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^h^Jc^H^ ^.
f4.
CaA^/<x4
FAMILIAR LETTERS
OF
SIR WALTER SCOTT
VOL, I
** It was a barren scene, and wild,
Where naked cliffs were mdely piled ;
But ever and anon between
Lay velvet tufts of loveliest green ;
And well the lonely infant knew
Recesses where the wall-flower grow,
And honeysuckle loved to crawl
Up the low crag and ruin*d wall. " ^
Marmum, Canto in.
1 Smailholm Tower, situated amon^ a cluster of wild rucks about two miles from
Dryburgh, was the scene of Sir Walter's infkncy.
S3ia TyjMLTElH S(E©-0"!r.
fnacf9 virtJiKnln^ bouT
JIN'brKC.H D.WUJ DOl'f.l.AS.
I flO-V.
har:'::.'] cgll[u£ iijiiAav
"^ KKS. ja:.::>: t. helds
\/'^^ Pr DEC-;, •.-15.
PKEFACE
/
When I was requested by the Hon. Mrs. Maxwell
Scott to make a selection for publication from
the correspondence preserved at Abbotsford, it
was intended that the volumes now given to the
public should be confined to letters addressed by
Sir Walter to members of his own family ; but other
letters which passed between him and some of his
dearest friends having, through the courtesy of their
representatives, been placed at my disposal, I felt
that they would add greatly to the interest of the
work, and many of them have accordingly been
introduced.
I have done little more than arrange the corre-
spondence in' chronological order, supplying where
necessary a slight thread^of continuity by annotation
and illustration. It need not be said that there is no
attempt at a Biography — that has been done once
for all ; and this selection must therefore be regarded
as forming a supplement to the great work of Sir
Walter's son-in-law. Indeed, my chief motive for
imdertaking it was the following paragraph in Mr.
iliockhart's preface to his abridged edition of 1848 :
— " I should have been more willing to produce an
' enlarged edition ; for the interest of Sir Walter's
' history lies, I think, peculiarly in its minute details
' — especially in the details set down by himself in
' his letters and diaries ; and of course after the
[ " lapse of ten years more copious use might be made _
' of those materials without offence or indecorum."
The period covered by the present volumes :
ffrom 1797, the year of Sir Walter's marriage, tal
f 1825, when he commenced his Journal.'
All the letters are believed to be printed now
I for the first time, except where otherwise stated.
I am deeply indebted to the Lady Napier and
Ettrick for her permission to print the very in-
teresting series of letters addressed to her aunt,
the Marchioness of Abercorn : to the Duke of
Buccleuch for the Buccleuch and Montagu letters ;
and to the venerable Mr. W. H. Baillie for those
addressed to his aunt, Joanna Bailhe.
My thanks are also due to Mi's. Morritt foi
I letters from Rokeby ; to Miss Richardson for thtf
use of the letters to her father ; to the Senatus t
I the University of Edinburgh for access to the Mss.|
in their library ; to Miss Maria Skene for the use
[ of her grandfather's " Reminiscences" ; and to
[ many other friends who have willingly given mftJ
I their assistance.
PREFACE vii
The portrait is taken from Chantrey's bust, now
at Abbotsford, which according to Lockhart '^ alone
preserves for posterity the cast of expression most
fondly remembered by aU who ever mingled in his
domestic circle.'' This has been engraved at the
suggestion of Sir George Reid, who has also
contributed the two vignettes, which are from
drawings specially made by him on the spot.
D. D.
Edznbuboh, 22 Dbummond Place,
October!, 1893.
CONTENTS.
VOL. I.
CHAPTER 1.-1797-1804.
To Miss Cabpenteb —
Courtsliip and Marriage, p. 3-9
Appointed Sheriff of Selkirk-
shire, 4
To Patrice Murray —
Anticipated Gazette Extra-
ordinary, . .9-10
Mifls Carpenter described, 10
Residence at Lasswade Cot-
tage, 11
To William Lai DLAW, 11
From James Hogg—
The Ettrick Shepherd's First
Letter to Scott, . . . 12-15
To Miss Seward —
Border Minstrelsy disposed of, 15
Publishing by subscription, p. 16
Ballad of Cadyow Castle^ . 16
Ladies of LlangoUen, . . 17
Border Minstrelsy, 3rd vol. in
preparation, ... 17
To Charles Carpenter —
Daughter Anne bom, . . 18
John Leyden's genius and de-
parture for India, . 18-19
Home and Foreign Politics, . 20-1
To Lady Dalkeith —
Tamlane, . ... 22
First allusion to the Lay of
the Last Minstrel, . . 22
Feuds between the clans of
Scott and Kerr, ... 23
Burning of the Chapel of St.
Mary, .... 23
CHAPTER n.— 1805-1806.
To Wordsworth —
Wreck of the Abergavenny, . 27
First meeting with Words-
worth and his sister, . 27
Publication of the Lay, . 28
Wordsworth's lines on Yarroio
Unvisit^d, .... 28-9
Ashestiel, .... 29
From Jeffrey —
On the death of his wife, . 30-1
To Miss Nicholson —
Birth of son Charles, 31
From Lord Dalkeith —
Official appointment as Clerk
of Session, .... 32-3
Bor^ Ifist, suggested, 32
Reception of the Lay in
London, .... 33
On the death of Pitt, . 33
To Leyden —
Anxiety regarding Leyden's
health and work in India, . 34
Family news, . . 34-5
Lasswade Cottage and Ashes-
tiel, 36
4th edition of the Lay
published, .... 36
At work on Dryden's Works, . 36
Camp, Scott's favourite dog, . 36
George Ellis's Romances, . 37
Ballantyne and Constable, . 37
Lord Minto appointed Gover-
nor-General of Bengal, 38
ix
CONTENTS
To SOUTHBY —
Visit to London, . . p
Southey'8 Hvstory of Portugal,
A Tweedside reminiscence, .
To Miss Sewabd —
The Lay, a retrospect, .
Wordsworth and Southey
characterised,
Modoc and Thalaha,
JeSiey as a critic and social
companion at Windermere,
To Lady Dalkbith—
Ettrick Shepherd recom-
mended as a land valuer, .
Hogg's reply and criticism on
the Lay, ....
To Lady Abeecorn—
Connection with the Abercom
family,
Domestic intelligence — occu
pation at Ashestiel, ' .
Literary and official engage
ments,
8o7ig on Lord Melville* s Ac
qvittal, and letter from Lady
Rosslyn,
Ashestiel and its surround
ings, ....
The amenities of out-door life.
Lord and Lady Melville,
W. Stewart Rose on the per
secution of the Princess of
Wales, ....
Fbom Jeffbey —
Bequesting contributions to
the Edinburgh Review,
Literary and social gossip—
38
39
39
40
40
41-2
42
42-4
44
44-5
45
46
46-8
48-9
49
50
50-1
51-3
W. Erskine, Thomas Thom-
son, .... p. 52-3
To Lady Abebcobn —
Storms, floods, and destruc-
tion of property, . • 54
Judge Fox-— Charles James
Fox, and Pitt contrasted —
Pitt's approval of Scott's
poetry, .... 55
At work on Dryden, 56
To Lord Dalkeith —
The state of the Borders be-
fore the accession of James
VI., 57-9
Conversion of the Borders
into sheep-walks, . 59-60
Contrast between the depopu-
lation on the Border and in
the Highlands, . . 60-1
To Adam Ferguson—
Braxfield and Maconochie, . 62
Jersey entertainments con-
trasted with Cardrona hos-
pitality, ... .62
Clerk ScolVs Decisions, . . 63
Story of the murder of Begbie
the Bank porter, . 63-4
Separation of old friends, 64
From Adam Ferguson —
Military life and society at
Jersey, .... 65-6
To Robert Surtebs —
Jacobite Rebellions of 1715
and '45, .... 66-7
Personal recollections, . . 66-7
Early reference to Waverley, 67
CHAPTER in.— 1807.
To Miss Seward —
Hogg's Mountain Bard re-
commended, ... 71
Marmion and Dryden, . .71-2
Chaucer, Spenser, and Dry-
den's styles characterised, 72-3
From W. S. Rose—
Dedication of the 1st canto of
MamUon, . . . • 73-4
To Lady Abercorn —
Elections and electors, . . 74-5
VUits Lichfield — Scott de-
scribed by Miss Seward, . 74-5
Reflected glory, ... 75
Progress of Marmion, . . 75-6
To Miss Seward —
Embarrassmentof his brother's
affairs 76-7
CONTENTS
XI
To Miss Smith —
Friendly caations and advice, p. 78-9
To Ladt Abebcorx —
Brother's affairs set in order, 80
Duchess of Bedford, 80
Excursion to Bothwell Castle
— hurricane, and perilous
journey home, ... 81
Cuicelled lines on Fox. Sug-
gestions of Lord Abercom, 82
To Miss Sbward —
Law of self-preservation, 83
Laird of Keir*s butler, . 83
Hardships of a shepherd's life
in the winter, . 83-4
Hogg's Mountain Bardf
Dislike to reviewing Poetry,
Coplestone and Jeffrey, .
Southey inferior to Words
worth in conversation,
From Ladt Louisa Stuart —
Story of the Muncaster cup
and King Henry vi., .
To Lady Louisa Stuart —
" Scotland ever kind to ban-
ished princes," and Mon-
sieur's entry to Holyrood, .
From Ladt Louisa Stuart —
The Knight of Muncaster and
the Luck (hereof.
83
84
84
85
85-6
87
88
CHAPTER IV.— 1808.
To Ladt Abercorn —
Letters of Bums and Clar-
inda, 91-2
Franking explained, 91
If armion published, . 93
Scottish Judicature Commis-
sion, 93
Emigration of the House of
Braganza, .... 94
To Charles Carpenter —
Domestic and political gossip, 94-5
Lord Minto as Governor-Gen-
eral, ..... 95-6
To SOUTHET—
An unconscious plagiarism, . 96-7
JHemains of H. K. White, 97
Letters from a spy, 97
To Ladt Louisa Stuart —
Remarks on the death of Con-
stance, and Marmion's last
moments, .... 98-9
To Miss Smith—
Mrs. Siddons, ... 99
Recommends Joanna Baillie's
Tragedies, .... 99
Charles Mayne Young, . .100
To Ladt Abercorn —
Whig Criticisms on Marmion 100
Reasons for preferring edi-
torial work to original pro-
duction, . . . 100-1 I
Lord Melville — Duchess of
Crordon, .... 102
Death of Lord Scott, . . 102
Dryden*s Ltfeand fTorit* pub-
lished, .... 102
The Morning Chronicle on
Marmion, .... 103
Complimented by the Princess
of Wales, .... 103
To Surtees —
Prince Charles Edward, "that
wandering knight so fair," 104
Comparison of Marmion aihd
the Lay, .... 104
Jeffirey's review of Marmion, 104
From Joanna Baillie —
Criticism on the House qf
Aspen, 105-6
From Ladt Louisa Stuart—
** A foolish fuss about a foolish
Jib,'* .... 107-9
To Ladt Louisa Stuart—
Ugly Meg, the origin of the
story, . . . 110-2
To Ladt Abercorn —
Winter in Spring, . .112
Home politics — Sotheby's new
poem, . . .113
Lawrence's approbation of
Marmioti, . . • • 113
Zll
CONTENTS
Mrs. Riddell of Hampton
Court, ... p. 113
Miss Lydia White, . 114
Plan of writing — promises
greater care, . . .114
"A most ungracious of
Graces," . .115
A publisher's acknowledg-
ment, 115
Gives up assisting Jeffrey, . 116
Scottish Judicature Bill, . 116
To Thomas Scott—
Brother's affairs, . 116-7
An exhortation to diligence in
literary labour, . . .117
lA>rd Somers^s TrcLCts and
Swift, . . 117-8
To Lady Abebcorn —
First meeting with Morritt, . 118
Secretary to Conmiission on
Scotch Jurisprudence, . 118
Longing to visit Spain, . .119
ToMOBRITT—
Discussion on Bishop Bell's
Monument, . . p. 120-3
Sculptured stones of Scot-
land, .... 121-122
Mr. and Mrs. Morritt de-
scribed, .... 121
To Lady Abebcorn—
Family losses at the Priory, . 123
On Dedications, . . 124
Spanish scheme, . . . 124
To Miss Seward —
Dryden reviewed in the Edin-
burgh Beviewy . . . 125
Resolves to please his own
generation, . .126
To Joanna Baillie —
An absurd rumour— Bannock-
bum, 127
Opinion of Jeffrey as a critic, • 128
CHAPTER v.— 1809.
To Patrick Murray —
Elstablishment of the Quar-
terly Bevieir, . . p. 131-2
Projection of the Edinburgh
Annual Register , . 131-2
To Lady Asercorn —
Professional business in Lon-
don, .... 132-3
To Southey —
British Librarian, . . . 133
Literary projects, . 133-4
Wishes Southey to accompany
him to Edinburgh, 134-5
Canning's desire to serve
Southey, . . . 135-6
New Edinburgh theatre, 137
Queen Orraca, . . 137
To Morritt —
Visit to Rokeby, . .138
Curse o/Moy, . 139
Dissatisfaction with Gifford's
management of the Quar-
terly, 139
To Lady Louisa Stuart—
An invitation to Ashestiel,
140-1
To Lady Abercorn —
Reflections on London visit, 141-2
Knowle, .... 142
Thoughts of visiting Ireland, 142
To Joanna Baillie —
Progress of the Family Legend, 142-3
H. Mackenzie — H. Siddons —
and theatrical affairs, 143-5
New Edinburgh theatre, . 145
To Morritt —
Continued dissatisfaction with
the Quarterly, . . . 145
Sonnet ** To my mistress's eye-
brow," .... 146
To Southey —
Canning, EUis, and Souths* 146-7
Morte d' Arthur, . . r ^
The historiographer*! dSc
CONTENTS
zm
Lord Valentia and Brace's
iravelB, ... p. 148
Excursion to the Highlands
suggests a new poem, . 149
Prince and Princess of Wales, 150
Duchess of Gordon at Kinrara, 150
FkomSubtees —
Story of the brown man of the
muirs,
151-2
To SURTEES —
Bartram and the Liddesdale
broken cross, . 152-3
To Lady Louisa Stuabt—
Lady of the Lake in prepara-
tion, .... 153-4
To Mrs. Thomas Soott —
Home news, ... p. 154
Death of Dr. Adam of the
High School, ... 155
To Ladt Abebcobn —
Scene of the Lady qfthe LcJce, 155-6
Lord Clarendon, .
The " 0. P. Kiots,"
Politics,
Duchess of Gordon,
The Hon. Robert Dundas,
156
156
157
157
157
From Lord Mikto —
Dr. Leyden's abilities appre-
ciated, . 157-8
CHAPTER VI.— 1810.
From Leyden —
Dissertation on the Chinese
language, . 161-2
Lord Minto as Governor of
India, . . . .161
Marmion and the Lay in Cal-
cutta, .... 162
Dr. Leyden sketched by Lord
Minto, . . 163-4
To Lady Abercorn —
Re\'iew of Miss Owenson's Ida
of Athtjut in the Quarterly ^ 164-5
Scott as a reviewer — Melville
— Canning, . . . 165
Rehearsal of the Family Le-
gend, 166
Price paid for the Lady of the
Lake — dedicated to Lord
Abercorn, . . .166
First and second love, . 167
To Joanna Baillie —
%Q.QC69B olih.e Family Legend, 167-8
To Lady Abercorn —
Difficulty in finishing the Lady
of the Lake, . . .169
DiBsatisfiEMstion with th^ ^
Tenunent and \o'
Lady Castlereagh's collection
of Swift's letters, . 170-1
To SURTEES —
Lamb ton worm, . . .171
Extinct animals, . . . 172
** Behemoth," the water bull
in Scotland, . . .172
To Joanna Baillie —
Dedication of the Family
Legend, . . . .173
Mrs. Siddons in Jane de Mon-
fort, .... 173-4
Whigs and Pittites, . . 174
Illustrations to Scott's poems, 175
Lady of the Lake published, . 176
Lord Meadowbank, . . 176
Rev. James Grahams, . 176-7
To Thomas Scott —
Reduction of the Militia, . 177
Spread of democracy, . 177-8
Manx customs, . . . 178
Hunting of the wren, . 178
To MORRITT —
CritiolBm of the Lady of the
Lake, 179
UbnryMiim, .180
iindonmbbi, .180
XIV
CONTENTS
To Joanna Baillie —
Duke of Cumberland's adyen-
ture, .... p. 181-2
Mn. Scott's unwillingness to
write English, . .182
Mrs. Hunter, .182
To Lady Abercorn —
Reception of the Lady of the
Lake, 183
Projected visit to the Heb-
rides 183-5
Lady Castlereagh declines to
give copies of Swift's letters, 184
Sir Francis Burdett committed
to the Tower, . .184
From Jeffrey —
Admits needless asperity in
his review of Marmion, 185-6
Criticism of Lady of the Lake, 186
To Lady Abercorn —
Fingal's cave, 186-7
Wretched state of lona, 187-8
Complimentary speech by a
Staffa boatman, . 188
Popularity of the Lady of the
Lake, 188
To Miss Smith—
Procrastination, . 189
Highland tour, 180-90
The English, Scotch, and Irish, 191
To MORRIIT —
Death of James Stanley, p. 191-2
Johnson's verses, . 192
Review of Marmion, . .192
Southey's History of 1809, . 193
To Lady Abercorn —
Fiorin grass and water mea-
dows, . 193-5
Dryden's letters, . . .195
Nobody in toion, . . 195
Dinner according to the ancient
Caledonian fashion, . 196
Monks of Bangor, and other
verses, .... 196
To Miss Smith —
Lady of the Lake dramatised, 196-9
Original of Blanche of Devon
— Scene in Glencoe, . 197
The Highland plaid, . 198-9
To Lady Abercorn —
Edinburgh theatre dispute, . 200
Mrs. Henry Siddons, . 200
To Joanna Baillie—
The King's health, . . 201
Sir John Sinclair's suggestion
for a new poem to be called
the Lady of the Sea, and for
a new play, 202-3
Not insensible to the applause
of a crowded theatre, . 203
CHAPTER Vn.— 1811.
To Lady Abercorn —
Too poor and impatient to
keep MS. poetry long in
hand, 207
Difficulty in the choice of a
subject, .... 207
Politics and the King's
health, .... 208
The Duke of Argyle's mar-
riage 208
Lady Charlotte Campbell, . 208
Scheme of visiting Portugal, 208-9
Anecdotes and pedigree of
Camp, 209-10
Raebum's portrait, 210
To Miss Smith —
Mrs. H. Siddons as Ellen in
the Lady of the Lake, . 211
The Kiught of Snowdoun, . 211
Daniel Terry as Roderick
Dhu, .... 212
Lay of the Last Minstrel
dramatised, . . .212
Dramatic costume for Witch
Dame of Branksome, . .212
Wat of Harden and the "wild
boar of Falshope," . . 213
Stage costume, . .213
General depravity of dramatic
taste, 214
CONTENTS
XV
To Ladt Abxboorit —
Origin of the Vision of Don
Roderick, ... p. 214-5
*' Silver and gold have I
none," . . . .215
Income and expenditore, 216
To J. DUSAUTOT—
Advice to a young poet, 216-7
To Lady Abkrcorn —
Tht House of Aspen, . 217-8
Mrs. Scott as amanuensiB, 218
Urst purchase of land, . .218
Death and character of Lord
President Blair, . 219
To MOBSITT —
Porchase and plans regarding
Abbotsford, . 220
To Lady Abercorn —
Death of Lord Melville, 221 -24
A christening at Dalkeith, . 225
To HIS Mother—
Domestic intelligence, . p. 226
To John Richardson —
Marriage and invitation to
Tweedside, . . . 227
ToMORRITT —
Present of acorns, . . 228
Lady Anne Barnard, 228
The Edinburgh Review on Don
Roderick, .... 229
From Lady Hood^
On the omission of Sir John
Moore's name in Don Ro-
derick, . . 229-31
To HIS Mother —
Walter's tutor in Latin, . 232
To Mr. Hartstonoe —
A monument to Bums's
memory, . . 232-3
Thomson's monument at
Ednam, .... 233
CHAPTER Vm.— 1812.
To Lady Abercorn —
Preparations for removal, 237-8
Lords Holland and Lauder-
dale, .... 238-9
Campbell described, 239
To Joanna Baillie —
Mr. Stark, 239-40
To Lady Abercorn —
Settlement of Mr. Home's
pension, . . 240-1
Proposed residence at Abbots-
ford, 241
Death of Dr. Leyden and the
Duke of Buccleuch, . 241-2
To Morritt—
Lnprovements at Abbotsford, 243
Progress of Rokeby, . 243
Roneesvalles, . 243-4
Death of Lady Aberdeen, . 244
Lady Hood in Lidia, . 244
Charles, Duke of Buccleuch, 244-5
From Joanna Baillie —
Present of a silk purse, . 245
Museum room at Abbotsford, 245
Planting — profits and losses, . 246
Campbell at the British Listi-
tution, 246-7
To THE Duchess of Buccleuch —
The Ettrick Shepherd, . . 247
To his Daughter Sophia —
Melrose Abbey, . . 248
Present of a dog, named
Wallace, .... 248
To Mr. Hartstonoe —
Rokeby in progress, . . 249
Characteristics of the £2nglish,
Scotch, and Lrish, . 249-50
Verses in the Annual Register, 250
To Lady Abercorn —
Ornamenting Tweedside, • 251
French prisoners in Britain, . 251
Change of political parties, . 252
To Morrttt —
The silver chalice, . . 252-4
Edinburgh Review and Lord
Byron, .... 254
CONTENTS
To Chables Cabpentxr —
Home news, ... p. 254-6
To Lady Abeboorn —
The Eembles in Edinburgh, . 257
Rejoicings over the battle of
Salamanca, 257
Planting operations, 258
The MS. of Rokthy burned, and
the poem resumed, . 258
From Lady Abebcobn —
Lord Aberdeen's children de-
scribed, .... 259
To Lady Louisa Stuart —
Proposed visit to Rokeby, 259-60
"Gothic WeU" at Abbots-
ford, 261
Lake of the Fisherman and
Genii, . . . .261
To Joanna Bailue —
A fresh visit to Rokeby with
Mrs. Scott and two elder
children, ... p. 261
Mrs. Barbauld's poem criti-
cised in the Quarterly , . 261
Scott's value of national inde-
pendence, .... 262
A contested election, . . 262
To SOUTHEY —
General election, . . 263
Southey's Omniana, . 263
Lord Herbert of Cherbury —
Henry More, . . 263
Baron Munchausen, 264
To Joanna Baillie —
First half of Bokeby sent to
Joanna Baillie, . . 265
Rokeby Park described, 265
To THE Duchess op Buocleuch—
Rokeby y 266
The original cause of Scott's
writing poetry, . 266
CHAPTER IX.— 1813.
To Lady Abbrcorn —
Byron and his poetry, . 269-71
Recreations at Abbotsford, . 271
Time occupied in writing
Rokeby, .... 272
From Joanna Baillie —
i?oibe&y criticised, .
2723
To Morritt —
Publication and authorship of
the Bridal of Triermain, . 274
Miss Holford and Mrs. Sid-
dons, .... 274-5
To the Duchess of Buccleuch —
Ettrick Shepherd, . 276-7
To Lady Abercorn —
Official duty 277
Spring work at Abbotsford, 277-8
TheKembles, ... 278
The Bridal of Triermain, . 278
R^ected Addresses, . 278-9
The Princess of Wales, . . 279
Intimation of the Laureateship, 279
To Miss Smith—-
Petition to recall Mrs. Siddons, 280
Pinkerton's tragedy, .281
Coleridge's Remorse, 281
From Lady Louisa Stuart —
Criticism of Rokeby and the
Bridal of Triermain, . 281 -2
R. P. GilUes, . .282
Lines on a bank-note, 283
To Lady Abercorn —
Apocryphal verses of Swift, . 283
Morehead's Poetical Epistles, 284
Horace in London, 284-5
Tales of the East, ... 285
Crabbers New Tales, . . 285
Causes (Ulibres of England and
Scotland, .... 285
Supplement to the Border
Minstrelsy,, ... 286
Charles Robert Maturin, 286-7
To HIS Daughter Sophia —
Domestic intelligence, . . 287
A lock of Charles l's hair, . 287
CONTENTS
xvii
To Joanna Baillib—
Sympathy for Charles i.'s
struggles, ... p. 288
Bbhop Juxon's Bible, . 289
Anecdotes of the Civil War, 289-90
To Lady Abebcorn —
Proposed visit to Morritt and
Soathey, .... 291
Proposed work on Causes
Cr'Ubres, .... 291
Romantic story of Carmthers
of Dormont, 292-5
Marriage-law of England and
Scotland, .... 295
To Morritt —
Jeffrey's visit to America, 296
Irving's New York, . . 296
Making provision for family, 296-7
From Morritt —
Suspicion as to the authorship
of the Bridal of Triermain, 297-8
Morritt and Joanna Baillie, 298
Lord Byron's Giaour, . 298
Dr. Parr, .298
From Joanna Baillie —
Miss Edgeworth, ... 299
Madame de Stael, . . . 300
To Morritt—
Button the Geologist, . 301-2
Lord Compton and Mr. Pern-
berton, ... p. 302
Jeffrey's marriage, 302
Proposed visit to Rokeby, 302
Mrs. Morritt's illness, . . 303
To Mr. Hartstonge —
Visit to Drumlanrig, 304
Southey's Don Roderick — a
coincidence, . . 304
To Ladt Abercorn —
The Laureateship declined, 305-6
To Charles Carpenter —
Domestic intelligence, . 306-7
To Morritt—
Admiration for Marshal Beres-
ford, 308
To Joanna Baillie —
Death of the King,
. 309
To Lady Abercorn —
The Tweed in November, . 309
Duty at the Law Courts, 309-10
Further appeal for Maturin, 310-11
Howley, Bishop of London, . 311
Lord Aberdeen as British
Envoy in Austria, . 312
The Princess of Wales, . .312
CHAPTER X.— 1814.
To Mlss Smith—
Madame de Stael, . . 315
Coleridge's verses on Love, . 315
Tireljlh-night at Dalkeith
Palace, 315*6
To Morritt —
Mrs. Morritt's illness, . 316-7
Snow-storm, .... 318
Russian visitors, . . .319
Battle of Leipsic, . 319
Sharpe's "Corinne," . . 319
The Bridal of Triermain, 31 9-20
Henry Weber, . . 320
Monument to Bums, . 320
To Duchess of Buccleuch—
The Ettrick Shepherd, . . 321
Fire at Ditton, ... 321
Wreck of the LoinUy Peggy, 321-2
To Morritt —
Jeffrey's return from America, 322
President Madison, . 322-3
Publication of Waverley, 324-29
From Morritt —
Waverley criticised, . 325-9
Lord Cochrane, . . . 327
To Joanna Baillie—
Orkney and Shetland tour, . 330
XYIU
CONTENTS
Domestic intelligence, . p. 331
Scotland and Wales, . 332
To SOUTHEY —
Southey's Don Roderick, . 332
Trio of real poets, . p. 333
Hebridean recollections, 333-4
Spanish aflfairs, 334
CHAPTER XI.— 1816.
To Ladt Abebcobn —
Publication of the Lord of the
IsUs 337
Vaccination, .... 337
Short excursion to Ireland, . 338
Daughter Sophia, . 339
Sir Thomas Lawrence, . . 339
To MORRTTT —
A feeding storm, . . 339
Funeral of Mackenzie of Sea-
forth, 339
To Joanna Baillie —
Theatrical affairs, . . 340
Domestic gossip, . 340-1
To Lady Abebcoen —
Moore described, . 341
Reception of the Lord of the
Mes, 341
Salt, the Abyssinian traveller, 342
Duke of Buccleuch, 342
Morritt's criticism of Ouy
Mannering, . 343
Visit to London with wife and
daughter, . 343-4
From Thomas Scott —
Life among the Indians, . 344-5
To John Richardson —
Proposed trip to Paris and
Waterloo, .... 346
From Lady Louisa Stuart —
Criticism on poem. Field of
Waterloo, . . . 347-8
Queen of Wiirtemberg, . 348
To Lady Louisa Stuart—
The Duke of Wellington on
a victory, .... 349
Literary engagements, . 350
Motives for writing, 350
To MORRITT —
From Mossknow to Parnassus, 351
Extending Abbotsford, . . 351
Harold the Dauntless in prepar-
ation, 351
Music— Planting — Son Wal-
ter, ... . 351-2
Death of Mrs. Morritt, . . 352-3
Lady Hood, .... 353
Invites Morritt to Abbot8ford,353-4
CHAPTER Xn.— 1816.
To Adah Ferguson—
Proposal to settle on Abbots-
ford estate 357
To Joanna Bailue—
Deerhound Maida described, 358
To Southey—
Waterloo and Wellington, . 359
Duchess of Richmond, . . 359
To Joanna Baillie —
Lord and Lady Byron, . • 300-1
Eccentricities of men of
genius, .... 361-3
Campbell — Southey — Words-
worth, .... 363
To Morritt—
Lord and Lady Byron, .
364
To Terry—
Death of brother. Major Scott,364-5
Publication of the Antiquary, 365
CONTENTS
XIX
To Thomas Soott—
Nephew Walter's welfare, p. 365-6
Agricultural depression, 366
Recollections of Parisian trip, 366
To THE Duke of Bucx^leucu —
Free Masons* Hall, Selkirk, . 367
Recollections of Bath, . . 367-8
To MORRITT —
How to reach Abbotsford, . 368-9
To Joanna Baillie —
Tweedside and Abbotsford
compared with the Con-
tinent, . .369
Byron's character and works, 370-1
Proposed extension of Abbots-
ford, 371-2
Stote of trade, .372-3
To Ladt Abercorn —
Authorship of the AntiqiMry, 373-4
DonuUDhu, .... 374
To Ladt Louisa Stuart —
Liroads of visitors at Abbots-
ford, 374-5
Dedication of Tales of my
Landlord, 1 at series, . 375
Black Dwarf, Old Mortality,
and Harold the Dauntless
in preparation, . . 375-7
Waverley and Thomas Scott, . 376
Morritt's family, . .377
Charles, Duke of Buccleuch, . 377
To Morritt —
Shakespeare's bust and a
cabinet, .... 378 '
Publication of Taies qf my
Landlord, 2nd Series, p. 378
ChUde Harold, part 3rd cri-
ticised — the author's char-
acter and probable end, 379-80
To Lady Abbrcorx —
Authorship of the novels, . 380-1
Planting, .... 381
Agricultural depression, 382
To the Duke of Buccleuch —
Bath as a health resort, . . 382
Tales of my Landlord, . 384
Sharpe's projected publica-
tion, 384
Wodrow, .... 384
Wilson's Heroen and Lives of
the CofferianUrs and anec-
dote, 385-6
Fox-hunting, . . 386
To John Richardson—
Henry Weber, . . 387
Enlargement of Abbotsford, . 387-8
To Terry—
Greyhound Marmion,
Kasmyth and Maida,
. 388
389-90
To Lady Abercorn —
Authorship of the Tales, 390
Thomas Scott, . . 390
Characters and incidents of
the Covenanting period, . 391-3
Old Mortality, a living person, 393
From Lady Louisa Stuart —
Criticism of the Tales, . . 393-5
Morritt in the secret of the
authorship from the outset, 395
CHAPTER XIII.— 1817.
To Lady Louisa Stuart —
Sale of the Tales, .
Proposed improvements and
additions to Abbotsford, .
FRoaff Lady Louisa Stuart —
Public opinion regarding the
399
400
authorship of the novels, 401-4
^/ocik Durar/* criticised, . 402-4
To the Duke of Buccleuch—
Tom Hutson's Minstrelsy, 405
The Regalia of Scotland, 405-7
XX
CONTENTS
From Ladt Louisa Stuabt—
Harold the DaunUess criti-
cised, . . p. 407-9
Mr. Hoole, translator of
Ariosto, described, . 409
Politics, 410
Tales of my Landlord, . 410-11
Morritt, 411
To Terry—
Armoury of Abbotsford, 411-12
Greyhound Hamlet, formerly
Marmion, .... 412
An employer of labour, . 413
From Joanna Baillie —
Review of Byron in the
Quarterly 413
Differences between the poet
and his wife, . 413-20
Lady Byron's opinion of the
review, — ** a wee tate o*
fauset/* . .418-9
To Joanna Bailue —
First attack of cramp, . . 420-1
The Legend of Lady Griseld
Baillie, . 422-3
To Terry—
Further improvements at
Abbotsford, . . .423-5
Lady of the Lake and Ouy
Mannering dramatised, . 425
Dogs, 426
To THE Duke of Buccleuch —
Death of Lady Douglas, . 426-7
To John Richardson —
Legal advice for one of his
gardeners, . .427-8
To Morritt —
Poor-rates, . 429-30
Aversion of the lower classes
to the Poorhouse, . 429-30
Discontent of the unemployed
— low rate of wages, . 430
Unskilled labour, .
Rob Roy in preparation.
p. 431
. 432
To THE Duke op Buocleuoh —
Proposes to introduce Adam
Ferguson, . 432-3
Requests a picture of the
Duke for Abbotsford, . . 433
To Joanna Baillie —
Tour to Loch Lomond, . 434
The Duke of Queensberry's
extensive planting at Drum-
lanrig, .... 434
Domestic intelligence, . 434-5
Lady Byron's visit to Abbots-
ford, 435
Miss Edgeworth's Harrington
and Ormond criticised, . 435-6
From Jeffrey —
Solicits assistance for the
Edinburgh Review, . 436-7
To Jeffrey —
Declines owing to pressure of
work, . 437-8
Invitation to Abbotsford, 438
From Jeffrey —
Invitation to Graigcrook, and
thanks for Scott's reply, 439-40
To John Richardson —
Extension of Abbotsford, 440
From Washington Irving —
Tour in the Highlands, . 441
Dog Hamlet, .... 442
To Joanna Baillie —
Health, 443
Miss Edgeworth, . . 443
Views of publishing, 444
The applause of contem-
poraries, .... 444
Lady Byron's visit, . 444-5
Lord Somerville, . . 444*5
Facsimile Plan of Abbotsford in 1811, — End of Vol.
LETTERS
CHAPTER I
1797-1804
EDINBURGH AND LASSWADE
"There's no illusion there ; these flowers,
That wailing brook, these lovely bowers,
Are, Lucy, all our own.
And, since thine Arthur called thee wife,
Snch seems the prospect of his life,
A lovely path on- winding still
By gurgling brook and sloping hill.
Tis true that mortals cannot tell
What waits them in the distant dell ;
But be it hap, or be it harm;
We tread the pathway arm in arm."
Bridal qf Triermain,
VOL. L
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITERARY WORK
1771—1804
Walter Scott bom 15th Augo&t 1771.
GaUed to the bar 11th July 1792.
Tzanslatioiis from the German— Tlie Choutf
WUliam and Eden, 4to, Edin. Published
1796.
Marriage 24th Dee. 1797, and residence in
60 George Street; 10 Castle Street, 1798.
Laaswade Cottage taken, 1798.
Sony of the Edinburgh L^ht Dragoont,
composed 1798.
Translation of GoeU von B«rUehingem, 8to,
London, 1799.
Visit to London, March 1799.
Father died, April 1799. Daughter Sophia
bom Oct. 24, 1799.
First visit to Bothwell Castle, autumn
1799.
Appointed Sheriff of Selkirk, 10th Deo.
1799.
Ballads-— (?Zen/(nto«, Eve of St. John, Orey
Brother, Fire King, 1799-1800.
Sister Anne died 1801.
Son Walter bom Oct 28, 1801.
Border Minstrelsy in preparation.
Christmas at Hamilton Palace, 1801.
Border Minstreley, vols. L and iL printed
at Kelso, and published by Cadell A
Davies, London, January 1802.
Removes fh>m Na 10 to No. 89 Castle
Street, Edinburgh, May 1802.
Ballad of Cadyow Castle.
Visits the Border in company with Leyden,
autumn 1802.
Daughter Anne bom Feb. 2, 1808.
Leyden's departure for India, 1808.
Visits London and Oxford, April 1803.
Border Minstrelsy, voL ilL published May
1803.
Wordsworth's visit to Scott at Laaswade,
Sept 1803.
Contributions to Edinburgh Revieuh-
Amadis de Gavl \
Sibbald'sChronide cfVin No. 5, Oct 1803.
Scottish Poetry )
Godwin's Chaucer in No 6, Jan. 1804.
EUii' EaHy English \
Poetry [■ in No. 7, April 1804.
ChiUUrton f
Sir Tristrem, published by Constable on
2d May 1804.
Removes from Lasswade to Asheatlel,
May 1804.
Tom Purdie engaged as overseer.
Bequest of Rosobank, Kelso, June 1804.
FAMILIAE LETTEES
CHAPTER I.
TO MISS CARPENTER.^
[About September 1797.]
Since Miss Carpenter has forbid my seeing her for
the present, I am willing to incur even the hazard of her
displeasure by intruding upon her in this maimer. My
anxiety, which is greater than I can find words to express,
leads me to risque what I am sure if you could but know
my present [condition] would not make you very, very
angry.
Gladly would I have come to Carlisle to-morrow, and
returned here to dinner; but dearly as I love my friend,
I would ever sacrifice my own personal gratification to
follow the line of conduct which is most agreeable to her.
I likewise wish to enter more particularly into the circum-
stances of my situation, which I should most heartily
despise myself were I capable of concealing or misrepre-
^ Miss Charlotte Carpenter
<djtughter of Jean Charpentiet of
Lyons and Cliarlotte Volere), who
three months later became Scott's
wife. This letter precedes those
from the lady printed by Mr. Lock-
hart. Scott's conscientious regard
for troth did not permit him to
conceal what he might in the circum-
stances have been pardoned for with-
holding, viz. : that he had recently
been so deeply in love with another
as to be heart-broken. We have,
however, his own confession, made
in December 1825, that his heart had
been "handsomely pieced" again
by this happy marriage, though
*'the crack would remain till his
dying day."
See letter to his mother in Lt/e,
vol. i. pp. 370-372.
8
4 SCOTrS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Sept.
senting to you. Being only the second brother of a large
family, you will easily conceive that tho* my father is a
man in easy circumstances, my success in life must
depend upon my own exertions. This I have been
always taught to expect, and far from considering it as
a hardship, my feelings on that subject have ever been
those of confidence in myself.
Hitherto, from reasons which have long thrown a
lassitude over my mind, to which it is not naturally liable,
my professional exertions have been culpably neglected;
and as I reside with my father, I gave myself little trouble,
provided my private income did but answer my personal
expense and the maintenance of a horse or two. At the
same time, none of those who were called to the Bar with
myself can boast of havmg very far outstripped me in the
career of life or of business.
I have every reason to expect that the Sheriffdom of
a particular Coimty,^ presently occupied by a gentleman
in a very precarious state of health, may soon fall to my
lot. The salary is £250 per annum, and the duty does not
interfere with the exercise of my profession, but greatly
advances it. The only gentleman who can be entitled to
dispute the situation with me is at present Colonel of a
Regiment of Dragoons, an office which he will not readily
quit for that of a provincial Judge. Many other little
resources, which I cannot easily explain so as to make
you comprehend me, induce me to express myself with
confidence upon the probability of my success; and oh,
how dear these prospects will become to me would my
beloved friend but permit me to think that she would
share them !
If you could form any idea of the society in Edin-
burgh, I am sure the prospect of living there would not
terrify you. Your situation would entitle you to take as
^ The Sheriffdom of Selkirk, which Soott obtained in 1799.
1797] TO MISS CARPENTER 6
great a share in the amusoments of the place as you were
disposed to ; and when you were tired of these, it should
be the study of my life to prevent your feeling one
moment's Ennui. When care comes, we will laugh it
away; or if the load is too heavy, we will sit down and
share it between us, till it becomes almost as light as
pleasure itself. You are apprehensive of losing your
liberty ; but could you but think with how many domestic
pleasures the sacrifice will be repaid, you would no longer
thmk it very frightful Indisposition may deprive you of
that liberty which you prize so highly, and age certainly
wilL O, think how much happier you will find yourself,
surroimded by friends who will love you, than with those
who will only regard even my beloved Charlotte while she
possesses the power of interesting or entertaining them.
You seem, too, to doubt the strength, or at least the
stability of my affection ; I can only protest to you most
solemnly that a truer never warmed a mortal's breast, and
that though it may appear sudden it is not rashly adopted.
You yourself must allow that from the nature of our
acquaintance, we are entitled to judge more absolutely of
each other, than from a much longer one trammelled with
the usual forms of life ; and tho' I have been repeatedly in
similar situations with amiable and accomplished women,
the feelings I entertain for you have ever been strangers to
my bosom, except during a period I have often alluded to.
I have settled in my mind to see you on Monday next.
I stay thus long to give you time to make what inquiries
you may think proper, and also because you seemed to
wish it. All Westmoreland and Cumberland shall not
detain me a minute longer. In the meanwhile I do not
expect you to write. You shall do nothing to commit
yoursetf. How this week will pass away I know not ; but a
more restless, anxious being never numbered the hours
than I have been this whole day. Do not think of bidding
6 SCOTTS FAimJAB LETTEBS [Sept.
me forget you, when we again meet — O do not; the thing
is really impossible, as impossible as it is to express how
much I love you, and how truly I believe our hearts
were formed for each other. Mr. and Mrs. B[ird] ^ are
hospitality itself, but all will not do. I would fain make
you laugh before concluding, but my heart is rather too fiill
for trifling. Adieu, adieu, souvenez-vous de moL
W. Scott.
TO THE SAME.
And did my Love really think I had forgot her, or
was going to turn a n^ligent Correspondent, at the very
time when I would give the world to be with her, and tell
her every hour how much I love her ? And why do you
think I should regret leaving Carlisle, if it were not because
I leave my Charlotte behind me ? If you were out of that
ancient and illustrious city, I am sure I should think it
one of the dullest holes that ever Ennui set up her throne
in, and far from regretting my departure, I should certainly
not care a farthing if I was told at the same time I should
never see it more.
That you should be melancholy, my sweet friend, at
contemplating your approaching change of state is not
surprising ; but I am glad you promise not to give way to
such feelings, and that your gaietS de ccear is returning.
If it will help to banish Tristesse, let me again assure you
that every thought of my heart shall be directed to ensure
your happiness. I admire of all things your laughing
Philosophy, and shall certainly be your pupil in learning
to take a gay view of human lifa On s'ennuie d'etre
trisie — n'est-ce pas t
I suppose by this time you have the few lines which I
wrote from Ashestiel, and which my sister filled up. The
place is seven miles distant from the Post Town, which
^ Friends of Miis Carpenter. The Rev. John Bird was a minor canon
of St. Mary's, Carlisle.
1797] TO MISS CAEPENTEB 7
prevents them from having regular opportunities of send-
ing off letters.
Is it not very strange that I should never have an
answer from Mr. Bird ? I really begin to be surprised.
He may perhaps have directed to Hardesty's, tho' even
then they would have had the sense to forward the letter
to me.
We are getting a household servant with a very
excellent character. She has been a long time in two very
genteel families, and understands marketing, etc., and can
set down a decent dinner or supper; not however when
there is nothing in the house. I am likewise buying such
things as are necessary for ua My mother is to give us
some linen and buy us some more ; and, in short, we are
endeavouring to put matters in train. . . .
TO THE SAME.
22nd November 1797.
In consequence of your letter, my dearest friend, I
shall by to-morrow's post transmit to Lord Downshire a
scroll of a Contract of Marriage, for his inspection and
approbation, settling upon my sweet Charlotte as well what
is her own already as what her Brother may be pleased to
endow her with, — a very slender piece of justice on my
part. Alas, my Love, it is all I can at present do for you ;
but I hope better days will come, when I shall be able to
repay you for your disinterested attachment to your poor
friend, poor indeed in everything but his attachment to
you and your love to him.
