xxviii Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinhurgli. 
in the University of Edinburgh, and editor of the Acts of Parlia- 
ment, commenced by Thomas Thomson, and of more chartularies 
than any man of his time ; Mr William Forbes Skene, the historian 
of Celtic Scotland, son of the Laird of Kubbislaw, near Aberdeen ; 
and Mr George Burnet, a younger son of the Laird of Kemnay, 
one of the worthiest successors of Sir David Lindsay in the office of 
Lyon. Though he did not become, like these scholars, an historical 
author, Mr Irvine shared their taste for antiquities, especially 
ecclesiastical and architectural, for books, especially those on history 
and law, and for literature, as one of the pleasures and ornaments 
of life. With Stuart, his connection by marriage, and Robertson, 
his associate by affinity of opinions and tastes, he was on terms 
of intimate friendship. When a happy selection transferred 
Robertson from the editor’s desk to the table of the Historical 
Curator in the Register House in Edinburgh, his friendship with Mr 
Irvine was cemented by more frequent intercourse. For many years, 
until shortly before Robertson’s death, they were companions in a 
Sunday walk to the chapel of Roslin or of Dalkeith, refreshing their 
bodies by exercise after the week’s work, their minds by congenial 
conversation, and their spirits by common worship. To the end of 
his life Mr Irvine was a great walker, and, following a Scottish 
habit, took when alone a book as his companion, generally a volume 
of the classics. Although not an editor, through innate modesty, 
he was an early member of the Spalding Club of Aberdeen, which, 
unlike the Bannatyne, Maitland, and Abbotsford Clubs, did not 
merely print rare and valuable materials for history, but advanced 
that branch of knowledge by such works as the prefaces to Stewart’s 
edition of the Book of Deer and The Sculptured Stones of Scot- 
land^ Robertson’s admirably arranged Collection of the Records 
of the County of Aberdeen^ Innes’s Memorials of King’s College 
and Register of the Bishops of Aberdeen^ and Grub’s edition 
of the Early Ecclesiastical History of Father Innes. He took part 
at a later period in the foundation of the Hew Spalding Club, which 
is now diligently gathering the fragments left by an older and more 
historical generation. 
When Mr Irvine came to Edinburgh he devoted himself chiefly 
to Mathematics and Physics, and was urged by Professor James 
Forbes to continue them at the University of Cambridge. He had 
