Account of the families of Birnie and Hamilton of Broomhill

OF HAMILTON OF BROOMHILL. 65
and his business without satisfactorie answers, he fell upon him with
divinitie, from that to physick, and so to historic in all which he found
Mr James calm, and by far his superior, that he began to imagine that
this was not a man, tho' in humane shape : But for a farder proof he
would needs try him in his own employment, and to law he went, which
prov'd the worst of all, Mr James being too great a civilian for him.
Corsbasket, now so sore dung even in his own trade, was in earnest
afraid, rode off in great hast, and never rested till he was with his West-
Country Club, to whom, in a great surpryse, he declared that if ever man
on earth had converst with the divill, he had, this night by the way.
Clerk Hamilton, after knowen by the Lord Presmennen, then in com-
panie, haveing got from Mr Kincaid all the marks about that divill,
undertook, upon payment to the companie of their supper, and some
bottles of wyne, against the next night, the production of him, which was
done. Mr Kincaid's refuge was a denyal that he was the person. But
upon Mr James his repeating his out of the way questions, and argu-
ments upon them, in that road rencounter, he was obleidged to confesse,
and pay.
Mr James was of good ordinary height, very lean ; and dyed unmar-
ried at Broomhill of ane decay, or rather a sinking of the spirits, the year
after his father, being September 1675; and, as told before, was born 20th
September 1636.
3fof)it Hamilton of aSroom&ilL
There is a precept of dare constat by the aboue Duke and Dutches of
the same lands to him, as heir to his aboue brother, dated 22d February
1693. The aboue John's father and brother dying when he was but
young, his bretheren-in-law at good distances from him, with the takeing
a great part of his own will, made his education somewhat spoyld : How-
ever, he was with a wrytter in Edinburgh a year or two, whereby he at-
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