Lord Downshire, when the paper is revised, must return
it for your signature and mine, after which there will be
no obstacle to our immediate marriage, and I shall en-
deavour to banish every disagreeable idea as it rises in my
gentle Charlotte's bosom. In less than a month, if this
paper is returned, you mtust be mine, for I know you are
8 SCOITS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Nov.
above desiring any causeless delay of what is so very
necessary to my happiness, and give me leave to say, to
your comfort, for I am sure you must be tired of the
noblesse of Carlisle.
I heard to-day from Mr. Bird — a very polite letter,
and arrived just at the time that my Highland blood
began to boil over. I am no longer surprised at his
silence. He had written me when I was in Edinburgh,
which I had answered, and sent him a small pamphlet, the
receipt of which, to be sure, he never acknowledged, for it
happened the bearer had failed to deliver it till the other
day ; so I suppose we were mutually accusing each other
of very ill-breeding.
He has given me a commission to get a seal engraved
for him in a particular way ; ^ now, if I can get (being, as
you are pleased to acknowledge, a man of Taste) something
very uncommon and handsome, don't you think it would
be a more genteel compliment than offering him money
for making me the happiest man in the world ? Ask Miss
Nicholson.* I am most happy you are pleased with the
ring, and still more that she is so, because she is a more
impartial judge of my Taste. In one instance I am sure
it will be acknowledged by the whole world, tho* I fear the
same instance will throw some imputation upon that of my
petite avfiie, I had a visit from Mr. Haliburton to-day,
and asked him all about your Brother, who was two years
in his house. My father is Mr. Haliburton's relation and
Chief, as he represents a very old family of that name.
When you go to the South of Scotland with me, you
will see their burying-place, now all that remains with my
^ The seal here spoken of was expanded is engraved on the stone,
presented by Scott to Mr. Bird, with some Persian characters which
It is now the property of Mr. may be read as "John Bird."
Dobinson, Stanwix, Carlisle It is
a Scotch crystal nearly an inch in ^ Miss Carpenter's companion at
breadth, set in open gold-work. Gilsland, a daughter of the Dean of
The figure of a falcon with wings Exeter.
1797]
TO MISS CAEPENTER
£Either of a very handsome property^ It is one of the most
beautiful and romantic scenes you ever saw, among the
ruins of an old abbey. When I die, Charlotte, you must
cause my bones to be laid there ; but we shall have many
happy days before that, I hopa^ Farewell, my dear, dea/r
Charlotta
TO p. MURRAY.^
Duf 1797.
Anticipated
Gazette Extraordinaiy^
xxii^ Decemher 1797.
Yesterday was married at Carlisle Walter Scott Esq*
Advocate to Miss Margaret Charlotte Carpenter, daughter
to John Carpenter, late of the city of Lyons, Esq'.
Annotations upon the Gazette Extraordinary.
2l8t D€<f. — ^We hear from Edinburgh that the celebrated
Counsellor Scott of that city set out this day for Carlisle
to show cause to the Bishop of that city why a license
should be granted to solemnize the Holy Sacrament of
Matrimony.
We hear from Carlisle that the Miss Carpenter whose
name is to appear in the Gazette Extr' shortly to be
^ Miss Carpenter, who had not
much of the spirit of romance, re-
plies (November 27, 1797) :—
" What an idea of yours was that
to mention where yon wish to
have your hones laid ! If you were
married I should think you were tired
of me. A very pretty compliment
htfore marriage I I hope sincerely
I shall not Uve to see that day.
If yon always have those cheerful
thoQghts, how very pleasant and
gay yon must be ! Adieu, my
dearest friend« Take care of your-
self if you love me, as I have no
wish that you should visit that beaU'
tifid and romantic scene, the bury-
ing-plaoe. Adieu once more, and
believe that you are loved very
sincerely by C. 0."
See Life, vol. L pp. 388-9.
s Patrick Murray of Simprim.
This early friend and correspondent
of Scott— endeared to him by kin-
dred tastes — was a son of Lord
Elibank ; he is frequently referred
to in the Li/e,—Bee Journal, vol. L
135. Mr. Murray was at the date of
tills letter Captain in the ''Perth-
shire Cavalry," then stationed at
Penrith.
10
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Dec.
published is no relation whatever to the Indian Chief
called the little Carpenter, late Sachem of the Shawanese,
but that she was bom in the south of France, and was a
ward of the pnesent Lord Downshira
2l8t Deer. — As the public curiosity has been so much
excited about Miss Carpenter, it may be proper to say that
tinsforivmate young lady is, in the opinion of the whole
world, the delight of the male sex, and the envy of her
own.
In a word, I am tired of my newspaper mode of com-
munication. I am, I am, my dear Murray — how shall I
say it ? — I am to be married to-morrow or next day at
farthest. Of this, my intended deed of desperation, you
should not have remained so long ignorant had I known
how to address you. You may perhaps have remarked
Miss C. at a Carlisle ball, but more likely not, as her figure
is not Yeryfrappant A smart-looking little girl with dark
brown hair, would probably be her portrait if drawn by an
indifferent hand.^ But I, you may believe, should make a
piece of work of my sketch, as little like the original as
Hercules to me. We shall have enough to live upon with-
out being independent of my profession, which you may
believe I shall now cultivate with double assiduity.* As
from being a somer' I am becoming a somee, it is proper to
acquaint you that my dwelling is No. 60 George Street,
^ Mr. Lockhart's description of
Mrs. Scott, on the authority of those
who saw her in her early married
years, may be given here : —
"Without the features of a regular
beauty, she was rich in personal
attractions ; * a form that was
fashioned as light as a fay's ' ; a
complexion of the clearest and
lightest olive ; eyes large, deep set
and dazzHng, of the finest Italian
brown ; and a profusion of silken
tresses, black as the raven's wing ;
her address hovering between the
reserve of a pretty young English-
woman who has not mingled largely
in general society, and a certain
natural archness and gaiety that
suited well with the accompaniment
of a French accent."
' The marriage took place in
St. Mary's Church, Carlisle, on
December 24, 1797.
' SomeTf one who takes free
quarters.
1797]
TO P. MURRAY
11
where I hope you will, upon your first coming to town, re-
taliate some of the hundred visitations with which I have
favoured you. Our corps comes merrily on, and makes a
good appearance. I would march to-morrow, — ^mark me,
even to-morrow, with all earthly pleasure to cut One and
Two at the " Army of England." ^ Success to the English
Army, and D — ^n to the Army of England. Hurrah ! —
Ever yours, Walter Scott.
TO THE SAMK
Edin*, 20ih June 1799.
My deab Murray, — . . . I cannot tell you how happy
I should be to make the little tour you propose, and in
your company ; but to tell you a Benedick kind of truth,
I cannot just at present part from the little lady you saw
at Newcastle. We were unfortunate in losing our first
child,' and you must be married yourself before you can
conceive in the slightest degree the interest which one
takes in an event which is likely to perpetuate his memory,
tel qui 8oit We go in next month to our little cottage
near Lasswade, to rest there for the four months' vaca-
tion, imless perhaps a little trip to Tweedside may vary
our plans. . . . — BeUeve me, ever yours most faithfully,
Walter Scott.
Address — Castle Street, Edin'.
TO WUJJAM LAIDLAW.3
Edin% I2th May 1802.
Sir, — In order to testily as much as possible my sense
of your politeness in relation to the objects of my pursuit,
^ The forces raised by the French
I)irectory for the invasion of Britain
'^ere thus named. The same term
was applied to Bonaparte's army of
invasion in 1803.
» A boy, bom in October 1798.
' The first letter I find addressed
to the aathor of Lucy's FliUin\
For an account of this devoted
friend of Scott see Lift throughout,
and the Journal, After Scott's
death Laidlaw became factor to
Stewart Mackenzie of Seaf orth, and
afterwards to Sir Charles Ross of
Balnagowan, Ross-shire ; he died
in 1845.
12
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTEES
[June
I have to request your acceptance of two volumes of
the MiTistrelsy of the Scottish Border, which I hope may
afford you some amusement. I beg you will keep on the
look out for any old stories may fall in your way, whether
in rhyme or otherwise, and preserve a memorandum of
them against I come to the country. I hope you will not
forget your promise to let me see you when you come to
town. — Your obedient servant, Walter Scott.
FBOM JAMES HOOG.^
Ettrick House, Jum 30, 1802.
Dear Sir, — I have been perusing your Minstrelsy very
diligently for a while past, and it being the first book I
ever perused which was written by a person I had seen
and conversed with, the consequence hath been to me a
most sensible pleasure ; for in fact it is the remarks and
modem pieces that I have delighted most in, being as it
were personally acquainted with many of. the antient
pieces formerly.
My mother is actually a living miscellany of old songs.
I never believed that she had half so many until I came
to a trial There are none in your collection of which
she hath not a part, and I should by this time have had a
great number written for your amusement, — thinking them
^ Few of Scott's own letters in
those early years have been re-
covered, though he corresponded
with many friends whose replies
he carefully preserved, and all of
which are now at Abbotsford.
None of the many letters written
to Hogg or Campbell ai-e forth-
coming, but the reader may be
interested in seeing some of the
replies so carefully treasured by
Scott. This very remarkable letter,
printed from the original MS., is the
first written to Scott by Hogg, and
readers ought to remember that
*Hhis true son of nature and
genius," then hardly conscious of
his powers, '* had taught himself to
write by copying the letters of a
printed book as he lay watching his
flock on the hillside.*' Hogg had
been asked by Liaidlaw to help him
in obtaining materials for the Min-
strelsy \ and they had met Scott
in the previous summer on the
braes of Yarrow, — the meeting so
amusingly described by the Ettrick
Shepherd in his Domestic Manners,
12mo, Glasgow, 1838.
1802] FROM JAMES HOGG 13
all of great antiquity and lost to posterity — had I not
luckily lighted upon a collection of songs, in two volumes,
published by I know not who, in which I recognised about
half a score of my mother's best songs almost word for
word. No doubt I was piqued, but it saved me much
trouble, paper, and ink; for I am carefuUy avoiding
everything which I have seen or heard of being in print,
although I have no doubt that I shall err, being ac-
quainted with almost no collections of that sort ; but I am
not afraid that you too will mistake. I am still at a loss
with respect to some. [Then follows a list of £allads and
Songa]
Suspend your curiosity, Mr. Scott You will see them
when I see you, of which I am as impatient as you can
be to see the songs for your life. But as I suppose you have
no personal acquaintance in this parish, it would be
presumption in me to expect that you will visit my
cottage, but I will attend you in any part of the Forest if
you will send me word, I am far from supposing that a
person of your discernment — d — n it, I '11 blot out
that word, 'tis so like flattery — I say I don't think that
you would despise a shepherd's " humble cot an' hamely
fare " as Bums hath it ; yet though I would be extremely
proud of the visit, hang me if I would know what I would
do Vye. I am surprised to find that the songs in your
collection diflfer so widely from my mother's. . . .
Many indeed are not aware of the manners of this
place ; it is but lately emerged from barbarity, and till this
present age the poor illiterate people in these glens knew
of no other entertainment in the long winter nights
than in repeating and listening to those feats of their
ancestors which I believe to be handed down inviolate
from father to son for many generations, although no
doubt, had a copy been taken of them at the end of every
fifty years, there must have been some diflerence which the
U SCOTT« FAMILIAR LETTERS [Junk
repeaters would have insensibly have fallen into, merely
by the change of terms in that period. I believe it is thus
that many very antient songs have been modernised,
which yet to a connoisseur will bear visible marks of
antiquity. The Maitlen [the Auld Maitland of the
Border Minstrelsy], exclusive of its mode of description,
is all composed of words which would, mostly every one,
both spell and pronounce in the very same dialect that
was spoken some centuries ago.
I formed a project of collecting all the tenors of the
tunes to which these old songs were sung, and having them
set to music . . .; but I find it impossible. I might compose
kind of tunes to some of them, and adapt others, but can
in no wise learn the original ones. I find it was only the
subject-matter which the old people concerned themselves
about ; and any kind of tunes that they had, they always
make one to serve a great many songs.
My uncle hath never had any tune whatsoever saving
that which he saith his prayer to : and my mother's is quite
gone, by reason of age and frailty, and they have had a
strong struggle with the world ever since I was bom, in
all which time, having seldom or never repeated many of
the songs, her memory of them is much impaired. My
uncle, said l! He is, Mr. Scott, the most incorrigible
man alive. I cannot help telling you this : he came one
night professedly to see me and crack with me, as he said.
Thinking this a fair opportunity I treated him with the
best the house could afford, gave him a hearty glass, and
to humour him, talked a little of religion. Thus I
set him on, but good L — d, had you heard him, it
was impossible to get him off again. In the course of his
remarks he had occasion to cite Ralph Erskine. Sundry
times he'd run to the dale ^ where the books lay, get the
sermons and read near every one of them from which
1 Deal or wooden ahelf.
1802] TO MISS SEWARD 15
he had a citation. What a deluge was poured on me of
errors, sins, lusts, coTenants broken, burned and buried,
legal teachers, patronage, and what not! In short, my
dram was lost to my purpose. The mentioning a song
put him in a passion.^ . . .
Pardon, my dear Sir, the freedom I have taken in
addressing you, — it is my nature, and I could not resist the
impulse of writing to you any longer. Let me hear from
you as soon as this comes to your hand, and tell me when
you will be in Ettrick Forest, and suffer me to subscribe
myself, Sir, your most humble and affectionate servant,
Jabies Hogq.
to miss seward.*
Edin» 30th November 1802.
. . . Both Miss Seward's favours arrived safe, and I have
been forming the resolution of answering them to-morrow
for certain for several weeks. But my country amuse-
ments and journeys were succeeded by the necessity of
attending to some family affairs, and besides, I can plead
with too much justice the feeling apology of the sturdy
Neapolitan lazaroTie, to a person who urged him to work,
**My dear friend, did you but know how lazy I am" — a disease
for which no Pharmacopoeia, I believe, affords a remedy,
unless the sharp stimulus of absolute necessity. Since I
had the pleasure of hearing from you, I have disposed of
the property of the Border Minstrelsy for £600 ; and I only
mention this circumstance that you may hold me acquitted
of the vile vanity of wishing to hold myself forth as one
1 Hogg's relation was Will Laid- early letters, was much respected
law of Phawhope, of whom Scott by Scott, and notwithstanding her
wrote that " one of our best reciters long letters and her a£fectations in
has turned religious in his later style, she interested and amused
days, and finds out that old songs him. She was then looked upon as
are unlawfuL'' a literary authority, and even now
' Anna Seward of Lichfield, to her published letters may be read
whose care we are indebted for the with pleasure and profit.
preservation of many of Scott's
16 SCOTTS PAMILIAE LETTERS [Nov.
despising to reap any profit from his literary pursuits,
which I should hold to be ineffable conceit and folly in a
man much richer than myself. The mode of publishing
by subscription is one which in itself can carry nothing
degrading, and which in many of the more extensive and
high-priced publications, is perhaps essentially necessaiy.
Still, however, it is asking the public to become bound to
pay for what they have not seen, and carries with it, if not
the reality, at least the appearance of personal solicitation
and personal obligation. And yet our most brilliant
authors have had recourse to it, and alas ! too often from
circmnstances of necessity disgraceful to the age in which
they lived, and which perhaps may hereafter be dis-
tinguished more by the honour of having produced them,
than by any other attribute. As for Mackenzie,^ he was
only a subscriber to my third volume in the same way in
which Miss Seward is, — ^by contributing to its contents, not
to its sale. I mean not directly to the sale, for I know
how valuable the contributions of my friends have proved
to me in securing the benevolence of the public, and have
often likened myself to a General, who, though neither the
bravest nor most skilful soldier in the army, runs away
with all the profit and half the applause acquired by the
prowess of those who have fought under his banners. I
am highly flattered by your approbation of Cadyow Castle,
which is founded upon a fact in Scottish history, for which
I refer you to the death of the Regent Murray as narrated
in Robertson's History at the end of the first volume, where
you will find the story told in a manner highly picturesque.
Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, by whom he was slain,
had received the most poignant injury at his hands:
his dwelling of Woodhouselee having been plundered by
the Regent's minions, and his wife, a few days after child-
^ Colin Maokenzie of Portmore's^ contribution to the Minstrday was
his own composition of "Ellandonan Castle."
1802] TO MISS SEWARD 17
biiih, having been turned naked into the fields when
covered with snow, in consequence of which barbarous
usage she went raving mad, and died shortly after. She
is the Margaret of the Ballad.
I rejoice that you have met the ladies of Llangollen,^
of whom I have heard so much that I think you must
have found them kindred spirits. My friends Mr. and
Mrs. Dugald Stewart are well acquainted with them, and
great admirers of their accomplishments and manners, a
eulogium which conveys a great deal to all who know Mr.
and Mrs. Stewart. As I hope you read the Bible, and are
acquainted with the propriety of heaping coals of fire upon
the head of a lazy correspondent, I venture in virtue of
that precept to solicit the pleasure of hearing from you
when you can spare me an hour for so idle a purpose.
I am at present busy with the second edition of the
Minstrelsy, and preparations for the third volume, particu-
larly a sort of Romance of Border Chivalry and Enchant-
ment,* which will extend to some length. When it has
made any progress, I will send you a few stanzas, which,
unworthy as they are, will I hope serve as a sort of
peace-offering.
TO CHARLES CARPENTER.^
Edikbusoh, 6th March 1803.
My dearest Brother, — . . . I know that good news
from Scotland will have considerable effect in enlivening
your spirits, and therefore I hasten to tell you that we are
^ The ladies of LUmgollen were gives an amusing description of
Sarah Ponsonby and Lady their adventures, and Mr. Lockhart
Eleanor Butler, of the Bessborough an equally entertaining account of
and Ormonde families. They had left the ladies in their old age, when
their homes in Ireland in roman- Scott and he visited them in 1825.
tic circumstances, and settled in — See Quarterly Review, vol. cxvL
Wales about 1776. These close p. 472.
friends lived in their picturesque ^ Lay of Lcut Mirmtrel.
cottage there for more than fifty ' Mrs. Scott's brother, Commer-
years. Scott, in a letter to Morritt, cial Resident, Salem, India.
VOI>. I. B
18 SCOTT'S PAMILIAE LETTERS [March
well, happy and prosperous. Charlotte, about four weeks
ago, presented me with a little damsel whom we have called
Anne, in compliment to my worthy mother : had it proved
a boy it was to have been a little Charles. Sophia is a
thriving little Scotch girl, and the boy uncommonly stout,
healthy, and robust; in short, quite a model for a little
Hercules.
My worldly matters jog on very well Government
propose to increase the appointments of the sheri£&, which
will put an additional £100 into my pocket. Moreover, I
have contrived to turn a very slender portion of literary
talents to some account by a publication of the poetical
antiquities of the Border Counties, where the old people
had preserved many baUads and ancient songs descriptive of
the manners of the country during the wars with England.
... I am seeking a mode of conveyance to transmit to you
this precious compilation.
You will hear a good deal of our motions &om a Doctor
Leyden^ who goes to Madras in this fleet. Should his
fortune throw him in your way, Charlotte has given him
a few lines to you merely as an introduction, but I must
let you a little deeper into his history. He was the son of
a very petty farmer in Koxburghshire, and had so little
education that at 12 years old he did not know how to
write. Nature, however, had been liberal in her gifts ; ho
caught a taste for knowledge, and under the most depress-
ing circumstances made himself master of most of the
learned languages of Modem Europe, and even dabbled in
Eastern literature. When he foimd his way to Edinburgli
College, his merit by degrees became noticed, and at length
^ This extraordinary genius, hearing the sad news, Southey ex-
whoso name often ocean in these claimed that B&tavia had been too
letters, died in his 36th year, on dearly purchased by his life. Scott
the expedition to Java in 1811. So wrote a short memoir of his friend,
great was his reputation as an which may be read in the Miscel-
Orientalist at this time that on laneoua Works, voL iv. p. 137.
1803.] TO CHARLES CARPENTEE 19
conspicuous. I had the good luck early to discover both
his literary and personal worth, and at different times he
lived a good deal with us, till it was in my power to
procure him his present appointment of Assistant Surgeon
on the Madras establishment, which I accomplished through
Mr. Dundas. Lord W. Bentinck is to countenance him in
his labours, which I suppose will be rather literary than
medicaL He will certainly make an effort to see you if it
be possible. You must be prepared to encoimter and
pardon some peculiarity of manner, arising firom his early
history, and which even his intercoiurse with the first
people here and in London has not erased ; but you will
find this an^ly atoned for by a great fund of knowledge
and native kindness of disposition. He will be able to
tell you a thousand little anecdotes regarding our domestic
habits, etc. ; for things of very little importance id them-
selves are pleasing and interesting when they relate to
separated friends.
I am rejoiced to see that at length you fix a period at
which we may hope for your return to Britain. Happiness
depends so much less upon the quantity of fortune than
upon the power of enjoying what we have, that I am sure
you, my dear brother, after having spent your early years
in acquiring a respectable fortune, will not delay enjoying
it for the purpose of making it still larger. Remember
Scotland will have a claim on you for one part of the
year, if upon trial you like its society and climate; and
I am so true a Scotchman that I think it impossible you
can dislike them. Besides, our women are generally
reckon'd handsome and accomplished, and I hope, not-
withstanding your attachment to old England, you will
give our Nymphs a chance of setting their caps at you.
Your sister says you positively must be married soon after
your arrival, so you must prepare for fetters even in the
land of liberty.
20 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [Mabch
I would send you political news were there any worth
sending; those from France are singularly gloomy. . . .
Subjected to a very rigorous military Government, all
attempt at domestic happiness seems to be given up for
the fracaa of public amusements, and immense parties,
where none dare tell his mind to his next neighbour,
should it involve anything more important than an opinion
on the merit of the newest cantata or Jigv/rante. Besides
all this a pestilential disorder is now raging at Paris.
At home the most remarkable event is the discovery of
a plot to assassinate the best of kings by a set of low
ruffians, the leaders of whom have been executed. Colonel
Despard, the ring-leader of these miscreants, was once in
the army, and had a character for bravery and skill in his
profession. Being entrusted with some presents intended
to conciliate the Chiefs of the Mosquito Indians in the Bay
of Honduras, the worthy Colonel choso to appropriate the
gifts to his o\vn purposes, for which peculation he was
broken by a Court Martial in the West Indies. Having
become totally desperate in consequence of this well-
merited disgrace, he embraced eagerly the opportunity of
avenging himself on Government by embarking in all the
seditious proceedings during the war, which procured him
a lodging in Cold Bath Fields, where his fate was deplored
and howled over by Sir Francis Burdett and other re-
forming members of the House of Commons. The first
act of this worthy and oppressed patriot upon his liberation
was to organise the murder of his Sovereign. It does not
appear from his trial that any persons were associated with
him, excepting the ruffians who were to be the inunediate
actors; but it is generally believed that he acted as the
link betwixt these subordinate agents and a higher rank
of conspirators, as it is hardly to bo conceived that a person
of sense and education would embark in so desperate a
project without being assured of more powerful allies than
1803] TO CHAELES CARPENTER 21
a set of low blackguards not exceeding thirty or forty
in number. Colonel Despard died like a true Jacobin,
neither fearing God nor regarding man.
The peace seems likely to hold, notwithstanding it is
confidently asserted that we are to retain Malta as the only
secmrity against the preponderance which the French have
acquired in the Mediterranean by the cession of Elba, and
the Chief Consul having been placed at the head of the
Cisalpine republic. Those who talk of the retention of
Malta (and I have heard some very high authority on the
subject) reason thus: — if Bonaparte does not wish to
quarrel with this country, or again to possess himself of
Eg3^t, which would produce an immediate breach, then
our cession of Malta cannot be to him a matter of such
importance as to precipitate him into war; but if he really
wishes to have ^gjipt, the removal of our fleet and armies
from. Malta will be an indispensable preliminary, and such
a removal would be followed by his immediately invading
E^^rpt, and consequently by a war with this country under
circumstances much more unfavourable than if we still
held Malta; so that the proposed cession might accelerate,
but could not possibly avert, a breach with France. Such
were the sentiments which I heard delivered by a very
eminent statesman, and I think there is good sense in them,
though I do not pretend to understand the subject
To return to domestic afiairs ; as soon as your sister is
quite recovered, I intend we shall go to London, where I
am called by some professional business ; so we shall have
the pleasure of seeing all our good firiends in Piccadilly,^
which will be no small gratification to me as well as to
Charlotte. She is recovering from her indisposition un-
conunonly well, and desires a thousand expressions of the
kindest affection to you. Joining cordially in all her good
wishes, I am ever, most sincerely, your truly affectionate
brother, Walter Scott.
1 The Dnmergues, old and tried friends of Mrs. Scott*8 mother.
2-2 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [1803
TO HARRIET, COUNTESS OF DALKEITH, afterwards
DUCHESS OP BUCCLEUCH.^
Mr. Scott has the honour to return to Lady Dalkeith
Mr. Seattle's copy of Tairdane with most respectful thanka
Mr. Scott has adopted several of the verses, which are very
beautiful, particularly those describing the march of the
Fairies, although they have rather a modem cast. It is
presumed Mr. B. is no poet himself, but is there not or has
there ever been a rhyming clergyman in the neighbour-
hood ? The following verse is certainly too polished for a
popular ballad : —
We sleep in rosebuds soft and sweet,
We revel in the stream,
We wanton lightly on the wind,
Or glide on a sunbeam.'
Mr. Scott sends for Lady Dalkeith's perusal 3 cantos of
an unfinished poem, in which her Ladyship wiU recognize
her friend Gilpin Homer — at least the general idea of
the Goblin page is taken from that tale. To make the
story fully intelligible a number of historical notes will
be necessary ; in the meantime Lady Dalkeith will have
the goodness to attend to the following facts.
Dame Janet Beatoun, Lady Buccleuch, who flourished
in Queen Mary's time, was a woman of high spirit and
great talents. According to the superstition of the times,
the vulgar imputed her extraordinary abilities to super-
natural knowledge. If Lady Dalkeith will look into the
Introduction to the Border Ballads, pages xv. and xxix.,
^ This first letter regarding the and all were sent by Scott, no doubt,
Lay of the Last Minstrel gratified to interest Lady Dalkeith in his
the noble lady to whom it was brother bards,
addressed. It is stiU preserved at ^ Although Scott suspected the
Dalkeith, together with a handful modem origin of the lines, he in-
of Scott's and Campbell's verses serted them in his version of Tarn-
(then unpublished), apparently in lane^ but Professor Child has not
the clear flowing penmanship of included the doubtful stanzas in
both poets. Among them is a his critical edition of Ehtglish and
transcript of Hogg's Oilmansdcught Scotch Ballads,
1803] TO LADY DALKEITH 23
she will find some accounts of a deadly feud betwixt the
clans of Scott and Eerr, which, among other outrages,
occasioned the death of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch,
the husband of Janet Beatoun, who was slain by the Eerrs
in the streets of Edinburgh. The lady resented the death
of her husband by many exploits against the Eerrs and
their allies. Li particular the Laird of Cranstoun fell
under her displeasure, and she herself headed a party
of 300 horse with the intention of surprising and killing
that baron in the Chapel of St. Mary, beside St. Mary's
Loch at the head of Yarrow. The baron escaped,
but the lady burned the chapel and slew many of his
attendant& She possessed interest enough with Queen
Maiy to procure the reversal of a sentence of forfeiture
pronounced against Walter Scott of Harden and other
gentlemen who had attended her upon the expedition.
The feud was finally ended by Cranstoun marrying
the lady's daughter. It must also be remembered that
Sir Michael Scott is renowned in tradition as a wizard.
His books were supposed to be buried with him, but no
one durst dig them up on account of the terrible spells
which they contained.
The poem has drawn itself out to such a length that
it cannot be received into the third volume of the
Minstrelay ; when finished it will consist of four or five
cantos. Mr. Scott has thought of publishing it separately
and inscribing it to Lord Dalkeith, if his Lordship will
pennit it to be honoured with his nama When Lady
Dalkeith has satisfied her curiosity, and that of any of her
noble friends, if her Ladyship will have the goodness to
return the loose sheets, Mr. Scott hopes soon to request
her Ladyship's acceptance of a complete copy.^
Castlb Strext— Monday.
^ For the origin and growth of Minstrel, prefixed to the large 8vo
this poem, see the aatobiographical edition of the Poems,
introduction to the Lay qf the Last
CHAPTER II
1805-1806
EDINBURGH AND ASHESTIEL
" O, dread was the time, and more dreadful the omen,
When the braTe on Marengo lay slaughtered in vain,
And, beholding broad Europe bow'd down by her foemen,
Pitt closed in his anguish the map of her reign !
Not the fate of broad Europe could bend his brave spirit
To take for his country the safety of shame ;
O then in her triumph remember his merit,
And hallow the goblet that flows to his name."
Song at the Pitt Atmiversary,
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITERARY WORK
1805-1806
Lay 9i Latt Minttnl, pabllshed by Long-
rnaoB in 4to, Jannaiy 1805.
Ftftnerahlp ^th James BaUftntyne as
Printer, Ifay 1805.
Song, TheBar^sIneaniation, aatamn 1805.
Visit to Cumberland and the Lakes, do.
Dryden undertaken.
Son Charles bom Dec. 84th, 1805.
Visit to London regarding appointment as
Clerk of Session, February 1806.
Appointment confirmed, March 8th, 1800.
Melville Banquet, June 27th, 1806i
Ballads and Lyrical Pieces published in
8to, Longmans, Sept. 1800.
Slingsby and Hodgson's Memoirs published
in 8vo, Constable, Oct. 1800.
Contributions to Edinburgh BevUw—
FroUsart \
Col. TJwmton'M y in No. 10, Jan. 1805.
Sporting Tour /
Godwin's Flnttoood in No. 11, April 1805
Ossian \
New Practice </ V in No. IS, July 1806
Cooking J
Todd'e Spenser in No. 18, Oct 1805.
mi^ Early i^o- 1 m No. 14, Jan. 1800.
mances f
Mieeries qf Htman^
Herbert's Poems
and TranslO'
tUms
*inNo. 17, Oct.1800.
S6
CHAPTER II.
TO WORDSWORTH. 1
Edinbuboh, 16th March 1805.
My dear Wordsworth, — I duly received both your let-
ters, and, before the last arrived, had deeply sympathised in
your late melancholy los&^ The same dreadful catastrophe
deprived me of a near relation,' a delightful and promising
youthy the hope and pride of his parenta He had just
obtained a cadetship, and parted £rom ns in all the ardour
of youthful hope and expectation, leaving his father (a
brother of my mother) almost heartbroken at his departure.
But I will not dwell on the grief and despair which his
£Eite occasioned, except to assure you that in the scenes of
distress which I was obliged to witness, and in which
indeed I shared sincerely, I often thought of the similar
effects which the same disastrous event must necessarily
have produced in your Uttle family of Love. I hope you
\nll struggle against the too great indulgence which grief
is apt to exact, and that Miss Wordsworth will call her
admirable good sense to assist her in calming her feelings
imder this unexpected and dreadful blow. It is a vile
^ Readers of Dorothy Wordi-
worth's SecoUedians of a Tovr do
not require to he reminded that
Soott and Wordsworth met for the
first time at Lasswade Ck>ttage in
September 1803. Many of Words-
worth's letters to Scott have been
printed by Mr. Lockhart and Pro-
fessor Knight, but there are few of
Soott's to Wordsworth existing,
and the above is the only one
available for this book.
3 The Shipwreck of the Aber-
gavenny, East Indiaman, com-
manded by Wordswo;*th's brother
John.
^ A son of Dr. Daniel Ruther-
ford.
«7
28 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [March
selfish inaxim to say " Sorrow not for what cannot be re-
called/' and those who can give the advice are, I hope, the
only persons who could accept of the consolation it affords.
But that which is has stronger claims on us than that
which is gone, and I hope in the discharge of your mutual
duties, and in the task of mutual consolation your sorrow
will in time be robbed of its bitterness.
I am truly happy that you have foimd anything to
interest or amuse you in my romanca^ It has the merit
of being written with heart and good will, and for no
other reason than to discharge my mind of the ideas
which from infancy have rushed upon it I believe
such verses will be generally found interesting, because
enthusiastic.
Having thus expelled firom my brain the Fiend of
Chivalry, and sent him to wander at will through the
world, I must sweep and garnish the empty tenement and
decorate or rather fill it with something useful, lest the
former tenant should return with seven devils worse than
himself, and take possession for good and aye.
And now let me tell you that I am very much flattered
by your choosing Yarrow for a sulyect of the verses sent
me in your first letter, which shall not pass out of my own
hand, nor be read except to those worthy of being listeners.
At the same time, I by no means admit your apology, how-
ever ingeniously and artfully stated, for not visiting the
bonnie holms of Yarrow, and certainly will not rest till I
have prevailed upon you to compare the ideal with the
real stream. We are usually now (during the vacation of
the court) within three miles of Yarrow by a wild and
moimtainous pass. Our own farm is on Tweedside, a
sweet and simple spot, which I hope you will one day visit
I intended a poetical request of this nature in your owii
measure and versification, but postpone it for the present
* The Lay of the Lust MinstreL
1805]
TO WORDSWORTH
29
We have Broad-meadow upon Yarrow, which, with the
addition of green or fair or any other epithet of one syllable,
will give truth to the locality and supply the place of
Bumhill meadow, which we have not^ There are some
good lines in the old BaUad, the hunted hare for instance,
who mourns that she must leave fair Leaderhaugh and
cannot win to Yarrow. And this from early youth has
given my bosom a thrill when sung or repeated.
For many a place stands in hard case,
Where blithe folks kend nae sorrow ;
'Mongst Homes that dwelt on Leader side,
And Scotts that lived on Tarrow.^
I like your swan upon St. Mary's Lake. How' came
you to know that it is actually frequented by that superb
bird?
My mind is much set upon accepting your flattering
invitation this approaching [autimm]. Our courts do not
rise till the 12th of July, when we have some liberty, and
I would fain hope that I may be then able to see you on
the banks of Derwent among the scenes you have im-
mortalised.* But I have many duties to discharge, and
cannot always be the absolute master of my own time.
May I hope to hear from you at your leisure moments ? I
b^ kindest compUments to your sister and Mrs. Words-
worth, in which Charlotte cordially joins. — Yours truly,
W. Scott.
^ The verses referred to of coarse
were Yarmw UnvmUd. Words-
worth had requested a name more
tme to the place than ** 6am Mill"
in the line
** The sweets of Bum Mill meadow."
The line, howeyer, stands in the
published poem as onginaUy
written, and with good reason, as
the name occurs in one of the old
Yarrow songs.
' From *' Leader Ilaughs and
Yarrow." — See Ramsay's Tea
Table Miscellany,
' Mr. and Mrs. Scott went to the
English Lakes before the summer
was over, and there met the Words-
worths, and also Humphry Davy
and Southey.
Southey returned Scott's visit in
October, when he spent three days
at Ashestiel.
30
SCOTTS PAMILIAB LETTERS [August
FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY/
Edinbuboh, I9th August 1805.
Mt dear Scott, — It is not a trouble but a great pleasure
and consolation to me to answer your kind letter. I am
indeed at this moment of all men the most miserable and
disconsolate ; but it is a kind of relief for me to talk of my
wretchedness to those at least who have given me proofs
of their sjnnpathy without any solicitation. .
You do not know, my dear Scott, how entirely I had
limited all my notions of earthly happiness to domestic
society and affection, and how completely I had found it
there without iatermission or alloy. It was rather early to
part with it, and just when fortune was beginning to smile
upon us, and Mends to increase in number and value.
I cannot come soon to AshestieL That journey was
almost the latest subject of my poor Kitty's soUcitude, and
she talked of it with dehght and confidence almost as long
as she was able to talk of anything. There is nothing
indeed which melts and overcomes me so completely in
the recollection of her last illness, as the imquenchable and
imbroken hope with which she looked forward to her
recovery and future enjoyments. . . . She had been so
often ill, indeed, and had always recovered so rapidly that
it scarcely entered into my imagination that there could
be one illness of which she could not recover, and the
^ Scott had known Jeffrey very
intimately from 1792, and when the
latter became Editor of the Edin-
hurgh Beview he naturally joined
him as contributor and near ally.
For a few yean (1803-1806) there
was scarcely a number of the
Review which did not contain one
or more articles from his pen, but
Jeffrey's political papers gradually
lessened Scott's zeal, and finally, in
1808, when the Quarterly was
planned, changed his friendly con-
tributor into an avowed opponent
of the critic, though his friendly
feelings for the man remained nn*
altered.
Of Scott*s early letters to Jeffrey
none have been preserved, and
there is only one of 1818 which is
printed in the Appendix to Cock-
bum's life of hiB friend.
The foregoing touching note
from Jeffrey refers to the death of
his young wife.
1805] PEOM FEANCIS JEFFREY 31
cheerful magnanimity of her temper charmed away all
apprehensions from those who were about her.
I am very well, I thank you, except that I have miser-
able nights and feel torpid all day. I have some thoughts
of going into the coimtry for a day or two, but I cannot
force myself to leave my Kitty's grave at a distanca I
hope to be able to come to you by and bye, and am always,
dear Scott, v^ry gratefully and affectionately yomrs,
F. Jeffrey.
I am afraid I shall be able to do but little for the
JReview next time. I rely on your friendship to help to
supply my deficiency.
TO MISS NICHOLSON.^
Edinbusoh, 24^ December 1805.
My dear Miss Nicholson, — I have the pleasure to
acquaint you that Charlotte last night added a little boy
to our fEunily, and that they are both as well as you could
wish — that is, as well as possibla In every other respect
your Castle Street friends have every reason to be con-
tented and happy. Our family are healthy and strong ;
your little favourite, Sophia, turns out a very clever sdrl
of her .ge, and gives greift content to her instmctors. I^
at pains with her education, because you know '' learning
is better than house or land." At the same time, my own
prospects are so fiedr that I have every reason to think 1
shall soon be able to make a very decent provision for my
little peopla This little fellow is to be called Charles,
alter brother Charles, whose sudden marriage gave us both
pleasure and surprise. I incline to think that this con-
nection will induce him to remain some time longer in
India As my coimtiywomen, like my countrymen, go all
^ Miss Nicholson had been Mrs. Scott*8 companion and friend before
marriage, ante, p. S.
32 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS. [Feb.
over the world, I have taken it into my head he may
have lighted upon one of them.
Adieu, my dear Madam : I hope you will let me know
you are well and happy. — Believe me, your very faithful
humble servant, Walter Scott.
FROM LORD DALKEITH.
Dalkeith House, February 20, 1806.
My dear Sir, — I do most cordially and sincerely
felicitate you on having obtained your commission at last,
from the Secretary's oflSce. I should have said "Gratulor"
sooner, had I not been somewhat more occupied lately
than usual with a variety of avocations, — none very plea-
sant.
My children are going on very well, which (as you know)
is a salve to a parent's mind, however otherwise distressed.
Lord Spencer (as a professed Patron of Literature) has
done what he ought to have done in regard to you, inde-
pendent of the fairness of the request. You are now to
snap your fingers at the Bar. But you are not to be idle.
We shall expect much from your leisure. Why have we
no good, compendious Border History?^ Not because
it is not wanted, but because no person willing, or compe-
tent to the task has yet imdertaken a work interesting to
most, but particularly so to many of your best friends and
admirers.
You are too modest in comparing yourself to anything
extraordinary in the deficiency or superabundance of
nature (vide your own letter).- For the credit of London,
^ See Scott's Ijetter to Lord don, 11th February, intimating
Dalkeith, Nov. 23, 1806, p. 59 of that he had been saccesaful in ob-
the present volame. taining his appointment as Clerk of
- This excellent letter from Session. The office was worth
Charles, Earl of Dalkeith, after- about £1000 (subsequently £1300)
wards 4th Duke of Bucdeuch, is a a year, but until 1811 Scott derived
reply to one from Scott dated Lon- no pecuniary benefit from it, as he
1806] FROM LORD DALKEITH 33
let it be said that the Last Minstrel is not unnoticed,
but that he is "high placed in hall a welcome guest"
This shows the intrinsic merit of your work.
We have many local reasons for admiring the poem.
The Londoners have no reason for admiring it but that
it possesses real general merit, and might be read with
interest and infinite pleasure by an erudite and judicious
Englishman, as well as by a partial Borderer or Scott.
Talk not, think not, of Politics ; go to the Hills and
converse with the Spirit of the Fell, or any spirit but the
spuit of party, which is the feUest fiend that ever dis-
turbed Harmony and social pleasure. One cannot keep
quite clear of its clutches, but thank God, it has only
slightly scratched me as yet. My star of attraction is set.^
I shall only say he was the mightiest man (take him for
all in all) that ever lived. His last effort to recover the
lost liberties and independence of Europe, the means he
imagined, and those he realised, were truly gigantic. He
could not control fate; far less could he make Mack a
General, or Francis ^ a rational being. Peace to his manes
and honour to his memory, and in my mind imutterable
grief and eternal regret Lady D. desu^s to be kindly re-
membered. — ^Yours sincerely, Dalkeiih.
TO LEYDEN.
Edinbubgh, 5th July 1806.
My dear Leyden, — ^You cannot doubt that the
receipt of your letter' from Pulo Penang, dated 20th
had arranged that bis predecessor, previous month.
Mr. George Home, sbonld draw the ^ The Austrian Emperor and his
whole salary as long as he lived ; an General.
arrangement which gave rise to ' Not in the Abbotsford collec-
many humorous complaints in his tion. A characteristic epistle from
lett«ra for the next five years, on Pulo Penang to another friend,
hia old friend being such an adept dated October 24th, 1805, is given
in the art of prolonging life. See by Scott in the Biography of
Life, vol. ii. pp. 305-8. Leyden. Prose Works, vol. iv. pp.
« Pitt died on the 23rd of the 178185.
VOL. L C
34 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [July
November, gave Charlotte and me the greatest pleasure,
more especially as it contains the very first lines which we
have received from you since you went to Lidia, or indeed
which have ever reached Europe, excepting a letter of some
length to your father. But it was doubly acceptable at
the present moment, because the reports of your illness
reached Europe in such an exaggerated form, that we had
every reason to apprehend we had lost you entirely, which
you may imagine gave us sincere distress. Letters have
also arrived safe to Heber, to Ballantyne, to Constable,
and I believe, to some of your other friends.
I am happy to see your health is mending ; pray take
care of it for the sake of your friends and of literature.
You may sow the seed and raise the crop of Oriental
acquisitions in tidia; but we in Europe are, by all the
rules of the East India Company, entitled to the exclusive
profit of the harvest, and should you disable yourself frx)m
transmitting us our lawful dues, it wiU be but a sony
account of your stewardship.
I wish from my soul, the brass cauldron in which you
traversed the Indian torrent had possessed the qualities
of Medea*s kettle, and renewed you, blood, liver, lights, and
limb, to the fuU vigour of a true Moss-trooper. In the
circumstances, however, I should have been rather alarmed
that the previous process of hewing to pieces might have
preceded the embarkation without producing the same
marvellous eflfects experienced by Osen,^ or whatever his
name was.
Now, as I know you must be gasping for European
intelligence, I wiU endeavour to gratify you with such par-
ticulars as I think will be interesting to you. In the first
place, as to my own affairs, your little friend and hostess
continues the same kind and affectionate companion. She
begs to be very kindly remembered to you, and we very
^ JSson, Jason's father.
1806] TO LEYDEN 35
often talk of you, and mourned long over what then
seemed to me your unaccoimtable silenca We beg you
will take the greatest care of your letters in future, and you
may depend upon hearing from me very often. Indeed, I
should have written long ere now, but had no means of
directing to you.
