The last sitting of the old Court of Session

Before the Act of 48 Geo. III divided the Court into two parts, all fifteen Lords sat together on one bench, led by the Lord President with the Lord Justice-Clerk beside him; the final sitting under this old arrangement took place on 11 July 1808, and the new two-division system began on 12 November. The volume lists the judges present and gives a detailed account of Lord Woodhouselee (Alexander Fraser Tytler), outlining his education, legal and academic career, major literary works, and his death in 1813, followed by a shorter biography of Lord Robertson, noted for his sound judgement and later retirement due to deafness. It volume entry ends by describing a popular humorous satire, the “Diamond Beetle Case,” which caricatured the distinctive speaking styles and habits of several Lords during the last sitting.