Edinburgh[1] (1570), the inscription on which was also composed by George Buchanan. That at Ormiston is as follows:—
Omnia quæ longa indulget mortalibus ætas
Haec tibi Alexander prima juventa dedit
Cum genere et forma generoso sanguine digna
Ingenium velox, ingenuumque animum
Excolint virtus animum ingeniumque Camenae
Successu studio consilioque pari
His ducibus primum Peragrata Britannia deinde
Gallia ad armiferos qua patet Helvetios
Doctus ibi linguas quas Roma Sionet Athenae
Quas cum Germano Gallia docta sonat
Te licet in prima rapuerunt fata juventa
Nonimmaturo funera raptus obis
Omnibus officiis vitae qui functus obivit
Non fas nunc vitae est de brevitate queri
Hic conditur Mr. Alexander Cokburn
primogenitua Joannis domini Ormiston
et Alisonae Sandilands ex preclara
familia Calder, qui natus 13 Januarii 1535
post insignem linguarum professionem
Obiit anno ætatis suae 28 Calen. Septe.[2]
PITTENWEEM PRIORY, Fifeshire.
Of the old monastery of Pittenweem, which was connected with that
on the Isle of May in the Frith of Forth, only some altered fragments
survive. The priory seems to have derived its name from its being built
close to a cave or "weem" on the shore of the Frith of Forth, with which
it had communication by a vaulted chamber in the garden and a long
straight staircase. The monastic buildings surrounded a courtyard. On
the south side was the prior's mansion (now restored and occupied by the
Episcopal clergyman of the place). On the west side was the refectory,
now converted into the Town Hall, and to the north of it the dormitories.
Some of the walls of these structures still exist, with two square projecting windows overlooking the courtyard. On the east side is the gatehouse, a battlemented structure with a round archway passing through it, now greatly decayed and covered with ivy. Beyond the courtyard to the north lay some outer grounds and a chapel.[3]
