Hinc sanitas

"... that no manner of person occupy or practise any points of our said craft of surgery... unless he be worthy and expert in all points belonging to the said craft, diligently and expertly examined and admitted by the Maisters of the said craft and that he know Anatomy and the nature and complexion of every member of the human body... for every man ocht to know the nature and substance of everything that he works or else he is negligent."

In 1505, the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh were formally incorporated as a Craft Guild of the city and this recognition is embodied in the Seal of Cause (or Charter of Privileges) which was granted to the Barber Surgeons by the Town Council of Edinburgh on 1st July 1505.

510 years later the College still flourishes as a modern medical College - its motto "Hinc Sanitas" means "from here - health".

Yesterday, today and tomorrow I'm one of the examination team for the Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons - which is nowadays an intercollegiate exam shared by London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

As a Lay Member my association with the College goes back 12 years. This sculpture - the hand holding the scalpel - by Denys Mitchell - dates from 1994. But the building in the background was built in 1697.

There are many hidden places in the City of Edinburgh like this - where the public rarely come. But they do make me stop to think. 18 years before the first Jacobite Uprising! That building was standing there when William III (II of Scotland) was on the throne. It never ceases to catch my breath.