The cottage is no longer in our possession. We
abandoned it with regret ; but it was grown too small for
my increasing family, and the neighbourhood began to be
inconveniently populous. I therefore have taken a lease
of the house and estate of AshestieL You remember this
little mansion upon the Tweed, where we dined with the
Miss Rutherfords and the Miss Bussella I have subset the
whole of the sheep farm, which is valuable and extensive,
and retained in my own hands a small arable farm for
cows, horses, sheep for the table, etc. Here we live all the
summer like little kings, and only wish that you could
take a scamper with me over the hills in the morning, and
return to a clean table-cloth, a leg of forest mutton, and a
blazing hearth in the afternoon. Walter has acquired the
surname of Gilnockie, being large of limb and bone, and
dauntless in disposition, like that noted chieftain. Your
HtUe friend Sophia is grown a tall girl, and I think promises
to be very clever, as she discovers uncommon acuteness
of apprehension. We have, moreover, a little roundabout
girl with large dark eyes, as brown, as good-humoured, and
as lively as the mother that bore her, and of whom she is
the most striking picture. Over and above all this there
is in renvm matv/ra a certain little Charles, so called after
the Knight of the Crocodile ; but of this gentleman I can
say but little, as he is only five months old, and conse-
quently not at the time of life when I can often enjoy the
honour of his company.
I have exchanged my practice at the Bar in order to
become one of the principal Clerks of Session, which, with
36 SCOTT'S FAMHilAB LETTERS [July
my Sheriffdom, forms a very good oflScial appointment.
The worst of it is that I draw little immediate profit from
my new office till the death of an old gentleman who
resigned in my feivour; but it is to be supposed he will
soon make a final resignation of it, when I succeed to near
£1000 a year, which, as you know my habits are more for
comfort than show, will amply supply my turn.
About literary labours I must inform you that the
fourth edition of the Lay is just come out, and is to be
followed by an edition of the Minstrelsy and of Sir
Tristrem, I will take the safest measures I can to for-
ward to you sets of these books and of any others which
I think likely to interest you. The reception of the Lay
has been very flattering, and the sale both rapid and
extensive.
I am somewhat tempted to undertake a Highland poem
upon the same plan. Meanwhile my present grande opus
consists in an uniform edition of Dryden's works, which, as
you know, have never been collected, with notes critical
and illustratory by the Editor. This fills up most of my
leisure hours, and as the duties of my office are very
slight, — which was indeed my principal motive for asking
it, — these leisure hours are numerous. I only wish
I could have your assistance as formerly in arranging,
digesting, and contributmg to my labour, or rather to my
amusement.
I have one or two trifling undertakings besides Dryden,
but they are hardly worth mentioning, though I may
probably detail them in another letter before these ships
saiL
Campi is as much in favour, as stout and hearty as ever.
^ The earliest of Scott's favourite which Scott gave to Mr. Stevenson,
dogs. He is figured in Saxon's Bookseller, Edinburgh, with a de-
portrait of his master, and in scription of the dog, which by the
Raebum's picture now at Bowhill. courtesy of Mr. T. G. Stevenson ia
Howe also painted Camp's portrait, now printed at page 209.
1806.] TO LEYDEN 37
He had a very violent illness about a year ago, which had
like to have carried him off He was unable to stir for
about two days, and eat nothing but some milk, which I
forced into his mouth with a teaspoon; but by dint of
using that noble remedy v/a petit lavement, frequently
repeated, we brought on a crisis, and his health was re-
stored, to the general joy of the family.
Enough of myself; so let me now tell you of some other
friends. I was in London last spring, where I saw Heber
frequently. His father being now dead and he in posses-
sion of a large property, his diligence indefatigable, and his
taste undoubted, he will be soon in possession of the
noblest library in England. EUis,^ poor fellow, is a martyr
to the hver, but carries on his studies with vigour. He
has finished his Bomancea in three volumes — a most lively
and entertaining performance. Most of those in the
Auchinleck ms. — our old friend — were well ransacked upon
this occasion. Yet, though I cannot teU why, this work
has not been quite so popular as the Specimens, To come
nearer home, Ballantyne continues to flourish like a green
bay tree, but instead of being planted by a river, he has
established at the bottom of St. Mary's Wynd a hall, equal
to that which the Genie of the lamp built for Aladdin in
point of size, but rather less superbly furnished, being
occupied by about a dozen of presses.
Constable goes on to improve in circumstances, trade,
and size. He has associated with him young Hunter of
Blackness, who, bringing £3000 or £4000 to the stock, has
enabled him to outdo his former outdoings.
Tom Brown* is well, but having published a collection
of poems which were rather too metaphysical for the
public taste, he has become shyer than ever.
^ George Ellis, the accomplished ^ Dr. Thomas Brown, afterwards
anthoT of ihe Specimens qf the Early Professor of Moral Philosophy,
English Poets, 3 yoUl, etc Edinburgh.
38 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Apbil
We are now assured that after a vigorous contest with
the India Directors on the subject of Lord Lauderdale,
Lord Minto^ is finally to go out as Goyemor-GeneraL
Tou know he is one of my most intimate friends in that
rank of life. I intend to press your pursuits and person
very strongly on his notice before he leaves Europa He
is a man of taste and literature ; so pray arrange matters
so as to keep in his way. Charlotte sends you miUe choaes,
but I will write soon and tell you all about her message&
— ^Ever yours truly, Walter Scott.
TO S0XJTHEY.2
AprillSOQ.
My dear Sir, — I have been in London "pursuing for-
tune's slippery ball," and have been fortunate enough,
notwithstanding the change of men and measures,^ to secure
the reversion of a considerable patent office which was
destined for me by Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville ! I venture
to hope my success has given some pleasure to my friends
at Greta Hall and Grasmere. It is particularly acceptable
to me, as it enables me without imprudence, or indeed
} c injustice to my family, to retire from the Bar, which I have
. ; always thought and felt to be an irksome and even hateful
'■ profession.
I will not fail to put Mr. Duppa's work imder Judge
Jefirey's view in the light you would have it He is not,
you know, the most tractable of critics, and I never
i venture to answer for him, as indeed we differ in many
i most material points of taste ; but he will not willingly do
an ill-natured thing to a person of your friend's descrip-
^ Lord Minto was appointed See note, page 29.
Governor-General of Bengal, July
1806. * The Coalition Government
' Scott and Southey had pre- under Lord Grenville, known as
viously met in the summer of 1805. that of " All the Talents."
1806]
TO SOUTHEY
39
tion. In &ct he is the old character, the best good man
with the worst-natured muse (if there be a muse of criti-
cism) that ever wielded the quiU of an Aristarchus.
I grieve we are to lose you in summer, and were it not
that I expect so much from yom: history,^ I could willingly
hope that your visit to the Douro and the Tagus should be
converted into another trip to Tweedside, and your em-
barkation on the Bay of Biscay into such a voyage as we
made together on Derwent water, or at least into another
perilous pilgrimage in my frail bark, where the ponderous
Grecian* proved more than a coimterpoise for the two bards.
Seriously, if you do not go to Portugal, what think you of
varying the scene by a winter in Edin' ? You will find
plenty of books, and I venture to assure you plenty of
friend& — Believe me ever, dear Southey, yours sincerely,
Walter Scott.*
^ A history of Portugal on which
Soathey was at work for many
yean, but of which only the third
portion, treating of Brazil (in 3 vols.
4to), was pabUshed.
^ An allnsion to Southey's visit in
the preceding year, when he had as
his companion Peter Elmsley (the
distinguished Hellenist), and when
Scott took them salmon-spearing on
the Tweed in his coble.
' The foregoing is a reply to Mr.
Southey's letter of February 4th, in
which he says : '* Wordsworth was
with me last week. He has of late
been more employed in correcting
his poems than in writing others ;
bat one piece he has written upon
the ideal character of a soldier,
than which I have never seen any-
thing more full of meaning and
sound thought. The subject was
suggested by Nelson's death, though
having no reference to it. He had
some thoughts of sending it to the
Courier, in which case you will
easily recognise his hand. . . .
I know not whether I shall ever
see the Tweed and the Yarrow ;
yet I should be sorry to think I
should not. Your scenery has left
upon me a strong impression, more
so from the delightful associa-
tions which you and your country
poets have inseparably connected
with it. I am going in the autumn,
if Bonaparte will let me, to streams
as classical and as lovely — the Mon-
dego of Camoens, the Douro and the
Tagus; but I shaU not find such
society on their banks. Remember
me to my two fellow-travellers
[Jefi&eyandanotherfriend]. Heaven
keep them and me also from being
the subject of any further experi-
ments upon the infinite compres-
sibility of matter. If Hogg should
publish his poems, I shall be very
glad to do what little I can in get-
ting subscribers for him." ^
1 Southey's W«» vol. iiL p. 2a
40 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTEES [April
TO MISS SEWARD.
AsHESTiEL, l(Hh April 180G.
. . . The Lay of the Last Minstrel has been for a long
time so much out of my thoughts that your approbation
recalls very pleasingly the feelings with which I composed
it, and is something like the eulogium upon a departed
friend Could I have thought it would have attracted so
much of your attention, I would have endeavoured to have
written it better, and in consequence might very likely
not have done it so welL Still, the flimsiness of the story
might have been corrected by a little thought and atten-
tion, which I now regret not having bestowed upon it
This is the second day of my retreat to this farm, and
I have read your beautiful verses to Father Tweed ....
verses I exceedingly regret not having received when
I was in Cumberland, as my poetical friends Wordsworth
and Southey must have been as much delighted with
them as I am. I spent some time in their society
very pleasantly, and Southey repaid me by visiting my
farm. They are certainly men of very extraordinary
powers. Wordsworth in particular is such a character as
only exists in romance — ^virtuous, simple, and imaffectedly
restricting every want and wish to the bounds of a veiy
narrow income, in order to enjoy the literary and poetical
leisure which his happiness consists in. Were it not for
the unfortunate idea of forming a new school of poetry
these men are calculated to give it a new impulse ; but I
think they sometimes lose their energy in trying to find, not
a better but a different path from what has been travelled
by their predecessors. I saw nothing in Southey like
Uterary jealousy, and should think him above it; cer-
tainly his bearing is not always and altogether so easy
and pleasing as that of Wordsworth, but I think it is mere
maimer. Individually, as I was not at all a subject for his
jealousy, I am certain that neither did I excite any, though
1806] TO MISS SEWARD 41
much kind and £ree discussion took place amongst ua I
agree with you in admiring Modoc very much: the
descriptions of natural objects are most admirable, and
may certainly rank with any that our poetry afforda
Mr. Southey seems to excel in seizing either those circum-
stances which give character to a laudscape, or such as
are so closely connected with them that the one being
suggested to our imagination naturally and almost neces-
sarily recalls the rest I am not quite sure that the
subject of such and so long a poem is altogether so well
chosen. The exploits of Madoc necessarily recall the
history of Cortoz and the voyage of Columbus, and this
mixture of truth and fancy is not pleasant Whether it is
owing to this, or that the heroes and heroines considered
as men and women have little of that discriminating
character which is absolutely necessary to mterest a reader,
•I am unable to decide ; but so it is that Madoc sometimes
requires an effort on the part of the reader to ax^company
him on this journey. It is, however, an effort amply repaid
by the fine passages which perpetually occur throughout
the poem. To the admirers of Southey I fear Thalaba will
prove more interesting, in spite of the heretical structure
of the measure, if indeed it deserves that nama ^
I think were you to know my httle friend Jeflfey you
would perhaps haye some mercy on his criticisms; not but
he often makes his best friends lose patience by that love
of severity which drives justice into tyranny : but. in fact, I
have often wondered that a man who loves and admires
poetry so much as he does, can permit himself the severe,
or sometimes imjust, strictures which he frilminates even
against the authors whom he most approves of, and whose
works actually afford him most dehght But what shall
we say ? Many good-natured country Tories (myself for
^ ThiHaba was published in 1800, and severely criticised in the first
nnmber of the Edinburgh Review.
42
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTEES
[Aprh*
example) take great pleasure in coursing and fishings
without any impeachment to their amiabilities, and probably
Jeffrey feels the same instinctive passion for hunting down
the bards of the day. In common life the lion lies down
with the kid ; for not to mention his friendship for me now
of some standing, he had the magnanimity (absolutely
approaching to chivabous reliance upon the faith of a
foe) to trust himself to Southe/s guidance in a boat on
Windermere, when it would have cost the poet nothing
but a wet jacket to have overset the critic, and swum
triumphantly to shore, and this the very day the review of
Madoc was published.^ I am afraid, however, you will
hardly allow my apology any more than for an Arcadian
slaughtering and cutting up his favourite lamb. . • . —
Beheve me, dear Miss Seward, very faithfully your obedient
servant, Walter Scott.
TO LADY DALKEFTH.
Monday,
My dear Lady Dalkeith, — Our Ettrick Shepherd has
laid by his pastoral reed for the more profitable employ-
ment of valuing sheep land, in which he has given great
satisfaction to those who engaged him, being a remarkably
intelligent, clever fellow in the line of his business. His
present object is to have the Duke's patronage in case his
Grace wishes the service of such a person, as is reported.
If there be the least chance of such an application being
successful, I will take care to procure, and send to the
^ Madoc was reyiewed in No.
xiii., 1805. Southey had seen tho
obnoxious article before publica-
tion, as he was in Edinburgh early
in October 1805. Jeffrey had
been invited to meet him at supper,
but declined doing so until he
had given him an opportunity of
reading the criticism on Madoc,
of which he then sent the printed
sheets. The poet read the paper
with natural indignation, which he
had the good sense to repress, and
he met the critic with such good
humour and courtesy that Jeffrey
went back with him to the Lakes
in the same stage-coach ! Southey
did the honours of Keswick, as
mentioned by Scott.
1806] TO LADY DALKEITH 43
Duke or Mr. Eiddell, the necessary attestations of Ills skill
and character. His charge seems moderate, and I will
answer for his honesty: and he might be tried on a
small scale at first.
Lord D. being absent on his Roxburgh campaign, I
entreat your Ladyship (though I know you do not meddle
with business) to take an opportunity of putting the en-
closed into the Duke's hands. If I did not think he might
really be of use, I would not on any consideration recom-
mend him. Indeed I fear the Duke will think his busi-
ness is getting a little too much out of sober prose when one
poet is dabbling in his elections, and another proffering his
services to value his sheep farms. But I really do not feel
entitled to suppress this application, which carries some-
thing in it more feasible than anything hitherto proposed
for this poor man, and also promises some advantages for
the property from his real knowledge and skill in the
business.
I trust to your Ladyship's usual goodness to pardon
this intrusion.
TO THE SAME.
Deab Lady Dalkeith, — I was rather surprised to
learn by a letter received yesterday, from my friend the
Shepherd, that he had taken the liberty of applying per-
sonally to your Ladyship about his affairs, which I certainly
should not have recommended to him to do. I have no
reason to think that his disappointment can be violent,
as I had expressed to him my strong conviction that his
Grace must, from the mode in which he manages his estates,
have many claims entitled to precedence both upon his
justice and liberality. I have communicated to him your
Ladyship's letter, and I am sure that your sympathy with
his situation and extreme delicacy of expression, must
tend greatly to alleviate his feelings of disappointment, if
he indeed harbours any. It is one of the inconveniences
u
SCOITS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[June
] I attached to exalted rank, that the expectations of suitors
, I are apt to be unreasonable, because founded on ignorance ;
t but a kind answer to a petitioner, even when unfavourable,
! is often equivalent to an ungracious grant of his request
/ I certainly hope to pay my respects at Langholm — ^per-
haps to bring with me my friend Mr. Skene of Rubislaw,
an amiable and accomplished yoimg man, and for a gentle-
man the best draughtsman I ever saw. I wish him to
take a peep at Hermitage, etc. Lord Dalkeith was so good
as to say I might use the freedom to bring him to Lang-
holm. — Ever your Ladyship's devoted humble servant,
Walter Scott.^
TO LADY ABERCORN.*
9th June 1800.
My dear Lady Marchioness, — Did you ever hear the
French parrot's apology for its silence, — " Je pense plus ; "
because, if you have not, I intend to adopt it for my own
ungracious taciturnity, because during the period of busy
^ There are no dates to these two
letters, but they have been placed
under 1806, as Hogg, in writing to
Scott in the April of that year, says
with characteristic indifference : —
" My dear Scott, I wrote to Lady
Dalkeith on the same day I wrc»ie
you hist, simply thanking hrr
for her kind attentions. ... I
have met with no disappointmeat
from his Grace's refusal. Never
be concerned about that ! " And
he concludes with this delicious bit
of innocent egotism and shrewd
criticism on The Lay qf the Last
Minstrel.
**I had a present of a very ele-
gant copy of the Lay, lately, from
a gentleman in Edinburgh, to whom
I was ashamed to confess that I had
it not. This is just to give you a
hint that the present should have
come from some other hand. I am
delighted above measure with
many of the descriptions, and with
none more than that of William
of Dclorainc, but I have picked
some faults which I have not now
time to explain. ... I have not
yet discovered what the terrible
parade of fetching ]Michael Scott's
book from the tomb proved, or
what was done with it of conse*
quence before it was returned, and
fear it will be construed as resorted
to for the sake of furnishing the sub-
lime and awful description. — I am,
your ever grateful Shephekd."
^ The Marchioness of Abercom,
to whom Scott wrote very confiden-
tially, was Anne Jane, daughter of
the second Earl of Arran. She
died in May 1827, thus predeceasing
Scott, but the long series of letters
preserved by the noble lady shews
how constant was their friendship,
1806]
TO LADY ABERCORN
45
idleness which has elapsed since I saw the cottage at the
Priory, I have very often thought of it and its kind and
condescending mistress.
When I had rejoined my Uttle family, which I fomid
at our own mountain farm, closed in by many a dark blue
hill, I had a great number of trifles to adjust which the
head of a family among us little people generally finds it
best to look after himself. There were sheep to be bought
and bullocks to be sold. There was a sick horse and a
lame greyhound to be cured. There were salmon to be
caught and poachers to be punished. Now, though I
know very little about some of these matters, yet I find it
very convenient to let it be supposed I am very knowing
and anxious upon the subject, although it costs me a good
deal of trouble to keep up my credit.
When I came to town I had to take possession of my
new oflSce, which your Ladyship will hardly suppose a
very diflScult one when you are informed that I am actually
scribbling at my bureau amidst the clamour of the lawyers,
— *' the drowsy bench, the babbling haU," ^ being my im-
mediate neighbours. I have however acquired such a
happy command over my imagination that even in these
untoward circumstances I can represent to myself how
beautiftd the groves of the Priory must now appear in all
the glory of midsummer foliage.
I have not forgot a promise so flattering to my vanity
as that you would permit me to have a share in ornament-
ing the interior of the cottage. I am not coxcomb enough
how frequently Scott claimed her
patronage, and how readily it was
granted, Bometimes for himself, but
much oftener for others.
When Scott in earlier years
▼isited London, either Sunning
Hill, George Ellis's country house,
or Lord Abercom's villa, The Priory
at Stanmore, was his favourite re-
treat from Saturday till Monday.
Scott's connection with this family
arose, in the first instance, from his
father, and afterwards from his
brother Thomas having the man-
agement of the Abcrcom estates in
Scotland.
^ Blackstone, The Laicyer's Fare-
well to his Muae.
46 SCOTTS FAMTTJAR LETTERS [Junk
to nse the common phrase that the Muses have been
unpropitious, but the truth is that I have not been able to
do anything lately that has pleased me, and consequently
nothing that would be worthy of so honourable a station
as the walls of the Cottage. I did two little things for
Welsh tunes some time ago, and when I can fiimish them
with companions I will do myself the honour of sending
them to the Priory.
I am much flattered by your Ladyship's inquiries about
my literary engagements. My grand edition of Dryden's
Works is advancing, I hope prosperously. The booksellers
are publishing a fourth edition of the Lay, and also some of
the ballads which call me father, from the Border collection
that I formerly published. I intend to add to these last a
few little things so as to make them into a Httle volume,
which I will take an early opportunity of laying at your
Ladyship's feet. Besides all this, I have a grand work in
contemplation, but so distant, so distant that the distance
between Edinburgh and Stanmore is nothing to it. This is
a Highland romance of Love, Magic, and War, founded upon
the manners of our mountaineers, with my stories about
whom your Ladyship was so much interested. My great
deficiency is that being bom and bred not only a lowlander
but a borderer, I do not in the least understand the Gaelic
language, and therefore am much at a loss to find authentic
materials for my undertaking. . . . — Adieu, my dear Lady
Marchioness. Believe me, with the greatest respect and
regard, ever your Ladyship's much obliged and most
obedient humble servant, Walter Scott.
TO THE SAME.
[Edin., June 1806.]
Dear Lady Marchioness, — I enclose a trifling song^
^ When Scott returned to Edin- nents were dissatisfied that the ap-
burgh from London in March he pointment of Clerk of Session had
found some of his political oppo- been confirmed to him by the Whig
1806]
TO LADY ABERCORN
47
which was sung with immense approbation at a meeting of
five himdred select friends of Lord Melville, from which your
Ladyship will probably be of opinion that they approved
too much of the sentiment to be very critical about the
poetry. I also scratched down another ballad the morn-
ing of the day of meeting, of which a few copies have been
printed, and if I can get one in time to save the post I will
also enclose it. I am sure your Ladyship, with your usual
goodness, mil not suppose that by sending you these little
foolish things, I think them at all worthy of your accept-
ance, but will just receive them as graciously as the
Ihichess in Don Quixote accepts of the half dozen acorns
from the wife of Sancho Fanza. There is in the printed
ditty a little attempt at a tribute to the memory of the
never to be forgotten Pitt, which drew tears from many of
the jovial party to whom it was addressed. I have only
room and time to add how much I always am the
Marchioness of Abercom's most faithful and respectful
humble servant, Walter Scott.
FROM LADY ROSSLYN. ^
Dtsa&t, Thurgday*
. My dear Sir, — I certainly feel much flattered that you
should have thought it worth while to have written to me*
upon the subject of what I said to Mr. Bae. As I cannot
Government, and he resented this
manifestation of feeling by a more
aetiTe participation in purty poli-
tiCB.
Three months after he was gazet-
ted, a public dinner was given in
Edinburgh on June 27th in honour
of Lord Melville's acquittal, at
which Scott was present. The
song alluded to gave great offence
to some of his friends, among
others to Lady Rosslyn.
^ Lady Rosslyn, eldest daughter
of the Hon. Edward Bouverie, died
in 1810. Scott, in writing of her
to a common friend, says: "She
is gone, with all the various talent
and vivacity that rendered her
society so delightful. I regret her
loss the more as she died with-
out ever making up some unkind-
ness she had towards me for those
foolish politics. It is an example
of the great truth that life is too
short for the indulgence of ani-
mosity."
^ Scott's letter has not been pre-
served at Dysart House.
48 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [August
think my opinion can be of any consequence to you, I
regret as much and perhaps more than you do, that any
circumstances should arise to make a coohiess between us ;
nor do I expect that the political sentiments of all my
friends should be the same as mine, as a proof of which
I believe you will recollect that politics was a topic upon
which you and I never agreed, but in this particular
instance I cannot help feeling the s6ng alluded to as an
uncalled for mark of personal disrespect to Mr. Fox.^
The lesson he taught and practised during the course of
his life was that of forgiveness of injuries ; it is a lesson,
which, much as I admire, I feel I cannot put in practice
where he is concerned, as he would have done.
I beg this subject, which is unpleasant and even pain-
ful to me, may not be renewed. With my best com-
pliments to Mra Scott, believe me, dear sir, yours sincerely,
H. ROSSLYN.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
ASBESTIEL, BY SELKIRK,
6th August 1806.
My dear Lady Marchioness, — ... I am now, thank
God, got to my httle farm, and I really wish I had the
lamp of Aladdin or the tapestry of some other eastern
Magician, whose name I have forgot, but you will find
the story among the records of the immortal Scheherazade.
Could I possibly command so easy a conveyance, I would
certainly transport your Ladyship to this retreat, with
which I have the vanity to think you would be pleased
for a day, were it only for the extraordinary contrast
between the scenery here and at the Priory.
Our whole habitation could dance very easily in your
great salon without displacing a single moveable or en-
dangering a mirror. We have no green pastures nor
^ The song, in which occurred the onfortonate line Tallyho to the FoXt
is given in Lockhart's Life.
isoe]
TO LADY ABEECORN
, but to make amends, we h
ll streams in the world, winding through steep
hich are now purple with the heath blossom.
eight miles from the nearest market-town,
and four from the nearest neighbour. The last circum-
fitanco I by no means r^et, but the first is productive
oS very curious shifts and ludicrous distresses well worthy
of bung recorded in the Miseries of Human Life, — a very
dtrortiiig little volume which, if your Ladyship has not
tKR, J beg you will add to your book-shelves on my
TtiGomioendation. For example, my scrutoiro having
tnveUod by some slow conveyance, I was obliged — not to
DKDtioD searching half an hour for this solitary sheet of
letter paper — to sally forth and shoot a crow to procure a
quUl, which performs its duty extremely ill, as your Lady-
i)up is witJioss. I am afraid that this candid declaration
of oar wants, and the difficulty of supplying them,
«in moke the Marchioness bless her stars that the
kn^i and tapestry is out of fashion. But don't be afraid
too BooD : for the main business of the day we have the
beal mutton in the world, and dnd by experience that
iba air of our hills makes an escoUent sauce. Then we
have pigs and poultry, and a whole apparatus of t'uns,
lubtDg-nxIs. salmon spears, and nets for tie employment
of m&lu visitors, who do not find their sport leas sgree-
ahlo bucause part of their diimor depends upon it
Tbun grouse-shooting begins bye and bye, and I have
■omo rury good coveys on the moors, besides the privilt^
of going far and wide over those of my neighbour the
Duke of Buccleuch, a favour not the less readily granted
because, like many other persons in this world, I make more
noise than I do mischief. Then, if all this is insufficient,
you shall have hare soup ; for am 1 nut the ShorifT of the
UKUity, and may I not break tbe laws when I please and
B out of season ? Besides all this you shall have one
50 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [August
of the kindest welcomes which our hospitable moimtiiiiieers
can a£ForA So pray don't quarrel with my lamp or tapestry
any more. I only wish it was possible for you to make
good this little dream.
I saw Lord and Lady Melville before I left town, and
dined at Melville Castle. I never saw tbe veteran states-
man looking better or in more high spirits. He was very
full of the pleasant visit he had made at the Priory just
before he set out. His journey, too, had been very flattering
to his feelings — nothing but huzzaing and cheering in
almost all the towns they had occasion to pass through. I
was much tempted to accept of a kind invitation they
gave me to their seat in the Highlands, where I could have
collected some materials for my projected romance; on
the other side I have copied a few verses which I intend to
be^ one of the Tales in my Highland Romance. They
are supjiosed to be sung by an old Seannachie or man of
Talk, or in short Tale-teller, who, by what accident I know
as little as your Ladyship, has strolled into the Lowlands ;
but my mind was on this little crib, and I could not find
in my heart to leave it.
I am a good deal interested in the discussions which
have been proceeding concerning tbe FriQcess of Wales.
Having had the honour to eat of her salt, I should be
extremely sorry to think there was the least chance of her
being trammelled, either by her own imprudence or other-
wise, in the toils of her accusers. Of this however 1 hope
there is no danger.^
1 W. Stewart Kose bad wntten
to Scott on thU aubjeul on July
I wish I could give you
soy BBtisfactory accouut of the
Princeu of ^Valas'a aOair. I feel
entirely witli yoa as to tho cruelty
of her situation, and, iiaving cat
her ealt, have iu Bome degree tbe
I yourself for being
mora partioolarly alive to her di»-
tresB. From m.tny ciraum stances
which have reaciied mine eaia, I
am convinced that hoc pBrBecntion
forms part of a moat extravagant
scheme, which nothing but themad-
uesB of tbe aupposod projector oonid
render credible. When I tell you
that the Prince of Wales aome time
1806]
TO LADY ABEECORN
51
I must now break off, as I must ride about ten miles to
a County meeting about roads, being the dullest of all
dull amusements, though country gentlemen have such a
peculiar pleasure in it, that one of my neighbours used to
travel with the Turnpike Act of Parliament in his pocket,
till I told him it was against the law, which prohibits
carrying concealed arms. I shall however see my friend
and fishing crony Lord Somerville,^ and get a cover for this
letter, as the Marquis is, I suspect, long since in green
Erin. Mrs. Scott has the honour to offer her respects, and
I am, with sincere respect and regard, ever your Ladyship's
most faithful humble servant, Walter Scx)tt.
FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY.
Edinb., 11 Sept, 1806.
My dear Scott, — I am come back in safety to my
lonely house in this lonely and deserted city, and I write
to you immediately on my arrival, partly to comfort my
spirits and partly to supplicate your assistance in my
never-ending task of reviewing. Brougham has gone to
Portugal I made Homer idle by being with him.
Thomson is buried under Hecords, and almost all my occa-
nnce openly affirmed that he had
the power to croBh the Princess of
Wales when he pleased; that he
fcmnerly professed his entire in-
difference to her; and, though he
then beUered, or professed to be-
lieve, that she was all that her
Accosers at present maintain her
to be, that the first paragraph of
Lady Douglas's^ evidence now
states her information to be given
cither at his suggestion or command,
. . . when all these things are put
together yon will, I think, agree
with me in the conclusion to be
deduced from them. In the mean-
i Wife of Sir John Dongks.
time, she has, as I before hinted,
afforded much matter for reproach,
and what if substantiated against a
woman educated in English habits,
would amount to a moral convic-
tion of guilt. As it is, I should no
more suffer my opinions of her
character to be influenced by such
traits, than I should infer profligacy
in a man from looseness of conver-
sation. . • .
^ John, 15th Baron, who for some
years made the '* Pavilion " on the
Tweed his summer residence ; he
was Scott's companion in aU field
sports and his acknowledged mas-
ter in Forestry.
52
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Sept.
sional allies and auxiliaries are scattered into watering-places,
deriding all sorts of applications and laughing at all
demonstrations of distress. Tou must do me a good spell
of work this time, or there is no salvation for ma I depend
upon Sir William's " Beattie," ^ and I beg you will take
some pains with it, and do not let your private affection
suborn your critical impartiality. We once spoke of your
leaving Beattie's metaphysics to me, and I stiU wish that
you would. I read his " Truth " in London, and am ready
to give a short character of it It will be easy to inter-
polate it in your articla If you think it worth while
you can give me a catch-word and block out the niche
for it.
Will you look at Thornton's tour with the Dogs,* or
anything else poetical or antiquarian that you hear of
and I do not ? I had an offer in London of a review of the
Miseries, which it was necessary for me (at least for the
good of the commonwealth) to accept, so I will not trouble
you for that ; but if you have devised any good things on
the subject, I wish you would note them down that I may
enrich my town article with them.^
I have a great deal to say to you of London and London
men, but not at present ; we must talk over these things
some long afternoon. I still live in hope of passing four
or five old days with you at Ashestiel before the 12 of
November. Is there any chance of Wordsworth visiting
Scotland this season? I understand W. Erskine is with
* Sir WiUiam Forbea'a Life of
BeaUie,
2 CoL Thornton's Sporting Tour
in France had just been published.
His previous work on Scotland was
reviewed by Scott in the Edinburgh
Review for January 1805.
' In reply to this appeal, Scott
sent Jeffrey the humorous paper on
Beresford's if iserie^ of Human Life^
and a criticism on Herbert's/ce^Tie^tc
PoemSy which were printed in the
17th No. (Oct. 1806), but if he re-
viewed Forbes' Life of Beattie he
did not claim the article. The
** metaphysics " in it are unques-
tionably Jeffrey's own, whoever
wrote the rest of the amusing and
caustic paper, which appeared in
the number for April 1807. In
Jeffrey's collected essays it is not
fully reprinted.
1806] FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY 53
you. Could you not stimulate his ungenerous indolence
to do something for us ? Poet Macneil or Billy Richardson ?
I shall keep his secret if he wishes to be private. Thomson
will not be down for a fortnight at least, and Murray, I
suppose, will come with him. The said Lord Register is
very industriously employed in the Museum, and had the
virtue to refuse going a very delightful Httle tour which
Murray and I made to the Isle of Wight, that he might go
on with his work without interruption. He is an admirable
feUow, and I love and respect him more, the more I see of
him. Farewell, my dear Scott ; for heaven's sake do not
procrastinate anything you mean to do for me, and do not
let that old knave John Dryden, or those old knaves the
Lords Commissioners of Justiciary, come between me and
your good intentions. Remember me very kindly to Mrs.
S., and believe me always, very affectionately yours,
F. Jeffrey.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
AsHXsnxL, 20th September 1806.
Nothing except the fairy Goodwill, or the Marchioness
of Abercom, could possibly supply the minute wants of
their friends' domestic economy, at the distance of so
many himdred miles as are between the Priory and the
Forest of Ettrick.
The little parcel of quills is quite a treasure, and as to
their everlasting duration I shall be happy to find that
they possess a quality which we sometimes miss in Love,
Friendship, and Fidelity, however fondly ascribed to them.
The worst of the little packet is that it removes all
apologies for a very indijfferent hand, and transfers the
blame so often laid on the innocent goose quill to the
fingers of the clumsy writer himsel£
I am quite delighted with the little heroine of your
thunder storm. I hope she will not lose the benefit of
S4.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
your Ladyship's protection, a& she is certftinly reserved for i
some great things. The state of our own weather has i
been moat calamitous. Land floods, river floods, water
spouts, and torrents and tempests of all kinds and
denominations, have almost laid waste our country. One
day the thunder was so tremendous aa actually to affect
my hearing for some time. The lightning broke within a
hundred yards of our farm house, but fortunately did no
damage, except that the concussion threw down the bricks,
etc., from the top of the chimneys: we thought it quite
near enough.^ There were, however, no trt^o incidents in
our immediate neighbourhood except the death of a poor
pony. Our rivers and brooks, always sufficiently rapid,
became the most ftirious torrents which it was possible to
behold. Ricks of hay, whole acres of young and old trees,
even cattle and horses came swimming piist us without
the possibility of our giving any assistance. One gentle-
man of this country, Ogilvie of Chesters, has sustained
more than a thousand pounds worth of damage, much of
which is absolutely irreparable, as the very soil is carried
away. Another gentleman has totally lost a large ajid
valuable garden which a small rivulet that in general
irinded very pea«eably through it, chose to carry off entirely.
Minto House was in great danger, the inhabitants
driven to the upper rooms, as the lower part of the
mansion was quite filled with water. A heroic cook-maid
secured a sirloin of beef in her retreat, otherwise the
plague of famine would have been added to the distresses
of the sufferers.
I have been several days out upon the moors in hopes
of making up a box of game for the Priory, but the wet
weather has made the grouse so wild that neither by my
own exertions nor those of my friends have I been ever
protaco to the eoil of the world."
' "Chariotte (Mrs. Scott) re-
solved to die in bed like a good
Cbriitian ; the servanta aaid il was
-Scott Cg Skene.
1806] TO LADY ABERCOEN 65
able to get above a brace or two in the day, and as they
have not, like your Ladyship's kind present, the faculty
of everlasting duration, to be fit to send they should
all be killed on the same day. I still hope to be more
fortunate.
I observe from the papers that the Marquis is still in
Ireland, and has received the thanks of the country for his
unceasing exertions in bringing Judge Fox to account. I
suppose, however, his stay will not be very long in that
country, as I presume there will be much bustle in the
political world in consequence of Mr. Fox's death. He was
certainly a great man, yet it so happened that there was
never a human being whose talents were of less service to
his country. How different from Pitt !
I am not apt to be very much exalted with any success
which my literary essays have obtained, because I know
very well how much is owing to chance, how much to
Qovelty, and how little to any actual merit they may
possess. But in telling me I have been so fortunate as to
please Mr. Pitt, your Ladyship gives me something to
be justifiably proud of till my dying day; and I can
say without affectation that I would rather have the
satisfaction of having been approved by him, though now
dead, than by all the living statesmen and nobility in
Europe. From the pilotless state in which the political
vessel has remained since his death, his worst enemies may
be taught to appreciate the extent of his unequalled
talents.
We have been threatened with a visit of the Heir
Apparent — a very serious business to the poor Scottish
nobility who might have deemed it necessary to receive
him, and somehow not very acceptable to the people at
large. It certainly requires ingenuity in a personage whose
very smile is a favour, and therefore who has popularity
so much at his own command, to contrive so totally to
56
SCOTT'S FAMILIAK LETTERS
[Nov.
get rid of what naturally attaches to one from whom much
might have been hoped, and little feared, if ho had chosen
it should be so.
Yom- Ladyship is very good to inquire after Drj'den. I
have, I assure you, been labouring very hard through the
old libels and paraphlet-s of the time to complete the
historical notices upon his political poems ; and I am at
least wLUing to hope that I have been in some degree
suceessfuL I am very anxious to procure copies if possible
of three original letters that are among the Duke of
Dorset's papers, written by Drydon to his Grace's ancestor,
the witty Earl of Dorset, I am quite at a loss for a
channel to approach this great man : perhaps you may be
able either to give me some assistance, or at least your
kind advice. If he is accessible to any of our Scottish
nobles, I could contrive, directly or indirectly, to procure
their mediation. It is of the greateet consequence to me
to procure them if possible.
I hope with my next to send one or two little songs for
the decoration of the Cotta^ — Your very respectful and
faithful, W. Soorr.
TO LORD DALKEITH.
Eddib., Castli
23 Nov. [1806].
Mt deab Lord Daleeith, — ... I underetand you
wish to know, for the information of my old friend
and fellow-coUegian Lord Selkirk, the drcutostances which
attended the dismission of the superfluous population who
occupied the estates of the Border chieftains when they
were converted into sheep-walks. There are particular
difficuJties which attend the investigation, and make it in a
great measure obscure, compared to the history of the
e change which has taken place in our own day in the
Highlands.
1806] TO LOED DALKEITH 67
The state of the Borders before the accession of James
vi., and of the Highlands, strictly resemble each other
with respect to internal circimistances. The patriarchal
right or dominion of a Chieftain of a clan over those of
the same name, and who were presmned to be of the same
family with himself, — a right of dominion the most ancient
in the world, — ^was acknowledged in both comitries, while
the authority exercised by the Lowland Scottish nobles and
barons depended upon the feudal principle of superior and
vassal, or upon that of landlord and tenant This is proved
by the Act of James vi/s Parliament 1687, when a roll is
made up of the clans m the Borders and Highlands who
lived under the patriarchal dominion of the Captains and
Chieftains, — " ofttimes," says the Statute, " against the will
of their landlords, on whose grounds they live."
The change which took place at the Union of the
Crowns upon the Border clans chiefly respected the crushing
of this patriarchal or clannish authority, if I may so call it.
There were also measures taken, and apparently very
prudently, to remove from the country many of those fiery
and unruly spirits who had hitherto been maintained by
the Border chiefs to serve in their quarrels, and who had
subsisted chiefly by spoil and depredation. Your Lordship's
ancestor Walter, the first Earl of Buccleuch, formed a
legion of these freebooters, who served under hun in the
Dutch wars against the Spaniard, &om which probably
few of them returned.
A whole clan (the Qraems) were transported to Ireland
by an order of James's Privy Council Bepeated and severe
executions under the authority of the Earl of Dunbar
thinned or dispersed the rest of the Border riders who had
subsisted by depredation. But it would be a mistake to sup-
pose that these changes (although imquestionably they
drained off the more enterprising and warlike of the Border-
ers) had any immediate effect upon the population at large.
68
SCOTT'S FAMILLAK LETTERS
[No^
Sir William Scott of Harden, who wrote in Uie end of
the soventcenth century an account of Roxburghshire, and
who is the best possible authority, as the representative of
a Border leader of great note, says that before the accession
of James to the English Crown no rent was paid on the
Border excepting man-service in war, and some little ac-
knowledgment knotvn by the name of heregeld, and other
feudal prestations. Some change must very shortly have
taken place in this respect, so soon as the safety of the
country was so ascertained that the Laird had more need
for money than for men.
But the change seems to have been very slow and
gradual. The Borders were not, like the Highlands, sur-
rounded by a countiy in a civilised state, whose stock and
farmers were ready to rush in upon this change of manners,
to fill the purses of the landlord and to empty the land
of its ancient miUtary tenants. On the contrary, tho rest
of Scotland was so poor, and its inhabitants so uninstructed
in the art of farming to advantage — in short, the difference
between the Borders and the interior was comparatively so
small, — that I suspect no change of inhabitants took place at
all, but that the descendants of the old reivers, or such of
them as were reclaimed, beat their own swords and their
fathers' into ploughshares, and sat down to do their best in
cultivating their own country instead of plundering their
neighbours.
Besides, as I have already mentioned, although the
patriarchal power of the Chieftiuns was broken, those who
were landed proprietors retained their feudal authority over
their vassals and tenants. Neither was the seventeenth
century so secure as to induce any one to increase his rent-
roll at the risk of greatly diminishing his retainers. The
frequent civil wars, and the unsettled state of the country
must have greatly retarded the progress of those causes of
depopulation which have operated with such rapidity in
1806] TO LOED DALKETTH 59
the Highlands, where there was nothing to balance the
landlords' natural desire, except the pride of some in-
dividuals and the compassion of others. It must also be
considered that during the seventeenth century there was
comparatively little of our Border country occupied
by sheep-walks. Black cattle were in high estimation, and
the number of hands necessary to attend this kind of stock
is much more numerous than that requisite for sheep.
I do not therefore think that the Union of the Crowns,
although it broke the warlike and turbulent spirit of the
Borders, had any immediate effect on the extent of the
population. But within eighty years after that event, the
bond between chieftain and kinsman seems to have been
much broken. To take the individual case of our own
dan, whose patriarchal notions seem to have been much
diminished by the Duchess of Monmouth marrying and
residing in England, Scott of Satchells, whose doggerel
poetry contains sometimes a peep of manners, complains
heavily of the alteration this had produced to the poor
kinsfolk of the family : —
** In England now the Duchess dwells,
Which to her friends is a cursed fate,
For if they famish, starve, or die,
They cannot have a groat from that estate.
The times of old are quite forgot —
How inferior friends had still relief,
And how the worthiest of the name
Engaged themselves to hold up their chief," eta
About this time, as appears from the writing of the same
el^ant poet, the sheep were imiversally introduced.
Satchells served in the regiment which Buccleuch carried
to Holland, and enlisted about 1627 ; he wrote his book in
1688, so he is tolerable traditional authority.
A cause which hastened the conversion of the Border
into sheep-walks was the downfall of the small proprietors.
Satchells names an himdred landed proprietors of the
80 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Nov.
name of Seolt living on the Borders in 1688, in which he
would hardly bo mistaken. I think in the same tract of
country we cannot now find ten.
Each of these persons iiiaintaincd his little style, and
had a few cottages round his old tower, whose inhabitants
made a desperate effort to raise some com by scratching
up the banks of the stream which winded through their
glen.* These are all gone, and their followers have dis-
appeared along with them. I suppose it became more and
more ditBcult for them, after the union of the Crowns, to
keep the name and port of gentlemen; they fell into distress,
sold their lands, and the farmers who succeeded them, and
had rent to pay to those who bought the estates, got rid of
the superfluous cottagers with aU despatch. I have often
heard my grandmother and other old people talk of the
waefu' year when seven Lairds of the Forest (all Scotts)
became bankrupt at once, but how or why I know not
The farmers, when they had got rid of the inactive retainers
of the small properties, seem to have gone on for a long
time reducing the number of people on tbeir fanna The
ruins of cottages about every farmhouse in the country
show that this last cause of depopulation continued to
operate till a very late period, and indeed within the
memory of man I could name many farms where the
old people remember twenty smoking chi/m/neya, and where
there are now not two.
