Dalswinton. More remarkable, in some respects than even scientific reputation, was the fame acquired by the grandfather of the Taylor above-mentioned as the very oldest person who must ever have lived in those parts. Born in 1637, the year of Jenny Geddes' exploit in St. Giles', and when Charles I. was yet King, a tombstone in Leadhills Churchyard records that John Taylor, miner, died there "at the remarkable age of 137 years." To "lie like a tombstone" is proverbial; and to prevent disappointment on the part of those curious in such inquiries, it may be as well to mention that there does not appear to be much other than tombstone evidence for the remarkable longevity of John Taylor. The succession of owners and lessees is described with much exactness by Mr. Porteous. In 1562 a Royal grant was made to John Achisone and John Alsowand, burgesses of Edinburgh, "to wark and wyn in the lead mynes of Glengonar and Wenlock," and to transport the ore to Flanders; that the silver may be there extracted, paying to the Queen "fortie-five unce of uter fyne silver for every thousand stane wicht of lead." Thomas Foulis, goldsmith in Edinburgh, succeeded; and his niece, Ann, marrying her advocate, James Hope, after a successful defence of her claims, the Leadhills workings passed to the Hopetoun family, who have held them ever since. Last year, the company working the mine raised about 1,200 tons, or 24,000 bars of 1 cwt. each, selling for the most part at £22 per ton. The lordship is one-ninth to the Earl of Hopetoun, with fixed rent of £52, 10s., the company having all minerals, gold, silver, and lead at its command. The Wanlock mines are wrought by a manager in the interest of the Duke of Buccleuch. Miners work five days a week, and earn on an average all the year round fully £4 per month. Mr. Porteous' book is illustrated by a geological map of the district known as the "Treasure House," and a few engravings by typographic process from the author's drawings. A ghastly view is also presented of what he calls the "Tree of the Christian Church in conflict with Papal fire," and a perplexing diagram of the divisions and unions in the Church of Scotland since the Reformation. This last puzzle is described as elucidated in the author's earlier work on the invincible position of Presbytery, concerning which he holds strong Covenanting principles, and quotes approvingly:— The braid blue bannet still may cleed the pows in green Glencairn, For noo nae mair amang the glens, nae mair amang the hills, The bonnie flowers o' Scotland's faith are nearly wede awa. THE FULLARTONS OF FULLARTON, &c. TRADITION of a kind fixes Fullartons in Ayrshire as early as the beginning of the twelfth century, the first possessor of the barony so named, near Irvine, being probably a follower of Walter, son of Alan, ancestor of the High Stewards who obtained from the Crown grants of broad lands in the counties of Ayr and Renfrew when the family left their Shropshire home to settle at the Court of David in the North. The name has been set down, although not without challenge, as derived from one of two employments-a "Fuller," or cleaner of woollen cloth, and a "Fowler," an important hereditary officer in the Royal household largely concerned in supplying the king's table. Nisbet, in his "Heraldry," seems to have preferred the last-mentioned derivation, and appeals for corroboration to a certain charter in the Haddington collection; later writers rely with equal confidence on an ancient washing-green or "bleachfield" on the south-west bank of the Irvine over against the Royal burgh. The industrial origin of the name is further accounted for by the circumstance that "Fowl" in Saxon is "fugel," "fugel-bono," a fowl-killer. Adam, son of Alam, received a charter of Fullarton lands from James, High Steward of Scotland, about the close of the thirteenth, or early in the fourteenth century. A son, Reginald, who was also infeft into the family lands, accompanied David II. to Durham, and being taken prisoner with the king in that disastrous battle, was one of twenty hostages left in England for payment of his Sovereign's ransom. Succeeding Fullartons were-Rankin, first of the Dreghorn branch; George, designed of Corsbie; and at a long interval of time, James and Robert, brothers, the last thought to have founded the Bartonholme family in the early years of the seventeenth century. John, second son of the above James, served with honour in the French and German wars, and acquired late in life the estate of Dudwick, Aberdeenshire, which remained in his family till the close of the eighteenth century, when it passed to the family of Udny of Udny. A third son, William, became minister of St. Quivox, Ayrshire, and ancestor of two branches of this prolific housethe Fullartons of Thryberg Park, Yorkshire, and of Carstairs, Lanarkshire, one of whose successors sold the property to the late Henry Monteith, Esq. James Fullarton's eldest son, also James, was Sheriff of the Caillary of Kyle-Stewart, and Commissioner for the shire of Ayr in the Scots Parliament of 1643, having also the distinction of being sharply fined by both Charles and Cromwell for his zeal in the Presbyterian cause. He died in 1667, leaving by his wife, of the house of Cunninghamhead, three