Obituary Notices. 185 



of nearly sixty years he was a regular exhibitor on the 

 walls of the Royal Scottish Academy, and two w.orks from 

 his pencil were hung there last spring. Mr. Watson occa- 

 sionally varied his practice by painting what might be 

 considered as a sort of fancy portraits, such as " An 

 Ornithologist " among his birds, or " A Conchologist " 

 surrounded with shells. He inherited, through his mother, 

 an earnest taste for certain branches of natural history, 

 more especially ornithology; having in the course of his 

 long lfe got together a remarkable collection of specimens, 

 which he took great delight in displaying to his friends. 

 His series of eggs, so far as British birds were concerned, 

 was nearly complete. " As a man," says one who knew 

 him, " Wiiliam Smeilie Watson was one of the gentlest and 

 kindest that ever breathed. He was never known to say an 

 unkind word of anybody ; and not only by his professional 

 brethren, but by all who came into contact with him, he 

 was regarded with respectful affection." 



Rev. George Rooke, Mj\. 



The late Rev. George Rooke, M.A., vicar of Embleton, and 

 Hon. Canon of Durham, was born at Lymington, Hants, in 179 6 , 

 and was the last surviving son of Mr. Justice Rooke. He 

 was educated at Charter House, and then went to Hayley- 

 bury (being intended for the Indian Civil Service), but 

 afterwards entered at Merton College, Oxford, where in 

 1817, he graduated, was elected fellow, and presented to the 

 living of Woolvercot, near Oxford. In 1830 he was made 

 vicar of Embleton. The restoration of Embleton Church, in 

 1850, was done under his direction. He was appointed 

 Hon. Canon of Durham in 1852. He joined the Berwick- 

 shire Naturalists' Club in 1845, and was chosen President 

 for 1854. His Anniversary Address for that year (Vol. iii., 

 p. 161) is the only contribution that he ever made to the 

 " Proceedings " of the Club. Mr. Rooke died at Embleton, 

 on the 17th of August, 1874, of congestion of the lungs, 

 after a long and painful illness. The Club will sympathise 

 with an affectionate tribute to his memory, contributed by 

 Ralph Carr-Ellison, Esq., of Dunstan Hill, one of his oldest 

 and most intimate friends. 



The memory of our late valued friend, Mr. Rooke, of 

 Embleton, is too fresh and vivid for me to hope to strengthen 