From all these considerations I am induced to think
that the causes of depopulation on the Border, although
quite the same with those in the Highlands, occurred
gradually, and were insensible in their operation, while
the singular circumstance of the Highlands retaiiung their
ancient manners till the Lowlands had attained the highest
pitch of civilisation, has occasioned their passing from a
' Compure Scott's deacriptiooB of tower of Westbnrn Q«t, in the early
the [arm of Haughhead and the chapters of the Black Daarf,
1806] TO LORD DALKEITH 61
race of warriors into a handful of shepherds in the course
of fifty years, a change not completely operated on the
Borders within three times the period. Li evidence of the
last circumstance I forgot to mention that in the time of
the late Duke of Douglas, the Jedwood Forest estate (now
entirely a sheep-walk) was divided among sixty or seventy
tenants, who were bound to furnish three armed men on
horseback each, for their landlord's military service. This
was within the memory of man, and Lord Douglas's tacks ^
will show it I cannot but mention, though it has no
immediate reference to your Lordship's inquiry, that there
seems to be an alteration of management fast creeping
into the sheep-farms. It is now found impossible to put
a full stock of sheep upon the farm during the summer
unless provision is made to assist them with food in winter.
This can only be done by the turnip husbandry, and as
that requires a great number of hands, the farmers who do
not lie near a town or village are as anxious to have
cottagers upon their estates as they were formerly desirous
of banishing them ; and this the more, as they find by
experience that they are more regular, sober, and manage-
able than hired servants or labourers. In this way we
may hope that our valleys will gradually be repeopled with
a hardy and virtuous peasantry. As to our military
propensities, and attachment to such of the ancient chiefs
and landholders as have retained the ancient ideas towards
their tenants, I think I know one estate on which the
proprietor might for a brush raise at least three thousand
men by the simimons of his Baron oflScers. But in the
general case jthe vulgar saying of "No longer pipe, no longer
dance," applies to landlord and tenant, chieftain and clan,
superior and vassal, and in short, to all the relations of
mankind. Excuse this hurried and confused statement, —
and I am ever, my dear Lord, your Lordship's most obedient
and much obliged, Walter Scott.
^ The Scotch term for leases.
\
1
\
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[DEa
TO ADAM FEItGUSON.^
Ei>iNK. 16 Dee. laOG.
(GtiTOij^m o«r black table.)
Having a few moments' time at our black table, and
the BarL, * in the abundance of his Parliamentary connec-
tions and friendships having promised to give me a kiver?
I think I cannot employ time or a frank better than by
inquiring whether you have got rid of the unlucky typhus,
which I hear from the valiant knight aforesaid has laid
its clawB upon you. I hate to hear any of my friends
talk of a disorder by its scientific name ; it is a sign it has
taken a little hold of his mind, and that he has made
further investigation about it than is consistent with the
idea of its being a transient guest I beg therefore that
the typhus may as speedily as possible assume the more
bumble denomination of a feverish cold, unless you moan
to be set down among the learned Lord Adiiiiral's catalogue
of scientific infirmitiea You know our old friend Braxie'
cut short one of Maeonoehie's learned queries about the
vena cava, " Hout awa wi' your Macavas, Mr. Maeonochie,"
Even so say I, " Hout awa wi' your Typhus, Mr. Secretaiy."
Wlien you shall have got quite stout, which I hope and
trust will be by the time this reaches you, I will absolutely
envy your situation in Jersey, where there must be so many
things both cui'ious and entertaining,— Claret in plenty for
noonday and night, Nantz for discussion and a midnight
chat, lithe French lasses with their black eyes and natural
vivacity, scratching each other for the honour of dancing and
flirting with Mr. Secretary. With what contempt you must
recollect a njpperkin of whisky -punch, and the lang-traiued
frost-bitten dearies of your ci-devant friend Cardrona !'
' Kobert Mncqueen of Broxfield,
Lord JiiHtice-Clerli.
' AftorwardaSirAdamFerguBon,
who wha at this time secretary to
the Uovarnai of the Ch&nuel Is-
landB, and Btationed at St. Heljera,
Jereey. • William Clerk.
' Vide JJvmphrey Clinker,
"Cover" or "Frank." See p, 91, n.
' Mr WilliaiiiBon of Cardrona, ki
elderly friond of Scott's, nLoM
iiumours he oelebrates in Malachi
McdajfTO'elher.
1806]
TO ADAM FERGUSON
63
But instead of writing nonsense, you will expect no
doubt that I should give you a little news from Auld
Beekie. I presume you will be little edified or enter-
tained by an extract from my new work, which is to be
entitled '* Clerk Scott's Decisions," and is to come out on
cream-coloured, wire-wove paper, printed by Ballantyne,
with a vignette to each number, the first to represent
Hermand rwmpanty and Polkemmet corichant, and Banna-
tyne dormant^ I will therefore tell you concisely that
the country gentlemen are cutting each others' throats
about politics, while the blackguards of the town have
more sensibly done an unfortunate porter * who was loaded
with £6000 belonging to the British Linen Company, and
was murdered in daylight at the head of the Bank Office
close, and within twenty yards of their Secretary. He was
most dexterously despatched with a single stab through
the very heart, so that he died without a single groan, and
the assassin escaped with his booty. I declare this story
^ Three Judges of the Court of
Session.
* WiUiam Begbie was the man's
name, and his murderer was never
discovered, but Scott has vrritten on
the margin of his copy of the Trial
of MackouU, Edinburgh, 8vo. , 1822 :
"Circumstances have gone far to
fix this cruel and mysterious crime
on one , a surgeon in Leith, re-
spectably connected and married
to the daughter of a worthy and
substantial burgher of Edinburgh.
. . . This lad was a profligate and
spendthrift, who had exhausted his
patrimony, and was in great ne-
cessity at the time of the murther.
Soon afterwards he became pos-
sessed of money, paid his debts, and
Beemed to live well without any
sensible addition of means. His
discourse frequently turned on the
murder of Begbie, and the story
seemed to haunt him. I have been
told that suspicion had approached
him very nearly, when he com-
mitted suicide. The thing was
then smothered, through respect to
the feelings of his connections."
This crime must have made a
great impression on Scott at the
time, as many years after he was
able to describe the weapon used
by the murderer.
'*The knife was a remarkable
one, such as bread is sliced with,
having a wooden handle ; the blade
was short, broad, and keenly tem-
pered ; it had the shop-mark of the
person who sold it, and the shop
grease was still upon it, so that it
had never been used but for the
fatal purpose. It had been pre-
pared for the deed by grinding the
extremity to a sharp point and
double edge."
64 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dec.
makes me grouzo * whenever I think of it. The man is
probably in the better ranks of life, from the precautions
and desperation of the action, — very likely somebody on
the verge of bankruptcy, that awfiil interval when the
best men are apt to become flurried, and those who are
naturally bad are quite desperate. If this be the case, he will
probably never be discovered unless by some mere chance,
as he will not, like a low ruffian, be either suspected from the
quantity of the booty, or obliged to fly from his habitation.
I had but a lonely time at Ashestiel this year, and
often wished we could see you and Bob* looming upon the
Peebles road. Almost my only companion, if that is not
too free a word for a great Lord of the Bedchamber, was
our neighbour Lord Somervilla It is a pity to think
how wo, who were so inseparable in former days, are now
squandered abroad and sequestered at home. Poor
Edmonstonc's ' health is I fear irrecoverable, and what
makes it more melancholy, if possible, his health— I mean
his bodily health — seems, I understand, to gain ground as
his mental facidties give way. I understand that there is
a plan, certainly the most advantageous in his situation,
that a pension equivalent to the salary of the SberifTdom
shall be settled on him and Mrs. E. for their joint lives,
and then the Bart.* will I hope succeed to Bute.
Pray write to me soon, and let me know that you are
well and happy. We very often think and talk of you, and
it would make you too vain were I to tcU you how much
you are regretted here.
Charlotte sends you kindest remembrances. The Laird
of Gilnockie has got short clothes, and promises to be a
strapper. — Believe me ever yours affectionately,
Walter Scott.
' Grooee o
r Grow,
«.n. To
Bute,
Bbadd ar. —Jamiaon.
Club"
of 1788. See
JmiTiml. u.
> Probably
their friend Robert
p. 3U
Shortreed.
' 1.^
WiUinm Clerk
• J. J. Edmouatone,
Sheiia- of
noted
p. 62.
1807] FROM ADAM FEEGUSON 65
FBOM ADAM FEBOUSON.
QOTBRNMENT HoUSE, St. HxLDEBS, JiBSST,
4th March 1807.
My deab Walter, — I trust our friend the Bart some
time ago told you that I had had the great satisfEtction of
receiving your most welcome letter, and I can hardly
believe the evidence of my own eyesight on looking at its
date to find that two months have since elapsed. . . . The
garrison consists of five raiments of the line, besides six of
island militia, and whether it be that I view them through
a veiy favourable medium, I think I never met with so
many honest good fellows together before. I am every day
more and more convinced that the military profession was
my predestinated one. A cruel reflection no doubt arises
that I should have lost so many of the prime years of my
life in sauntering and idling about that vile Outer House.
However, Optimism for ever. Whether I shall live to arrive
at the rank of Field-officer time must show. Failing this
consummation of all military happiness, and though the
worst should come to the worst — that I be left adrift a
half-pay captain — I think, with a very little farm on the
banks of the Tweed between Peebles and Selkirk,^ and a
** Petite'* with 6, or 6000 in hand to keep the pot tolerably
well filled, with an occasional easy visit to my friend the
Sheriff, I could pass my time very much to my liking.
This plan may appear visionary to you so far as the bit is
ooncemed, but between ourselves a bleasing may light
unexpectedly and the ci-devant scap^ace Linton^ may
live to be a warm Country Gentleman. I have left no
room to tell you much about these islanders. ... I get
on very pleasantly with them. ... I hear their little
French chamaone and give them Scotch airs in return.
^ The same wiBh Ib expressed by was realised when he took up his
FerguBoii in a letter written to abode at Hnntly Bnm.
Scott a good many years later, from ' Ferguson's nickname. See
the lines of Torres Vedras, and it Lockhart's Life,
VOL. L E
66
SCOTT'S FAinLIAR LETTERS
[Dec.
You can't conceive how mucli they were delighted with
" Weel may we a' be." I happened one evening to be in
lolerable voice, and gave It in my best style: they were
much struck with the uncommon wild nature (not to say
barbarity) of the air. Many a aouper it has procured me,
and ever since the Polts have grinned at me hke so many
Cheshire cats, to use the Bart's phrase. Dear Walter, take
not revenge upon me for my long delay in answering
yam's, but when you happen to have an idle half-hour let
me know what you are to be about this spring vaca-
tion. - , . — Your moat affectionate friend,
Adam Ferguson.
TO ROBERT SUHTEES.^
17 JJtc. 1806.
I WAS tnuch obliged and interested by your loi^ and
euriovis letter. You flatter me very much by pointing out
to my attention the feuds of 1715 and '45.* The truth is
that the subject has often and deeply interested me from
my earliest youth. My great-grandfather was out, as the
' Robert Surtees of Mnlnsforth,
author of a Hixtory of Durham,
an accompb'shed Echolar, whoBe
•cqunirUnce Scott made shortly
after the publication of the Min-
ttrtliy, and with whom he frequently
coireaponded on literal'; and aati-
qnanan Bubjects. Their letters
have already been printed in
Surteea' I/{ff ; bnt the foregoEng
given here because it
contain! what a probably aa early
reforence to WatKrUy.
- If this auggeatiun waa the im-
mediate cause of Scott'a directing
hia aCt«DtioD tu the feuds of 1715
and )T45, it wm a happy idea, and
8urtees Diay almost be pu-doned
for the clever mystification which
occasioned the introdnction of the
Elfin Knight, in MarBUOR. For a
complete eipoaiire of the hoax, see
Mr. Andrew Laiig'a Old FrinuU,
Appendix, pp. 197-203.
Mr. Surteea wrote to Scott on
December 8th, 1806:— "It w in
your power to do what do hisloriao
can, to bring us acquainted with
the very men themaetves ; to plai'c
1 the
B of B
perpetuat
for ever the charac-
its of valour and genero-
aity which must have diatiDgniahed
the Highland Clana, asaembled for
the last time under their native
chiefa. ... At this distance of
tiino. we may aurely feel far the
spirit and loyalty of the Clans,
or admire Hamilton's Oladamoir
Ode, without entering i
depth of Jacobitism."
And agtun in 1810, when send-
1806] TO ROBERT SURTEES 67
phrase goes, in Dundee's wars and in 1715, and had nearly
the honour to be hanged for his pains, had it not been for
the interest of Duchess Anne of Buccleuch and Monmouth,
to whom I have* attempted longo intervaUo to pay a debt
of gratitude.
But besides this, my father, although a Borderer, trans-
acted business for many Highland lairds, and particularly
for one old man called Stuart of Invemahyle, who had been
out both in 1715 and '45, and whose tales were the absolute
delight of my childhood. I believe there never was a man
who imited the ardour of a soldier and tale-teller — a man
of ' talk ' as they call it in (Gaelic — ^in such an excellent
degree, and he was as fond of telling as I was of hearing. I
became a valiant Jacobite at the age of 10 years, and ever
since reason and reading came to my assistance I have
never quite got rid of the impression which the gallantry
of Prince Charles made on my imagination
Certainly I wiU not renounce the idea of doing some-
thing to preserve these stories, and the memory of times
and manners which, though existing as it were yesterday,
have so strangely vanished from our eyea Whether this
will be best done by collecting the old tales, or by modern-
ising them as subjects of legendary poetry, I have never
very seriously considered, but your kind encouragement
confirms me in the resolution that something I must do,
and that speedily. Once more, dear sir, pray persevere
with your kind intentions towards me, and do not let me
lose the benefit your correspondence holds out to your
most obliged hmnble servant, Walter Scott.
ing Scott hU beautiful Invocation fore on the other side you will find
to the Minstrel (see Ed. Annual an incantation to induce you to
Begister, toL ilL Ft. n. p. Izxxviii), write La tri9 piUu9e et ddectable
he says, " Tou have never attended hvUoire du preux et errant Chevalifr^
to my request in prose, and there- CharUa Stuart,**
CHAPTER III
1807
EDINBURGH AND ASHESTIEL
" Even now it scarcely seems a day,
Since first I tuned tiiis idle lay ;
A task so often thro¥m atdde,
When leisure graver cares denied,
That now, November's dreary gale,
Whose voice inspired my opening tale,
Tliat same November giJe once more
Whirls the dry leaves on Tairow shore. "
MarmioH,
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITERARY WORK
1807— AOB 36
At work on Marmion and Dryden,
Visits London in March— gathering
materials for Dryden.
Viaits Hampshire In April— at Gondimore,
W. Stewart Rose's Cottsge.
Visits Liehfield in May— Miss Seward.
Visits Dumfriesshire in July- Lord Aber-
corn's bosiness.
Visits Lanarkshire In September.
Drfden and MarnUon sospended by pres-
sore of extra prirate official work, pre-
paring for Secretaryship to Parliamen-
tary (Commission on Scotch Jadicatnre.
Christmas at Bothwell Gastlei.
70
CHAPTER III.
TO MISS SEWARD.
Editouboh, 20 Febrvary 1807.
I TAKE an early opportunity to send you the promised
specimen of my new poem, and at the same time to request
your acceptance of a small volume of poetry written by
one of our coimtry shepherds, which, if you can wade
through the Scotch, will repay you for the labour.^
If upon perusal you should like the poems, you would
do me a great kindness to give the little volume that
celebrity among your literary friends which you can so
easily confer by your recommendation.
The author gives a most literal and very curious
accoiint of his life and studies in the preface, and is upon the
whole a very interesting person. The success of his book
is of some consequence to him, as it may assist him in
starting a small farm which he has taken, and where he
will probably succeed very well, as he is not only a good
Ballad-writer, but a most excellent shepherd. I know
nobody that imderstands the diseases of sheep so well, or
faces the tempests more hardily. In short he is a very
deserving character, and I am deeply interested in his fate
now that he is about to emerge from his state of servitude.
I have at length fixed on the title of my new poem,
which is to be christened, from the principal character,
Ma/naion or a Tale of Flodden Field. There are to be
^ The Mountain Bard, by James Hogg, had just been published at
Edinburgh, by Scott's intervention.
n
72
scorrs familiar letters
[Feb.
six Cantos, and an introductory Epistle to each, in the
style of that which I send to you as a specimen. In the
legendary part of the work " Knights, Squires, and steeds
shall enter on the staga" I am not at all afraid of my
patriotism being a sufferer in the course of the tale. It is
very true that my friend Leyden has said :
" Alas ! that Scottish maid should sing
The combat where her lover fell,
That Scottish Bard should wake the string
The triumph of our foes to telL"^
But we may say with Francis i., " that at Flodden all was
lost bwt our honour'* — an exception which includes every-
thing that is desirable for a poet.
As to my editorial labours, for two years past I have
been occasionally labouring on a complete edition of
Dryden's Works, which have never been collected. I hope
it will be out by Christmas next. The illustration of the
poetical and historical passages has cost me much labour.
From my research the boldest spiders fled
And moths retreating trembled as I read.
As for poetry it is very little labour to me; indeed
'twere pity of my life should I spend much time on the
light and loose sort of poetry which alone I can pretend to
write. Were all the time I wasted upon the " Lay " put
together, — for it was laid aside for long intervals, — I am
sure it would not exceed six weeks. The last Canto was
written in three forenoons, when I was lying in quarters
with our yeomanry. I leave it with yourself to guess how
little I can have it in my most distant imagination to
place myself upon a level with the great Bards you have
mentioned, the very latchets of whose shoes neither
Southey nor I are worthy to unloose. My admiration of
Chaucer, Spenser, and Dryden does not blind me to their
1 "Ode on Visiting Flodden."
^-v. '
f
1.
vj
1807] TO MISS SEWARD 73
faults, for I see the coarseness of the first, the tediousness
occasioned by the continued allegory of the second, and
the inequalities of the last, but my dear Miss Seward,
" in those days were giants in the land," and we are but
dwarfe beside them.
I am infinitely obliged by your sending me your tribute
to the memory of the immortal Garrick. How much I
envy those who have seen that abridgement of all that
was pleasant in man. But we have Siddons, though less
extended in her range, yet not surely less excellent, and
for what we have received let us be thankful in God's
name. . • .
FROM WILLIAM STEWART ROSE.^
I8C7.
I CANNOT sufficiently express the sense I have of your
partial regard in proposing to inscribe to me one of the
books of your intended poem.
The impression made on me by such a lasting token of
yotu" friendship will, I am sure, be as permanent as it is
strong.
Will you forgive me for having read the specimen you
sent me to Lady Hester Stanhope ? * I will not tell you all
the flattering speeches which it produced, because you
shall hear them from her own mouth ; but it will, I am
sure, be a gratification to you to hear that Mr. Pitt (she
repeated some of his remarks upon the "Lay") highly
' W. S. Rose, son of the Right at Gundimore in Hampshire. He
Hon. George Rose, Treasurer of had then resumed Jlfannto?), and left
the Navy, etc. etc , to whom Scott his host the printed sheets of the
dedicated the first canto of iifarmum. exquisite Introduction to the 1st
Mr. Hose died in 1843, and is most Canto, which Rose refers to as
widely known by his translation of having been shown to Lady Hester
Ariosto's Orlando. Stanhope. On his return home
^ Scott was in London in March, Scott was compelled to put aside
and he remained there several weeks aU literary work, and devote him-
engaged at the British Museum on self entirely to the disentanglement
Dryden ; thence he visited his friend of his brother Thomas's affairs.
\
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[May
appreciated both the talents and the merit which your
poetry exhibits.
This is not in order to qualify some criticisms which
I am about to venture upon the lines which produced
this discussion. . . .
Having very seriously told you my opinion, which is
perhaps little worth upon these heads, you will I trust
believe me equally sincere in saying that I was delighted
with the verses, which evidently flowed from the heart.
TO LADY ABERCOHN.
EDiHBintOH, 16lh May ISCTT.
... I HAD a most stormy passage to Scotland, for the
tempest of disputed election was rt^^ing in every town
almost through which I passed. Post horses were, generally
speaking, out of the question, and the public coaches, on
the outside and in the inside of which I performed the
greater part of my journey, were crowded with drunken
voters whom the candidates were transporting in that
manner through the country, and who drank brandy at
every furlong for the good of their country. I arrived
here on Wednesday without having been in bed for three
nights, but without experiencing either fatigue or incon-
venience from my vigils.
The cry of King and Constitution was the favourita
through every part of the country I passed. My route
extended a good way to the westward, by Liverpool, Lich-
field,' Sheffield, etc., till I joined the great north rood at
robuaL than aleniier ; bat lame in
the Hiktne mumer as Mr. H&jlej,
and in a greater meoaure. Neither
the contour of hU face nop yet his
featureii ore elogant, iii> oomplexiijn
health; and aoniewbat fair, without
bloom. We find the Bingohmt; of
brown hail' niid ejelaohes with
flaTen eyobrowa, imd acountenanos
I Thongh Mias Seward's descrip-
tion of Scott when he viaited Lich-
iield haa been already printed, yet
[t ia so good that space may well
be afforded for it here, transcribed
from the original Ma. :—
1807]
TO LADY ABERCORN
75
York, finding it difficult to return, as I had intended, by
Carlisla ... I found all my little people in great health and
spirits, and beginning to talk a little French under their
mother's instructions. I am very anxious that my sons in
particular shall be masters of the modem European lan-
guages, an accomplishment which, although much neglected
in our common mode of education, may be of the utmost
use to them in future life. Your Ladyship will, I hope,
commend my early and fore-casting prudence in this
matter when you consider that the eldest boy is only five
years old, and the youngest cannot speak his mother tongue
yet
I find myself treated with an unusual degree of respect
in this country, from the idea which the good people are
pleased to entertain of my favour with the ministers and
their strongest supporters. As the only course in my
power, I look wise, say nothing, and gain the credit of being
in the secret, and knowing how to keep it. I need not tell
your Ladyship that I laugh in my sleeve, and yet I daresay
I have often looked up with profound respect to some
person or other who had no better claim to it than being
personally known to his betters, like myself.
You will expect to hear something of Marmion. He
open, ingenaous, and benevolent.
When flerionsly conversing or
earnestly attentive, tho' his eyes
are rather of a lightish grey, deep
thought is on their lids; he con-
tracts his brows, and the rays of
genina gleam aslant from the orbs
beneath them. An upper lip too
long prevents his mouth from being
decidedly handsome, bat the sweet-
est emanations of temper and of
heart play about it when he talks
cheerfully or smiles, and in company
he is much oftener gay than con-
templative. His conversation »u
overflowing fountain of brilliant
wit, apposite allusion and playful
archness, while on serious themes
it is nervous and eloquent ; the
accent decidedly Scotch, yet by no
means broad. On the whole, no
expectation is disappointed whicii
his poetry must excite in all who
feel the powers and the graces
of Aoniaa inspiration. Not less
astonishing than was Johnson^s
memory is that of Mr. Scott ; like
Johnson's also, his recitatitm is
too monotonous and violent to do
justice either to his own writings
or those of others. — Letter to Gary.
76 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Aug.
b^s his respectful compliments to the Marchioness, and
wiU have the honour of kissing her hand at Christmas,
having adjourned his introduction to public life till that
period. The whirlpool of politics run such risque of ab-
sorbing all the public interest, and my own labours have
been so eflFectuaUy interrupted by the gaieties of yom:
metropolis, that this arrangement will be most convenient
for both parties.
I send Queen Auragua ^ under the Marquis's cover, and
will be happy to hear how your Ladyship likes it in
Manuscript; and still more so, to know that you are
tolerably well, and taking care of your health, to which
London air and London hours are I fear not very favour-
able.
TO MISS SEWARD.
AsHEsnsL, BT Selkirk,
August 11, 1807.
I VERY little anticipated upon quitting your hospitable
mansion, that my first letter should have begun with an
apology for delaying to express the pleasure I had received
from a personal acquaintance which I value so highly. But
it has pleased God since that period to visit me with
distress of a kind which, least of all, I am able to bear.
My younger brother's affairs fell very suddenly into total
and irretrievable disorder, at a time too when his A\ife was
confined after the birth of a son, and under a variety of
other circumstances tending to aggravate a calamity in
itself sufficiently severe. He had been for many years
manager of the estates of the Marquis of Abercom, and I
was security to his employer for the regular payment of
his rents. The consequence of my brother's failure was,
that the whole affairs of these extensive estates were
thrown upon my hands in a state of unutterable confusion,
so that to save myself from ruin I was obliged to lend my
^ Southey's Poem on Queen Orraca.
1807] TO MISS SEWARD 77
constant and unremitting attention to their re-establish-
ment In the course of this imfortimate business, I was
so absolutely worried to death that I had neither head nor
heart to think of anything else. Fortunately, from Lord
Abercom's friendship and liberality of sentiment on the
one hand, and imceasing attention on the other, I have
put things into such a train as to avoid a personal loss,
which would not only have deprived me of the power of
assisting my brother's family, but veiy much cramped me
in maintaining my own, or deprived me at least of that
independence which in my opinion is essential to happiness.
Thank God everjrthing has turned out better than I
ventured to hope, and I have found myself at liberty to
escape to the banks of my dear Tweed without any ap-
prehension of being obliged to quit them. I have also
hopes, by some kind and powerful Mends, to establish my
brother in a line which will suit him better than that in
which he has met with his misfortune.
If this can be accomplished, his youth and talents,
which are very considerable, may easily repair to himself and
his family the disaster which his ill-timed speculations
have occasioned. Meantime, I have found the proof of an
old Scottish proverb that "if a thing is kept for seven
years, some use will be found for it." After so many years
spent at the Bar and in literary pursuits, I never thought
to have been so much obliged to an early part of my
education, in which I was trained to what you would call
Attorney's business, which my father thought I ought to
understand, although my practice was to be in the higher
and theoretical branch of the law. This has done me
yeoman's service in the hour of necessity, but most
devoutly do I pray I may have no further occasion to
plague myself with rent rolls, annuity tables, purchase and
redemption of leases, and all the endless train of com-
plicated chicanery by understandiQg which one part of
78 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Skit.
mankind enable themselves to live at tbe expense of the
sons of fortune.
In the midst of all this bustle, it is scarcely necessary
to say that my harp has been hung on the willows ; my
grand poem called Marmion has been entirely stopped,
even when half finished, and Dryden has crept on very
slowly. All this delay must now be compensated when
leisure and renovated spirits enable me to resume my
literary labours. Since I came here I have had a visit from
Miss Smith of Covent Garden Theatre, an actress of the
Tragic Muse, for whom I have an especial regard as a very
good and pleasing girl with high talents for her profession,
in which she is now second to Mrs. Siddons alone. As she
goes by the Western Road, I would have ventured to give
her a few luies of introduction to you had her time been
such as to permit her to wait upon you. She is quite
received everywhere, and was inli-oduced to us by the
Buccleuch ladies.
TO MISS SMITH.*
V' AsHESTiKL, Olh Seplember 1807.
... I AsauRE you we felt a Uttle pang of remorse when
we considered that the day you so kindly spent at our
farm, had been the means of reducing you to the necessity
of such violent exertions to be in due time at Margate
Seriously, you must allow no consideration to do so in
future; the voice (especially so flexible a voice as yours)
has a, dehcacy equal to its other powers, and a bad cold
might deprive it for a long time, if not for ever, of that
command of tone which it now possesses. So pray as yon
value my regard, take care of damp dressing-rooms, and
of night journeys. I am not ignorant that your profession
' MisB -Sarah Smith, an aci
plished tragic actreu, engage
this time at CoTenC Garden.
1807] TO MISS SMITH 79
and the eminence you have deservedly gained in it, expose
you to sensations still more painful than those of colds
and rheumatisms, and that the heartache which is pro-
duced by lacerated feelings is more acute than the severest
bodily pain. But you must look, my dear young friend,
upon the livelier side of the picture, and consider the
pleasures of your profession, when its highest rank is
attained by one who is in eveiy respect deserving of the
elevation it gives her. . . .
The actor gives life to the poet, and embodies those
passions which the author can but sketch ; and the ardour
with which a favourite part is studied and mastered
seldom fails in the keenest degree to reward a performer
who has given himself the pains to imderstand it. Every
line of life has its advantages, and usually is balanced with
drawbacks of a nature corresponding to them. The per-
former whose enjoyment lies in exquisitely feeling and
expressing the beauties of poetry, is by the acuteness of
feeling which he must cultivate, rendered doubly sensible
to mental distress ; and as he Uves by the applause of the
public, he is liable to be wounded by all the tales of
caliunny and malice to which the public is always too
willing to lend an ear. But your powers, with the good
temper and propriety to which they are united, may
safely defy all these inconveniences, and if you cannot avoid
feeling them for a time, you have the pleasing consciousness
that they arise only from a sense of your excellence. . . .
Believe me yours afifectionately, Walter Scott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.^
AsHESTiEL, 10 8epL 1807.
I HAVE deferred writing from day to day, my dear Lady
^ Scott appears to have hinted pleasant business in which he had
to Lady Abercom that he feared been engaged daring the summer
her silence was caused by the un- months, but her reply, from which
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Skit.
Abercom, tmtil I should be able to make good my promise
of sending you the first two cantos of Mwnnion, . . .
I am sure it will give your kindness pleasure to hear
that the very unpleasant afl'air which distressed me so
much when I met your Ladyship at Longtown is taking a
turn much more favourable than I had ventured to augur
at that time. Lord Abercom will, I think, susttun no
loss whatever, my own will be trifling, and something
will even be saved out of the wreck of my bn>ther'&
fortune.
, . . Thus it is, my dear Lady, in human life: the bad
is not always so very bad. and the good is not always so
w.ry good as we at first fear or expect, and in this twilight
sort of state, in which good and bad fortune are so
strangely chequered, we find something to make mis-
tbrtune tolerable, and something to embitter prosperity
itself.
Apropos of prosperity, our glens have been honoured
with a visit from the Ihike and Duchess of Bedford ; they
made some stay at a shooting hut of Lord Somerville's
(how he contrived to pack them I cannot imagine), and
looked around them at the Antiquities and Agriculture of
Teviotdale. I renewed my former acquaintance with her
Grace, which commenced when she was the Duchess's
Qeorgie^ and they breakfasted at our farm on their road to
tlie following extract is made,
shewed hini tliat he was miatakon : —
■'I aun sure yon have not for one
moment imagined my silence pro-
ceeded from any change in those
■entimeata which I &tw&yH have
felt and always miiat feel for yon—
but as I have no good excaee to
give for my silence I will trust
to you for torgiveoess . . . You
must prove you are not angry by
writing me long letters to IreloDd,
where we intend to be very toon,
please Ooil. Ws leave this on the
27ih, and travel with our own honee
by SooUaud, so we shall be a great
while on thu mad. . . . How
happy I should he if we oonld
temjityou to cross the sea and oome
to us — indeed it would be a most
friendly visit tho' one I fear there
is little chance of."
' Second wife of John, Duhe of
Bedford, dsnghter of tlie 4th Dake
of Gordon and the oelebraled
Duchess Jane.
1807] TO LADY ABERCOBN 81
Hamilton. ... I have seldom seen any person so happy
at revisiting her native coimtry. She was quite ready,
with the damsel in the old song,
" To throw off her gallant shoes
Made of the Spanish leather,
And to pnt on the Highland brogues
To skip among the heather.^'
Marrriion has been sadly interrupted, but is now making
some progress. I was under the necessity of going to
Edinburgh for a few days, and as Mrs. Scott was with me,
we returned by Bothwell Castle, both to visit Lady Douglas
and that my wife might see the Falls of Clyde. But the
pleasure of this excursion had like to have cost us dear.
For on Sunday, as we were travelling through a very wild
coimtry between the towns of Lanark and Peebles, the
weather, which had been rainy for several days, became a
perfect hurricane. Many bridges were broke down, others
were left standing with the water flowing roimd both
ends of them, so that they seemed in the middle of a lake ;
at other places the road was entirely under water. Going
forward and stopping seemed to be almost alike impossible
However, by walking, wading, and riding before the
carriage when we came to those perilous spots where my
coachman could not see the road, we did at length, to the
astonishment of all beholders, reach the town of Peebles,
which was half imder water. Next day, aU the roads
being impassable for a carriage, we had to walk home,
being about eight miles intersected by brooks, and had
on our arrival the displeasure to find a good part of my
crop had been carried off by the river, which very nearly
made free with the persons of some people who had made
themselves busy in saving it.
But as I remember formerly terrifying your Ladyship
with the description of a Scottish tornado, I will not
enlarge upon this tempest, lest I should make you afraid
VOL. L F
82 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Nov.
of a country which I have so many reasons to wish you to
love. I learned by a letter from Lord Abercom that you
had reached in safety " the green isle of the ocean/' whose
verdure and riches have, I daresay, long since obliterated
the recollection of the dusky heaths and moimtains which
you traversed in joumejdng to Portpatrick. . . .
TO THE SAME.
AsHESTiEL, Sept, 10, 1807.
... I AM going on with horse and foot, that is, prose and
verse alternately. Marmion is now well advanced. Pray
observe that in the character of Fox two lines are omitted ;
they should follow that which says,
" Lest it should drop o'er Fox's tomb."
They run thus-
'* For talents moorn untimely lost,
When best employed and wanted most,
Mourn genius gone," etc.
Pray, Lady Abercom, add these lines with a pen.
They are an admirable improvement suggested by the
M[arquis] when I was at the Priory. The sheet was
thrown oflf before the correction reached the printer,
but the leaf is to be cancelled and printed anew before
publication.
I see my neighbour Lord Somerville's carriage on the
opposite side of the Tweed. I suppose he is coming to
spend the day with us, so conclude in haste. . . . — ^Your
truly grateful and deeply obliged Walter Scott.
TO MISS SEWARD.
23 Nov. 1807.
... As for the aflFair of Copenhagen,^ I know you will
ascribe to my ancient freebooting Border prejudices a
^ The bombardment of Copenhagen and capture of the Danish Fleet
in September.
1807] TO MISS SEWARD 83
latitude of morality which I think State necessity must
justify, because in the code of nations as in that of social
order, the law of self-preservation must supersede all
others. Indeed, my patriotism is so much stronger than
my general philanthropy, that I should hear with much
more composure of a general conflagration at Constan-
tinople, than of a hut being on fire at Lichfield ; and as
for the morality of an action in which the welfare of the
coxmtiy is deeply concerned, I suspect I feel much like
the Laird of Keir's butler. Keir had been engaged in the
affair of 1715 and was tried for high treason ; the butler,
whose evidence was essential to conviction, chose to forget
aU that was unfavourable to his master, who was acquitted,
of coursa As they returned home Keir could not help
making some observations upon the violent fit of oblivion
with which John had been visited, but that trusty domestic
answered with infinite composure, that he chose rather to
trust his own soul in the Lord's hands than his Honour's
life in the hands of the Whigs.
But if I write any longer in this way you will lock up
your Plate, as old Lady Tarras^ threatened to secure her
cows when I should visit her, suspecting that my dis-
tinctions between mevmi and tv/wm were hardly more
accurate than those of Johnie Armstrong of Qilnockie.
I am very glad indeed that you have condescended to
take upon you the task of reviewing my poor Shepherd.*
This dismal day of wind and snow is probably finding him
a very different occupation from writing verses. A sailor
when he hears the wind whistle always thinks of a sea
^ This letter is printed from a gard. Helen Hepburn, the only
transcript, and not from the original Lady Tarras, died when Scott was
by Sir Walter. If he wrote TarraSf a child,
it may have been a playful allusion
to his old friend and early patroness ' The Mountain Bard by Hogg
Lady Diana Scott, of whom he often was reviewed by Miss Seward in
speaJu in terms of the utmost re- the Critical Review in 1807.
84 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Nov.
tempest, ajid such a night as last alwajrs sends my
thoughts to the desert hills, where my poor countrymen
must be all night driving the sheep with their faces to the
wind, to prevent their lying down and being smothered
In this service they very often lose their lives.
I do not at aU like the task of reviewing, and have seldom
myself undertaken it; in Poetry never, because I am sensible
there is a greater difference of tastes in that department
than in any other, and that there is much excellent Poetry
which I am not now-a-days able to read without falling
asleep, and which would nevertheless have given me great
pleasure at an earlier period of my life. Now I think
there is something hard in blaming the poor cook for the
fault of our own palate or deficiency of appetite. There
is a clever little Pamphlet come out against JeflBrey by
Mr Coplestone^ of Oxford! I gave it to the Critic this
morning, and he is so much delighted with it that he says
he means to request the favour of the Author's contribu-
tions to his Review. To be sure he is the most complete
"poco curante that I ever knew. ... I have resumed my
poem in order to accomplish my engagement with the
Booksellers, which has been terribly retarded. ... I am
a pretty hard worker when once I set about it, and, in fact,
my literary life resembles the natural life of a savage,
absolute indolence interchanged with hard work. This is
the interval of labour, to which the gloomy weather and
whistling winds are very favourable. . . . My reason for
transporting MaTmimi from Lichfield was to make good the
minstrel prophecy of Constance's song. Why I should ever
have taken him there I cannot very well say. Attachment
to the place, its locality with respect to Tamworth, the
ancient seat of the Marmions, partly perhaps the whim of
taking a slap at Lord Brooke en passant, joined in
^ ** Hints to young Reviewers " by Edward Coplestone, afterwards
Bishop of Llandaff.
1807] TO MISS SEWARD 85
suggesting the idea which I had not time to bring out or
finish. ... I am quite glad you have seen Southey.
Delighted with him you must be, yet in conversation (great
as he is) he is inferior to Wordsworth, perhaps because he
is a deeper and more elaborate scholar. Southey rarely
allows you any of those reposes of conversation when you
are at liberty to speak, as the phrase is, "^ whatever comes
uppermost.'* But in return, if an idle fellow like me is
sometimes a little g&aiy he is at least informed, and may
be the wiser or the better from all he hears. What I
adiiure in both is an upright undeviating morality con-
necting itself with all they think and say and write. . . .
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART.^
BoTHWKLL Oastlb, WediiMday,
I WILL write to Mr. Morritt, who told me the story and
is a friend of Lord Mulcaster's, for a particular detail In
the meantime what I can remember is this. Mulcaster
Castle lies beyond Wast Water, the wildest and most
remote lake in Cumberland. It commands a fine view of
the sea, and is in a scene of savage grandeur.
The PenningtoTis, one of the oldest families in the
County, have possessed it for many centuries ; I think —
but am not sure — I was told they had it before the
Conquest Colonel Pennington, the present owner, was
made an Irish Peer by the title of Lord Mulcaster several
years ago. Here Henry vi. foimd an asylum when flying
from the Yorkists, and remained some months inhabiting
a part of the Castle still known by the name of " the Ejng's
^ Lady Louisa Stuart, to whom at Bothwell, the seat of Archibald
Scott wrote some of his best letters, Lord DouglaSi whose wife, Lady
the youngest daughter of John, Frances Scott, daughter of Henry
4th Earl of Bute. Her own letters Duke of Buccleuch, was also one of
show that she had much of the Scott's dearest friends,
genius of her grandmother. Lady Lady Louisa Stuart survived all
Mary Wortley Montagu. Scott her early friends, dying in 1851 at
first met her at Dalkeith, and then the age of 94.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Nov.
Apartnient," When going away he lamented that his
poverty allowed of no suitable gift to his kind host, the
Pennington of that day, but said he would leave them the
glass out of which he commonly drank ; then formally
blessed it, and prayed that while that glass remained un-
broken, the house of Mulcaster might never want a male
heir. It has ever since been called the " Luck of Mulcaster."
It is a goblet of thick Venice glass.^
The neighbouring peasantry have such a veneration f(ff
it, that on some day of feasting when they assembled
at the Castle, and Lord Mulcaster brought it out to show
it them, many fell upon their knees. This is all I can
recollect at present, but perhaps Mr. Morritt may give me
some more particulars,
We are very happy that you give us some hopes of
seeing you, in spite of Dryden and Ma/rmion, neither of
which we wish delayed, especially the latter. — I am, dear
sir, your most obedient L. Stdaet,
P.S. — I am half afraid I have blundered in the name,
for the Red Book calls him MuTicaster with an n, and he is
now member for Westmoreland, which looks as if he
belonged to that County. The cup, of which I told you
the history, is a shallow drinking glass, not tmlike the
ancient Patera in shape, and ornamented with gilding
round the edge. I don't know the name of the knight of
Pennington who entertained Henry vl'
TO LADY LOUISA STUART.
I SHOULD not have laboiu-ed so long under the charge
of ingratitude, much worse than that of witchcraft (which
a ghost ballad writer is naturally subjected to), if I had
' liord MuDcaater writes, June carried it at one bsptUm, Mid it ii
1892 : — Duw in my strong-rootn. ..."
". . . ThUcupisBtili unbroken. ' Sir John do PenoiogKin wM
I have always heard tli&t we have King Henry's boat,
been baptized out of it, I have
1807] TO LADY LOUISA STUART 87
not hoped to have a personal opportunity of paying my
acknowledgments for Lady Louisa's kindness. I take
great care of your correspondent's curious letter; as I
shall be within twelve miles of Bothwell on the 30th, if
Lady Douglas spends the Christmas there, I wiU haye the
honour to deliver it upon that day. My errand at Glasgow
is to see the Lord Advocate^ installed as Lord Rector in the
University; but if the family are to be at Bothwell I will
leave him when invested with his dignity.
I am more and more delighted with the tale of Eling
Henry, his cup, and his blessings but I wiU not willingly
allow that our good Scotch King meant to betray him.
You remember the lines of Chapelain' on the succour he
received in Scotland, "ever kind to banished princes, though
so rude a country." I forget the French words but that
I think is the meaning, which recurred strongly to my
mind when I saw Monsieur come to our old Abbey. * I
am going to discontinue aU my dangerous intentions of
giving poetic celebrity to Lord Muncaster's habitation
(since you were pleased to think I can do so), for I think
the story is far too good to be comprised in a stanza
and a note, which is aU I can afford in Marmion. Besides,
the making it public would be giving the signal to build
some vile milk-and-waterish legendary tale upon so
beautiful a subject, which would grieve me as deeply as it
would Lord M. to see a trim, neat, whitewashed, Qothic
castle, almost as large as one of his ancestors' goose pyes,
arise upon the most romantic knoll in the environs of
Pennington, with its usual graces of slits and pigeon holes
for loop holes and embrasures, petticoat flounces for
^ Lord Advocate Colquhonn's are quoted by Scott in Edinburgh
installation took place on Decern- Bevieio, yoL iii. p. 460, or Miacd-
her 29, 1807. laneotu Works, xviL pp. 76-7. —
' Should this not read Chastelidn Godwin's Chaucer,
or Molinet, whose lines on Scotland ' Count d' Artois, — afterwards
De tons siteles le mendre Charles X. — at Holyrood.
Bt le pins tollerant —
83 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dec 1807
parapets, battled and embattled pepper boxes for turrets,
anfl old perspective glasses for watch towers, I therefore
intend to lay by the tradition in lavender till some
occasion when I can give it ita full interest, or at least do
my best to give it as much as I can. I am just now very
busy dressing your cousin James iv. in his court suit; his
clothes are all cut, sew'd and ready to put on, so I must
bid your Ladyship farewell in order to attend his royal
lev6e. — I am ever with great respect your Ladyship's most
respectful and obhged humble servant, W". S.
FEOM LAOV LOUISA STUART.
Ladt Douglas desires me to say that Lord D. and she
will be most happy to see you when you have rectified the
Lord Advocate.
They are quite stationed here, and have no thought
of moving from home, nor I of leaving them, for some
weeks to come.
