17 
of Edinburgh, Session 1866 - 67 - 
Scarce had lamented Forbes paid 
The tribute to his Minstrel’s* shade ; 
The tale of friendship scarce was told 
Ere the narrator’s heart was cold ; 
Far may we search before we find 
A heart so manly and so kind. 
v*r 
If mortal charity dare claim 
The Almighty’s attributed name, 
Inscribe above his mouldering clay — 
“ The widow’s shield, the orphan’s stay.”f 
After a complete course of study at the University of Edinburgh, 
Sir John passed as Advocate in 1826, and he would have pursued 
the profession of the law, but for the death of his elder brother 
in 1826, and of his father in 1828, when he succeeded to the 
baronetcy. In 1833 he was elected a Member of this Society, and in 
1831 he married Lady Harriet Kerr, the third daughter of the sixth 
Marquis of Lothian. Soon after this event he left Edinburgh, where 
his father and grandfather had resided, and lived almost wholly at 
Fettercairn House, where he occupied himself nearly exclusively in 
the management of his estates, and in the discharge of those 
numerous duties of patriotism and charity, which are so cheerfully 
and nobly performed by our Scottish landholders. Sir John was for 
many years an active member of the Highland and Agricultural 
Society of Scotland, and, for some time acted as its Treasurer. He 
was particularly interested in the advancement of agriculture as a 
science as well as an art, and he exerted himself in vain against 
the miserable parsimony of the Government to obtain a better 
endowment for the Agricultural Chair in our University. 
In 1857 Sir John was appointed Convener of Kincardineshire, 
the duties of which he discharged with exemplary diligence, 
devoting himself to the business of the county with a zeal and 
self-sacrifice which the public did not fail to appreciate. At all 
hours and in all weathers he was found at his post, even while 
labouring under attacks of what proved to be a mortal disease. 
* Dr Beattie’s principal poem. 
t In a note upon this passage Sir Walter says : — '• Sir William Forbes of 
Pitsligo, Bart., unequalled perhaps in the individual affection entertained for 
him by his friends, as well as in the general respect and esteem of Scotland 
at large.” See Marmion, canto iv. note ii. 
VOL. VI. 
C 
