frame of mind when he arrived in the town to study law at the University in September 1763 and this seems to have quickly turned to depression, as he wrote to Johnson: 2 I arrived at Utrecht on a Saturday evening. I went to the Nouveau Chateau d'Anvers. I was shown up to a high bedroom with old furniture, where I had to sit and be fed by myself. At every hour the bells of the great tower played a dreary psalm tune. a deep melancholy seized upon me. I groaned with the idea of living all winter in so shocking a place.. I sunk quite into despair. I thought that at length the time was come that I should grow mad. I actually believed myself so. I went out to the streets, and even in public could not refrain from groaning and weeping bitterly .. Tortured in this manner I determ ined to leave utrecht i am glad to say that later boswell returned to his studies in Utrecht where he also d to conduct a literary friendship with Belle de Zuylen(perhaps better known as Madame Charriere a novelist in French)and a love affair with the widowed Madam geelvinck I can Iso report that, even though unexciting tunes still ring out from the Dom Kerk, teaching European contract law at Utrecht has been one of the most enjoyable and stimulating experiences of my academic career. Perhaps however one would get closer to Boswells perspective by asking the students whom I taught whether the course drove them out into the city streets to indulge in public as well as private grief Boswells presence in Utrecht reflects a crucial aspect of the history of Scots law. In that history influences from the Common Law of England have been unavoidable from the beginning and waxed particularly strong after the Union of the Parliaments of the two kingdoms, with a common legislature, final court of appeal(the House of Lords), and the familiarity which comes from proximity, accessibility and a common language. But unlike English law, Scots law was also open from the very beginning to what was to become the Continental European ius commune(common law ). The substance of the law was much affected by the universal law of the church(the canon law )and the roman or Civil law taught in the Continental universities at which until the eighteenth century many Scots lawyers underwent their initial legal education. A further effect was that when Scots lawyers wrote treatises on their law, they used the systematics and concepts of the learned laws of Europe, further reinforcing its ius commune characteristics. If this Civilian dimension weakened after the 1707 Union, and in particular from the victorian era on, Scots law nonetheless remains significantly distinct from that of England and in comparative law terms it is correctly classified as a mixed system. 3 In 1924 the distinguished French comparatist Professor Levy Ulmann observed that"Scots law gives us a picture of what will be some day the law of the civilised nations, namely a equally distinguished German comparatists, Professors Zweigert and Kotz, wrote (in the o combination between the Anglo-Saxon and the Continental system'.4 Fifty years later tw translation of Tony Weir) it is clear that Scots law deserves particular attention from comparative lawyers as a special stance of the sym biosis of the English and Continental legal traditions; this may be of some 2J Wain(ed), The Journals of James Boswell 1762-1795(London, 1991), pp 82-83. See also his letter to William Temple, ibid, pp 83-84(Utrecht is a most dismal place) sFor a more detailed survey with literature references see H L Mac Queen, Mixture or muddle? Teachingand research in Scottish legal history,(1997)5 Zeitschrift fair Europaisches Privatrecht 369-84 4H Levy-UImann(trans F P Walton), The law of Scotland, (1925)37 Juridical Review, at p 390frame of mind when he arrived in the town to study law at the University in September 1763, and this seems to have quickly turned to depression, as he wrote to Johnson:2 I arrived at Utrecht on a Saturday evening. I went to the Nouveau Château d’Anvers. I was shown up to a high bedroom with old furniture, where I had to sit and be fed by myself. At every hour the bells of the great tower played a dreary psalm tune. A deep melancholy seized upon me. I groaned with the idea of living all winter in so shocking a place. . . . I sunk quite into despair. I thought that at length the time was come that I should grow mad. I actually believed myself so. I went out to the streets, and even in public could not refrain from groaning and weeping bitterly. . . . Tortured in this manner I determined to leave Utrecht . . . I am glad to say that later Boswell returned to his studies in Utrecht, where he also managed to conduct a literary friendship with Belle de Zuylen (perhaps better known as Madame Charriere, a novelist in French) and a love affair with the widowed Madam Geelvinck. I can also report that, even though unexciting tunes still ring out from the Dom Kerk, teaching European contract law at Utrecht has been one of the most enjoyable and stimulating experiences of my academic career. Perhaps however one would get closer to Boswell’s perspective by asking the students whom I taught whether the course drove them out into the city streets to indulge in public as well as private grief. Boswell’s presence in Utrecht reflects a crucial aspect of the history of Scots law. In that history influences from the Common Law of England have been unavoidable from the beginning and waxed particularly strong after the Union of the Parliaments of the two kingdoms, with a common legislature, final court of appeal (the House of Lords), and the familiarity which comes from proximity, accessibility and a common language. But unlike English law, Scots law was also open from the very beginning to what was to become the Continental European ius commune (common law). The substance of the law was much affected by the universal law of the church (the canon law) and the Roman or Civil law taught in the Continental universities at which until the eighteenth century many Scots lawyers underwent their initial legal education. A further effect was that when Scots lawyers wrote treatises on their law, they used the systematics and concepts of the learned laws of Europe, further reinforcing its ius commune characteristics. If this Civilian dimension weakened after the 1707 Union, and in particular from the Victorian era on, Scots law nonetheless remains significantly distinct from that of England, and in comparative law terms it is correctly classified as a ‘mixed’ system.3 In 1924 the distinguished French comparatist Professor Lévy Ullmann observed that ‘Scots law gives us a picture of what will be some day the law of the civilised nations, namely a combination between the Anglo-Saxon and the Continental system’.4 Fifty years later two equally distinguished German comparatists, Professors Zweigert and Kötz, wrote (in the translation of Tony Weir): . . . it is clear that Scots law deserves particular attention from comparative lawyers as a special instance of the symbiosis of the English and Continental legal traditions; this may be of some 2 J Wain (ed), The Journals of James Boswell 1762-1795 (London, 1991), pp. 82-83. See also his letter to William Temple, ibid, pp. 83-84 (‘Utrecht is a most dismal place’). 3For a more detailed survey with literature references see H L MacQueen, ‘Mixture or muddle? Teaching and research in Scottish legal history’, (1997) 5 Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht 369-84. 4H Lévy-Ullmann (trans F P Walton), ‘The law of Scotland’, (1925) 37 Juridical Review, at p. 390