Currie.] DR. JAMES ANDERSON. . 335
were appointed to look after the king?s exchequer,
?properties, and casualties,? were named. (?Moyses?
Memoirs.?)
In April, 1598, he witnessed at Stirling the
contract between James VL, Ludovick Stewart,
Duke of Lennox, and Hugh, fifth Earl of Eglinton,
for the marriage of the latter and Gabriella,
sister of the duke.
He is best known in Scottish legal literature by
his treatise ?? De Verborum Significatione,? and the
edition of the ?? Regiam Majestatem,? but Lord
Hailes doubted if his knowledge of Scottish antiquities
was equal to his industry.
In 1607, with reference to the latter work, Sir
James Balfour records in his Annales? that ?? The
ancient Lawes of Scotland, collected by s? John
Skeene, Clerke of Register, on the Lordes of the
Privey Counsall?s recommendation to the King,
by their letters of the 4th of Marche this yeire
wer ordained to be published and printed, on his
Majestie?s charges.?
This work, which was printed in folio at Edinburgh
in 1609, is entitled ? REGIAM MAJESTATEM
SCOTIR;. The auld lawes and constitutions of Scotland,
faithfullie collected furth of the Register, and
other auld authentick Bukes, from the dayes of King
hlalcolme the Second vntill the time of King Jame
the First.? It contains the Quoniam Attachianzentq
or Baron Laws, the Burgh Laws, the Forest Law:
of William the Lion, and many other quaint anc
curious statutes.
His son, Sir James Skene of Curriehill, succeedec
Thomas, Earl of Mehose, as President of thc
Court of Session in 1626. At what time he w;1!
made a baronet of Nova Scotia is unknown, bui
his death as such is thus recorded by Balfour :-
?The 20 of October (1663) deyed s? Jame:
Skeine of Curriehill, Knight and Barronet, Presi
dent of the Colledge of Justice, at his auen houssc
in Edinburghe, and was interred in the Greyfriar:
ther.? Re was buried within the church, when
his tomb was found a few years ago; and tht
house in which he died is that described as bein;
?beside the Grammar School,? within the south
east angle of the Flodden wall, and in after years
the official residence of the Professor of Divinity.
Sir Archibald Johnston (Lord Warriston) wa:
a considerable heritor in the parish of Currie
Maitland (Lord Ravelrig) we have already referrec
to, and also to Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton
?The Scotts of hlalleny, father and son, were like
wise eminent lawyers at the same period, and tht
latter had a seat on the bench,? says the ?Olc
Statistical Account? ; but if so, his name does no1
appear in the list of senators at that time.
(? Eglinton Memorials.?)
.
The late General Thomas Scott of Malleny, who
lied at the age of ninety-six, served on the contilent
of Europe, and in the American War under
.he Marquis of Cornwallis.
He entered the army when a boy, and was a
:aptain in the 53rd Foot in October, 1777. It is
-ecorded of him that he carried some very impor-
:ant despatches in the barrel of his spontoon with
ucess and dexterity, passing through the American
hes in the disguise of aa armed pedler. These
services were recognised by Lord Melbourne, who
gave him a pension without solkitation.
He belonged latterly to the Scots Brigade ; was
t major-general of 1808, and a lieutenant-general
af 1813.
In 1882 his ancient patrimony of Malleny was
purchased by the Earl of Rosebery.
James Anderson, LLD., a miscellaneous writer
of considerable eminence, the son of a farmer, was
born at Hermiston, near Currie, in 1739, ?His
ancestors had been farmers,? says the Sots Magazine
for 1809, ?and had for several generations
farmed the same land, which circumstance is supposed
to have introduced him to that branch of
knowledge which formed the chief occupation of
his life.?
Among the companions of his youth, born in
the same hamlet, was Dr. James Anderson, who in
the early years of the present century was Physician-
General of the Forces in Madras. They were
related, educated together, and maintained a correspondence
throughout life.
Losing his father at the age of fifteen, he entered
upon the management of his ancestral farm, and
at the same time attended the chemistry class of
Dr. Cullen in the University of Edinburgh, studying
also several collateral branches of science. He
adopted a number of improvements, one of which,
the introduction of a small two-horse plough, was
afterwards so common in Scotland.
Amid his ? agricultural labours, so great was his
thirst for knowledge, and so steady his application,
that he contrived to acquire a considerable stock
of information; and in 1771, under the nouz de
phme of ? Agricola,? he contributed to Ruddiman?s
Edinburgh Week4 Xagazine a series of ? Essays
on Planting,? which were afterwards published in
a volume. In 1773 he furnished the article
Monsoon? to the first edition of the EmycZopdia
Britannica,. in which, curiously enough, he
confidently predicted the failure of?captain Cook?s
first expedition in search of a southern polar continent.
Previous to ,1777 he had removed from Hermistop
to a large uncultivated farm, consisting of
thirteen hundred acres, which he rented in Aberdeenshire,
and which, by his skill and industry, he
brought into a fine state of fertility. In the same
year he wrote his ?? Observations on the Means of
Exciting a Spirit of National Industry ? with regard
to agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and fisher;
es, and also several pamphlets on agricultural
subjects, which gained him a high reputation ; and
in 1780 the University of Aberdeen conferred upon
him the degree of LL.D.
CURRIE.
quire into the state of the British fisheries in May,
1785, makes very honourable mention of Dr.
Anderson?s services ; but we do not find that he
was ever offered any remuneration, and he was
too high-spirited and purely disinterested to ask
for any.
After his return he resumed his literary labours
in various ways, and, among other schemes, brought
out a literary periodical called The Bee, or Literary
Week&IntelZigencer, which was current from Decem-
Quitting the farm, he returned to the vicinity of
Edinburgh, with a view to the education of his
large family, and partly to enjoy the literary society
which then existed there.
About that time he circulated a tract on the
establishment of the Scottish fisheries, with a view
to alleviate much distress which he had witnessed on
the coast of Aberdeenshire from the failure of the
crops in 1782.
This excited the attention of the Government,
and he was requested by the Treasury to survey
the western coasts of Scotland, and obtain information
on this important subject-a task which he
performed with enthusiasm in 1784
Thp report of the committee appointed to in-
.
ber, 1790, to January, 1794, and was very popular
in Edinburgh.
In 1797 he removed to London, where much
attention was paid to him by the Marquis of
Lansdowne, at whose request, in 1799, he started
a periodical, entitled Recreations in Agricdture.
The greatest portion of this work was written
by himself, but he pursued it no further than the
sixth volume, in March, 1802. From thenceforth,
with the exception of his correspondence
with General Washington and a pamphlet od
?Scarcity,? he was unable to write more; and,
feeling the powers of life begin to decline, devoted
his leisure to the cultivation of a miniature garden.
A list of his publications, thirty in number, is
