'The Case of John Buchanan Tide Surveyor at Kirkudbright' is of interest for the insight it gives into the hazards to health of a particular occupation; an excise official responsible for surveying the tides and inspecting wrecks. Buchanan was based at the Scottish port of Kirkubright on the Solway Estuary which was a notorious coast for smuggling. As his detailed account indicates, his work frequently involves being exposed in all weathers. His personal narrative, carefully set-out in the exceptionally neat handwriting of a government official, reveals how constant exposure to damp at work and while in temporary lodgings has left Buchanan, a family man who on his own estimate is aged 'about 35', with a serious chest complaint. We are reminded of the fate of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, whose already precarious health was further undermined when, just a decade after this letters was written, he became an excise officer based at nearby Dumfries. Having reassured Buchanan that his case is 'not yet consumptive' - by which he is implying "not necessarily fatal" - Cullen gives his standard advice in pulmonary cases: wear flannel next to the skin, get fresh air, take gentle exercise and if possible visit the Highlands to undertake a course of drinking goat whey to build up your strength.

David E. Shuttleton

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