I am almost sorry that the Knight of Muncaster is
not to appear at Flodden with the Luck thereof upon his
shield, tho' very glad that he has a chance of a whole
poem to his own share. As for our Gude faith, I am
afraid in spite of Cliapelaln it has not always been so
notorious as j'ou would have it Remember Charles the
First, sold to the ParUament, and " the brave Percie " given
up by Morton notwithstanding the warnings of the " Witch
Ladie," * I have time for no more, some company being
just going away, whom I must join the family in civilizing,
as a very fine-spoken lady once expressed it — Ever, Dear
Sir, your most obedient, L Stuart.
' See Ballad NorUivmbertaTUi Be- her gold On^er ring shewed the page
Irayed, in " Percy's Bcli<)Uea," for of the fugitive Earl hia master's foea
mi account of the Witch Lady, who waiting for him ut Berwick " &ftj
ill Lochloven through the veme of mile* awa;."
CHAPTER IV
1808
EDINBURGH AND ASHESTIEL
Then would he sing achieyements high,
And circamstance of Chivalry,
Till the rapt traveller would stay
Forgetful of the closiDg day ;
And noble youths the strain to hear
Forsook the hunting of the deer ;
And Yarrow as he rolled along
Bore burden to the Minstrel's song.
Lay of iht lM8t Minatrd.
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITERARY WORK
1808— AOB 37
MarmioH published Feby. 1808 in 4to, by
Oonstable, Bdinbnigh.
Drydm'i Works in 18 yoIb. 8to, April, pnb-
liflbed by Miller, London.
Joanna Baillie TiBite Scott in Edinburgh
and at AflhestleL
Scott YisitB Loch Katrine in June with
Mrs. Scott and Miss Lydia White.
Morritt visits Scott in June.
Heber and Murray at Ashestiel in October
(Foundation of the Quarterly BevUw,)
StnUtM Queenhoo Hall, 4 yols. 12mo, puo-
lished by Murray, London.
CarUton'M Mtmairs, 8yo, published by
Constable.
Oary'M Mernotr, 8yo, published by Oon-
stable, Edinburgh.
Scmjenf Traete commenced, 18 Tola. 4to,
completed in 1812, and published by
Miller, London.
Rupture with Oonstable and partnership
with John Ballantyne as a Publisher,
December,
CHAPTER IV.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
Edinbuboh, 22d January 1808.
Dear Lady Marchioness, — I have at length got a copy
of Bums's Love Letters to Clarinda, the little publication
which I mentioned to your Ladyship at Dumfiries. It is
rather too heavy for an ordinary frank.^ I have therefore
addressed it under cover to Lord Castlereagh, who will I
presume take care of it for your Ladyship. I mentioned the
circumstances which attended this publication, but as they
are rather curious, I venture to remind you that Clarinda
was in the work-day world a Mrs. Meiklehose (in English
Mrs. Great-stockings). Her husband was in the West
Indies when she became acquainted with Bums in the
dawn of his celebrity. The progress and extent of their
^ Franking was a privilege which,
till the introductiou of the Penny
Postage in 1840, the members of
both Houses of Parliament, Govern-
ment officials, and other public
functionaries enjoyed, of sending
and receiving daily a certain num-
ber of letters post free, their signa-
ture or address on a letter being
sufficient to exempt it from postage.
The postal charges were then so
high that they were evaded on all
hands, and the privilege of frank-
ing was much abused in favour of
private friends, literary men, and
even mercantile houses. E,g. Dr.
Lardner stated before a Committee
that his correspondence with refer-
ence to his various publications,
and to engineering matters on
which he was consulted, was carried
on principally by official franks.
The number of franked missives
was about seven millions yearly,
and as official franks carried any
weight, bundles of letters for the
same neighbourhood were often
enclosed in them ; and it was cal-
culated that in 1838 a single mail-
coach out of the two dozen leaving
London each night could have
carried all the chargeable letters.
The privilege was abolished in
1840.
01
92 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jan.
acquaintance may perhaps be guessed from the letters,
which form the most extraordinary mixture of sense and
nonsense, and of love human and divine, that was ever
exposed to the eye of the world, not excepting the cele-
brated familiar epistles of Mr. Robert Ferguson to Lady
Elgin. As Mrs. Meiklehose advanced in years her vanity
became rather too strong for her discretion, and confiding
in the charity of her confidants, and in her own character
as a sort of ddvote, she thought fit to show this correspond-
ence to particular friends, and at length to a faithless
young divine, who sat up aU night to make copies, put
himself into the Glasgow mail-coach with peep of day,
and sold all the amatory efiusions of Sylvander and
CHannda to a Glasgow bookseller for the moderate sum of
ten guineas. To the great horror of poor Clarinda, and
the absolute confusion of all the godly in Edinburgh, forth
came a sixpenny pamphlet containing aU these precious
productions. The Heroine of the piece being respectably
connected, the book was suppressed, partly by threatening
and partly by bribing the bookseller, and now, although
they have put a Belfast title upon the work,^ it is very
hard to procure a copy, as your Ladyship may easily
believe since it is so long since I could find you a copy.
I shall grieve if this miscarries, because it might be diffi-
cult to replace it; but I hope it will be more fortunate
than the sheets sent to you when in Ireland. But as L** C.
will receive the parcel at the same time you have this
note, there can be no chance of a second mishap of the
kind*
I am asking myself if you are at the Priory or in St.
James's Square. In one or other place I think it not
unlikely that you may see the Minstrel in the course of a
^ Bibliographies of Burns give A complete edition, with memoir
1802 as the date of the Glasgow of C/aWrMfa, was published in Edin-
edition and 1S06 for that of Belfast, burgh in 1843
1808] TO LADY ABERCOEN 93
few weeks, as Lord Advocate seems disposed to insist that
I shall take a comer of his post>chaise to London, which
removes a certain weighty objection to the journey. I
have finished Marmion, and your Ladyship will do me the
honour, I hope, to accept a copy very soon. In the sixth
and last Canto I have succeeded better than I had
ventured to hope, for I had a battle to fight, and I dread
hard blows almost as much in poetry as in common life.
— ^I am ever, with great respect and attachment, your
Ladyship's most obedient, very faithful W. S.
TO THE SAME.
^h February 1808.
... A CIRCUMSTANCE has just happened within the
common order of things which I believe will enable his
Lordship [Lord Melville] to carry his good wishes in some
degree into effect We Clerks of Session were Clerks of
the Scottish Parliament, and as such our predecessors
always claimed a right that the Secretary or Clerk to any
Commission of Parliament which might sit in Scotland
should be named out of their number.^ It is probably not
unknown to your Ladyship that Lord Eldon has brought
in a Bill for making great alterations in our forms of juris-
prudence, and that a Commission consisting of all our high
Law Officers and several of those of England are to be
named to carry this into efiTect. This Commission must
have a Secretary well acquainted with our law and law
forms, and my brethren at the Clerks' table, without solici-
tation or the slightest hint on my part, have to my great
surprise made an application to Lord Melville stating their
claim to have this officer named out of their number, and
^ This letter refers to the Scottish mission gave in its Report early
Jadicature Commission. Scott was in 1810.
appointed Secretary, and the Com-
94
SCOITS FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Feb.
recommending unanimously that I should be the person
so appointed. . . , The Chancellor will receive a Memorial
on the subject.
I am glad Lord Claud ^ is gone to the Brazils ; he will
see a most interesting and curious experiment ^ in politics
— the transplantation of a whole royal family to a foreign
colony ; and we will have a chance of hearing some dis-
tinct account of the success of this most extraordinary
migration. If we Uved in any other age, what should we
have said, written, and thought of the emigration of the
House of Braganza ? but we are turned as callous to won-
ders as Macbeth to horrors. This Commission aflfair (if it
succeeds) will bring me to town very soon indeed. Mean-
while I am, with great regard and a deep sense of your
kindness, your very grateful and obliged W. S.
TO CHARLES CARPENTEE.
Edinburgh, Feby, 8^ 1806.
My dear brother, — Referring you to a fuller letter,
which I have written along with a copy of a new book ^
which I hope Mrs. Carpenter will accept as kindly as she
did my last, I send this by a young cousin just setting sail
as a Cadet for Madras. He is a brother of that Russell
whom I formerly recommended to you (but I think you
never met), and is a very good boy ; if it faU in your way
to shew him any kindness or attention I am sure you will
^ Lord Claud Hamilton, son of
the Marquis of Abercom ; died in
1808.
(C
' The results of this "experi-
ment " after 80 years' trial may be
briefly told : — When the Royal
Family of Portugal emigrated to
their Great South American pos-
session they called it a ' Kingdom,*
until 1822, when it was styled * an
Empire/ and this title remained
until 1889-90, when by a revolution
the amiable and accomplished Pedro
II. was dethroned, and a republic
established under the name of The
United States of BrazlL
' Marmum.
1808] TO C. CAEPENTEE 95
do so; his mother was my Aiint,^ and we have always
been good friends.
I am truly happy that Mrs. Carpenter's health has not
compelled that separation which your last letter threatened.
I hope and trust she will be able to remain with you till
circumstances enable you to leave India for good. Believe
me, I often think of you and all your kindness to Charlotte.
It will give you pleasure to learn that we are going on very
welL My last step was to become one of the Clerks of
Session ; in doing so I renounced my practice at the Bar,
and what is worse, as I entered by the resignation of an
old and worthy predecessor, he retains his salary during
his life. This bargain was made when I saw the adminis-
tration going to pieces after poor Pitt's death, and knew
how little I had to expect from those who came into power
after that calamitous event.
To be sure I could not expect the change of Ministry
which took place immediately afterwards, nor though I
arrived in London the very day it happened ^ could I easily
believe my eyes and ears. As I had (contrary to many
who held the same political opinions in sunshine) held fast
my integrity during the Foxites' interval of power, I found
myself of course very well with the present administration.
The present President of the Board of Control in particular
is my early and intimate friend since we carried our satchels
together to the High School of Edinburgh. Think, my dear
Carpenter, if this can be of any use to you. I am sure
Bobt Dundas would like to serve my brother. I am also
very well acquainted with your present Governor-General
Lord Minto, though I believe he was angry with me for
not ratting (as the phrase is) with others, after Pitt's
^ Mrs. KuBseU of Ashestiel. succeeded by the Duke of Portland's
3 The admmistratioD under Lord which included Scott's friends Can-
GrenTiUe lasted from February ning and Dundas.
1806 to March 1807, when it was
96 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Pm
deatL Yet I think I have some influence with him ; at
least I am sure I deserve it, for when he set his son in
opposition to the Duke of Buccleuch, my chieftain and
friend, in Roxburgh, I could have done him more harm
than I did. K you see him and choose to mention our
close friendship and connections, I am sure you will not
be the worse received. There is just now proposed a high
Conmiission of Parliament for the reformation of some
points of our Scotch law, and I have been pointed out by
my friends to be Secretary to it — a post of considerable
difficulty as well as distinction, but which if well discharged
will pave the way to good appointments.
The public has been also very favourable to me, so that
I have profited both in pecuniary respects and in general
esteem by the literary reputation I have acquired. All
this good fortime has not been without some alloy. Adieu,
dear Carpenter; think if the little simshine I have ever
can be of use to you, though not essentially, yet in any
trifling degree. I am sure we have always shared in yours.
My Uttle infantry, now four (two of each kind), are all well ;
your godson Charles a cherry-cheeked animal of two years
old. — Believe me ever yours affectionately,
Walter Scott.
TO SOUTHEY.
26th February 180a
... I HAVE requested John Murray to send a copy of
my new poem MarTnion, a goodly volume in point of size,
but I had not time to write the poem shorter.
Looking over Modoc the other day I found I had com-
mitted a piracy, unconsciously, upon an idea of yours. In a
description of a distant view of a battle I have mentioned
the
" Plumed crests of chieftains brave
Floating like foam upon the wave,"
1808] TO SOUTHEY 97
which, although my mind was upon Henry iv.'s white
plume, is exactly similar to that of Madoc floating like
fi>am on the wave tempest If my powers were equal to
my sense of honesty, as I would to Heaven they were, I
would offer you the fourfold requital of the Levitical law,
but that would be no easy matter. I have been very much
interested lately with the Remains of H. K, White,^ which
however left a very melancholy impression on my mind.
Was there no patron for such a man but Simeon and
Wilberforce, who with the best intentions in the world
seem to have encouraged his killing himself by religious
enthusiasm? I am afraid that sort of people do not
recollect that enthusiasm like other potent draughts
should be tempered to the strength of the patient. A
dram which hardly warms the veins of a rough-nerved
Scotchman wiU drive to frenzy a more sensitive system.
1 wish Simeon and Levi would confine their operations to
hard-headed Cantahs, and make no excursions to Notting-
ham for crimping young poets.
I have some very curious letters from a spy, sent into
Scotland at the time of the great Northern Rebellion, in
which there is a good deal mention made of the Nortons.
I have written to Wordsworth to offer him copies or ex-
tracts, but adding that I suppose his " siege is finished," as
Vertot said when he received some original materials from
Malta. Tou make me very curious to see his poem ;^ he
is a great master of the passions.
I have some hopes we may meet in London. Gk)d speed
your rrvagnv/m opua;^ I venture to prophesy it will be
generally interesting. It will give me great pleasure to
learn that my preux Chevalier ' Marmion ' has afforded you
* Lately edited by Sonthey, who ' Wordsworth's Poem, The White
thonght the young poet, in point of Doe of ByUtone ; not published,
genius, quite equal to Chatterton, however, until 1815.
and a far greater loss to the world. ' The History qfPortugciL — Ante,
-Sdeetioni, i. ^411. n. p. 39.
VOL. L ' G
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[March
any pleasure. Ho is popular here, but we are you know-
national in our taste, bo I wait my doom from London,
and shall abide it sajis pewr el eans reprocke, taking that
phrase a little differently than as it applies to Bayard. —
Believe me with great regard, dear Southey, yours truly,
Walter Scott.
TO LADY LOUISA STUAET,
Edink., 3d Mareh 1808.
... I HAVE thought on your reading about the death
of Constance, and with all the respect which (sa7i« phrase)
I entertain for everything you honour me with, I have not
made up my mind to the alteration, and hero are i
reasons. Glare has no wish to embitter Marniion's \
moments, and is only induced to mention the death, q
Constance because she observes that the wounded mac's
anxiety for her deliverance prevents his attending to his
own spiritual affairs. It seems natural, however, that
knowing by the Abbess, or however you please, the share
which Marmion had in the fate of Constance, she should
pronounce the line assigned to her in such a manner as
perfectly conveyed to his conscience the whole truth,
although her gentleness avoided conveying it in direct
terms. We are to consider too that Marmion had from
various workings of his own mind been led to suspect the
fate of Constance, so that the train being ready laid the
slightest hint of her fate communicated the whole tale ot
terror to his conviction. Were I to read the passage, I
would hesitate a Uttle like one endeavouring to seek a soft
mode of conveying painful intelligence —
" In vain for Constance ia your zeal,
She died al Holy Isle."
Perhaps after all this is too fine spun, and requires more
from my gentle readers to fill up my sketch than I am
1808] TO LADY LOUISA STUART 99
entitled to exact. But I would rather put in an ex-,
planatoiy couplet describing Clare's manner of speaking
the words, than make her communication more full and
specific. ...
We have Miss Baillie here as a visitor at present I
hope she will make some little stay in Edinburgh. I have
been much distressed by the late bad accounts of dear
little Lord Scott's health.^ God grant he may recover.
Out of my own family there is no loss I would so
deeply deprecate.
TO HISS SMITH.
Edinb., 4^A March 1808.
. • . We have Mrs. Siddons here, I believe to take her
farewell * of the Edinburgh audience. I observe you have
been performing along with her in town, and waa most
happy to hear (for I did not fail to inquire,) that you
sustained the comparison as triumphantly as your warmest
friends could wish. If London had been within 100 miles,
I would certainly have come to see you both on the same
staga We have Miss Baillie here at present, who is
certainly the best dramatic writer whom Britain has pro-
duced since the days of Shakespeare and Massinger. I
hope you have had time to look into her tragedies (the
comedies you may [pass] over without any loss), for I am
sure you will find much to delight you, and I venture to
prophesy you will one day have an excellent opportunity
to distinguish yourself in some of her characters. I mean
if the real taste for the Drama, independent of sham and
scenery, should ever happen to revive, of which I think
your being permitted to remain upon the ahdf as you call
1 Lord Dalkeith's eldest son. Edinburgh in 1810 and again in
* Merely a temporary leave* 1815.
taking, as Mrs. Siddons retomed to
100 SCOTT'S FAMOrlAR LETTERS [Mabch
it is no very promising symptom. We have an actor
here of considerable merit called Young ;^ he is a well-
educated and gentleman-liko man, and an enthusiast in
his profession. I sometimes have the pleasure of seeing
hiTTi in private, and like him very much. . . .
TO LABV A££BCORN.
Edi»bitsgh, 13fA March 1808.
My dear Friend,^! see with pleasure that both the
Marmityiis have been at last received. What should have
delayed the delivery of the first, I cannot guess. As to
the Holland House copy, assuredly I know nothing of it,
QOt holding any correspondence with that mansion. The
bookseller here satisfied me by showing his invoices that
he sent ofl' none so early as that to the Princess and your
Ladyship's. I suspect strongly that Miller,^ who has a share
in the book, had fallen on some means to get a copy
privately, being anxious I presume to gratify the Hollands
since he became purchaser of Fox's work. All the Whigs
here are in arms against Marmion. If I had satirised Fox
they could have home it, but a secondary place for the
god of their idolatry puts them beyond the slender degree
of patience which displaced patriots usually possess. I
make them welcome to cry till they are hoarse against
both the book and author, as they are not in the habit of
having majorities upon their sida I suppose the crossed
critics of Holland House will take the same tone in your
Metropolia
You ask me why I do not rather think of original
' Charles Muyne Yooiig was at * WiUiam UUler, AlbenurlB
rival of J. P. Eemble Street, was the publisher of Fox's
in Hamlet— See Memairi by his Ll/e of Jama II., u waU m of
son the Rev. JulUn Young, 8vo, Scott's Drgdcn, and he hAd alio a
London, 1871- fonrth ahars of JUarmion.
1808] TO LADY ABERCOEN 101
production tlian editing the works of others, and I will
frankly tell your Ladyship the reason. Li the first place,
no one acquires a certain degree of popularity without
exciting an equal degree of malevolence among those who,
either from rivalship or the mere wish to pull down what
others have set up, are always ready to catch the first
occasion to lower the favour'd individual to what they call
his real standarcL Of this I have enough of experience,
and my political interferences, however useless to my friends,
have not failed to make me more than the usual number
of enemies. I am therefore bound in justice to myself,
and to those whose good opinion has hitherto protected me,
not to peril myself too frequently. The naturalists tell us
that if you destroy the web which the spider has just made,
the insect must spend many days in inactivity till he has
assembled within his person the materials necessary to
weave another. Now after writing a work of imagination
one feels in nearly the same exhausted state with the spider.
I believe no man now alive writes more rapidly than I do,
(no great reconunendation,) but I never think of making
verses tUl I have a sufficient stock of poetical ideas to
supply them. I would as soon join the Israelites in Egypt
in their heavy task of making bricks without straw.
Be^des^ I know as a small farmer that good husbandry
consists in not taking the same crop too frequently from
the same soil, and as turnips come after wheat according
to the best rules of agriculture, I take it that an edition of
Swift will do well after such a scourging crop as Marmion.
Meantime I have by no means relinquished my thoughts
of a Highland poem, but am gradually collecting the
ideas and information necessary for that task. Perhaps I
shall visit Green Erin to collect what I can learn of Swift ;
if so, I hope you will be at Barons Court when I undertake
my pilgrimage to your native Land of Saints. My journey
to London is unsettled, for Robert Dundas, or rather his
102 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [April
Lady, seems to think there is no immediate occasion for
it. As Lord Melville will be in town shortly after this
reaches your Ladyship, I fancy his presence will quicken
the passing of the Scotch Bill ; and when that has passed
Parliament, my motions will be decided by the order of the
Commission appointed under it; that is, if I am successful
in being named their Secretary.
Duchess of Gordon is here very gay and very angry
with me. I believe I have been a little negligent in my
attentions upon her, but she should consider how little my
time is at my own disposal, and pity instead of abusing
me. We are, however, very civil when wo meet.
My poor dear Lord Scott^ will never leave my memory,
I had a sort of feudal attachment to the boy, who was all
the friends of hia family could wish. Dalkeith and his
Lady are gone to Bothwell, as I learn by a letter from Lord
Montagu. I hardly know how the arrow of fate could
have hit a more vulnerable point. But great and small
we are alike her butt. One thing alone is out of her
power — the unalterable and sincere regard, with which
I am, dear Lady Abercom, your much obliged and very
faithful W. S.
TO THE SAUE.
Castle Street, 3d April 1808.
Dear Lady Marchioness, — Accept with yoiir usual
goodness a copy of the Life of Dryden, of which Mr. Miller
has thrown off a few separate from the works. We have
often heard of a rivulet of text meandering through a
> Lord Scott, tbe Earl of Dal- Scott kaew of his iUaeas, Bud
keith's eldest hoq, died a few days thej would Iiave been omitted in
aCter Afarraiaii woa published, tbe Becond edition if the Author
Tiie well-knoTrn lines on the boy hod not heard that tliey bad givea
in the poecu were priated beforo the poor mother a sad pleMure.
1808] TO LADY ABERCORN 103
meadow of margin. But these books (saving that the shape
is square) rather look like St. James's Square with the
pool of water in the midst of it.
The MomiTig Chronicle of the 29th March has made a
pretty story of the cancel of page 10th of Marmion, which
your Ladyship cannot but recollect was reprinted for the
sole purpose of inserting the lines suggested so kindly by
the Marquis —
'*For talentB monm, untimely lost.
When belt employed, and wanted mosf ;
I suppose from the carelessness of those who arranged
the book for binding, this sheet may not in a copy or two
have been right placed, and the worthy Editor affirms
kindly that this was done that I might have copies to send
to Mr. Pitt's friends in which these lines do not occur ! I !
My publishers here, who forwarded the books, have written
in great wrath to contradict the story, and were surprised
to find I had more inclination to laugh at it. This is a
punishment for appropriating my neighbour's goods. I
suppose it would surprise Mr. Morning Chronicle con-
siderably to know that the couplet in question was
written by so distinguished a friend of Mr. Pitt as Lord
Abercom.
The Princess of Wales sent me a most elegant silver
cup and cover, with a compliment upon Marmion, parti-
cularly on the part respecting the Duke of Brunswick,
which was very flattering.
When your Ladyship can find an opportunity to let
me know that you like the Life of Dryden, that you are
well, and that I live in your remembrance, I need not say
how agreeable it will be to your most respectful and truly
grateful W. Scott.
104 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTEBS [April
TO ROBERT SURTEES.^
4^ AprU [1808].
My dear Sir, — ... As for Prince Charles — " he that
wandering knight so fair *' — we will talk about him when
we meet I have always thought of a Highland poem
before hanging my harp on the willows, and perhaps it
would be no bad setting for such a tale to suppose it
related for his amusement in the course of his wanderings
after the fatal field of Culloden. Flora Macdonald,
Kingsburgh, Lochiel, the Kennedies, and many other
characters of dramatic interest might be introduced, and
the time is now passed away when the theme would have
had both danger and offence in it
When you have read over Marwjum, which has more
individuality of character than the Lay, although it wants
a sort of tenderness which the personage of the old
minstrel gave to my first-bom romance, you will be a
better judge whether I should imdertake a work which
will depend less on incident and description than on the
power of distinguishing and marking the dramatis peraonce.
But all this is in embryo, the creation of your letter and
may never go farther. . . .
April IStk, — .... I am very glad you like Marmion; it
has need of some friends, for Jefirey showed me yesterday
a very sharp review of it, — I think as tight a one as he
has written since Southey's Modoc. As I don't believe the
world ever furnished a critic and an author who were
more absolute poco cv/ranti about their craft, we dined
together and had a hearty laugh at the revisal of the
flagellation,^ etc. etc.
^ For entire letter see Memoir in the dinner at 39 Castle Street and
Surtees' Society y voL for 1852, p. 66. Jeffrey's letter to Scott, see /4/c,
' For Mr. Lockhart's account of vol. iii pp. 50-55.
1808]
FEOM JOANNA BAILLIE
105
FBOM JOANNA BAILLIE.^
Bbown Squabb, April [1806].
My deab Sib, — 1 am afraid before we leave Edin' 1
may have no opportunity of speaking to you, and therefore
I write to you along with your manuscript, which I return
with many thanks. I have read your Tragedy twice, and
have been more pleased with it the second time than the
first; the story is very interesting, the writing forcible,
and the characters of Rudiger and George — the dignity of
the one and the spirit of the other — well imagined and
contrasted.
The opening of the piece pleased me very much, and so
did that scene which is the most important one in the
whole play, between the mother and her son when he
wants to discover whether she is really guilty or not, tho'
perhaps it is rather under-written (if I may use the phrase)
from a fear of being extravagant.
The scene in the Chapel I was also struck with, when
the Lady is led off by the figure in black coming from
behind her husband's tomb ; and the last scene is finely
imagined, particularly the first part of it, when George
discovers himself, and the man of fourscore is appointed
to be his executioner. There is in the whole Play sufficient
knowledge of nature and force of expression to make your
friends look forward with a very pleasing hope to what
may hereafter foUow, when you shall write on a better
1 When visiting Soott in Edin-
bni|^, the author of the Family
Ltffend, whose personal acquaint-
ance he had made in London in
1S06, undertook to give an opinion
on an early dramatic attempt of
Scott's. "To read his verses o'er
and teU the truth ! A dangerous
task ! *' Her honest criticism on
the House of Aspen is here given.
George Ellis on the other hand was
so delighted with this Qermanised
play that he told Scott he spent
the evening of his wedding-day
reading it to his wife.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[April
dramatic plan, and allow your delightful imagmation more
liberally to enrich the work.
The dry bare Gorman way of writ'mg suits a poor Poet,
but not a rich one.
If you ever make any use of this piece, I would have
you to disencumber your plot of some things that might
easily be spared, and bring more into view the character
of George, which you have so justly imagined, while he is
in the terrible state of suspense in regard to his mother's
guilt. It is a pity that all this should be put over in one
scene, when the audience might be kept in a state of the
most agitating suspense that would wonderfully heighten
the efi'ect of the whole Play.
But I hope some time or other to have an opportunity
of speaking to you of these matters, so I shall only at
present return you a great many thanks for the confidence
you have put in me, and for the high gratification I have
had in reading the Hause of Aepen.
As you know, I have a Tri^edy at home in which a wife
discovers the guilt of her husband by the dying confession
of a servant who was present at the crime, and I have
scenes afterwards between her and the husband, in which
she tries to discover whether he is really guilty or not.
Don't after this think, if you should see it, that I have
borrowed the idea from you ; It has been long written and
is now in the hands of Mrs, Baillie ; and if you should ever
work up this part of your piece more fully, it may be an
amusement to us some time or other to compare the two
plays in this respect together.^
I will not let you beat me on my own ground if I can
> The compuruon may now be
made, u tbe Hoiui: of Aspea is in.
claded in Scott's PotUcal Worlo,
vol. xii. p. 363, and Joamia Baillja'a
tragedy called Tht Stparalioa, in
which thoro are several Tory atrik-
ing iceneB, will be found in th«
iiecond vol. of Dramaa publiibed in
1S36, or in tbe collected editioii of
lier wcrki, Svo, London, ISflG, p.
1808] FROM JOANNA BAILUDE 107
help it ; but, if it must be so, I will less grudgingly yield
the victoiy to you than any other poet I know of.
With kind wishes to Mrs. Scott and the young laird
of Gilnockie ^ and every living being that belongs to you,
I remain, my dear sir, your sincere and obliged
J. Baillie.
PROM LADY LOUISA STUART.*
Glouoisteb Plaob, [AprU] 1808.
Dear Sir, — ^Tou will think it is a persecution when
you see my hand again, but I have a ridiculous grievance
that if you cannot redress, perhaps you can at least help
me to understand.
When I first came to town my sister Lonsdale told me,
laughing, she had heard news of me ; a very great Lady
of your acquaintance had informed her that I was
publishing a volume of poems at Edinburgh. Lady L.
replied it was very unlike me, when the [Princess] with
a peremptory "I know it to be true" reduced her to
silence. I hooted at this, as you may suppose, but con-
cluded her RH. had mistaken some other person's name
for mine, and thought little more about the matter till
yesterday, when my sister, who had again had the honour
of dining at Blackheath, acquainted me that the Princess
asked her before a large company whether I had yet let
her into the secret of my publication. She repeated as far
as respect would permit what I had myself said on the
subject; but the P[rincess] more positively than before
silenced her with "/ know it; I tdl you it is so;
and if she will not trust you, then I will ; for I am to have
^ The family name of young "an excellent letter about an nn-
Walter. founded report."
* Scott has written on the back,
108 SCOTTS FAMnJAB LETTEBS [Afbil
a copy ; there are to be bat fifteen pnnted, and Mr. Skene
(Mr. Skene ! my dear Mr. Scott, whom I never saw in my
life! or heard of till yon read ns the epistle to him at
Bothwell !:?)~Mr. Skene has promised me one, which
I will let you see when I get it I belieye Lady Louisa's
name is not to be put to it, which I daresay is what she
means by denying it"
Some of the company on this enquired what her RH.
was talking o£ She turns to them, ''I was only men-
tioning some poems of Lady Louisa Stuart's that she is
publishing at Edinburgh."
I hardly know whether I am awake or dreaming while
I write this curious conversation; but upon my word it
would provoke a saint
Imagine that my above-mentioned sister, nor any other
member of my family, ever saw a verse of mine since I was
seventeen, or had one in their possession ; and that many
of them, and several of my most intimate Mends, to this
hour do not suspect I ever wrote one. It is really too hard
upon a poor snail to be dragged by the horns into the high
road, when it is eating nobody's cabbages, and only desires
to live at peace in its own shelL However, if I could be
certain the lye was a lye of the best and honestest
kind, unadulterated b}' any faint mixture of some-
thing like truth, I shouM make up my mind to patience,
as if it were reported I had stood upon my head, or
married my footman. But my dear sir, your theft of
" Ugly Meg," comes very unpleasantly to my recollection ;
not that I can or will suspect you (for all the Princesses in
Europe) of plaj-ing me so unfair and barbarous a trick, as
it would be to come within a hundred miles of verifying
her RH.'s assertion ; but I am sadly afraid that there lies
the ground the story has been built upon; and that is
bad enough to me. Mr. Skene being thus quoted by
1808] FROM LADY LOUISA STUART 109
name, you may be able to find out — I dare not write it in
English — que didble vent dire tout qa ?
K " Ugly Meg " has the least share in it, I do most
earnestly b^ and beseech you, gratify me by putting her
in the fire. I don't know whether the man in the old story
was right when he called it a woman's highest praise not to
be talked of one way or the other ; but I am sure it is her
greatest blessing, and only way of living in comfort. At
any rate, I entreat, nay (forgive the word!) insist, that
when you visit this part of the world, you neither show it
nor repeat it to the great lady in question, nor tell her
anything about me. I would rather of the two see it in
the Morning Post outright, for the currency of a newspaper
IS nothing to the gossip of a court. The former can tell a
fact, false or true, but one way at once ; the latter varies,
and multipUes, and modifies it in so many, that it be-
comes past the power of the first relator to guess it ever
was his own story, before it had been half an hour out of
his mouth.
Now I have said thus much, another conjecture has
struck me ; may it not be Mr. Alison's funeral sermon on
Sir Wm. Forbes, of which there were but a few copies
printed, and some of those few have gone through my hands
to people who were anxious for it here ? Mr. Skene may
come in very naturally there. My friend's sermon being
converted into a poem of mine, tho' it sounds like one of
Harlequin'^ transformations, might be effected in the
course of tattle through a very few tongues.
Dear Mr. Scott, pardon my worrjdng you with this
tedious letter, and if you can quash the nonsense that
extorts it from me, or expound the riddle, you will very
much oblige, yours, etc. etc.,
L. Stuart.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Aran,
TO LADY LOUISA STOART.
Edinburos, 7(1^ April 1808.
Mr DEAR Lady Louisa, — I was honoured with your
Ladyship's letter this morning. Unless the report in ques-
tion be an express punishment from heaven for hiding
your talent in a napkin, or that " there 's magic in the web
on 't," I cannot offer any absolute solution. I never, I am
positive, mentioned your Ladyship's name to the high
personage in question, or in writing to Miss Hayman, the
only lady of her household with whom I have any cor-
respondenca Skene, as yom- Ladyship may readily be-
lieve, knows nothing of the intended publication, and was
never so happy as to see any of the editor's verses. I
think the artist who made the Httle sketch at the b^^in-
ning of " Ugly Meg" would hardly presume to mention it, as
I cautioned him on the subject. The poem was never
given out of my own hand nor mentioned as your Lady-
ship's, although I must plead guilty to having shown it
to one or two literary friends, as a piracy which I had
committed upon a lady of my acquaintance. If it is
possible that the little drawing has been thus converted
into a set of embellishments by Skene, the six pages of
manuscript into fifteen copies of a printed book, wire
wove, hot pressed, and with a suitable margin, I shall
deeply regret being the cause, however innocently, of
having done anything that could contribute to so wonder-
ful a transformation. Yet I can hardly think it, as I am
certain I never showed the poem to more than three
persons. I cannot find in my heart to condemn " Ugly
Meg" to the flames as a witch, being convinced she had
so very little to do with the mysterious report in question,
but in future she shall be condemned to as severe seclu-
sion as if she was the fairest Circassian in the seveo
1808] TO LADY LOUISA STUART 111
towers. Depend upon it, my dear Lady Louisa, that it
any inquiry is made at me by her Royal Highness upon
this subject, I will attend most heedfully and pointedly to
your injunctions. I must just say, if I am pointedly
charged with the existence of '* Ugly Meg," that she has
been reclaimed by your Ladyship in consequence of some
reports which had gone abroad of her being about to be
given to the world, and that I had forgotten every line of
her. By the way, I forgot to mention that I never showed
"Ugly M^" to any one since your Ladjrship made my
plunder lawful; so that I have been in all respects a
thief of honour. I think it by no means unlikely that
a jimible may have been made by that long-tongued
gossip Fame between the sermon which was printed, the
poem which was not printed, the drawings which Mr.
Skene did make for the Princess, the drawings which he
did not not make for " Ugly Meg." And out of this hedge
podge, with a considerable mixture of unadulterated lye,
the cup has been brewed which your Ladyship regards
mth so much terror. I am less surprised at anything of
the kind, as by a process equally well founded and oracular,
I had the inexpressible happiness to see myself but the
other day pronounced by the Morning Clironide guilty of
garbling my own poem and giving one sort of book to Mr.
Ktt's friends and another to the public ; yet I believe your
Ladyship is more teazed with a report, the nature of which
is not only innocent, but would, if true, do your talents
honour, than I am with one that would argue me guilty
of equal meanness and folly. But the feelings of a pro-
fessed author, and such I must be while my family
continues to require my exertions, get very callous to this
species of scandal I have adopted your Ladyship's kind
suggestion about the speech of Constance, but after much
consideration have placed only one hyphen or dash to
express her confusion. Marmixm, in consequence of an
Ill scorrs famhias letiebs [Apul
unexampled derrand, has heea hnmed thiaasii the pren^
and the aecaod editkn is on the ewe of pfitdkadon.
HiDer in Albemarle Screec will ha^e a eopj, of which I
haye to entreat yoar kind acceptance A copy of the TJfA
of Drjden will also kiss yoor hands in a day or twa
. . . Adien, dear Lady Louisa: I regret I am not the
knight for whom it is reserved to hieak the charm wiiich
has oonyerted a high-born and distressed lady into a ^ro-
fiessed aathoreaBw I hare no doabt it will soon dissolve of
itself;
For newer wpdl br &izj l^d.
With stzoDg endbmtmcnt bocmd » glide
Bejood the boonds of nighl
Ever your obliged, Walter Soott.*
TO LADY ABEBOOHX.
26a Apra (1806).
My dear Lady MARcmoxEss, — . . . If a wish could
transport me to the Priory, I should not be long in paying
my personal respects. Your heavenly weather makes me
envy you, could I envy any advantage that is so well be-
stowed. We are here among hills white with snow and
rivers red with rain, the atmosphere being an ambigu
between the one and the other, the land looking like Xova
Zembla, though I am not conscious of having left Scotland,
and the climate feeling like Christmas, though the Alma-
nack maintains to my very face that it is the 26th of ApriL
Very sad all this, and what is worse, the groom saj-s he
cannot get forage for the horses, and the dairymaid protests
that there is no food for the cows, and the lambs are dying
by scores as fast as they are yeaned, — and the pigs — and
the poultry — and the dogs — and lastly the children, are all
^ Indorsation of the transcript wrote in a foolish fuss abont a
in Lady Louisa Stuart's hand- foolish ^6 of the Princess of Wales,
writing : ** Answer to a letter I viz., that I was editing my poems".
TO LADY ABEECOEN
U3
in some danger of being actually starved. Seriously, I
believe t^t if the weather does not mend speedily, we
shall have a terrible year in our South Highlands, and still
worse in the North, . . .
The "Whigs here and in liondon are furious, and yet I
think with very Httle reason. If 1 did not rather dislike
satire from principle, than feel myself altogether disqualified
irom it by nature, I have the means of very severe retalia-
tion in my power, particularly with respect to Holland
House, which has busied itself much more in my matters
than I approve of. Is it not astonishing that people wili
begin to throw stones with so many glass windows in their
own heads ? Nobody cares what these great folks can
say of me, but should I take the humour of returning their
abuse, I suspect I would find auditors enough.
Sotheby told me he wrote his last poem to discharge
his conscience of a religious duty, and without any refer-
ence to temporal popularity.' I am concerned to observe
from your Ladyship's letter that ho is again sufi'ering
worldly ambition to creep in upon him . I am much
flattered with Lawrence's approbation of Marmion. He is
truly a man of genius; his own art cannot be practised
without constant exercise of the imagination, and therefore
his vote is worth that of hundreds.
Have you heard, by the bye, that little Mrs. Riddell
of Hampton Court (Bums's Sirs, Biddell*) has married a
young officer of Dragoons ? My &iend Mathias (the author
of the Pursuits of Literature) will in all probability break
his heart upon this melancholy occasion, I am obliged to
break off abruptly, for I see the carriage of a crazy Welsh
' Willism Sotheby had published
1 qnarto volume of poetrj-, entitled
Savt. in 1807.
* Soott mkde ilra. Walter Rid-
dell'i Acquaintance when in LondoD
in the apring of 1807. She nfter-
wtrda lent him tome of Bdiiu's
VOL. L
Election Bongs with a compliment-
aary tetter to our "latest minstrel."
For detailB respectiog Mra. BiddeU
BcsChambun'a fi)ii-n'. Her gecond
huabaud was an Irish geotleman
named Fletcher. She died Id
1812,
114
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[June
woman of our acqiiaintftnce, who is come (Lord help hur)
to see our romantic scenery when it is ankle deep in snov.
Have you ever seen hur ? She is a certain Miss Lydia
White, nineteen times dyed blue, lively and clever and
absurd to the uttermost degree, but exceedingly good-
natured.' I think I must let her run some risque in fording
the Tweed, that we may show to more advantage from her
joy at finding herself on dry land. But as this joke muBt
not be carried too far, good-bye, my dear friend.
TO THE SAME.
EDlNBUKGn, 9l!i June 1308.
My dear Lady Marchioness, — . , . No one is so sen-
sible as I am of what deficiencies occur in my poetry from
the want of judicious criticism and correction, above all
from the extreme hurry in which it has hitherto been
composed. The worst is that I take the pet at the things
myself after they are finished, and I fear I shall never be
able to muster up the courage necessary to revise Marmion
as he should he revised. But if T ever write another poem,
I am determined to make every single couplet of it as
perfect as my uttermost care and attention can pos^bly
effect. In order to ensure the accomplishment of these
good resolutions, I will consider the whole story in humble
prose, and endeavour to make it as interesting as I can
before I begin to write it out in verse, and thus I shall h&vs
at least the satisfaction to know where I am going, my
narrative having been hitherto much upon the plan of I
Uimd man's buff. Secondly, having made my story, I will
write my poem with all deUberation, and when finished lay
it aside for a year at least, durmg which quarantine 1
would be most happy if it were suffered to remain in
' Scott had a real regard for thia death m
lady of wbam be writes thus pUy- pp. 3GI-2.
fully. — Se« hia renuirki on her
LU 1827, Joiifud, vol. ii. l
1808] TO LADY ABERCOEN 115
your escritoire or in that of the Marquis, who has the best
ear for English versification of any person whom, in a
pretty extensive acquaintance with literary characters, I
have ever had the fortune to meet with ; nor is his taste at
all inferior to his power of appreciating the harmony of
versa In this way I hope I shaU be able to gain the great
advantage of his Lordship's revision and consideration, pro-
vided he should find it in any respect worthy his attention.'
You see what good resolutions I am forming ; whether they
will be better kept than good resolutions usuaUy are, time,
which brings all things to light, will shew your Ladyship.
As for her Grace of Gordon she is certainly the most
ungracious of Graces if she says I read over Marmion
to her. The only time she saw Ma/rmion (excepting how-
ever the first Litroduction, which your Ladyship re-
members was printed separately) was at the Priory, when
I read some part of it one evening, and whether the
Duchess was then so good as to point out any of its
numerous errors, I really cannot recollect I certainly
neither had her Grace's particular amusement, nor the
least intention of consulting her critically, in my head at
the time. Oiur real quarrel is some supposed neglect in
my not attending her parties last winter in Edinburgh.^
I have had a very handsome compliment from the
booksellers who published Marmion, — no less than a hogs-
head of excellent claret, which is equally flattering as a
pretty sure mark that the book has succeeded with the
public, and agreeable to a poor bard, whose cellars are
not quite so well replenished with wine as his head with
whimsies.
^ Many yean after the first Mar- laniea, voL !▼. {KembU) p. 182.
quia of Abercom had gone to his * The Duchess of (Gordon's roling
rest — he died in 1818 — Soott en- passion at this time was an affecta-
deavoared to do jostice to his char- tion for literature and a desire to
acter as a scholar, public speaker, be the arbitress of literary taste,
landlord, and friend. — See Miacel-
lis BOOTTS FAinUAR LETTERS [Junb
I im eDdeaTOoiing: to get m eojij of the ISgin Letters
bj mj intcreBt inlih Tax^iB ieStey the Beviewer, who was
die £ur Lady's ocmziBel in the csae, but I doubt greatly
beiog aUe to sooeeed in thai (joarter, for onoe I gave up
asBSODg him in the Rerint, when their politics became so
wann, my credit with him is a liiile at ebb.
I baxe been threaxeniitt: for some days past to go to
Dunira^ for & day or two, and pay my respects to tbe good
old statesman. I wish the Himjuis and your Ladyship would
oome down this sommec I should delight to go a little
way into the Highlands with you. as I am certain you
would be enchanted.
I am truly glad you like the Diyden. I would have
sent your Ladysh^> a whcie s^ of the works if I had had
a handsome one at my disposal I am still turning my
eyes towards Swift. My situation will not permit me to be
idle, eren if my inclination would leave me at rest I beg
my most respectful thanks to the Marquis, and I hope
your Ladyship will tell him how much I intend to profit
by his kind admonitions, which I account a very great
favour among the many of various kinds which I have
received at his hands. When this Scottish Judicature
Bill gets through Parliament, I shall learn if I am likely to
be wanted in London, and if so, I need not say how soon
I will be an intruder at the Prioiy. — Believe me with very
great respect, ever your Ladyship's truly obliged and very
faithful ' W. S.
TO TH03IAS SCOTT.-
[20th June 1808.]
