Mr Borrow-Longain is honoured to have been elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland.

The Society is the oldest antiquarian society in Scotland, and the second-oldest in Britain after the Society of Antiquaries of London. Founded by David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan on 18
December 1780, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, the former prime minister, was elected the first
President. It was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1783, in the same year as the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, and in their early years both societies shared accommodation on George Street and in
the Royal Institution building on The Mound.

Members of the Society collected artefacts of interest to Scottish history and culture from its
foundation, and soon the Society developed a sizable collection. In November 1851 the signing of a Deed of Conveyance with the Board of Manufactures on behalf of Parliament made the Society collections National Property. In 1891 the antiquaries moved into the purpose-built Scottish National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, located on Queen Street.

The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland Act 1954 transferred the powers and duties
relating to the Museum, previously vested in the Society of Antiquaries and the National
Galleries, to a new Board.