Esquire, 
Writer to the Royal Signet, David Wardlaw, Esquire, Writer in Edinburgh, George Gorse Scott, 
Esquire, of Suiton, James Gibson Thomson, James Buchanan, Esqu'res, Merchants in Edinburgh, 
George Buchanan, Esquire, Civil Engineer of the same place, Joseph Gordon, William Gardiner, 
James Burnett, George Dalziell, Augustus Maitland, James Cunningham, James Thomson Gibson 
Craig, and David Cathcart, Esquires, Writers to the Signet: who being sworn say, their great oath 
intervening, that the late Walter Buchanan, some time of Spittal who lived iu the year of the Lord 
1519, son of Walter Buchanan of Buchanan and Spittal, great grandfather of the great grand- 
lather's great grandfa'her of Francis, lately designed Franeis Buchanan, of Leny, M.D., now designed 
Francis Hamilton of Bardowie, according to the conditions of Taille and Settlements of the Estate 
of Bardowie which he holds under the same, the bearer of the presents, died at faith and peace of 
our Sovereign Lord the King. And that the said now designed Francis Hamilton of Bardowie is 
the only surviving son of ‘Thomas Buchanan, sometime of Spittal, and brothers only surviving 
son of his brother Robert Buchanan of Spittal, and as such. served and retoured next and 
lawful heir male in general to the said Robert Buchanan his paternal uncle, who was the son of 
John Buchanan, who was the son of Edward Buchanan, who was the son of James Buchanan, 
who was the son of Edward Buchanan, who was the son of Walter Buchanan, who was the son 
of Robert Buchanan, who was the son of Edward Buchanan, who was the son of the first-named 
Walter Buchanan of Spittal, who lived in the year 1519 : therefore he is the nearest blood relation 
: end lawful heir-male of the said Walter Buchanan of Spittal, great grandfather of his great 
grandfather’s great grandfather, who lived in the year 1519, and who is of lawful age. In Witness 
of which thing the seals of the greater part of those who were present at the said Inquisition 
together with the King's brief enclosed therein and the seal of the office of the Sheriff of the 
said Sheriffdom are appended to the presents, together with the manual subscription of James Wilson, 
clerk to the Sheriff of the said Sheriffdom and clerk in the premises in the place, day of the 
month, and year respectively before specified (thus it is subscribed) Ja. Wilson, clk. 
This is а true copy of the principal Retour upon the premises in the Chancery of our Sovereign 
Lord the King remaining, extracted, copied and collated by me John Dundas, substitute of James 
Dundas, Depute of the most honorable James St. Clair Erskine, Earl of Rosslyn, Director of said 
Chancery, under this my subscription John Dundas Subt.” 
The last letter of the collection from which those in this chapter are taken, dated 
Leny, Ist November 1828, is the longest and in one respect the most i E 
of all, for it conveys to Walheh authority, во far as Hamilton was concerned. to 
make use of Hamilton’s botanical collections in connection with the Wallichian distri- 
bution, It was written just after Wallich had reached Europe with the large collections 
made in Nepal, Penang, Burma, Assam and elsewhere, which he spent the next few 
years in distributing to the great European Herbaria. Whether it bears the inter- 
pretation that Walich put upon it, and entitled Wallich to include the Hamilton plants 
with his own collection in the actual distribution seems doubtful. 
“I am happy to learn that you have fairly settled. Mrs. H. and famil 
a і | JA y are well and joi 
E: - NM gre W. "A whom we should be happy to be better acquainted beber: 
1 m you received notice 1 : 
e зек of the safə arrival of the commentary on the Hortus 
U bend are perfectly welcome to use all my collections so far as depends upon me, but I have 
given whole away. Those at the India House you may, I have no doubt, ы free access 