My dear Tom, — I take this opportunity ... to offer
you my best and warmest congratulations upon your
^ Lord Melville's coantry house commission in the Manx Fencibles,
near Crieff, Perthshire. and was then residing in the Isle of
« Thomas Scott, on giving up Man.
business in Eklinbnrgh, obtained a
1808] TO THOMAS SCOTT 117
approaching military preferment. I have no doubt you
will now not only find yourself extremely comfortable,
but also in a situation to save money, which like other
things wants but a beginning. . . .
Let me exhort you most heartily to give your mind to
an edition of Shadwell, which I think I could dispose of
for something handsome for you. I have abnost aU the
original editions, and could take care that the press was
properly corrected, and would also revise your notes, as
you are diffident in point of language. I am perfectly
sure you will find great pleasure in this work if you would
but set about it ; and also that your habitual acquaintance
with the old dramatists would enable you to make very
entertaining notes and illustrations. I do not mention
this merely as an easy way of picking up 100 guineas or
so, but because I know by experience that one is apt to
tire even of reading, unless we read with some special and
determined object, — an employment which will fill up
pleasantly many hours which might otherwise hang very
heavy; at least you may believe it, I find it so myself,
as I am just now seriously engaged in two mighty works.
Lord Somera* Tracts and Swift's Works, which will keep
me working for two or three years to come. . . .
Charlotte is just returned from Ashestiel, and joins me
in warmest joy to Mrs. Scott on your promotion. — Believe
me, dear Tom, yours, W. S.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
Ashestiel, I4th October 1808.
I WOULD not have been so long silent, my dear Lady
Abercom, if I had either had anything interesting to
communicate, or could have assured myself that in telling
my no-story I was not intruding upon time which your
Ladyship knows so well how to employ much better. The
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEES
[Oct.
summer has slid away without anything remarkable,
except that I have been arranging for republication the
largo collection of Tracts published from Lord Somera'
library. This occupation is little more than amusement,
yet will be worth £400 a year to me for throe or four
years. I know your Ladyship will scold me for fagging in
this way, but it is a sort of relaxation after Marmion, and
Dryden requires little exertion, and is precisely the sort of
thing I woidd wish to do for my own amusement, vhile it
materially assists my family arrangements. As to the
rest, I have been shooting a little and coursing a great deal,
and have had tho pleasure of some very agreeable visitors
from England, particularly a Mr. Morritt and his lady.'
He is a groat friend of Mr. Payne Knight, deep in Grecian
lore of course, which led him some years i^o to visit the
very ground where Troy town stood. They had been on a
visit to Lord and Lady Aberdeen, and were delighted with
their kindness ; * they stayed about a week with us, and I
shewed them all the remarkables in our neighbourhood,
and told them a story for every cair^i.
I am still makii^ collections towards an edition of
Swift, and promise myself great advantage in this task
from a visit to Ireland under your Ladyship's auspice
But we will talk of all this when I have the pleasure of
being at the Priory, which I am apt to think will be in the
course of a few weeks, probably in the beginning of next
month. The Commission to which, by your Ladyship's
Idnd intercessions, I am to act as Secretary, is expected
(according to Lord Advocate's information) to meet in the
beginning of November, when my presence will be necessary.
' the first notice of a meeting
vrilh Mr. Morritt oF Rokeby. which
led to one of the moat vnluablo
friendBhipB of Scott's lite. Mr.
Muttitt lurvived hia friend until
1843.
^ At Haddo. Ltuly Abardeen
was Lord Abercom's dfto^hler.
For the touching itory of their
brief married life, see Sir A. Gor-
don 'h Jfemoir. LandoD, 1S93.
1808] TO LADY ABEECOBN 119
As I shall only be wanted for a short time in town, I have
thoughts of bringing up Mrs. Scott with me, who has not
been in London for some years.
I should be much honoured by permission to inscribe
my magnificent Swift to Lord Abercom; but your Lady-
ship remembers what the Marquis said about Sotheby's
Orestes.^ I shoidd not like to lay his Lordship under the
dilemma of accepting what he might perhaps justly regard
as no great compliment. Any new original work of my own
is a very distant consideration. Could I arrange my motions
exactly according to my wishes, I shoidd like greatly to
spend this winter in Spain. I am positive that in a nation
so strangely agitated, I might observe something both of
the operation of human passions under the strongest
possible impulse, and of the external pomp and cir-
cumstance attending military events, which could be
turned to account in poetry. I do not mean that I would
precisely write a poem on the Spanish events,* but that I
would endeavour to collect from what I might witness
there, so just an idea of the feelings and sentiments of a
people in a state of patriotic enthusiasm, as might here-
after be useful in any poetical work I might undertake.
The poets of the present day seem always to be copying
from the ancients and &om each other. I would fain if
possible have a peep at the great Book of Nature. All this
is of course an airy vision, yet I cannot banish the wish
from my mind, though without any hope of gratifying it.
Should this letter be a little dull, your Ladyship's
charity must impute it to this deplorable day, which after
all borders however more on the terrific than the stupifying.
It has snowed, rained, hailed, and blown, without a moment's
cessation, for 36 hours. The river Tweed has come down
^ Sotheby's Tragedy was pub- Augost, and was followed next day
lished in 1802. by the Convention of Cintra.
' Vimeira was fought on the 21st
1-20 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Ocr.
" three yards abreast," as my hind expresses it — a grand
spectacle, the magniiicence of which is all I am likely to
enjoy for a field of potatoes which it is in the very act of
destroying,
I beg my respectful compliments to Lady Maria,'
the Marquis, and Lord Hamilton, and Mrs, Scott offers
hers to your Ladyship. — Adieu, my dear Lady Abereom,
I am ever your Ladyship's much obliged, most devoted
W. Scott.
TO MOERrrr.*
15th oa. leos.
My dear Sir, — I was quite happy to learn that Mrs.
Morritt had not received any great inconvenience {torn
my injudicious anxiety to show her as much of the won-
ders of Yarrow as our time would permit. I was really
angry at myself for not recollecting how bad the roads
must have been after so much rain. I can only hope I
will have a more propitious season the next time I have
the pleasure of shewing Mrs, Morritt and you the beauties
of Ettrick.
The ornaments on Bishop Bell's tomb, which I have
this morning received your draught of, are very curious,
and certainly shew some resemblance to those in Stralh-
more. But there is this essential difference, that in the
Bishop's case thc>' seem to have been merely an arabesque
border on which the artist doubtless exercised his own
fancy; whereas upon the stones they stand in place of
all sort of inscription or sepulchral notice whatever, and
are therefore in the latter case the principal, whereas
upon the tomb of the Bishop I conceive them only
' Lord Abercom'e yenDgeat Mr. Morritt, on his retarn, called
'laughter. hU fnend'a attention to the gro-
tesque animal omamentationa on
Bishop Bell'a tomb at Carlisle,
the sculptured BtoDM of Scotland, of wbic^h t
t a trading.
TO MOREITT
121
to be accessories. The disposition of the Gothic artists
of every kind bordered on the grotesque; they carved
npon every coign, buttress, and point of vantage over
and over with the wildest forms their imagination could
suggest Still, however, these were only subordinate
ornaments which the spectator somctimoa hardly per-
ceived without minute and curious inspection, whereas
the standing stones hoar Uttle or nothing else than these
pieces of imi^ery, which one would therefore suppose in-
tended in some way or other to hear reference to the
events of which these stones are obviously mementoes.
Besides, I think it very unlikely that any person so re-
markable as to have a laboured and expensive monument
erected over him should have been interred at Glaniis or
]IIeigle so late as the fifteenth century without record or
tradition telling us something of the matter. We know
the burial-places of the Lindsays, Ogilvies, Ruthvens,
Grays, Oliphants, and other families of rank in Angusshire,
■who lie decently interred under such monuments as you
usually see in a cathedral — ■i.e. when they have had any
monument at all erected to them— and I will venture to
Bay that there are few such structures to which tradition
does not hold up her lamp to aid us more or less clearly
to read the decayed inscription ; hut the only tradition of
these tombs carries us back to the days of romance, plainly
showing therefore that no later or better -grounded history
could be attached to them.
HcB. Grant of Laggan who had
charge of Moiritt's nephew, viaited
Rokeby in the autumn of lt<07, and
dcMxibeB liusbaDd and wife: — "I
waa greatly pleated with Mr
Morritl of Rokeby Park, the oncle
of my little ward : he ia learned,
without the least padantry, lively
without lenity, and hoa sncb ftank-
nea and iiiiu]'licity of manner, nnd
■eema to bnve a temper so obliging
It is very improbable that
uud aOectioiiate. I have not leen
a person ao completely educated,
and who hu been so macb in the
world, that Tetaioi ao macb Datare.
iVIra. Morritt ia, 1 think, on eicellcDt
woman, little less intelligent than
her huabuid ; with the same kind.
□HEB of heart and kindred virtues. —
Memoir anct Oorrvpoadmct, vol L
p. 1:^1.
122 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Otr.
they could have acquired the name of Vanore's tomb, etc,
unless when the history of King Arthur was current in
Scotland. Supposing that to carry us back about 200 years,
and I can hardly allow less, is it probable that in a land of
tradition like Scotland the romantic name and history
derived from these legends should have in 1600 attached
itself to the tomb of a Scottish chief who bad then been dead
only one or two hundred years ? The fame of a Lindsay
or a Lyon woidd not have been so easily dispossessed, and
his name would have clung to his monument spito of
King Arthur and all his chivalry, and of Queon Ganora '
and all her iniquities. liOt me add also that these stones
agree exactly in appearance with that at Forres and those
at Aberlemno, to which history enables us with some pre-
cision to ascribe a date, namely, during the Danish
invasions. Yet one word on Bishop Bell's monument,
though not quite to the present purpose. I have been
much puzzled with certain antique brass plates used
chiefly to collect the offerings at the door of Scottish
churches. Besides something like a Scripture piece in
the centre, I have seen more than one of them have
characters inscribed around the vei^e, each word inter-
changed with such an emblematic or fanciful monster as
occurs in your inscription. This matter interested rae so
much that I had one inscription carefully copied, and
showed it to Mr. Douce, who informed me that in the 16th
and 17th centuries the principal manufacture of such
vessels was in the north of Germany, and that they
were comparatively of modern date. I think it very likely
that the brass rim for Bell's tomb may have been im-
ported in like manner from the same country. This does
not bear indeed on the question of the stones, which you
see I am determined shall be just the younger brothers of
those of Deucalion and Pyrrha. ... I have been informed
' Queen Uoenever of Malory.
1808] TO MORRITT 123
I may expect to be called to London about the beginning
of next month, and rather think Mrs. Scott seems dis-
posed to accompany me, and we reflect with great pleasure
on the opportunity it will give us to visit Rokeby Park on
our way southward, and cultivate an acquaintance which
does us so much pleasure and honour.
Heber has made us one of his flying visits, although he
came all the way from Ripon on purpose. We could not
get him to stay longer than three days with us. Perhaps
you have seen him at Rokeby, as he is rather an erratic
than a fixed star. Mrs. Scott joins in kindest respects to
Mrs. Morritt, and I am always, my dear sir, your most
obliged and £Edthful servant, Walter Scott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
AsHESTiEL, 27^A October 1808.
My dear Lady Abercorn, — When I last wrote to
you, I little thought I should have had such truly
melancholy occasion to address your Ladyship again.
1 was quite shocked, though hardly surprised, to see
announced in the papers the heavy loss which the
Marquis has sustained in poor Lord Claud. I would
be greatly obliged to you, my dear Madam, when
you have a moment's time, to let me know how Lord
Lbercom supports this deep and severe dispensation of
ice. I dare not indulge myself with the hope that
there^ any uncertainty in the report, as I heard such
precarious accounts of his health from Madeira. It seems
as if an evil &te had attended of late the families for whose
prosperity and preservation I was bound equally by grati-
tude and inclination to be most anxiously interested. I
saw Lady Dalkeith two days ago for the first time after the
loss of poor dear Scott, and never passed a more painful
interview in my life. She knew my attachment to the
124 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Oct.
poor boy, and wept most bitterly indeed. Thus Providence
chequers the brightest prospects, and alloys the most
exalted lot by misfortunes which are common to the
lowest; but on such subjects consolation is in vain; the
patient must mimster it to himself, or aw^t it from the
hand of time. Do bo so good as to let me know how the
Marquis is. I know he will feel this blow most acutely,
and believe me, ever your very faithful and respectful
W. Scott.
I HAD written thus far when I was honoured with your
Ladyship's letter. God comfort you all, for He only can. . . .
I reaUy thought of asking Lord Abercom to suffer
Marmion to be inscribed to him, and was only deterred
by hearing him express Lis general dislike to dedications,
which I thought might bo a little hint for my conduct.
Truth is, that unless the Marquis and the Buccleuch
family, to whom I am naturally much attached, there are
none among the great whom I am at all likely to intrude
upon in this way, for as it is all I ever can do to show my
respect and attachment, I would not w illin gly render it
cheap by offering it to persons for whom I felt an inferior
regard.
Had Lord Melville continued out of power, I should
have liked to have inscribed my edition of Dryden to him,
but there are many and insuperable objections to dedica-
ting to any person in office, or next door to it, The next
tale of chivalry shall certainly be Lord Aborcom's, that is,
it shall be yours, my dear &iend, and you shall dispose of
it as you please. But when it will be written is a question
of difficult decision.
My Spanish scheme is a mere romance, yet had I tima
next summer, I would try to realize it, as I learn languages
easily, and can without inconvenience suffer a little hard-
ship as to food and lodging.
1808] TO LADY ABERCORN 125
My London journey is still uncertain. I shall perhaps
learn something of it to-day, for Robert Dundas (Lord
Melville's son) and his lady are to spend two days with us
upon a pilgrimage to the ruins of Melrose. And Charlotte
is calling to me to get out to look after hares and partridges
for them, for in the desert we may sometimes say with
Robin Hood : —
" The meat we are to dine upon
It niiiDeth yet on foot."
Once more, your truly attached W. S.
TO MISS SEWARD.
1808.
. . . Your defence of my poetry was worthy of the
firiend, and more than worthy of the poet, and your high
estimation of me must teach me more care and prudence
on some future occasion, though heaven only knows when
that occasion will arrive. Jeffrey I hear has reviewed my
edition of Dry den, and censures me for employing my time
in editing the works of others.^ But what would he have ?
I have neither time tk/t inclination to be perpetually
making butterflies, that he may have the pleasure of
pulling their legs and wings off^, and till writing occasionally
shall cease to be a matter of convenience to my family,
I will indulge myself in it easily and unambitiously.
The critics tell me a poet ought to take care of his
reputation, and really I think, like honest Bob Acres,
that the best thing reputation can do in return is
to take some care of the poet, and mine I am resolved
shall do so.
As to the unfading laurels which they are kind enough
^ The article on Dryden is under- must have been added by another
stood to have been written by hand. — See Edinburgh Review, voL
Hallam {Life, m, p. 69), but person- xiii. p. 117.
alities such as Scott complained of
12G SCOTT'S FAMIUAK LETTERS [1808
to promiBe me if I will dedicate my time solely to the
Muaes, I care not for rewards which from their very
nature are to be posthumous. Neither in it easy to gull
me with these fair promisee. The immortality of poetry
IS not so firm a. point of my creed as the immortality of
the soul.
" I 've lired too long
Aod seeu the death of mnch immortal Bong."
Nay, those that have really attuned this literary im-
mortality have gained it under very hard conditions. To
some it has not attached till after death, and I hke not
such grinning honour as Falstaff sa3's of my namesake Sir
Walter Blunt. To others it has been the means of hand-
ily down personal vices and follies which had otherwise
been unreme:nbered in their epitaphs. And all en-
joy this same immortahty under a condition similar to
that of Noureddin in an Eastern tale. Noureddin you
remember was to enjoy the gift of immortality, hut with
this qualification, that he was subjected to long naps of
forty, fifty, or an hundred years at a time. Even so
Homer and Virgil idumbered through whole centurie&
To be sure these were the dark ^es, and therefore proper
for repose.
Shakespeare himself enjoyed undisturbed sleep from
the age of Charles l until Garrick waked [him], Dryden'a
fame has nodded, that of Pope b^;ins to be drowsy;
Chaucer is as sound as a top, and Spenser is snoring in the
midst of his commentators. Alilton indeed is quite awake,
but observe he was at his very outset refreshed with a nap
of half a century ; and in the midst of all this we sons of
degeneracy talk of immortahty. Let me please my own
generation, and let those that come after us judge of their
taste and my performances as they please, the anticipation
of their neglect or censure will affect me very Uttle. I
have been quite delighted with Southeys Ckl, which ia of
1808] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 127
the kind the most pleasing and perfect thing I have read
this many a day. . . .
TO JOANNA BAILLIE
ASHSSTIKL, 31«t October 1808.
My dear Miss Baillie, — "From the chase on the
mountain as I was returning/' our little estafette brought
me your very very kind letter. Believe I am fiilly
sensible of the value of your friendly solicitude, and I wish
I were as able as desirous to merit its continuance. I may
say this with confidence, because it is the simple truth, that
there breathes not the person whose opinion I hold in equal
reverence, and therefore I leave you to judge how proud
I am of the rank you have given me in it I hasten to
tell you that I never entertained for a second, a notion
so very strange as to dedicate any poem to my friend
Jeffirey, nor can I conceive how so absurd and causeless
a rumour should have arisen. There is a foundation for
the other part of the story, though no larger than a
TMdge'8 wing. I had been making a little excursion to
Stirling with Mrs. Scott, chiefly to show her that interesting
part of Scotland, and on viewing the fleld of Bannock-
bum I certainly said that one day or other before I died,
I hoped to make the earth yawn and devour the English
archery and knighthood, as it did on that celebrated day
of Scottish glory. This occasioned a little laughing at
the time and afterwards, and was sufficient according to
the regular progression of rumour to grow into a written
or perhaps a printed form before it reached the city of
London. But, independent of indolence, I am greatly too
cautious to venture upon any new poetical essay for this
long time to come ; and as you are kind enough to permit
me such ready access to you, I shall hope for your opinion
on any future attempt, long before I have thought of a
dedication. As to Mr. Jeffrey, I have great personal regard
128 SCOTPS FAMILIAB LETTBBS [Oct. 1808
for him, and high estimation of his talent& I have seldom
known a man with equal readiness of ideas, or power of
expresang them. Bat I had no reason to be so very
much gratified by his review of Marmion as to propitiate
him by a dedication of any work of mine. I have no
&ult to find with his expressing his sentiments frankly
and £Eurly upon the poem, yet I think he might without
derogation to his impartiality, have couched them in
language rather more civil to a personal friend, and I
believe he would have thought twice before he had given
himself that air of superiority in a case where I had any
chance of defending myselE Besides, I really have often
told him that I think he wants the taste for poetry which
is essentially necessary to enjoy, and of course to criticise,
it with justica He is learned with the most learned in
its canons and laws, skilled in its modulation, and an
excellent judge of the justice of the sentiments which it
conveys, but he wants that enthusiastic feeling which like
sunshine upon a landscape lights up every beauty, and
palliates, if it cannot hide, every defect. To offer a poem
of imagination to a man whose whole life and study has been
to acquire a stoical indifference towards enthusiasm of every
kind, would be the last, as it would surely be the silliest,
action of my life. This is really my opinion of Jeffrey, not
formed yesterday, nor upon any coldness between us, for
there has been none. He has been possessed of it these
several years, and it certainly never made the least differ-
ence between us ; but I neither owe him, nor have the least
inclination to offer him, such a mark of regard as the
dedication of any work, past, present, or to come. . . .
CHAPTER V
1809
EDINBURGH AND ASHESTIEL
"And is it sow a goodly sight.
Or dreadful to behold,
The i>omp of that approaching fight.
WaTing ensigns, pennons light,
And gleaming blades and bayonets bright,
And eagles wing'd with gold ;
And warrior bands of many a hne,
Scarlet and white and green and blae,
Like rainbows, o'er the morning dew,
Thdr Tarioos lines unfold : **
Talavera, By J. Wilson Cbokxb.
VOL. L
FAMILY ANNALS AND LTTERABY WOBK
1809— AOB38
Death of Ounp, Junnuj.
Qwnteriy Btvteto lAonched. No. 1 piib>
Uihed Ifarch 1S09.
Scott rixiU London with wifie, lOrch ft&d
April ; returns by Rokebj, Slay.
SadUr^t State Papers, S toIb. 4to, pnbUihed
by OonsUble, Edinburgh, 1800.
Becomes a Shareholder in the Edinbms^
Theatre.
Visits Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond
with wife and daughter, July.
Lady of the Lake commenced.
Contribntiana to Qvorfcriy
CromtttBurne >
SotOke^tCid I
Sir Jck% Obit's y in No. I,]|iuchl8(».
LVet/Swifi J
Campbdte GItr-A
tT%de of YFnoM-l
ing y in No. % May 1800.
1%, BaUU, «ri toKo.4,Nov.l8W.
raZarero f
CHAPTER V.
TO PATRICK MURRAY.
15^^ February 1809.
My dear Murray, — ... It has, tho' rather too
late, been resolved upon to attempt to divide the public
with the EdMv/rgh Reviewers, and try if it be not
possible, by a little havering and fiin upon the other side
of the question, to balance the extensive and extending
influence which that periodical publication has acquired.
"William GiflFord, renowned as the author of the "Baviad"
and " Mseviad," and as the editor of the Anti-Jacobin news-
paper, is the manager of this new work, which is to be
called the QuaHerly Review. I have some reasons for
cot being very sanguine in my hopes of success. The
energy of folks in a right cause is always greatly inferior
to that of their adversaries. They trust, good souls, to
the intrinsic merit of their cause, and let it stick, like
.^Esop's waggon in the slough, while they address prayers
to Hercules, instead of flogging the horses and putting
shoulder to the wheel Yet the aggregate of talent from
which assistance is expected is very formidable. And it
Gifibrd can spur on his coadjutors, I rather think we will
make a handsome skirmish.
Now the corollary to this proposal is one which is in
some d^;ree mine own device, namely, an Annual Register
in Edinburgh, to prevent the opposite faction from estab-
lishing such a work. . . .
Now my dear friend, you must give us a little assist-
ance in this matter of the Register. You have, I know.
131
132 SCOrrS FAMTTJAB letters [Mabch
many curious letters firom the learned of the last genera-
tion, and I think you might find one or two among them
which could, without impropriety, and to the great advan-
tage of the public, be printed in such a deposit I am
very anxious to get any scraps that can make the first
volume as respectable as possibla I intend to revise and
overlook the historical part, and as I am going to London
I have little doubt I shall get access to materials of the
most important kind. Lideed, Mr. Canning has promised
me all assistance upon this head. — I am, with great r^^d,
yours fedthfully, Walter Soott.^
TO LADY ABEBCOBN.
Edixb., 13 March [1809].
Dear Lady Abercorn, — I hope to have the honour
of seeing you so soon that a very few lines may
serve to express the pleasure I feel in your so kindly
accepting the verses I sent you. ... On Sunday I
leave this place for town, and before the end of the
week I hope to pay my respects to the Marquis. . . .
We have been tearing each other's throats out like
our own Highland terriers about the Scottish Judicature
Bill, as the ministers are pleased to call it. I was
astonished to see to-day in the Courier that some
officious friend had given a (clumsy enough) report of
^ This letter refers not only to establishment of the Quarterly i?e-
the establishment of the Quarterly vteto than even the comprehensive
RevietOy but also to the unfortunate statements of Mr. Liockhart, and
publishing enterprise on which more recently of Mr. Smiles ; but
Scott had just embarked in con- readers of the present volume will
junction with James and John perhaps be content with a few
Ballantyne, and in which he was specimens, given in the Appendix,
deeply involved for the next five of the petitions, complaints, and
years. thanks, that came in quick suc-
The numerous letters in the cession to Scott in his Tweedside
Abbotsf ord collection from Ellis, farm from the sorely afflicted editor
Gifford, and Murray, give a truer during the next two years,
idea of the share Scott had in the
1809] TO LADY ABEROORN 133
what I tried to say for my poor old mother, the Law of
Scotland. The circumstance will not tend to recommend
me to those with whom I have imfortunately some official
matters to arrange, and it was hardly fair to put me into
the firont of the battle ; however, I care very little about it
I never was gifted with the prudence either of suppressing
my feelings or eating in my words, and I am only sorry
they were not more neatly taken down. — Believe me, dear
Lady Abercom, your honoured, humble servant,
Walter Scott.
TO SOUTHEY.
London, 4^ May 1809.
... A PBESSUBE of business, chiefly professional, has
sent me up to this town, where I found the bearer of this
letter, the younger Ballantyne of Edinburgh. I am not
so well acquainted with him as with his brother, but
enough to introduce him to you as an active and intelli-
gent yoimg man, very likely to make as great figure in
the publishing trade as his brother does in the printing.
He has been highly countenanced by all the booksellers
of credit here, especially by your friends in the Row. His
chief purpose of calling upon you is, to talk over the plan
at which you hinted, of a British Librarian, to be pub-
lished periodically. The Censv/ra^ is immediately to be
given up, and Longman & Co. are to have some concern
in this new work, which is however to be managed in
Edinburgh. I think with you there is ample room for
such a work ; and that if conducted by you it would have
^ Brydges' Cengura (1809). The commencing with 1808, was dog-
projected British Librarian^ which gedly persisted in, notwithstanding
Sonthey proposed naming Rhada- a heavy yearly loss, until 1827,
maaUhua, never came to maturity, when it was discontinued. Southey
and the idea was not even partially wrote the historical portion for
carried out until 1820, when the some years, and was succeeded in
Retrospective Review was com- that department by Scott, and
menced. subsequently by John Gibson
The Edinburgh ArmucU Register^ Lockhart.
lii SOCTTS FAVTT.TATt ISTTSSB [i
zms iutereEL toA sra hdih nadars. bootseUecs. and
ediKo^ IzkdriEid. I libiiLk c^nt'^Hgr hbck 'viodi hMYe an
ioxerest iiidepezideia cc iLbEt B&ardij or jEudgidtT ought
U> be repiixiiai &t kscnK so lihaz ifae izoBoelLazij might
in sonte reepeciB be a oanizmiuiian of tLe Hariffian, on a
be!tter plan. SLoTzld xhls plazi be adapted, a qnano aze
viH be prefeTkl*le u> %to, becaose ii holds more. One TtJ.
or eren rro might be p«ablish£d TBartr. I idll, in this or
any ondenakinsr in ^siiich I am ai all qualified to assist,
hold Tonr backhand vith gieax pleasme. . . . The title of
such a vork voold be maner of serioQs cooisaderadon, but
as I trust ve shall speedily meet, we might beaX our brains
about that at leisure.
I hope to leave this place in aboat ten days« so pray let
me know whether I shall nnd yon di^>osed to come on
with tis to Edinburgh ; there is nobody with me but Mrs.
Scottw If Tou are unshaken in your resolution I will take
my homeward route by Keswick, and we wiD take our
northward flight together, as my stay here has be^i loi^.
I fear eren the Lake must not tempt me to stay above one
nieht in its vicinitv, so that I doubt I shall not even see
Wordsworth, whom I would go some few miles to see at
any time.
Everjbody is delighted with your Missionary Review ;
the Quarterly has taken root and will thrive. Ever, dear
Southey, yours most truly, Walter Scott.
Pray write by return of post and don't disappoint me
in my hopes of carrying you to EdinburgL
TO THE SAME.
LoNDoy, 14^ June 1809.
My unaccountable silence must have surprised you,
but my motions depending on other people I have been
kept till this day under a total imcertainty when I should
be permitted to leave London, To-day I have at length
1809] TO SOUTHEY 135
received permission to shake the dust from my feet against
this precious city, and to-morrow I hope to set forward.
Sunday and Monday I intend to spend at Bokeby Park,
near Oreta Bridge, with my friend Morritt, and on Tuesday
I resume my journey.
Now if I thought there was hope of carrying you with
us to Edinburgh I would be at Keswick on Tuesday night
for certain, and as there is no one but Mrs. Scott and myself,
we could have the pleasure of your company in the snuggest
way possible. But if this confounded visitor of yours ^
(I beg his pardon) has really arrived so mal A propos as to
interrupt all prospect of what I have so much at heart, I
fear I must proceed by Penrith to Carlisle without leaving
the great road ; for as I could only stay a night at Keswick,
my presence in Edin' being more than needful, it would
liardly be worth while to make a detour for so very short
a visit. Pray write to me by return of post, addressed
care of John Bacon Morritt, Esq-, Bokeby Park, Oreta
Bridge, which will decide my motions. If, as I would fain
:flatter myself, we are destined to meet, I have much to say
to you about the Quarterly Beview, Bhada/manthua, etc.
etc. I do not apprehend there is any great risque of our
politics differing where there are so many strings in
unison, but it may doubtless happen. Meanwhile every
one is gratefril for your curious and invaluable articles,^
aad this leads to a subject which I would rather have
spoken than written upon, but the doubt of seeing you
obliges me to touch on it. George Ellis and I have both
seen a strong desire in Mr. Canning to be of service to you
in any way within his power that could be pointed out,
and this without any reference to political opinions. An
official situation in his own department was vacant, and I
believe is still so. This he meant to offer you, but it
^ Soathey's friend Danvera. second No. had jnat been pub-
' In the Quarterly, of which the lished.
136
SCOITS FAMILIAB LETTERS
[JUNB
occurred to Geo. Ellis and me that the salary, £300, was
inadequate for an office occupying much time, inferring
constant attendanca But there are professors' chairs both
in England and Scotknd frequently vacant, and there is
hardly one, imless such as are absolutely professional, for
which you are not either fitted already, or capable of
making yourself so, on short notica There are, besides^
diplomatic and other situations, should you prefer them
to the groves of Academa In short, I think you will be
unjust to yourself and your family if you n^lect to avail
yourself of an opportunity of becoming a little more inde-
pendent of the Row, which has been rarely so handsomely
presented to any literary character. Mr. Canning's oppor-
tunities to serve you will soon be numerous or they will
be gone altogether,^ for he is of a different mould from
some of his colleagues, and a decided foe to these half
measures which I know you detest as much as I do. It
is not his fault that the cause of Spain is not at this
moment triumphant ; this I know, and there will come a
time when the world wiU know it too. Meanwhile all this
is strictly confidential Think over the thing in your
own mind, and let it if possible determine you on your
northern journey. What would I not give to secure you a
chair in our Northern Metropolis ! * We will talk the matter
over together. I should write to Greo. Ellis upon your
1 About three months later (Sept.
21st) Canning fought a duel with
his colleague Castlereagh — mainly
on account of the Walcheren Ex-
pedition. This led to the retire-
ment of the Duke of Portland,
Castlereagh, and Canning when a
Ministry was formed under Perceval
in November.
' Judging from Sonthey's opinions
of Scotland after his visit in 1805,
he would not have been happy in a
Scottish University ; for he wrote
*0f Edinburgh society I think very
little. Jeffrey is amusing from his
wit; in taste he is a mere child, and
he affects to despise learning becanse
he hsLs none. ' . . * I really cannot feel
angry with anything so diminutive ;
he is a mere homuncvlus, and would
do for a major in GrOg and Magog's
army, were they twice as little.'
Compared with Coleridge and
Wordsworth, ' the Scotch litercUuli
are very low indeed. ' . . * We were
three days at Scott*8, — a much
1809]
TO SOUTHEY
137
wishes, as he enjoys Mr. Canning's entire confidence. I
ought in conscience to have made ten thousand pretty
' detours about all this, and paid some glowing compli-
ments both to the Minister and the Bard ; but they may
be all sunmied up by saying in one sober word, that
Mr. C. could not have entertained a thought more honour-
able to himself, and knowing him as I do, I must add
more honourable and flattering to your genius and learning.
Mrs. Scott joins in kindest compliments to Mrs.
Southey. — ^Remember me kindly to Wordsworth if within
reach. Walter Scxyrr.i
TO THE SAME.
16^ Jidy 1809.
... I LONG for Gififord's answer to your proposal ; he is
the laziest of editora Your Alderman ^ is delightful I
am surprised, with your turn for dialogue, that you never
tried the Drama. We have, or are about to have, a very
nice theatre at Edin', about which as a trustee for the
public (a thankless task) I have been lately busying my-
self Should you ever produce a Drama, I think we will
by and bye be able to do more than these immense London
Stages, fit only for pantomime and raree-show. As for
Queen Orraca, I grieve for her being printed, for half my
£Eime as a minstrel reciter depends upon her, and the
other half on a very clever ballad * of Lady Louisa Stuart.
inperior man, whom it is impossible
QOt to like.' Pleased with him,
with Johnny Armstrong's Castle,
pleased with Teviotdale, with the
Tweed and the Yarrow, astonished
at Edinburgh. 'Delighted with
Melrose. Sick of Presbyterianism,
and above all things, thankful that
I am an Englishman and not a
Scotsman.' — SdectwMj vol. i. p.
342, eta ; Correspondence^ toI. ii.
p. 351.
^ A portion of this letter has
been printed in Southey's L\fe and
CorrespondeTiee, voL iii. pp. 236-7.
' " I have sent Ballantyne Queen
Orraca and the Alderman* 8 Funeral
for a miscellaneous collection which
he is making." — Southey to his
brother, ii. p. 154.
« The ballad on "Ugly Meg"
of Elibank, for which Chas. K.
Sharpe made the humorous sketch
now at Abbotsford.
138 scorrs familiar letters
But I cannot set my private renown in competition with
the public adTantage. I think it will be an invaluable
acquisition for the Minetrdsy.
TO MORRITT.
AaassTiBL, Seleike, ^Srui Julg [1S09].
YouE letter, my dear Morritt, reached me just as I was
relieved of the load of business which had been accumulat-
ing during my absence in London, and which — though as
Johnson said, when I set myself doggedly to it I can wori
as hard as any man— well nigh stunned and overwhelmed
me. I have however wrought my way hitherward, and
honest Christian in the Pilgrim's Progress never felt more
relieved when his burthen dropped from him and rolled
into the sepulchre, than I did this moment. I need not
say how warmly Charlotte and I recollect all the hospi-
tality of Portland Place and Rokeby. It is a cruel thing
that there is more than a day's journey between us, for
that would be easily dashed through ; yet the distance can-
not be immense, for we dined here at three o'clock the
day after we left Rokeby, so that assuredly ought to be no
iosurraountable bar to our meeting again. I am much
surprised at the rejection of your excellent article on
Warburton, but a good deal happened when I was in
London to shew me that Gifford wants much of that tact
which ifl necessary to conduct with spirit the work he has
undertaken. It was with some difficulty that Ellis and I
prevailed for the admission of the Austrian article that
saved the last number.^ There is a lame and cowardly
caution which prepares all the world for the defeat of the
combatant who exhibits such a suspicious symptom. When
the sword was once drawn I would have hurled the scab-
bard into Thames. But I was not held worthy to advise,
', underatood Co twre been writtea by
1809] TO MOEEITT 139
at least not listened to upon that topic. I will, I think,
write once more and very fiilly to Gifford, but it shall be
for the last time. Not that I will withdraw my own feeble
assistance while a limb of the thing sticks together, but I
wiU not subject myself to give my friends the trouble of
labouring in vain. All Gifibrd's excellent talent, and no
less excellent principle, will do Uttle to save the Review
unless he will adopt a more decisive tone of warfare and
greater energy in his^ mode of conducting it It is a
thousand pities, and I would gnaw my nails off to see so
excellent a design miscarry, but what can be done ? I have
not had a line either from Gifford or the Bookseller since I
came down, and as it is vulgarly said that proffered service
is of an evil savour, sure am I that proffered advice is still
less to be endured by human nostrils. After all, I believe
che best way will be to advise with (}eorge Ellis, whose
judgment and knowledge of mankind may find a remedy
where perhaps I should only aggravate the evil
Would to heaven you were here or I were at Rokeby
on this numerical summer's day. Ashestiel never looked
BO enchanting; the ground is quite enamelled with wild
flowers, and all living things in such high spirits as to
withdraw one involuntarily from thinking of all warliare
and foemen, even from Bonaparte down to the Edva-
bwrgh Remewera. . . .
And now, dear Morritt, let me claim from you your
promise that I should have the Highland Tale for my
next edition of the Minstrelay, It is going to press in
a few days, but as of course you will be placed among
the Imitations you may take your own time for transcrip-
tion and correction.^ I wish you would also give me a
sonnet for a certain pocket selection, — ^a minstrelsy which I
picked out for my friend BaUantyne.* I think you will
* The Curse of Moy, by Mr. > The Engliek Minstrelsy, in
Monitt, appeared in the new edi- 2 voU 12mo, was publiBhed in
tion of the Border Minstrelsy. 1810.
140 SCOTTS FAMILIAK LETTERS [July
like the choice of the ancient things, and I wanted to add
a few modem pieces hactenvs inedita, I intend to give
him two or three trifles of my own, and to exercise all the
interest I possess among my poetical friends. The work
will make two beaatifiilly printed pocket volmnes.
I have written a few lines to Lady Louisa to b^ she will
look in upon Ashestiel on her journey to BothwelL JDo
pray say the best you can for us ; we lie alike in the way.
Charlotte joins in kindest love to Mrs. and Miss Morritt
I have not forgotten my promise about the pirates' ditty,
though I have not yet had time enough to write it out I
hope Lady Hood, if she goes north, will come by AshestieL
— Believe me, dear Morritt, ever yours in faith and sincerity
while Walter Scott.
TO LADY LOUISA STUART.
AsHisnEL, Jvly 1809.
As I find you are now at Rokeby on your way to
Bothwell, will your Ladyship permit me to remind you
that whether you seek Clydesdale by Peebles or by Edin-
burgh, you must necessarily pass within a mile of this
small farm, which will, without pretending to any great
matters, rather furnish a better gite than any of the Inns
on the road ; and the reckoning shall be that your Lady-
ship puts up with your hard quarters for a day or two, and
honours some of our wonders with a visit I feel myself
so assured that you will honour us so far that I will give
you the carte du pays.
If your Ladyship leaves Rokeby without making any
visit in Cumberland, two days* easy travelling will bring
your post-chaise to Ashestiel on the second evening.
It is seven miles from Selkirk, and just so far on the
road either to Edinburgh or to Bothwell. Elibank
Castle has a claim on your Ladyship for the honour you
have already done to the tale of Walter of Harden^s wed-
1809] TO LADY LOUISA STUART 141
ding.^ Newark and the braes of Yarrow are also worth
seeing, even if the last were not classical ground in Scot-
tish song. There is very little, or rather no chance of our
being from home, but to make assurance doubly sure, a
note addressed Ashestiel, by Selkirk, will apprise us when
your Ladyship can grant our request I need not, I am
sure, say that Charlotte joins her respectful solicitations to
mine, as well as in best love to Mr. and Mrs. Morritt . . .
TO LADY ABERCOBN.
AsHisnsL, 8th August 1800.
I DO not know, my dear Lady Abercom, how you are
justified in your cruel treatment of me. It is now a very
long time since I have heard from you, and I have written
you two long epistles filled with all the news, good, bad,
and indifferent, which I thought likely to interest you. I
directed as usual imder cover to the Marquis, so I think
my letters cannot have miscarried, unless his Lordship has
intercepted them for literary curiosities to be boimd with
his history of Reynard the Fox. Seriously, I hope my
letter from town has reached you, for it was written by
special command of Lady Maria, whom I had the pleasure
to see several times during three months' abode in London.
I was quite mortified that the Priory was imtenanted, for I
had a thousand things to tell your Ladyship, besides the
delight of exchanging a lodging in Half Moon Street,
Piccadilly, for the groves and glades of the Priory. We
(for I was in the plural number, my wife and myself)
saw enough of London gaiety to make us very glad to
r^ain our own fireside, regretting nothing so much as
not having had it in our power to make our devoirs to
Lord and Lady Abercom.
I was several times at Kensington, where her R. H.
^ See note, p. 137.
142 SCOTT'S FAinUAK LETTERS [Aug.
made several inquiries concerning your Ladyship, and was I
surprised that I could not satisfy them ; so this plucked J
another plume from my vanity. I also saw Lady Charlotte I
Lindsay repeatedly. I
We spent some days at Tunbridge with Sir Samuel and '
Lady Hood. Her Ladyship is my countrywoman, an j
enthusiastic Highlander, and deep in all manner of northern I
tradition. On my return I visited Knowle,^ and saw a
gallery which I admired more than all the fine collections .
I have seen in London. Your Ladyship is probably no
stranger to it. It contains an amazing collection of ori- |
ginal portraits of eminent historical characters from the |
reign of Henry vii. downwards.
Since your Ladyship has made so long stay in Ireland, i
I hope you don't propose to return before next summer,
because I have very serious thoughts of visiting green !
Erin nest year, with a view to make my edition of Swift as
perfect, and as much worthy of the permission of inscribing '
it to Lord A. i^ I possibly can. I have been tolerably .
successful in some of my researches, and stUl hope I may j
add something to illustrate the works of so celebrated a !
classic. ... I
Adieu, my dear Lady Abercom, and pray write to me
soon, were it only to say you have not quite forgot your .
very faithfiil and most respectful
Walter Scott.
TO JOANNA BAIELIE. j
AsHnnxi., Augwt IS, 1800. j
I EAVE dela/d writing to you from day to day in ]
hope of being able to report progress about the i
' Knob or Koowle, near Seven'
oaks, Kent. Tbia picturesque ex-
ample of a Goe old English bailee, is Btill i
covering five acres, is said to have viUea.
been given by Queen Elizabeth to
^
1809] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 143
'Legend ' more fully than I am even yet supplied with the
means of doing. For indeed all I can say is that our
manager, yoimg Siddons, is delighted with the piece, and
determined to bring it out with as much force as he can
possibly muster; but his wife and he went to perform at
Manchester, and I left town before their return (if it has
yet taken place), so that I really have not had opportimity
to procure those prdctical remarks which I expect his
experience may enable him to suggest I am concerned
at this, because, of course, the sooner you are possessed of
them the more time you will have to consider any of them
that may merit your attention. I have shewn the play to
Erskine,^ whose best pretension to such distinction, though
he has many, is his early and decided preference of your
dramatic works to all others of every age and country,
Shakespeare himself hardly excepted. But neither from
him have I got more than general and unqualified expres-
sions of satisfaction and pleasure. As I did not get your
letter till I was safely landed, I did not consult Mr. Mac-
kenzie.' Indeed, I was willing to have young Siddons'
remarks, which may be really of consequence, before those
of any other person, and for that purpose intrusted him
with the manuscript. Mr. Mackenzie is, however, a most
excellent critic on dramatic composition, and shall be the
first person to whom I show it so soon as I go to town.
There is a point of some little consequence which has not
occurred to your recollection, namely, how I am to arrange
with Siddons about the profits of the piece, which, if the
play succeeds (as it cannot chuse but succeed splendidly),
must necessarily be an obiect of considerable importance:
he expresses hiLlf williig to pay a sum of mon^. whici;
I declined for the present, referring myself to your future
instructions. I believe it will be better to abide by the
^ William Erakine, afterwards ' Henry Mackenzie, author of
Lord Kinedder. The Man qf Feeling,
144
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[ACG.
Author's r^hts, which, supposing the piece to run nine
nights and so forth, cannot be loss than about £300 or
X400. This is what I should prefer in my own case,
Liecau&e I should then, in any event, neither have to
reproach myself with making a foolish bargaiii for myself
nor with taking the Manager in by vain espectaUons.