sons and three daughters. The eldest of the family, William, was apprehended on suspicion of being concerned in the affair of Bothwell Bridge, but so far kept the fortunes of his family together as to obtain a charter from Queen Anne (1707), constituting Troon a free port and harbour, and erecting the town of Fullarton into a burgh of barony. On the death of William, without issue, the succession in the estate opened up to his next surviving brother, George of Dreghorn, father of Patrick, who practised as an advocate at the Scottish bar, and predeceased his father, 1709. George's grandson, William, built Fullarton House, and otherwise greatly improved the family estate. He died in 1758, leaving an only son, who became the wellknown Colonel Fullarton, but was little over four years of age when his father died. Colonel Fullarton received his academical education in Edinburgh, and at the age of sixteen was placed under the care of Patrick Brydone, whom he accompanied in his once popular Tour over Sicily and Malta. In 1775 (as mentioned in the "Scottish Nation," young Fullarton was appointed principal secretary to the embassy of Lord Stormont at the court of France. In 1780 he proposed to government the plan of an expedition to Mexico against the Spaniards, which being approved of, he raised the 98th regiment of infantry, of which he was appointed colonel, though not previously in the army. He and Lieutenant-colonel, then Major Mackenzie Humberstone, raised two thousand men, at their own expense, with unusual despatch, and involved their estates to a very large amount, by preparations for the expedition. The unexpected breaking out of the Dutch war, however, caused it, instead of Mexico, to be sent upon an attack on the Cape of Good Hope; and ultimately it was employed in the war in India. Colonel Fullarton, with the troops under his command, served at first on board Commodore Johnston's fleet, but in May, 1783, he received the command of the southern army on the coast of Coromandel, a force consisting of upwards of thirteen thousand men. His campaigns and operations with this army, in that and the succeeding year, were attended with a rapidity and brilliancy of success previously altogether unknown in that country. On his return to Europe, Colonel Fullarton published "A View of English Interests in India," together with an account of his campaigns there, 1782-84. He was frequently a member of the House of Commons, and was twice returned for his native county of Ayr. In 1791 he was served heir of line and representative of the family of Cunninghame of Cunninghamehead, baronet. (See vol. i., p. 746.) At the breaking out of the French war in 1793, he raised the 23rd light dragoons, then called "Fullarton's light horse," and also the 101st regiment of infantry. The same year, at the request of the President of the Board of Agriculture, he wrote "An Account of the Agriculture of the County of Ayr, with Observations on the Means of its Improvement," which was printed and generally circulated. In 1801 he also wrote an essay, addressed to the Board of Agriculture in England, on the best method of turning grass lands into tillage. The same year he was appointed governor of the island of Trinidad, but returned home in 1803, when he preferred a charge against Sir Thomas Picton, the former governor, for authorising torture on a female slave, which led to the trial of that gallant officer. Colonel Fullarton died at London, 13th February, 1808, at the age of 54, and was interred within the church of Isleworth, where a marble monument, with an appropriate Latin inscription, was soon after erected to his memory. The Fullarton estates at Irvine was purchased in 1805 by William Henry, fourth Duke of Portland, and still remains in possession of that family. The family of Fullarton held, from an early period, lands in the Island of Arran. A cadet of the principal family, said to have sprung from a second son, named Lewis, settled in the island, and his descendants have always been distinguished by the patronymic of M'Lewie, or M'Lewis. When Robert the Bruce landed in Brodick Bay, whilst upon his peregrinations through the Western Highlands, one of the Fullartons directed him to a place where some of his adherents had taken shelter, and were employed in making a temporary fort. For this and other services, the king granted to Fergus Fullarton a charter, dated at Arneale Castle, in Cunningham, 29th November, in the second year of his reign (1307), of the lands of Kilmichael and others, with the hereditary office of coroner of the bailiedom of Arran. The estate of Kilmichael and Whitefarland, in the parish of Kilbride, worth about £800 a year, still remains in possession of the family, the rest of the island being the property of the Duke of Hamilton. Alexander Fullarton (brother of Lewis Fullarton of Kilmichael and Whitefarland) married Miss Macduff, Perthshire, whose mother was a Menzies of Culdares. Charles Fullarton, daughter of Alexander, married Mr. Bowden, father of Menzies James Bowden, Fullarton; Robert Bowden, and Miss Eliza Bowden, of Newton Place, Glasgow. The present Menzies of Culdares is thought originally to be a Stewart whose ancestors assumed the name of Menzies. Old Menzies, the original family, |