192 Obituary Notices, by James Hardy. 



companions traversed the hill- sides, looked out to sea from the 

 giddy cliffs, pondered by the lone barren beaches, tracked the 

 romantic streams, or penetrated the remote glens and deep 

 woodland retreats of the Border-land ; never penned a paper for 

 the *' Proceedings ;" never picked up one of the beautiful wild 

 flowers of the Border, nor listened charmed to the song of its 

 free-throated warblers, hunted after its insects, or sought out any 

 other of the varied components of its Fauna ; never hammered a 

 rock, exposed a fossil, or sketched a section ; never even viewed 

 its ruinous castles, and half obliterated encampments, or the 

 luxurious environments of its modern mansions ; or traced on 

 wild moors and craggy wastes the remaius of its ancient forgotten 

 people ; was neither meteorologically nor hygrometrically obser- 

 vant ; never even thought that it was a matter of obligation in a 

 member to perform any of all these open or private manifesta- 

 tions of interest in the Club's aims and objects ; but with quiet 

 and unostentatious approval adhered to us for a long series of 

 years, contented to observe that at least some others were busy, 

 bringing free-will and not tasked offerings, and that the results 

 although not particularly brilliant or new, had at least a certain 

 value ; and that as the years advanced the institution was still 

 maintained in good heart, and in favourable reputation. This 

 was Mr James Maidment, the friend of Sir Walter Scott, Charles 

 Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Eobert Pitcairn, John Eiddell, and others 

 of a bygone period, famous as literary devotees, lovers of rare 

 books, or proficients in genealogical inquiries. 



The son of a London solicitor, Mr Maidment was born there 

 towards the close of the last century, and, like his father, chose 

 the law as his profession ; having, on the adoption of Edinburgh 

 as a residence, become a member of the Faculty of Advocates. 

 It was, however, as an antiquarian litterateur that he was best 

 known ; and it was probably in connection with such pursuits 

 that he formed a friendship with Sir Walter Scott, which was 

 only severed by the novelist's death. 



Mr Maidment, at the time of his death, was the last remaining 

 of the 25 members who originally constituted the Bannatyne 

 Club in the year 1823. He was also an active participant in the 

 Abbotsford Club, established like the Bannatyne, for the publi- 

 cation of literary rarities ; and he contributed to the works of the 

 Spottiswoode Society. 