There is a circumstance rather favourable to the eiiect
upon the stage arising from the contrast between the
tartan worn by the Macleans, which has a red glariiig
efl'ect, and that of the Campbells, which is dark greeny
thus the followers of the Chieftains will be at once dis-
tinguished from each other. I think your answer to Lady
Louisa's criticism upon Herbert's departure from the Castle
is quite convincing. But as the objection sta^ered me a
good deal, and may occur to others, you will perhaps think
of adding a line or two stating, as an additional reason for
his departure, that his friends had no occasion for his aid
in prosecuting their revenge. He is a most delightful
character, the most interesting stage lover I have the
honour to be acquainted with, so we must leave no blot
on his scutcheon, nor even the appearance of one. I fear
all this while you have been thinking me Uttle better than
the " fause Sir John " ' whom you previously intrusted with
the Legend, but I hope soon to send you all the remarks
which can possibly occur as essential BallantjTie the
printer, whom I think you may have seen at uiy house,
came here on Sunday last ; Slddons had shown bim some
parts of the MS., as they are on most intimate habits,
and expressed himself oven more warmly than to me on
the subject Now I like this excessively, for there is no
' In 18D3 Sir John Sinclair re- this ahHurd proposal, the FoMily
quBBted Jowmn Baillie to write a ifjeBdwaawritten.— See Sir John's
drama for a charitable purpose, at Corrtsptmdfface, London, lS3l,voL L
thu same time sendiog her n plan pp. 167-170, and preseut vqL pp.
for one on The Fall of Dariw I 211-12.
Cniiouilf enough, in consequenee of
1809] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 145
fiaying how far a real and warm interest in a part may
warm even a very middling performance ; he has a bad
way of planting his legs in attitudes which make me wish
them broken on the wheel ; however, he is a good, worthy
yomig man, and much of a gentleman. The theatre will, I
think, be quiteaBijou; we supped in it as Corn's rooms^
on the night of the memorable Oxonian balL It is in-
tended to be only temporary, but I wish the trustees
would buy it outright and fit it up as a permanent
theatre, for I doubt our being able to raise £20,000 to
build a new one, and between our pride and our poverty
the scheme may be lefb in the same state as the new
Coll^a . . . — Believe me honoured in permission to
subscribe myself your affectionate and unworthy brother
in the Muse, Walter Scott.
TO MORRITT.
17^/i August 1800.
... I HAVE a letter from Giflford, the first time I have
heard from him since I have left London. I really tremble
for the fate of the QiuxHerly. Gifford is able and good-
humoured, and most heartily zealous, and yet I fear he
will not succeed in making a cake of the right leaven for
the present generation. I will not take to the boat, how-
ever, while the ship holds together, and so I will open on
your friend Mrs. Montagu's Letters,^ which are well worthy
to be pelted out of the field. . . .
I snap at your ofier of the translations from Metastasio
Uke a dog at a buttered crust The version of Ti severvai
di mi is exquisitely beautiful, but as beggars must not be
chusers, I refer myself to the ladies to chuse which they
^ The present Theatre at the '^ If Scott wrote an article on Mrs.
head of Leith Walk ia built on the Montagu's Letters it did not appear
site of Corn's rooms, which were in the Quarterly, but the Second
used by Siddons until March 1811, Series, published in 1813, was re-
when he obtained possession of the viewed in No. 19.
house in Shakspeare Square.
VOL. I. K
146 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Sept.
think will do the Miscellany most honour. There is a
trifle I intend to send, — a pitiful sonnet wrote in fornix
days to my mistress's eyebrow, or rather eyelid, after it
had wept itself dry —
'* The violet in her summer bower,
Where birohen boughs with hazels mingle.
May boast herself the fairest flower
In glen or copse or forest dingle." ^
etc. etc.
TO SOUTHEY.
AsHESTiEL, lOth September 1809.
Since I heard last from you I have been enjoying my-
self al fresco on the banks of Loch Lomond, which (no
offence) could put Derwentwater into its waistcoat-pocket.
Moreover, I met with an old follower of Rob Roy, who had
been at many a spreagh (foray) with that redoubted free-
booter, and shewed me all his holds. On my return I found
the enclosed from Ellis, which I think is worth the double
postage which, failing a frank, it is like to cost you. He
is an excellent and warm-hearted friend, and I long to
make you acquainted side by side, as I believe three folks,
even the three graces, cannot be said to meet face to face.
When I see G^o. Canning and Geo. Ellis most anxious about
the prosperity of Robert Southey, and remember former
days, it reminds me of —
Via scUiUis,
Qtuxi minime reris, Grata panddur ah urbe,^
I am convined that what Swift said of Whig and
Tory is true of most civil dissensions, and that the
really honest only require to know each other's senti-
ments to agree, while knaves and fools invent catch-
words and shibboleths and war-cries to keep them from
coming to a just understanding. I thought it by far the
1 For the Poem complete, and its origin, see LockharVs Life, vol. i
])p. 332-G. a Virgil's JSmid, vi. 96.
1809]
TO SOUTHEY
147
best way in a negotiation of some delicacy, that Ellis
and Canning should know your own precise statement of
your views and politics, which strained through another
medium than that of your own manly and independent
expressions might have suffered in strength, spirit, and
precisioa I intend to answer Ellis, pressing the augmenta-
tion of the pension as a mode of cutting short dependence.
It may be resigned when the Historiographer's place ^ (for
which you are so peculiarly fitted) shall open to you, or
any preferment suitable to your wishes in emolument and
in the nature of its duty.^ You will see that Ellis agrees
with you and me in Spanish matters. Alas, alas, an evil
fftte seems to arm the enemy with weapons not his own,
and disconcert every effort in that glorious cause. God for
liis own wise ends has sent confusion into all coimcils that
are formed against the destined scourge of his wrath,
•^appall'd the guilty and made mad the free."^ How it is
to end heaven knows ; I who am by nature no croaker
hardly dare venture to conjecture.
Don't tease yourself or Paternoster about the Morte
d'Arthur, but take your own time. My idea was entirely
different from yours, to reprint namely the whole &om the
only original Caxton which is extant, with all the super-
stition and harlotrie which the castrator in the reign of
Edward vi. chose to omit A classic of Henry vii*^'*
time is so valuable that I still think once you have been
afloat for a year or two, I will give a very limited edition
^ Louis Datens, who died in 1812,
hiBtoriographer to King George
m. The office appears then to
have been given to the Rev. J. S.
Clarke.
' In allusion to this remark, Sou-
they says, in a letter to Walter
Savage Landor : "About two
months ago some offers of service
were made to me by Canning,
through Ellis and Scott. They do
him credit, because my opinions
are pretty well known, and if they
have done me no good, that is not
his fault, as he has no longer the
power of redeeming them. I asked
to be made historiographer." —
Southey, Selections, vol. iL p. 167.
' ** Make mad the guilty and appal
the free." — Hamlet, Act ii. Sc 2.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Sept.
of Sir Thomas Malory in his native dross. But this is a
distant vision.
I liko jour missionary article exceedingly, and I think
you will join with me in admiring the beautiful conclusion
of the last Eeview on Spanish affiurs. But we must have
a little fun in our next, for which purpose I intend to play
football with Mrs. Montagu's Letters.' I ihiiak Lord
Valentia is rather unfair to Bruce ;^ I know that surly
Patagonian, and though he may have romanced in matters
where his own prowess was concerned, yet I think no one
could ever have described the battles of Serbraxos and
the strange dispersion which afterwards took place, ivithout
having seen it. Gen' MuiTay saw two Abyssinians in
Upper Egyjjt at the time of the Indian army's being there,
the elder of whom remembered Bruce as the commander
of the Koscob Horse, and he remarked that although they
did not always immediately recollect circumstances men-
tioned by the traveller, yet such frequently recurred to
their recollection, with all their particulars, a day or two
afterwards. I therefore think the negative evidence as to
his warlike and princely character good for httld. Even
with our newspapers and gazettes, who pretends to re-
member all who have been made peers and knighted ; and
as for fighting, a prince who left Bruce at home, if he could
have brought him out, n^lected the most able-bodied
associate you ever saw. Pendragon was a joke to hira in
size and muscle.
By the way, Ellis fixes on me an article about Miss
Edgeworth's Tales, which I never saw ; I have nothing in
the last Review ; yours ever, Walter Scott.
' See note, p. 146.
" In the third DDmber of the
Quarterly Soutbey Lad two papers
— DDe on South Sea mbaions, the
otlior on olkborata account of tlie
trftVBla of Lord Vnlentia, who
qutntioilGd the truth of tome ot
the statements m&de bj Bruce re-
garding A by uuiU. Soutboy igreed
with Lord Valentia, but the tniUi-
fnluess of the great tntvaller b
eittee beeu fully vindicated.
^
1809] TO LADY ABERCOEN 149
TO LADY ABERCORN.
AsHESTiEL, l^h September 1809.
Your valued token of remembrance, my dear Lady
Harcliioness, found me a trayeller in the skirts of our
Highlands, and consequently did not receive quite so early
an acknowledgment as if I had been quiet at home. I
liad promised to meet the Judge of Admiralty, Sir William
Scott, near Loch Lomond, but behold he received an ex-
press announcing his lady's sudden decease. . . .
The sight of our beautiful mountains and lakes (though
not new to me), and your Ladyship's kind exhortations,
liave set me to threading verses together, with what
success I am yet uncertain; but if I am not able to
please myself at all, it is but a step to the fireside, and
the poem wiU go into smoke, like half the projects of
this world. Then, says caution, you hazard any little
credit you have acquired, and may disgrace the good
opinion of your friends by venturing again on the pubUc
arena; to which resolution replies, in the words of the
great Marquis of Montrose—
" He either fears his fate too much.
Or his deserts are small ;
Who dares not pat it to the touch
To incin or lose it all."
The worst is, I am not very good or patient in slow
4iQd careful composition, and sometimes remind myself of
a drunken man who could run long after he could not
walk. I must however invoke the assistance of my
friendly critics, and particularly of the Marquis, when my
manuscript is in such forwardness as to admit of its being
presented for his inspection. Your Ladyship will recollect
that he is to have an interest in it as patron in case it
succeeds, so it will be for his Lordship's credit that as
few errors remain in it as possible. . . .
150 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [Sept.
I saw the Princesa several times when in LondoD.
She was in the highest possible spirits, and very witty
and entertaining, Lewis ' was of all her parties, an
acquaintance which her Royal Highness had acquired
when I was in London. Of course I was only a second-
rate conjuror, but did my best to amuse her. The P[rince]
did me the honour to speak of me in terms of consider-
able bitterness before I came up to town, so I have no
chance of being the Poet Laureate of the next reign. It
is curious how every word of such a personage Js caught
up and repeated to those whom it concerns; a cir-
cumstance that ought to make them peculiarly cautious,
for although few people can do them real service, the
meanest have it often in their power to do them essential
injury. But I can never wish his father's son and the
heir of the Crown otherwise than well, and am as safe in
my obscurity from the effects of his prejudice as a worm
beneath a stone from the foot of Goliath of Gath.
The Duchess of Gordon is at Kinrara, her High lan d
farm, whore I have heard she shows to greater advantage
than anywhere, being more sedate and less overpowering.
I daresay she cares very little about the issue of her
Caro sposo's affair.' ... I saw him in Edinburgh in sum-
mer, and it seemed to sit very light on his spirits. I spent
two days at the Duke of Montrose's seat near Loch
Lomond very pleasantly, the more so as Lady Douglas
and Lady Louisa Stuart (Lord Bute's sister), both my
special cronies, were in the house. We went daily on the
lake in a very nice boat, with ten Highland rowers, "all
plaided and plumed in their tartan array," and visited
every island that was interesting.
' Matthew Gregory LewiB,ScotI'« ultimately came before the Kiiii;'i
old frieod in the " Tales of Terror" Beach, Dec 7, ISOQ. The Daka
dayl. Lewis died in ISIS. waa acquitted. i
' An UDpleaiont charge which ^^^^^
1809] TO LADY ABERCOEN 151
I will endeavour if possible to coiue txi Ireland before
your Ladyship leaves it. The biiainess of the Judicature
Conuuission may indeed stop me, or perhaps the whole
before that time may have passed into other hands, and
1 shall be a gentleman at lai^e. — I ever am, dear Lady
Abercom, your much obhged, very faithful, humble
servant, Walter Scott,
FROM ROBERT SITRTEES.
I HAVE only one record to ofler of the appearance of our
Northumbrian Duergar.* My narratrix i3 Elizabeth Cock-
bum, an old wife of Offerton in this county, whose credit
in a case of this kind will not, I hope, be much impeached
when 1 add that she is, by her dull neighbours, supposed
to be occasionally insane; but by herself to be at those
times endowed with a faculty of seeing visions and
spectral appearances which shun the common ken. In
Che year before the great rebellion two young men from
Newcastle were sporting on the high moors above Elsdon,
and after pursuing their game several hours, sat down to
dine in a green glen, near one of the mountain streams.
After their repast, the younger lad ran to the brook for
water ; and after stooping to drink, was surprised on lift-
ing his head again by the appearance of a brown dwarf,*
who stood on a crag covered with bracken, across the bum.
This extraordinary personage did not appear to be above
half the stature of a common man, but was uncommonly
stout and broad built, having the appearance of vast
strength. His dress was entirely brown, tbe colour of the
brackens, and his head
with frizzled red hair I his
anpprBtitioa, see Fi/rta Sktlchtt,
EdiDburgh,1866(written by William
RobertaoD, SheriS'-Subatitute >t
Tobermory), the ^im etory of the
Gillie sod the " Protector of the
Deer."
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[1809
countenance was expressive of the most savt^ ferocity,
and his eyes glared like a bull.
Tt seems he addressed the young man, first threatening
him with his vengeance for having trespassed on his
demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose presence
he stood. The youth replied that he supposed him to
be Lord of the Moors; that he had offended through
ignorance, and offered to bring him the game he had
killed. The dwarf was a little mollified by this submis-
sion, but remarked that nothing could be more offensive
to bini than such an offer, as he considered the wild
animals as his subjects, and never &iled to avenge their
destmctioiL Ho condescended further to inform him that
he was, like himself, mortal, though of years far exceeding
the lot of common humanity, and (what I should not have
an idea of) that be hoped for salvation. He never, he
added, fed on anything that had life, but lived in the
summer on wbortle-berries, and in the winter on nuts and
apples, of which he had great store in the woods.
Finally be invited his new acquaintance to accompany
him home, and partake his hospitality, an offer which the
youth was on the point of accepting, and was just going
t« spring across the brook (which, if he had done, says
Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in
pieces) when his foot was arrested by the voice of his
companion, who thought he tarried long, and on looking
around ogam " the wee brown man was fled." The story
adds, he was imprudent enough to slight the admonition
and to sport over the moors on his way homewards ; but
soon after his return ho fell into a lingering disorder and
died within the year.
TO KOBEKT SUETEES.
. . . YoOR brown man of the Muirs is a noble fellow.
He has been brooding in my brain this many a day, aodii
1809] TO SURTEES 153
I think, the genuine descendant of the ancient Duergar.
I hope soon to show you something of him in romantic
poetiy. . • .
The story of Barthram put me in mind of a little
incident I met with many years ago, riding out of
Liddesdale into Teviotdale. There were then no roads of
snj kind in that direction, so to avoid the bogs we kept
Tipon the banks of a little brook, which acted as a drain to
the springy morasses, and now and then afforded a little
recess in which its waters wimpled under birches and
alders, and its banks formed a narrow and retired glen.
In one of these we foimd a small stone cross lying
among the grass and heather. It was thrown down from
its pedestal, but not broken, and bore a broad sword and
a pair of wool sheara On the opposite side were two
initial letters and two others lower down. The monument
was obviously sepulchral ; it was so small that with the
united strength of a friend and of my servant I easily
set it on end, where it may stand for aught I know to
this moment We could hear no tradition about the
place, probably because we did not light upon those who
could have answered our inquiries. As the spot is not
two miles distant from the Chapel of Hermitage Castle,
it seems probable the place of sepulture was chosen from
some reason similar to that which occiirs in the ballad
ofBartram. . . .^
TO LADY LOUISA STUART.
AsHESTiEL, 7th November [1809].
... I HAVE not been quite idle, though I don't know if
your Ladyship will think I have been employed to good
purpose when I tell you I have made great progress in the
^ This accidental discovery of the letters see pp. 81, 82, 04-5, Memoir
■tone cross made Scott more easily of Robert Surtees, Surtees Society,
deceived in the genuineness of 1862.
Bartram's Dirge. For complete
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Dec.
B I showed you at Buchanan. It is against all my
vows to write poetry again, but I hope the perjuries of
bards ore as Tenial as those of lovers are said to be. After
all, how can I employ my time ? My family have some
claims on my talent, or half talent or whatever it is, for it
laid me on the shelf as a professional man, when I bad as
good prospects as my neighbours. And here I have a
reversionary office saddled with the life-rent of an old
gentleman who has learned Comte de Grammont's art
cCitemiser sa vie. ... So upon the whole I will go on
with my Lady of the Lake, and tell my prudence ahe is no
better than indolence in disguise. . . .
TO MRS. THOMAS SCOTT.'
Dee. 27. 1809.
The death of poor Miss Hume has shocked my mother
less than I anticipated ; old age is fortunate, if not in decay
of sensibihty, at least in the increase of patience under
these afflictions, and Miss Hume's, notwithstanding her
great age, was so long, lingering, and painful, that we
all regarded her death as a release. I take the liberty to
enclose a bill for a small sum which I hope you will
consider as a Christmas gift to httle Walter,* to whom
pray make my compliments. . . .
The tliristinas parties go on as usual, and " commerce "
takes its nightly round without mercy. I would to heaven
Bonaparte would include that most stupid game in his
anti-commercial edicts. I am glad to hear my little
nephew takes so kindly to the church. What do you
think to make an English parson of him ? it is a line in
Imowu. She hud & motherly
affuctioa for all Sir Waltot'a lnmUy.
' Mr. Lockhart in his abridged
edition of the Li/e, pnbtuhed
Aagiut 1848, has tbu tribute to the and she o
memory of hia wife's aunt : — died ft ~
" Mrs. Thomaa Scott, Miss aged 72."
MavcuUoch of Ardwell, was one of
the bolt and nii'est and
agreeable women I have
1 them alL She
Canttrbnry in April IfttS,
1809] TO MRS. THOMAS SCOTT 165
which if I live I might do him good service, and he might
come to be Bishop of Sodor and Man. If I do not go to
London in spring I shall be tempted to go to Ireland,
taking your Islet in my way, and will borrow Walter's
pony to see your wonders. My Walter is at the High
School, and I condescend to hear him his lessons every
day. Poor old Dr. Adam died last week after a very short
iUness, which first affected him in school He was light-
headed, and continued to speak as in the class until the
veiy last, when, having been silent for many hours, he said,
" That Horace was very well said ; yovt, did not do it so
well," then added faintly, " But it grows dark, very dark,
the hoys may dismiss," and with these striking words he
expired. He is to be buried on Friday, the classes attending
under their masters. It will be very difficult to fill up his
situation.
1
TO LADY ABEBCORN.
Edinr., Slst December 1809.
. . . And now as to my own occupation, which for
this month past has been incessant. The Commissioners
under the King's warrant for reporting upon alterations
in the Scottish Judicature have, like every other body
that I know, left all their work to be done just at the
time they were called upon to make their report ; so now
we have to work very hard, and the poor Secretary has
hardly a moment to call his own from nine in the
morning till the same hour at night But I expect it
will be all over in the course of a few weeks, and that I
shall have time to renew my literary labours.
I have made considerable progress in a new poem,
which I intend to call The Lady of the Lake, The scene
1 Alexander Adam, the learned is now one of the ornaments of the
author of Soman Antiquities, etc. National Portrait Qallery, Edin-
A fine portrait of this bom teacher burgh,
and amiable gentleman, by Raebum,
156
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Dec
is laid in the Perthshire Highlands, which after all present
the finest part of our mountain prospects. I have taken
considerable pains on what I have written, and shall be
anxious to solicit Lord Abercom's opinion upon it,
because, should it bo honoured with his approbation, I
hope he wiU permit rae to inscribe it to him.
Pray, does your Ladyship know Lord Clarendon ? I
ask this question because ho has volunteered a correspond-
ence with me in a manner very flattering to my vanity,
so that I am a little curious with respect to him. I don't
think I ever heard of him about town, and I have an
idea that he is in his domestic habits extremely retired.
But all this perhaps your Ladyship can tell me.
What do you think of this new sort of amusement
that the public have found for themselves at Covent
Garden ? I hate mobs of all kinds, but I fear disciplined
mobs, especially with such leaders as Clifford,^ who has
juBt knowle^e enough to keep hJin within the verge of
law, talent enough to do mischief, and no capacity what-
ever to do the least good. I pity poor John Kemble and
his little wife, whom I met at the Priory. Yet they
played their cards ill in attempting to bully the audienoa
I am not a believer in the continuance of the truce: the
love of frolic will revive on the slightest provocation, and
there are so many people who can sound horns and dance
upon benches that such provocation will be taken whether
it bo given or no.
Perhaps 1 am a little too gloomy upon so foolish a topic,
but I think the whole scene is a pubhc and general dis-
grace to the country. Neither am I greatly delighted
with the present prospect into the interior of the cabinet,
' Mr.CIifford, aLoDiluu barrister,
wlio took B. leading part in the so
caUed "O.P. [old-price] Riots,"
which oontinned from Sept. to
Dec. — B7 nights— and were caused
by the prJMH of admisaion to the
newly nwonstniotad Theatre being
rttiaed.^Sea ConttUOardeuJoumai,
2 vol*. Sto, 1809.
1809] TO LADY ABERCORN 167
which remmds me of that which presented itself to a wise
man of Gotham, who, carrying half-a-dozen game-cocks to
the place where a main was to be fought, shut them up in
the same coop, and was surprised to find that they had
fought and killed each other, because he thought they
should have known that they were all on the same side.
Canning is, I fear, lost irrecoverably to Government, and
it will be difficult to keep groimd in the House of Com-
mons without him. He sometimes writes to me, and you
would laugh to see how frankly I offer my advice to him
in return, stoutly exhorting adherence to his old friends.
The Duchess of Gordon stayed here a day or two on
her road to Ireland, and gave a grand party to all the world,
which Charlotte and I attended. I rather wonder that
your viceroy^ has not contrived to parry this visitation
from la chkre maman. She is not, begging her Grace's
pardon, altogether that conciliatory sort of person that is
best calculated to endure, and to restrain and to mitigate,
all the little heart-burnings which must arise in every
court whether regal or vice-regaL
So you did not keep my friend Robert Dundas ^ with
you, which I cannot but say I rejoice at. His effectual
interest must be in Scotland, and no one can carry Scot-
land that has not the command of the Board of Control,
which is in a manner the key of the corn-chest ; for your
Ladyship knows all our live articles of exportation are our
black-cattle and our children, and though England
furnishes a demand for our quadrupeds, we are forced to
send our bipeds as far as Bengal. . . .
FROM LORD MINTO.*
I am particularly happy in having fixed Leyden by
^ Charles, 4th Duke of Richmond, Lieutenant on April 13, but in the
was Lord Lieutenant at this date. following November he was again
' The Hon. Robert Dundas was President of the Board of Control,
appointed Secretary to the Lord ' This exti*act from a letter which
158 SCOTTS FAMTTiTATl LETTERS [Dm. 1809
my side, and am eaajoying with equal admiration, though of
different kinds, his extraozdinaiy talents and his spirited,
independent, and estimable character. I have taken the
best care I can of his fortunes, and hope one day to see
his wandering staff planted in some Teviot haugh, and the
wanderer himself under its shade resting in his age
amongst the " Scenes of InfiBuicy.'' Those scenes are the
olgect of both our longings, I may safely say at least of
mine, though it is not wise to strain either eyes or wishes at
distant prospects. I shall hope to find you still bannring
and singing those streams which are to me more sacred
than the waters of the Ganges to their Hindoo votariea
• • •
reached SootI in the ooone of the Govemor-Ctonenl had reoognfeed
yeer 1809, thowi how soon after Leyden'a genina and oapaoity for
Lord Minto'a arriyal in India the w(»k. — AmU, p.
CHAPTER VI
1810
EDINBUKGH AND ASHESTIEL
** Dry up those tears," the gentlti wizard cried,
" Nor weep while nature in her glor>' smiles ! ''
And lo ! with sylvan mountains beautified.
Incumbent cliffs, lone bays, and fairy isles.
Floated a lake that I could scarce behold,
80 bright it gleam'd with its enchanted waves 1
While ever and anon wild music roll*d
From fractured rocks, and undiscovered caves,
As if some spint warbl^ from the steep
A low unearthly song, to charm the lake to sleep.
The Magic Mirror, by John Wilson.
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITERARY WORK
1810— AGE 39
JoMina Baillie's Family Legtnd on the
Edinbnigh Stage, January,
Farliamentary CommiBuon on Sootch Judi-
cature dissolved, Spring.
Lady of the Lake published in 4to by Bal*
lantyne & Co., Afay.
^nqliiK Minstrelsy, 2 vols. 12mo, by Bal-
lantyne & Ca
Visit to the Highlands and lalands with
wife and daughter, June.
Mies Sewardts Life and PoeUeed Works, S
vols, post 8vo, published by Ballmntyn*.
August,
Contributions to Quarterly Reviev?—
Fatal Revtnge
Scans' Old Balljuit
I in Ko. 6, May 181^
CHAPTER VL
FROM LEYDENJ
Caloutta, January lO^A, 1810.
My dearest Friend, — It is not my intention to write
jou a letter at present, but merely a note to accompany
a Dissertation on the Chinese language by Mr. Marshman,
one of the missionaries of Serampore. This Dissertation
is properly speaking only the preface of the first volume
of ConfwAiia in Chinese and English, printed at Seram-
pore under the patronage of Lord Minto. As I had some
effect in getting the work set afoot here while the mis-
idonaries were rather under a cloud, and not countenanced
in any shape previous to his Lordship's arrival, they have
requested me to make the work known to my literary
friends at home, and I have of course forwarded this to
you with the author's regards. The first volume of Con-
fucius will follow in the next ship, and you will receive
it before it is published in England. Lord Mhito has
gained himself immortal glory here by patronising with
energy every useful species of literature, and is generally
admitted to be the finest private character of a Governor
that ever Lidia saw. He is at present at Madras, where
he has been for these five months, and where a very
dangerous insurrection had very nearly broke out through
the whole army, occasioned chiefly by the striking dispro-
portion between civil and military employments. He has
had a most delicate office to perform, and I am glad he
has got so well through it. But to return to the Chinese
^ The only letter from Leyden to in India preserved in the Abbota-
Boott after the arrival of the former ford collection.
VOL. L L
162
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEKS
[Jam.
Dissertation, which in my opinion is a very excellent one,
I am anxious you should make it known among your
literary friends ; and if, aa report says, you have any con-
nection with the QuaTterb/ Revifni), which has shown itself
favourable to the missionaries, you cannot have a finer
field for animadversion. The coincidence of the Chinese
arrangement of sounds with the order of the Sanscrit
alphabet ia [not] a new discovery, but only an elucidation of
De Guignes' Mhnoires in the volumes (about the 30-35)
of the Royal Academy.^ This, however, will be merely as
it suits your convenience.
Tour Mamiion is quite the rage here, and it is very
dubious whether that or the Lay of the Last Minstrel is
most so. He is a sad dog, this same Marmion ; I have had
the greatest difficulty in reconciling myself to him, and I
am rather inclined to prefer old Bothlem Gabor after all, but
I am nevertheless highly delighted with the work, though
I have been wishing the hero hanged every step that he has
taken from the beginning to the close. I most sincerely re-
joice in seeing you very decidedly at the head of the poeta
of the age — poetarmn, scecli tm princepa — which I think
cannot now he denied, and, depend on it, none less than
another Homer or Milton will shake you on your throne.
Brigadier-General Malcolm, whom I formerly men-
tioned from Eskdale, has you constantly under his pillow,
and we rejoice over you like an ancient when a few of ua
Borderers can get together. He is gone to Persia to
imdo all the previous doings of that blockhead Sir Harford
Jones, Now for myself, you will ask what the deuce I am
about. "Why, after enacting ' Belted Will ' in November and
December of 1808.^ aa I could not quite employ Jedburgh
' Acad^mia des Sciences, 1
' Aa oommiuioner for the aup-
MBicm Qf Dacoity, For the only
popular accoant of Leydeo'i Tork
in IndU, see an elaborate and
judicioui paper written by Dr,
Ocorge Smith, CLE,, in tlie Cat-
evtta Seiiiew, tdL x
1810]
FROM LEYDEN
163
Justice, nearly a year has been taken up in trials, which
have plagued me a great deal; but my judicial duties are
not nearly so laborious as I found my magisterial, and I
have been digging away like a Turkish galley-slave in the
Oriental mines. However, I hope to get through some day,
and I have made great progression in a history of Persian
poetiy, which will be at least two 4tos, if published ; but
really I am to be pitied as a slave more than any man in
Frangistan, — I beg pardon, I meant Europe — ^for almost
every instant of my time is filled up in task work. I had
hoped that Colonel Richardson, a particular friend, would
have before this given you a particular account of all my
proceedings and feats, but I greatly fear he has finished
his career, as well as the rest of the passengers in the
missing ships, — and there withal goes to the devil all
my precious and never enough to be regretted mss. that
had been transcribing for you and Heber for a year and
mora My health is quite re-established, however, and
I shall exert myself vigorously. But I am getting into
a letter instead of a mere note (with a parcel). It is im-
possible, however, not to beg to be remembered to my
dear Mrs. Scott, and the fact is that the Lasswade Cottage,
the blazing ingle, etc., still recur as the happiest scenes of
my youth. God bless you and your family, my dearest
Scott, and reckon me ever yours, John Leyden.^
* The foUowing extract from a
letter addressed to his wife by
Lord Minto, written while on the
expedition which was to be so fatal
to Leyden, may be introduced
here. See note, ante, p. 18 :—
*'Mode9U, at sea. May 1811. ~
Dr. Leyden's learning is stupen-
doos, and he is also a very universal
achoUr. His knowledge, extensive
and minute as it is, is always in his
pocket, at his fingers* ends, and on
the tip of his tongue. He has made
it completely his own, and it is all
ready money. All his talent and
labour, indeed, which are both ex-
cessive, could not, however, have
accumulated such stores without his
extraordinary memory. I begin, I
fear, to look at that faculty with
increasing wonder ; I hope without
envy, but something like one's ad-
miration of young eyes. It must
be confessed that Leyden has oc-
casion for all the stores which
application and memory can fur-
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Jan.
TO LADY ABERCORK.
EanfBCtoa, 2Ist January 181.0.
Mr DEAH Lady asd Fhiesd, — I was honoured two
ditjB ago with your kind token of remembrance enclosing
Miss Owenson's* very pretty verses, to which I pay the
highest compliment in admitting them to be worthy
of the subject. I beg you will let Miss Owenson know
with my respectful compliments that I did not write,
and have scarcely even read, the review of Ida of
Athene. My time has been indeed so very much occu-
pied, that though a great admirer of novels, I have not
perused one for many months ; but I am sure that the
authoress of the ' Irish Girl ' can produce nothing deserving
of severe criddsiu, and still more certun that no motive
would have prevwled on me to give pain to female genius
for the sake of showing my own supposed wit. The few
essays I have made in the craft of reviewing are either
Qiih, to snppl; his longae, which
would dimipate a cQnuiioii <tock in
ft week. I do not beliere that so
greSit & reader was ever bo great a
talker before. Yoa may be con-
ceited about f ocraelvee, my beauti-
fnl wife cjid daughters, but with
all my partUtity I must give it
against you. Vou would appear
absolately silent ia his compauy,
OS a ship under weigh seems at
anobor, wben it is passed by ft
swifter sailer. Another feature ot
his conversation is a shrill, pierc-
ing, and at the same time grating
voice. A. frigate is not near Urge
eDOngh to place tbe ear at the
proper point of hearing. If be had
been at Babel he would infallibly
have learned all the languages
there, but in the end they mast all
have merged io the TividaU Hmc,
for Dob a creature would have got
tpobm but bimself. I must say to
his bonour that he has as intimat«
and prufouud a knowledge of the
geography, history, mutual rela-
tioua, religion, charscler, and man-
ners of every tribe in Asia, as be
has of their language. On tbe pre-
sent occasion there is not an island
or petty state in the mnltitude of
ieldnds and dsUods amongit which
we are going, of which be h(H not ft
tolerably minute and correct know-
]edge."—Letteri of GSbtrt Stliot,
1807-1814, pp. 253-355.
< Sydney Oweuson, author of the
Wild Iriak Girl, etc., better known
as Lady Morgan. She was visiting
Lsdy Abcrcora at Borons Court
about this time, where she met Sir
Charles Morgan, whose wife she
became in 1812. The article on /da
qfAUietu in the first number of the
Quarterlg was uuderatood to be
from the pen of GiQbrd.
1810] TO LADY ABERCORN 165
of a grave cast or refer to books which I could conscien-
tiously praise. There are I think in the Qwarterly Review
only two exceptions. In the one case I was provoked by the
insufferable petulance of the author, and in the other by the
extreme want of candour of a certain author who, having
loaded me in private with undesired and imdesirable
flattery, chose to abuse me without temptation or provoca-
tion in his next book. The worst of being supposed to
review at all is that you get the reputation of writing a
great number of articles which you have never even read,
much less written.
Lord Melville left this country about the beginning of
last month in high health and spirits : indeed, I have not
seen him looking better for a long time, and as he practises
the abstinence recommended, I hope he will enjoy a con-
firmed state of health for many years. I suspect he will go
against the Ministry, at least not with thefm, in the stormy
debates which are just approaching.^ I grieve for it, and
wish our friends on all sides would recollect the fable of the
bundle of arrows which were so easily broken singly.
Perhaps we would [not] quite agree on the subject of
George Canning, with whom I have been for years a good
deal lii\ but I think there would be no great difference
between us. The want of Pitt's commanding genius is feel-
ingly displayed by this wretched and impolitic squabbling
among his friends.
You bid me, my dear friend, write verses for you and on
friendship. Alas, I am scarcely at this moment fit to write
verses for the Bellman's Christmas box. Above "Good
morrow my Masters all, and a merry Christmas to you,"
I am sure I could not soar.
The pressure of the Commission business has been so
constant, the meetings generally sitting from twelve till
five, and the rest of my time spent in making up Minutes,
^ Peroeval's Administration had just been formed.
:m 5»:CTrs r*vrr-n> LETIEES [Jam.
Breccrs. ad. cfJiis ocisaL citt. tLu I hsre nerer had a
^LTJuss. Vj zTzz •in =iT CAS ATti bdlsL The enclosed
jacsifmr vases ire ^e oclj eSin I liATe made in rhyme
sucas I cazLe uo Fii^i'rrirA f:r die vinter. They were
wrriccn TJuhTi ih5s bxir. icd Jkre uO t« spoken to a beauti-
fnl trae^y \A Joojml^ Raf-e laGLthoress of the Plays on
the Passions » loanded ziroa a H:-ghIand story of the Old
Tone^ I am m:ica iii:cre»iai in its success, as she in-
trusted the 3fs. vidi me. The prineiral female part is very
prettily rehearsed by Mtsl Henry Siddons, oar Manager's
better hal£ Harry Maokerzre, author of The Man of
Peding, writes an epilogue; so the piece, being entirely of
Scotch manufacture, has, independent of its own merit,
every chance of succeeding betore a national audienca The
day of trial is t<>morrow. I want to send your Ladyship
two little trumpery volumes of Miscellanies containing
some scraps of my own, with others better worthy of your
perusal,' which I begged and borrowed firom some friends.
It is true my new ditty is soli but the price is two
thousand i^uineas, not pDunds.' When I was fond of
horses I learned from the jockey to stU by guineas and
buy by pounrls. It is a comfortable reflection that should
the ^Miiirs come in to-morrow, their irall and bitterness will
Ixj of little consequence to me. I have nothing fortunately
which they can take away, and am able by the liberality of
the public to wait calmly until I come to possession of my
official income, which I believe will amount to £1100 a
year.
I am very anxious the said poem should be such as
Lord Abcrcom can stand godfather to with credit. The
talc cannot be very well sent without the verses, being
^ T?ie Family Ltgeivd — See ' Lady Abercom had written,
Scott'8 Poetical Works, vol. viii. '*What do you get for it? The
p. 3S7. Irish papers say £2000 ! which I
2 En^jliah Minstrelsy, 2 vols. hope is true. "
1810] TO LADY ABEECORN 167
no great matter in itself; but I will soon send you a
specimen, if not a whole canto. I have tried, according to
promise, to make ''a knight of love who never broke a
vow." But well-a-day, though I have succeeded tolerably
with the damsel, my lover, spite of my best exertions, is
like to turn out what the players call a VKdhing genUeToa/a,
It is incredible the pains it has cost me to give him a little
dignity. Notwithstanding this, I have had in my time
melancholy cause to paint from experience, for I gained
no advantage from three years' constancy, except the said
experience and some advantage to my conversation and
manners. Mrs. Scott's match and mine was of our own
making, and proceeded from the most sincere affection on
both sides, which has rather increased than diminished
during twelve years' marriage. But it was something short
of love in all its forms, which I suspect people ontyfed
once in their lives ; folks who have been nearly drowned
in bathing rarely venturing a second time out of their
depth. Excuse this long and tedious prattle, and believe
me, with respectful compliments to the Marquis, dear
Lady Abercom, your obliged and faithful humble servant,
Walter Scott.
to joanna baillie.
Edinbuboh, February 6th, 1810.
I WRITE these few lines to inform you that your laurels
flourish in all their original verdure. Through this whole
week the theatre has been fully attended, and by all the
fEishionable people in town ; on Saturday in particular the
house was as full as on Monday, — fuller was impossible, —
and the most enthusiastic approbation was express'd in
every quarter. All this while the Legend has been the
only subject of town-talk, where praise and censure were
of course mingled. The weight of criticism falls on the
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Maech
N
head of Duaxt, and I observe that the fair critics in general
think that he gives up the lady too easily. I begia
heartily to wish that the play was printed, unless you think
of bringing it out in London, and printed as you wrote it.
If you think of this, you should only part with the pro-
perty of a single edition, that you may afterwards include
it in your works ; my reasons are that the characters of
Benlora, and especially Lochtarish, are so defaced by action
that it is impossible to suppose their having the necessary
influence upon Maclean's mind. Suppose we had never
read Othello in our closet and saw lago represented by a
very bad actor, I suspect the same criticism would pre-
cisely apply. Yesterday I went with all my little folks,
who were delighted, and cried like any little pigs over
Helen's distress. . . .
Did I tell you that " Aigyle " made a formal complaint
of the flatness, as he supposed, of his exit on one occa^on,
and that I was obliged to indulge him by putting a cracker
to the end of his squib, that he might go ofl' upon the
grand pas ; be plays the character very weU indeed. Mrs.
Scott joins me in kindest remembrances to alL — Always,
dear Madam, yours most faithfully and respectfully,
Walter Soott.
The newspaper was not worth sending ; Mrs. President
Blair has requested the Legend for next Saturday ; a large
house is expected. I don't know what to say about altera-
tions ; I should like to see it printed from the original
draught,'
TO LADY ABERCORN.
lith March 1810.
, . . Let me add how desirous I am your Ladyship
should think well of these minstrel stanzas. The deuce
1810] TO LADY ABERCORN 169
take my lover, — I can make notliing of him; he is a
perfect automaton. It is very odd that the border blood
seems to rise m my vems whenever I begin to try couplets,
however torpid on other occasions. I am in my own
person, as Hamlet says, iTidifferent honest, and a robber or
captain of banditti never comes across me but he becomes
my hero. I believe, had I been to write OH Bias, Captain
Bolando would have been the principal personage from
b^[inning to end. But we are all as heaven made us, and
if I come to see you in Ireland I will endeavour to avoid
temptation, and not to become a leader of robbers in the
Wicklow mountains, which I have a notion must be one of
the most diverting preferments in the world. You wiU see
what has led to this rhapsody, if the verses have reached
you, for Black Sir Roderick, the leader of a predatory clan
of Highlanders, is in danger, despite all my resolutions to
the contrary, of becommg the very chief of the story.
You did not tell me if you exculpated me to your " wild
Irish gu-r Surely my apology was satisfactory
TO THE SAME.
Edutbusoh, lith April 1810.
My deab Lady Aberoorn, — I would long since have
written to your Ladyship to thank you for all your kindness
in my behalf, and to express how much I am pleased that
Lord Abercom, to whom I am about to write a few lines,
likes his literary prot^g6. I am about to enclose the 3d and
4th cantos of the poem to Croker for a frank ; the 5th is
going through the press, and so soon as the 6th is achieved
you shall have it alL It is, I think, in point of interest of
story, the best of my efforts, and I hope will meet its share
of public favour. I like the 4th canto myself, and hope
your Ladyship will like it for my sake.
We have been in a terrible state for this fortnight past
170
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Aphh.
— three of my children at once ill of a dangerous and
inflammatory fever, brought on by the inauspicious weather
with which we have been visited this spring. . , .
I must have expressed myself very ill to lead your
Ladyship to think I had any complaint to make of Lord
Melville. He has always been my kind, generous, and ready
friend, nor doubt I in the least that I shall always find
him so, as I have never remarked abatement in his kind-
ness, and I am sure have never done anything to deserve
it. I think while they were making so many alterations in
the court here, they might have invalided my senior and
cash-drawer. The Chief Baron, Lord Melville's nephew, as
well as the Ute President, and several others of our Scotch
Commission were desirous that it should have been done.
By granting a man of seventy-five a pension for having
discharged an important trust for forty years, they would
have been guilty of no pubHc robbery, and I, who actually
discharge the duty, would have been admitted at least to
some recompence for my labour. , . , So much for gnuiib-
ling. But I am much more angry with oiu- friends for their
internal disunion, than for neglecting such an individual
as myself. If the present, or any un-wkiffgish administra-
tion, will but keep their ground, I wiU make hay before
the light or sunshine of my httle reputation sots, and I
have always my official emoluments to look to one day, for
the deuce is in it if a man twice my age outlive mo after
alL But I detest the Whigs with a cordial detestation,
and the biUous fits which I should experience under their
domination, would I am convinced get the better of ma
Now here comes a great request. Your friend Lady
Castlereagh has I am told a numerous collection of
original letters of Swift, written to her ancestress Mrs.
Howard, the favourite of Queen Caroline. Now this may
not be true, but it bears a very probable face, I am
informed Lord Leitrim has seen them ; there are letters (it
1810] TO LADY ABEECOEN 171
is said) to Queen Caroline (I presiune while Princess of
Wales), to Mrs. Howard, and to Pope. Now, do you think
Lady Castlereagh's countenance wiU so much belie the
good-nature which, with beauty, is its distinguishing
characteristic, as to refuse me copies of these letters ? I
will take such care of them as has never been taken of
anj^thing in this world, and you need not tell Lady C. that
I am an old friend of Canning, since I am sure I am a
siQcere well-wisher to Lord Castlereagh, whose conduct since
that unfortunate quarrel^ has been so manly, generous,
and patriotic. Do, dear Lady, write and let me know what
I can expect about these same letters, — not that there is
any hurry, only that I am impatient to know if the whole
be not one grand blimder or quiz. I fear there is now no
chance of my being soon in England, and indeed in the
present state of my family it is altogether undesirable. . . .
— ^Believe me, my dear Lady Abercom, your Ladyship's
truly obliged and faithful, Walter Scott.
TO BOBERT SUBTEES.^
Edinil, 23 March 1810.
. . . The story of the Lambton worm is not unlike
that of the Laidley worm of Spindlestonhaugh, or rather
that of the serpent slain by our first Scottish Somerville,
who made him bolt a burning peat.
I cannot help thinking there is some strange truth
disguised imder all this fiction. Who knows to what size
the reptile race may have attained when the borders, still
so veiy wild, were comparatively uninhabited, covered
with wood, and abounding with those animals on which
creatures of prey subsisted ? As their enemy man increased
^ Resulting in the well-known ^ From ms. transcript at Abbots-
dnel on September 21, 1809. ford.
