Sir James Foulis was the fifth baronet of Colinton

Foulis Baronets

There have been three Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Foulis, one in the Baronetage of England and two in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia....

 and an antiquarian.

He was the eldest son of Henry Foulis, third son of the third baronet He succeeded his uncle, the fourth baronet, in July 1742. In his youth he was an officer in the army, but he retired from the service early, and devoted himself to the pursuits of a country gentleman and to literature.

Foulis died at Colinton

Colinton

Colinton is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated 6 kilometres south west of the city centre. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north-east. To the north-west it extends to Lanark Road and to the south-west to the City Bypass...

, near Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, 3 January 1791.

Works

He in 1781 contributed to the 'Transactions of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland' a dissertation on the origin of the Scots, based on the ancient Celtic language. He also left among his papers for posthumous publication memoranda of a series of investigations into the origin of the ancient names of places in Scotland.