BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 191
James was one of the first sheriffs appointed by the crown. He obtained the
sheriffdom of Tweeddale, his native county ; and it may be noticed that he was
the last survivor of all those appointed at the same period. His conduct as a
judgd in this situation-the more irksome from its being the first of a new order
of things-proved so highly satisfactory, that in 1764 he was promoted to
the office of Solicitor-General for Scotland, and elected to represent his native
county in the British Parliament. A few years after he was still farther
honoured by the appointment of Lord Advocate; and in 1777, on the death of
Lord Chief-Baron Ord, he was appointed Lord Chief-Baron of his Majesty's
Court of Exchequer.' This situation he held until 1801, when he found it
necessary to retire from public business. The title of Baronet was then conferred
upon him (July 16, lSOl), as a mark of royal esteem for his long and faithful
services.
Sir James, like his father, had early formed a just estimate of the importance
of agriculture as a study; and, even amid the laborious duties of his official
appointments, was enthusiastic in its pursuits. On his farm of Wester-Deans,
in the parish of Newlands, he had turnips in drills, dressed by a regular process
of horse-hoeing, so early as 1757 ; and he was among the first, if not the very
first, in Scotland who introduced the light horse-plough, instead of the old
cumbrous machine which, on the most favourable soil, required four horses and
a driver to manage them.
For the purpose of enlarging his practical knowledge, Sir James travelled
over the most fertile counties of England, and embraced every opportunity which
could possibly tend to aid him in promoting his patriotic design of improving
the agriculture of his native country. The means of reclaiming waste lands in
particular occupied a large share of his attention. His first purchase was a portion
of land, remarkable for its unimprovable appearance, lying upon the upper
extremities of the parishes of Newlands and Eddleston. This small estate,
selected apparently for the purpose of demonstrating the practicability of a
favourite theory, dbtained the designation of the ' I Whim," a name which it has
since retained. He also rented, under a long lease, a considerable range' of contiguous
ground from Lord Portmore. Upon these rude lands, which consisted
chiefly of a deep moss soil, Sir James set to work, and speedily proved what
could be accomplished by capital, ingenuity, and industry. In a few years the
'' Whim" became one of the most fertile spots in that part of the country.
His next purchase was the extensive estate of Stanhope? lying in the parishes
of Stobo, Drummellier, and Tweedsmuir, and consisting principally of mountainous
sheep-walks. Here, too, he effected great improvements, by erecting enclosures
where serviceable-planting numerous belts of young trees-and building com-
1 He was the first Scotsman who held this office since the establishment of the Court in 1707. * These lands belonged to Sir Alexander Murray of Stanhope, Baronet-the husband of that Lady
Murray, whose beautiful memoirs of her father and mother were, for the first time, printed under the
superintendence of Thomas Thomson, Esquire, from the original MS., in 1822, 8vo. Her husband
ruined himself by his. wild speculations, and his paternal estate passed to other hands.