172 SCOTT'S FAOTLIAK LETTERS [March
in numbers, the game disappeared before him, and they
irere at once straitened in provisions and became the
object of active and skilfUl hostility, — underwent in abort
a sort of blockade and storm at the same time.
Many animals have disappeared &om the earth, and
many from the island, — the wolf, the wild bull or bison, the
elk ; and as to the Lowlands, the red deer are of that last
number, to which may bo added the Capercaillie, or cock
of the wood, in the air, and the Beaver in the lake.
If I could for a moment credit the universal tradition
respecting almost every Scottish loch, highland or lowland,
I would say positively that theff water-cow always sup-
posed to dwell there was the hippopotamus, nor should I
be at all surprised considering tho uniformity of the
tradition, both as to the nature and appearance of the
animal, if upon drainii^ some of those lochs which the
rage for improvement will one day bring about, we should
pop upon a skeleton of this Egj-ptian Behemoth.*
Holding this belief I must be particularly gratified in
contributing to aid the descendant of a preux chevalier
who rid the world of one example of a creature rather
more curious as a specimen than pleasant as a neigh-
bour. . . .
' The Cupercailzie has been
reiDtroduced with sncceu, bat
eObrta to naturalise tlic Beaver,
in the chaoged coaditioD of the
country, have hitherto failed.
' Scott's ingenious conjecture has
not been conBrmed by scieotiEc
invBBtigatiaa. Professor James
Geikie, in reply to an inquiry
regarding " Behemoth " in Scot-
land, writes on March IStli, 1S93:
— " Yes, the hippopotamus has been
found again and again both in caves
and rirer gravels in England : and
there is no doubt that it was oon-
temporaneona in oar island with
Palicolithic man. No trace of it bos
been met with in Scotland however.
I can't believe thiit the 'water-oow'
of tradition was the Beiieiuoth of
Paleolithic man, for both hippopo-
tamns and Paleolithic man vanislied
from Britain before the advent of
the last glacial epoch ; and it is in
the highest degree improbable that
any tradition of the kind referred
lo could have survived down to Uw
period of which Scott speaks, "
1810] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 173
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
March 30, 1810.
My dear Miss Baillie, — ^Believe me I have never been
so much pleased as with your kind and unmerited goodness
in the matter of the FamUy Legend} There is a freemasonry
among kindred spirits (and I am your adopted brother)
that always leads them to imderstand one another at Uttle
expense of worda I shall hold myself highly honoured
indeed in what will, I am certain, make me live long after
I should be otherwise forgotten, for no one can both eat
his cake and have his cake, and I have enjoyed too ex-
tensive popularity in this generation to be entitled to draw
long dated bills upon the applause of the next In the
course of a train of Ufe so fortunate as may make a pru-
dent person fearful of the future, I have met with nothing
that has given me so much real pleasure, and I verily hope,
to use your own phrase, that what I feel is not real vanity
but something better.
The play is now groaning in the press ; I read the proofe,
but this will not ensure their being altogether correct, for
in despite of great practice, Ballantyne insists, I have a
bad eye. I will gain one advantage by this, that I will
obtain possession of the original manuscript, which I will
preserve among my other Hterary valuables.
Your introduction is delightful, flattering to us as
Scotsmen and doubly pleasing to us as friends. Erskine is
two inches higher upon the kind mention made of him.
I have, I understand, missed the very finest performance
ever seen in Edinburgh, — Mrs. Siddons (the elder) in Jane
de Monfort Everybody agrees that she was never more
herself than in that character; playing with her son, and
upon his theatre was doubtless one great cause, not only of
^ Scott allades here to the dedi- to ofifer it to the notice of my indol-
cation of the Family Legend which gent countrymen, I inscribe this
ran thus :— * • To Walter Scott, Esq. , play. "
whose friendly zeal encouraged me
L
174 SCOTTS FAMILIAK LETTERS [March
exertion, but of real cothusiam. She fiiirly cried herself
sick at her own part, so you may believe there was fine
work in the front, as they call the audience part of the
house ; never was there such a night for those industrioits
females the laundresses. And how came you to be absent,
Mr. Scott? Why truly I iras dreeing penance for some
undiscovered sin at a family party of about a month's in-
vitation, so flight was as much out of the question as it
was to suppress my disappointment with patience, for I
expected enough, although my expectations appear to have
&llen short of the truth.
The young Siddonians are delighted with the dis-
tinguished and flattering applause you have given to their
efforts.
I ivish I was like you in everything ; but politics in
this free country make an early part of our education, and
become bone of our bono and flesh of our flesh. Thera is
no difterence except in words and personal predilections
between the candid and well-informed of both parties. In
principle there is, and can be, none. No Whig will allow
that it is his intention to break down the royal part of the
constitution, and no Pittite will call himself an enemy to
legitimate freedom. The debateable ground between the
parties is very narrow indeed, so far aa real principle is
concerned. But it is in words and in partialities that we
differ, and while we continue mortal, words and partiahties
will bo principal motives to human action ; so we will e'en
leave the parties to pull caps themselves, and hope that if
we do happen to be weights in the one scale or other, at
least we are not leaden onca
Did I not tell you my own poem has nothing to do
with the valiant Sir Lancelot ? It is a Highland tale, of
which the scene is laid on the verge of Loch Katrine. I
am pressing the printers to despatch, and hope soon to
send you a copy.
1
1810] TO JOANNA BAILUE 175
I will take care that the bookseller's cash is forthcoming
as soon as our bargain permits. You can put it in your
scrutoir and dispose it as you please.^ As for the prologue
and epilogue, I believe it is the rule of stage not to resume
them after the first run of the play is over; that is, so
soon as the performance of another piece has intervened.
But do not hope you will escape them in the printed
copy. If I were as tedious^ as an emperor, I could
find it in my heart to bestow it all on your Ladyship,
and I am too fond of sounding my trumpet before you
to be ashamed of its being a little out of tune.
You are quite right as to my private opinion of
Westall's illustrations ; they are badly devised, like almost
everything of the kind I ever saw; but what would it
have availed to have said so to the artist or to poor
Longman ? — the deed was done.*
By the way, I understand there are two rival sets of
illustrations in preparation for the Lady of the Lake even
before she makes her appearance. Both will probably be
execrable; for if Westall, who is really a man of talent,
fEuled in figures of chivalry when he had so many paint-
ings to guide him, what in the devil's name will be made
of Highland figures? I expect to see my chieftain, Sir
Boderick Dhu (for whom let me bespeak your favour) in
the guise of a recruiting serjeant of the Black Watch, and
his bard the very model of Auld Bobin Gray upon a
japanned tea-tray. Mrs. Scott joins in kindest and
best love to Miss A. Baillie, Dr. and Mrs. BaiUie, and
family. — I am ever your tnily obliged and faithful
W. Scott.
' It is recorded that from 1800, King."— ilfv<:A Ado dbout Nothing,
when Kemble brought oat "I>e Act iii. Sc. 5.
Monfort" on the London stage, * The illustrations were for a
Miss fiaiUie appropriated one-half quarto edition of the Xray, published
her gains to charity. in 1808.
' "If I were as tedious as a
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [&Ut
TO THE SAl
EDiNacRoB, May!, 1610.
[ HAVE no prospect now of being in London ; but
the next time I come, I am much tempted by your kind
offer of a hftrbour for Sophia to bring her with me ; she is
& clever and tractable child, very capable of improving by
what she sees and hears, and I would think a week or two
of your society a most important advantage indeed. Early
travelling in some respects is an advantage ; it opens the
ideas of children, and if their companions will have patience
to answer their questions, it is perhaps the highest enjoy-
ment you can ^ve them. To quit the actual nursery and
come to our htorary offspring, you must know that my
young babe is bom in the shape of a comely 4to. Two or
three days since I addressed a copy for you to be left at
Dr. Baillie's. ... I shall be impatient to hear if it has
given you any amusement, and if it has been so fortunate,
a fico for the critics. This accompanies a copy of the
Fa/mUy Legend, which I learn with surprise has not been
forwarded to you : it is positively more dehgbtful in read-
ing than in representation. Lord Meadowbank' came in
here yesterday with his eyes streaming from the perusal ;
and fetching tears from an old metaphysical lawyer, and
Scotchman besides, is something hke the miracle of Moses'
rod in the wilderness. The sale has been very much to the
bookseller's satisfaction ; four-fifths of the quantity retained
in Scotland are already sold, and the rest daily going off
James Graharae* has returned to Scotland : his wife la
1 All&nMBcaDDcliie,>judgeof the Scotch Bnr andukon Orders [u tha
Court of Soaaiou from 1T96. This ChnrcbofEDglacd, where, notwith-
learned lawj'er wu one of Scott's itondiiig hii t&lent and literuy at-
earliest recruits for the Qjtarterly. tainnitiab, be coald ooly obtain »
He contributed an article to the bumble curacy io Glouceaterabire.
fourth number (Nov. 1S09) on He was a candidate at thii time
Charlea Junes Fox, of trbiob Qif- for the incumbency of St. George't
ford and C^tiniag thought highly. Chapel in Edinburgh ; but he did
Lord Meadowbank died in 1816. oot meet tlie approval of the
* Jamea Grahame had left the patrons. He^edinlSII.
1810] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 177
now in town making interest to get him appointed preacher
to the chapel in Queen Street, and I am moving heaven
and earth to help her; but I fear she has been too late of
starting, as I find many of the most sweet voices are
already engaged in behalf of others. He is a worthy,
modest, and most ingenious man, ill calculated I fear to
beat ujp against wind and tide, which on this occasion
seem to set in against him ; but still I do not renoimce
hope of success. I have not heard why he left the living
in England, but suppose he did not quite find the climate
agree with him. , . . — I ever am, most fidthfully yours,
W. Scott.
TO THOMAS SCOTT.
13th May 1810.
... I AM truly sorry for the reduction of the Militia,'
yet it is but an idle man's employment, and though the
immediate loss be severe, I would fain hope you may, with
your talents, find a more lucrative and active sphere of
exertion. I have not been quite idle myself, for my situa-
tion makes it necessary that I should labour. My last
effort has been a new poem, of which I expect to have a
copy for you in a week or two. . . .
There is nonews here worth telling. Your old friendBailie
Coulter died in his glorious year of Provostry, and was buried
as doubtless he would have wished to be, only that Messrs.
Young and Trotter, his opponents in the Council, were in-
trusted with the charge of solemnising his rites of sepulture.
Matters look serious in London, and I fear infinite
pains has been taken to infect the Foot Guards with
democratic principles. I hope they will have the prudence
to send them in an army to Portugal, and replace them
with regular marching regiments, less subject from their
^ Thomas Scott left the Isle of Regiment, then stationed in Scot-
Man in 1810, and in 1811 was land. In 1813 it was ordered to
appointed Paymaster to the 70th Canada, where he joined it.
VOL. L M
178 SCOTT'S FAMILIAU LETTERS [May
constitution and discipline to popular contagion, I wish
they may have no occasion to regret disbanding Militia
and Volunteers. Yet tho sense of the generality of the
people is so sound that I cannot bring myself to have
serious apprehensions. We are beginnii^ to kindle here
in a little degree. All reminds me of an exclamation of
the French as recorded in their old history, " Taoneguy
du Ch&tel, oil ea-tu ? " ^ What is become of William Pitt ?
It is astonishing how tho loss of one man has deranged
the wisdom and disoi^anised the force of this mighty people.
You and I, with wives and children, and seventeen years
added to our lives, will hardly scramble so well as we might
have done in 1793-4 when the same game was playing.
I was much obliged to you for your curious notices
about the remnant of old customs in the Islo of Man. I
am surprised their song of triumph over the wren is in
English. I remember to have heard verses of it, and if I
mistake not, the whole is in Johnson's collection* of Scotch
songs and music. Bums, who assisted Johnson, may have
picked it up in Dumfriesshire. As your residence in so
curious a place must have furnished you with many mis-
cellaneous remarks, I wish you would throw them into the
shape of a little Essay and send it to me for the Register.
of which I am a proprietor, . . .—I ever am, yours affec-
tionately, W. S,
^ Tmuegny da CbosteL — Sea
iforeri for an account of tbli ISth
centur; liraton Mnrsijal of Fruice,
-whose exampla Scott was so fond
of citine-
» I do not find thia ciutom msn-
tumed in Johnson's Muaaum ; but
after the lapse o! a dozeo yean
Scott himself alludea to it, and
quotes from V^'a1dron a. doscription
of the ceremony : —
"On the 34tb of December, to-
wards evening, all the tiervauta in
general have a holiday ; they go
not to bed all night, hnt ramble
about till the bell rings in all tlie
churches, vhich is at twelve o'clock;
prayers being over, they go to hunt
the wren, and, after having found
one of tbeie poor binU, they kill
her, and lay her on a bier with ths
utmost salemnity, bringing her to
the pariah church, and burying her
with a whimsical kind of solemnity,
singing dirges over her in the Manx
language, which they call her knell;
after which Chrislnuu begin*." —
See Peveril o/lM Prak.
1810] TO MORRITT 179
TO MORRITT.
June 1810.
My dear Morritt, — I need not say how acceptable your
approbation of the Lady of the Lake is to me, because you
wiU readfly give me credit for feeling both as a friend and
as a poet upon the occasion.
Your criticism is quite just as to the Son of the dry
bone^ Brian.^ Truth is, I had intended the battle should
have been more detailed, and that some of the persons
mentioned in the third Canto, and Brian in particular,
should have been commemorated. I intended he should
have been shot like a corbie on a eraig as he was excom-
municating and anathematizing the Saxons from some of
the predominant peaks in the Trosachs. But I found the
battle in itself too much misplaced to admit of being pro-
longed by any details which could be spared. For it was
in the first place episodical, and then all the principal
characters had been disposed of before it came on, and were
absent at the time of action, and nothing hinged upon the
issue of consequence to the fable. So I e'en left it to the
judgment of my reader whether Brian was worried in the
Trosachs, or escaped to take earth in his old retreat in
Benharrow, near Ardkinlas.
My principal reason for writmg unmediately is to beg
you will have the goodness to address your pamphlet^ to
me under cover to Mr. Freeling, General Post Office, who
gives me the privilege of his unlimited frank in favour of
literature. Any moderate packet will always reach me in
^ Morritt had written : "The only fault for introducing us to an ac-
dUBappointment I felt in the poem quaintance of so much promise and
is your own fault. The character not telling us how he was after-
and terrific birth of Brian is so wards disposed of."
highly wroughl^ that I expected * An anonymous pamphlet by
him to appear again in the (Unoue. Morritt on the State of Parties,
fiiei?^, and wanted to hear something entitled Advice to the Whigs, etc,,
more of him ; but as we do not by an Englishman,
hear of his death, it is your own
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Jdnk
that way. I iave a little commission for you, if you will
be kind enough to accept of it. You know I fell in love
with your library table, and now that the I^dy has put
crowns into ray purse, I would willingly treat myself unto
the like, only I think I have not much occasion for the
space which holds accompt books. In other respects it is
quite a model, and in that respect I don't quarrel with
it ; for why should I not be a rich man one day and have
accompt books. Now were I to send to your upholsterer
(not to mention I have forgot his local habitation and his
name) he would probably send me what he best pleased,
and therefore I intrude so far on your time as to request
you when you are taking a walk to order me such a table
as yours, the terms to be ready money on the things arriv-
ing here. I should like it to come before I leave town for
Ashestiel, which will be 12 July.
I sometimes have thought of a jaunt to the Hebrides this
summer. But if this Highland trip should misgive, I would
not have you be too secure from an invasion at Rokeby, for
I have been persuading myself that the Carlisle stage would
set me down at Greta Bridge in no time at all, and I sleep
most delectably in a mail-coach. But all this is at presenFas
much a dream as honest John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
So your London citizens are taking the alarm. As
Drj'dcn says—
I woqU it ahouJd bo so— 'tis a good horror,
First let them fear for rai>eH nod plundered houses,
/ Cold burghore must be Btruck and struck like fliiits
/ Ere dieit hid fire will sparkle.
It is disgraceful to see the legislature of this mighty
kingdom, representatives of all the power, wisdom, and pro-
perty of Great Britain, insulted by the very scum of tho
earth, for such must the mob of Westminster be, and very
little better do I hold the factious demagogues of the
livery, . . .
Mrs, Scott joins in kind comphments to Mrs. Morritt,
1810] TO MORRITT 181
I fear she will be now longing excessively for the groves
of Rokeby. — Ever yours, W. Scott.
Fray don't be lazy, but finish your ballad, with a wanion
to you.
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
[Edinburgh, Jum 10, 1810.]
I AM truly gratified by your approbation of the Lady
of the Lake. . • • As I am quite sensible of the necessity of
giving the public some variety of manner as well as of story,
I stretched my canvas on a much smaller scale than when
I attempted the story of Flodden. Should I ever write
again, which is very uncertain, I intend to take the
Hebridean character and scenery with that of the north
of Ireland for my subject ; but this is truly speaking of
the saddling of a foaL
I have forwarded your letter to Grahame, and have
done all the little in my power to assist him in his object
The only good I can do is to endeavour to remove political
prejudices founded on his poem of Copenhagen, and being
myself ''more an ancient Roman than a Dane," I have,
I think, some chance of being listened to upon such a
subject What probability of success he has is at present
uncertain ; the vestry in whom the election lies are like
other solenm bodies, mysterious and oracular, and the in-
dividuals who compose that august Sanhedrim, when spoke
to separately say ' hum,' ' go to,' look wise, and make the
most of their temporary importance, but we will keep a
sharp look out, and do the best we can for the " Sabbath "
Bard, who is really a most worthy and amiable man and
an excellent painter of Scottish manners and scenery.
The adventure of the Duke of Cumberland is indeed
terrible. It looks as if all the curses of the poor Highland-
ers upon the head of his predecessor in title had been
suspended in effect, and had now fallen upon the inoffen-
182 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Junk
dve wearer of his unlucky coronet Is it not very odd
that old Buke William, after all the " Teais of Scotland/'
should have died quietly in his bed, and that this man who
is one of the most worthy of his family (I believe) should
be hack'd to pieces by an Italian valet ^ for no reason at
all ? By the way, I have used the incident in conversation
as a confutation to those who deny that the excess of
hatred in De Monfort's character is founded in natura
Seillis appears, though in low life, to have been a re-
markable person, and I dare say was quite right in his
quarrels with Neale, but finding his complaints neglected,
and that none of the friends to whom he mention'd them
sjrmpathized with his feelings, he brooded over them till
he became capable of this desperate action. A passion
which we dare not impart to others, and which when im-
parted attracts no sympathy, is sure in minds of a certain
class to bum with a flame more ardent because smother'd ;
but to talk to you of passions is really sending, as we say,
salt to Dysart. . . .
Charlotte would have written to tell you all this, but
she feels, or rather thinks she feels, difficulty in expressing
herself upon paper so accurately as she would ; she some-
times takes fits of apprehension of this kind, though she
understands English like a native.
I enclose for Mrs. Hunter ^ a copy of the little metrical
Miscellany, which has long lain at the bottom of my port-
manteau when pack'd for London. I assure you I value
her applause not a little, for my sense of it is proportioned
to my estimation of her acknowledged talents.
I fancy Dr. Baillie and you Northern folks, banished to
^ For an account of this singular and author of one of the versions of ^
affair, see Edinhurgh Eegisttr, voL the Flowers of the Forest. She was
iiL part 2, pp. 78-85. born in 1742, and died in 1821.
' Mrs. Hunter, Joanna Baillie's There are several of her poems in
aunt, was Anne Home, widow of the early volumes of Scott's Annual
John Hunter, the great anatomist. Register.
1810] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 183
the lands where *' Meadows flower, aad corn-fields wave in
the Sun," like my poetical bouquet the better that it is
chiefly composed of Highland heather.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
29tA JuM 1810.
Mt deab Ladt Abercorn, — I was agreeably dis-
appointed by your kind letter, in which you take upon
you a fault which was really mine, for I ought to have
apprized you that the Lady of the Lake was waiting to
pay her respects to your Ladyship and the Marquis as you
passed through Dumfries. I am truly glad the Marquis
thinks it worth his patronagfe, as I certainly most sincere-
ly wished it might not d^grace his Lorihip's acknow-
ledged taste, and the kind and friendly dispositions with
proofs of which he has honoured me upon so very many
occasions. I like it myself as well as any of my former
attempts, and the public seem to receive it with kindness,
which even the sanguine hopes of the Booksellers had not
anticipated. The quarto edition of 2000 has not lasted a
fortnight, and the smaller edition is now published, of
which I hope to send your Ladyship a copy to-morrow or
next day, as it contains a few corrections made since the
1st edition.
As for my lover, I find with deep regret, that however
interesting lovers are to each other, it is no easy matter to
render them generally interesting. There was however
another reason for keeping Malcolm Graeme's character a
little under as the painters say, for it must otherwise have
interfered with that of the king, which I was more
anxious to bring forward in splendour, or something
like it.
As the Session of our Courts will soon be over I intend
to go for a fortnight to the Hebrides, which I have never
184 scorrs familiar letters [Jurm
visited, though I have been on the opposite mainland. I
hardly know whether to expect much or not, but I strongly
suspect the beat parts of Highland scenery are those which
lie upon the main. But my friend Ronald Mocdonald of
Staffa^ promises me a good barge, six rowers, a piper, and
his own company for pilot, which is a strong temptation.
Had your Ladyship remained in Ireland, and been adven-
turously disposed, you might have sailed from the Iri^h
coast, and in five hours, or not much more, visited the
famous cavem of Fingal. I will let you know on my
return whether it be worth seeing or no.
I am truly happy Lord Hamilton's health is likely to
be re-established, and that his Lady meets your maternal
hopes. I hear high accounts of her from every quarter,
and I am sure he deserves domestic happiness, which her
temper and dispositions are I understand likely to aecure
to him.*
I am grieved about Lady Castlereagb's letters, which
would have been of great consequence to me, but I hope
her Ladyship will publish them according to her present
intention, and I will be happy to have an opportunity
of seeing them.
We expect Lord Melville here immediately, and I think
I may have some chance of finding him at Dunira on my
return from the West Highlands,
I suppose Sir Francis Burdett's extravt^ancies ' have
been of considerable service to ministers, as they mast
have the necessary effect of compelling everybody to rally
about the King and the Government. Pray what is aup-
toa't death she became second wife
of the fourth Earl of Aberdeen.
' Sir Fnuicia Burdett hod beeo
committed to the Tower on the
Speaker's Warrnnt, for breocli of
Privilege in April, and wu released
on the prorogation of Parliaiaent
' Ronald Hacdonald of Staffa
married the heireaa of Steuart o(
AllantoD, and sacceeded his father-
md Baronet ; he died
— See Scott's Lije, vol. iii.
p. 272.
> Grnnddaagbter of the 15th
Bvl of Morton. After Lord Hi""il-
1810] TO LADY ABERCOEN 185
posed to be the real motiye of Sir Francis's rejectmg the
civic triumph which his Mends had so kindly prepared
for him ? Was he a&aid that his guards and escort might
not prove so orderly as to do credit to their general, or did
he fisel reluctance, like Sir John Falstaff, to ''march through
Coventry " at the head of his ragged regiment ?
Adieu ! my dear Mend ; if I am not drowned in the
whirlpool of Corrievrekin, or knocked against the basaltic
colunms of Staffa, or carried off by some of the spectre
Abbots of lona, or eaten up by the wild Macraws, whose
appearance struck Johnson with some apprehensions of
the kind, your Ladyship shall hear from me, with some
accounts of my wanderings.^
I beg to be respectfully remembered to the Marquis
(by whose kind letter I was much gratified) to Lord
Hamilton and the ladies, and ever am your Ladyship's
very futhfol and respectful humble servant,
W. Scott.
Excuse a wafer, as I write from the Court, where we
are allowed no lighted tapers.
FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY.
Saturday Evening^
nth AvguH [1810].
Mt DEAR Scott, — I think it right to let you see these
sheets' before any one else sees them. I cannot regret
having told the truth according to my oath of office ; but
I should very deeply regret having told it in such a way
as to give you any pain. I am now sensible that there
were needless asperities in my review of Marmion, and
^ Scott, with his wife, daughter, for the Western Islands, making
and several friends, left Edinburgh his headquarters at Ulva as guest
immediately after the 12th July, of the Laird of Stafib.
proceeding leisurely, "with his
own horses," through the High- * Containing Jeffrey's article on
lands to Oban, where he took boat the Lady qfthe Lake,
166
SCOrPS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Sept.
firam tie hurry in which I have been forced to write, I
due say there may bo some here also. I have bundled
your poetical characters too, by beginning my sketch on a
scale too lai^e for my canvas, and the mere unskilfulness
of the execution I fear has given it something the air of
caricatfiro. But I think you have generosity enough to
construe me riglitly in staling all these things, and to
believe me when I say that I am sincerely proud both of
your genius and of your glory, and that I value your
friendship more highly than most either of my literary or
political opinions. And now, presuming that this article
will break no squares between ua, I hav» two favours to
ask ; one, that you would, if possible, dine here on Tttatday,
to meet Alison, Flayfair, and two American ladies who are
vary much your admirers ; and the other, that you would
dine hero again on Thursday with Jack Murray and two
friends of Sydney Smith, who are just returned from the
Highlands. I am afraid you will think me very un-
reasonable for one week, but if I don't catch you now, I
am afraid I shall see but little of you till November, —
Believe me, ever very faithfully yours, F. Jeffrey.
Half-past five both days.
Be so good as return the sheets when you have quite
done with them.
TO LADT ABEKCORN.
AsHESTiSL, BT SELKIRK, 30lh September ISIO.
I HAVE not, my dear friend, had much to say since I
returned from my Highland excursion. The isles in many
particulars more than answered my expectation. The
cavern in the uninhabited island of Staffa in particular is
the most wonderful place of the kind that imagination
can conceiva The sides are composed of basaltic columns
exactly like those of the Girait's Causeway in Ireland, with
1810] TO LADY ABERCORN 187
which you are doubtless well acquainted The angles of
tliose pillars are, as it were, cemented to each other by a
sort of yeUow concretion resemblmg spar, or marble, which
forms a striking and curious contrast to the sable colour
of the granite columns themselves. The arch is as high
as that of a cathedral, and has nearly the same recrularity
of shape, the ribbed pilkrs bending towards each o^er. L
if to meet at the top. They have, however, at the roof a
sort of ceiling formed of the ends of other pillars which
have been broken off in the course of the natural convul-
sion by which the cavern was formed. This immense and
magnificent cavern opens full upon the Atlantic Ocean,
whose billows roll up to the extremity of the cave with a
noise which, even in the calmest day, would deafen thunder.
"When the weather is extremely calm you can enter the
cavern in a boat, but the least swell makes the attempt very
dangeroua You can also reach the extremity by scram-
bling along a line of broken pillars of unequal height, which
extends along the right-hand side of the cave. We did both.
The proprietor of the isle, Macdonald of StafTa, a fine
high-spirited young chieftain, was our pUot and guide
through the Hebrides. He is much loved by his people,
whose prosperity he studies very much. I wish I could
say so of the Duke of Argyle;^ but his isles are in a
wretched stata That of lona in particular, where it is
said Christianity was first planted in Scotland, and which
still exhibits many curious and even splendid remains of
monastic grandeur, is now in a most deplorable condition.
The inhabitants are so numerous in proportion to the size
of the island, that (although it is a fertile spot, comparing
it with the other isles aroimd it) it is barely sufficient
to support them in the most wretched state possible ui
1 George William, aizth Duke, treatment at the bands of the pre-
who died in 1839. The island, the sent acoomplifihed holder of the
people, and the ecclesiastical re- title (1893).
mains have received very different
188
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Sept.
ordiDary years; in those of scarcity they must starve, for
they have nothing to pay for unported com. Much of
this misery might I apprehend be remedied by a weU-
regulated encouragement to fishermen, for the sea abounds
with fish of every description. But such a sj'stem, to
prevent peculation and abuse, must be carried on under
the countenance of an active, benevolent, and at the same
time a resolute landlord. We were surrounded on the
beach by boys and girls, almost naked, all beggii^ for
charity, and some offering pebbles for sale. My wife
bought some, which have been since transformed into a
very pretty necklace. In the Isle of Ulva, where the
Laird of Staffa has his house, we were treated with some-
thing like feudal splendour. His people received us under
arms, and with a discharge of musketry and artillery. Hi a
piper was a constant attendant on our parties, and wakened
us in the morning with his music.
The people are a wild and hardy race, very fond of
music and poetry, which they chant perpetually to their
oars. While we were at Staffa, one of the boatmen who
could not speak a word of English came forward and made
me a speech, in which tliere was a great deal of compliment
on account of my being "the great bard of the Lowland
border," and " burnishing the shields of ancient chieftmns,"
with much more figurative eulogy, of which I regretted I
could not get an accurate translation. It concluded with
acquainting me with their determination to have a remark-
able pillar of the cavern called after me, 'Clochan an
Bhaird Sassenach mohr,' or the stone of the great Lowland
bard. The ceremony was concluded by a solemn dram
of whiskey by way of libation. So you see, my dear Lady
Abercom, that poetry retains its honours even where it is
not understood. Perhaps it is owing to the same indul-
gence that your ■prot4g4e, the Lady of the Lake, has met
with even more popular favour than any of her predeces-
1810] TO LADY ABEECORN 189
sors. When the edition now in the press has issued forth,
it will make the number amount to seventeen thousand,-^
a success I believe imexampled in bookselling, when the
work was not of a political nature.
I hear the Priory is greatly enlarged. It is not likely
I shall see it soon, a London journey being always attended
with a certain expense, and I want to save my money toA
buy a comer among my native hills and buUd a cottage I
Amon gr^
I beg my most respectful compliments to the ladies
and to the Marquis, not forgetting Lord Hamilton, whose
health I hope is confirmed.
Believe me, dear Lady Abercom, with great respect
your much obliged and most respectful humble servant,
Walter Scott.
TO MISS SMITH.
AsHXSTiSL, 4th October 1810.
Lest I should relapse, my dear Miss Smith, into my
mifiriendly and ungracious silence, I hasten to express the
remorse I have experienced at your kind letter, which I
have so little deserved. But the truth is, and I wish I
had a better apology, that the spirit of procrastination
sometimes quite overcomes me, till an answer so long
delayed has neither grace nor good manners, and I am
finally terrified from setting about it at alL I might
indeed sometimes plead — and with truth — the weariness
of fingers whose daily bread depends in some degree
on their daily exercise ; but I should be ashamed to state
to you such an apology in a stronger light than the fact
admits of, for. the truth is that there are weeks and mouths
in which I do not only not use pen and ink, but have a
sort of horror of tjie yeiy sight of them. This is more
especially the case in this retreat which we are just about
190
SCOTPS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Oct.
to leave for the winter, after having enjoyed an uninler-
nipt«d tract of the most delightful and settled good
weather which our northern and unstable climate has
ever afforded us in my remembrance, I hope you hare
enjoyed the same in the beautiful scenery where you have
been conversant, and that as your climate wa« more
genial, it has been equally uniform and serene.
Mrs. Scott and I employed the early part of the vaca-
tion in a tour to the Hebrides, which I had never visited,
although I was in early youth acquainted with the
mainland opposite to them. My eldest little girl accom-
panied us, and being quite a little doll whom we could
flin g to sleep in any corner, she was no ineonvenieaca to
us, while I hope she acquired some degree of taste for the
beauties of nature which, as it is one of the most attainable,
is also one of the most certain sources of enjoyment which
life offers us.
The grandeur of the scenes which the islands afford is
a little qualified by the sombre and savage state in which
it is expressed. Few or no trees, huge barren hi'lln wrapp'd
in endless mist, torn by unceasing cataracts, where the
waters bear no more proportion to the excavations and
ravines which they tear out of the bosom of the bills, than
human passions do to the consequences of their indul-
gence ; such are many of the aspects of nature we viewed.
These however do not apply to the Highland mainland,
where the lochs are usually clothed with the moat beauti-
ful birch wood. Nor are the isles without their charms,
although they consist rather, as far as I saw, in the eccen-
tricities, than in the ordinary productions of nature. The
caverns of Statlii struck me more than anything I ever
looked on in my life, and the ever-changing ocean, with all
its endless varieties, affords to Ihose who live on its margin
studios sufficient to compensate for the want of the usual
clothing of wood and verdura
1810] TO MISS SMITH 191
I have heard so much of the wonders of KiUamey that
I hope I shall one day pay them a visit, and believe me, I
should be proud to profit by the hope you give me of
being made known to Lady Kingston.^ I am much hon-
oured by the good opinion of the Irish nation, whose praise
must be always most valuable to a poet, because they are
not only a people of infinite genius, but of a warmth of
heart and feeling not perhaps generally appreciated, either
by your countrymen or mina The English gentleman
(in a new poem, which we shall supposed dated from
Ashestiel) asks something that awakes him during the
perusal from an habitual contempt of that which goes on
around him ; a Scotchman likes and praises the work of a
countryman, for the same reason that in London he would
walk half a mile farther to purchase his ounce of snuff
where the sign of the Highlander announces a North
Briton. But an Irishman's praise is that of feeling, and
though a Scotchman must always be a Scotchman, and
like his own countrjrmen better than those of the other
aUied kingdoms, yet in doing justice to all three he must
allow the praise of spirit and sentiment to the Irish.
As I have been long trammeled with an edition of
Swift's works, which I should be anxious to render
respectable, I hope to visit Ireland to endeavour to gain
additional light on his history. But whether this will
happen next year or no depends upon many trifling con-
tingencies. Mrs. Scott joins me in kindest compliments.
TO MORRITT.
Srd Oct. 1810.
My dear Morritt, — I do not long delay answering
your kind letter, and assuring you of my sincere sympathy
in the distressing events to which you have lately been
^ Helen, Lady Kingston, a daughter of Lord MoimtoaBheL
I9S
8C0TPS fAXniAR IXTTEBS
[Oct.
eoposed.^ The beaatifnl and feeing T«»es bj Dr. Johnson
to the meaxay of his humble friend Lerett, and which
with me, tlunigli a tcJerkt^j ardent SooLchman, atone for
a thooaand of his prejudices, open with a sentiment which
every year's acquaintance wiUi this V-nnitae VanUaium,
pressea mme fdllj on our coaviction.
'Cmdenui'd to Hope^ ddoaTc mine.
As on we toil from da; to d*;,
hj snddeD lilut oi dow dediur
Onr social ■.-omfbrtB nwh ■osf.'
I am sure Mrs. Horritt must have deejay felt these
repeated strokes of misfortune. . . .
I have little to complain of the Edirtbtirgh Review.'
SeSroy sent me the sheets with a kind and for hin\ an
apologetic letter, saying he was sensible that there was
some needless asperity in his review oi Marmimi, etc., and
that he hod studied, in deliverii^ his sincere opinion to the
public, to do it in a way that should not be mmecessarily
harsh to me or my Mends. And indeed his general tone
is much more civil and respectful than is usual for the
Review, where an author is neither a philosopher nor a
Foxite. But after all, and among friends, I think it should
puzzle him to make a popular pudding after tlie receipt
which he has given as mine, and I protest to you that I have
been (like the poor Lady who studied anatomy) ignorant
till this moment how many pretty things went to the
making of me. . . ,
The weather till these few days has been delightful
beyond what the memory of the oldest persons can retain
any trace of, and fortunate it was so, for the harvest was
so late that under less fiivourable auspices than this
astonishing tract of fair weather, it could never have been
put into the Bamy.^rfl.
■ The death of Mri. Murritt'» brotber, Mr. James StaiJe;, and of
another dear friend. ' See JeSrej'n LtUer, ante, p. 1S3.
1810] TO MOREITT 193
I have T617 little prospect indeed of getting to London
next year. My Commission is ended, and sooth to say
the expenses of a London journey do not suit a poet's
purse altogether so well as, God willing, I would desire they
did But we must meet, and Mrs. Morritt and you being
the more locomotive persons will I trust take another
peep of Scotland, where you have still so much to see, and
I will promise if you do to see you safely back into the
West Riding. Have you seen the Edinhwrgh Register ? If
not, do get it; the history is written by Southey, and
though with some tinge of opinions which neither you
nor I approve, yet there is much eloquence, and a great
deal of what everybody must admire. The principles
respecting France are particularly excellent ; the general
tone of political impartiahty gives them great weight, and
to my knowledge they are beginning to tell among those
who would have called them party damour through any
medivmi. — ^Believe me ever, yours truly,
Walter Scott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
Edin*, I6th October 1810.
Ht dear Ladt Abercorn, — I send a packet addressed
to Mr. Arbuthnot, containing a copy of the much honoured
Lady to wait upon her kindest and best patronesa The
quartos have long vanished, nor can I even guess what is
become of yours, since you did not find it at the Priory,
where I desired it might be sent. I add the little collec-
tion, which I hope your Ladyship will approve of.
The treatises on the Fiorin^ are very interesting, and if
they are found to be grounded on practical experience,
^ Dr. Richardson, an enthuBias- on the public the advantages of
tic Irish agriculturist, was at this Fiorin as a grass for moist grounds
time and for some years later (he or "water meadows." But it has
died in 1820), pressing strongly up- not proved successful.
VOL L N
194 SCOTTS FA3IILIAB LETTEBS [Oct.
cannot fail to be of the last conseqoence to Scotland. I
observe Dr. Richardson speaks a good deal about the Duke
of Buccleuch's water-meadows. With these I am some-
thing acquidnted. What they may do with Fiorin I know
not, but they are not very productive in their present
state. The engineer laid the blame on the quality of the
water of the Yarrow, which, being a run from a laige lake,
is remarkably pure and limpid, very fit for poetiy, in
which it has been often celebrated, but not so well adapted,
it would seem, for water-meadows. After abusing it a
great deal the fellow closed his charges against it by com-
paring it to what I suppose he thought the basest liquor
in the world. " It has no more heart," quoth he, swearing
to his assertion, " than as much small-beer." A very odd
simile for the classical Yarrow, thought your minstrel I
daresay the Duke will tiy the Fiorin, which, if it succeed,
will render his extensive system of irri^tion much more
valuable than it will ever be otherwise.
I would willingly make you, my kind and partial
friend, the promise you request respecting my future
literal}" engagements. But the public, w-ith many other
properties of spoiled children, has all their eagerness after
novelty, and were I to dedicate my time entirely to poetry
they would soon tire of me. I must therefore, I fear,
continue to edit a little, till circumstances set me more
above the necessity of depending upon my pen for an
important part of my income. Whenever the time
comes that I can, with due attention to my own family,
lay aside my prose-pen, I assure you, my dear friend, I
shall do it with great pleasure, for, as the Neapolitan
beggar says, " You don't know how lazy I am."
I fear all our farmers would laugh at me were I to
attempt the Fiorin ; for although they might pay me some
deference as a lawyer or a poet, or even for finding a
hare or spearing a salmon, I fear my agricultural reputa-
1810] TO LADY ABERCORN 195
lion stands too low among them to give the experiment
fiEur play. But I have an excellent, cool-headed, practical
farmer for my neighbour, whom I will put upon the
experiment . . .
I am quite idle just now as to poetry, and have no idea
of writing anything serious in that way for a year or two
at least But whether I keep my resolution or not is
uncertain, for the Lady of the Lake was a very sudden
thought, and begun only twelve months ago. I will let
you, my dear Lady Marchioness, know so soon as I engage
in anything likely to interest you. . . .
TO THE SAME.
Edinbubgh, 2/Uh October 1810.
It would be very difficult for me to express how much I
am indebted to your Ladyship for your kind interference
in my behalf with the possessors of the precious letters of
Diyden, which is the more flattering as Malone was refused
access to them when he undertook his Life of Dryden. I
win be extremely happy to have the honour of being
introduced to Lord Malmesbury, and by his means to Lord
Whitworth, and I hope to be in town in spring to avail
myself of their liberal and kind permission to copy these
letters, as well as to return my personal thanks to my
kind intercessor.
I wish from my heart I could transport myself to the
Priory just now, for I am here on some official duty
without a soul to speak to, having left my whole family at
my farm. The common phrase of Nobody in town is
metaphorical with the Great in London, and only means
there is nobody one knows ; but here it is almost literal at
this season — the grass grows in the streets, and you would
absolutely think that the place had been visited by the
plague. The few natives that are left are run mad with
196 SCXyrrS FAMTTJAB LETTEBS {Dec
politics, and bite and scratch each other^s eyes out. To
complete the whole, I went yesterday to visit a person
who has just taken possession of a little old pigeon-house
kind of a castle near this town, and entertains his guests
according to the ancient Caledonian {isbshion, with the
martial music of the great war-bagpipe played by a High-
lander in complete array, who strutted up and down the
little hall in which we dined, during the whole time of
dinner; so that if there were a angle being left to speak
one sentence of common sense, I had not an ear left to
listen to him, my whole head being yet ringing with the
tremendous music of yesterday.
I will now proceed to copy some of the Ballads, lest
my packet be too weighty for the cover. The first refers
to the Massacre of the Monks of Bangor, who about 610
marched in procession to Chester, then besi^ed by the
heathen king of Northumberland, and were cut to pieces
by his soldiers.^ ... I have other four little tales, or »ng-
song kind of verses, to add to this dismal ditty, but I will
not copy them at present, because I should disappoint my
little wife, who insists that notwithstanding the munifi-
cence of Lady Abercom in equipping me with eternal pens,
I am not the most legible writer in the world, and she
therefore claims the task of being clerk upon this occasion,
were it only to show, though in so trifling a matter, how
much she is, as well as I, ever your Ladyship's most
respectful and most faithful ser^^ant, W. S.
TO MISS SMITH.
Edinburgh, lOth December 1810.
I HASTEN, my dear Miss Smith, to reply to your in-
quiries about the Lady of the Lake in its dramatised form.
That Mr. Siddons is bringing it out is very certain, but it
* See Poetical Worhs, vol. xi. p. 342.
1810] TO MISS SMITH 197
is equally so that I have not seen and do not intend to
see a line of it, because I would not willingly have the
public of this place suppose that I was in any degree re-
sponsible for the success of the piece ; it would be like
submitting to be twice tried for the same offenca My
utmost knowledge has been derived firom chatting with
Mra Siddons and Mrs. Young in the green-room, where I
have been an occasional lounger since our company has
been put on a respectable footing. They have got some
clever scenery, from studies taken at Loch Katrine by
Williams, their painter, who is a very good artist and went
there on purpose. But whether the dialogue is in verse
or prose I really do not know. There is a third Lady of
the Lake on the tajyia at Covent Garden, dramatised by no
less genius than the united firm of Reynolds and Morton,^
But though I have these theatrical grand-children as I
may call them, I have seen none of them. I shall go to
the Edinburgh piece when it is rehearsed with lights and
scenes, and if I see anything that I think worth your
adopting I will write to you. The strength will probably
lie in the dumb-show, music, and decorations, for I have
no idea that the language can be rendered very dramatic.
If any person can make aught of it, I am sure you will.
The mad Lowland captive if well played should I think
answer. I wish I could give you an idea of the original,
whom I really saw in the Pass of Glencoe many years ago.
It is one of the wildest and most tremendous passes in
the Highlands, winding through huge masses of rock with-
out a pile of verdure, and between mountains that seem
rent asimder by an earthquake. This poor woman had
placed herself in the wildest attitude imaginable, upon the
very top of one of these huge fragments ; she had scarce
' The Knight ofSnowdon, a musi- the Lake, a drama in three acts, by
cal drama in three acts. The other K J. Eyre,
version referred to was the L<idy of
198 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dfia
any covering but a tattered plaid, which left her arms,
l^s, and neck bare to the weather. Her long shagg}*
black hair was streaming backwards in the wind, and ex-
posed a face rather wild and wasted than ugly, and bear-
ing a very peculiar expression of frenzy. She had a hand-
ful of eagles' feathers in her hand. As she spoke no
English, I no Graelic, we could have no communication, but
I learned at the next resting-place that she used to wander
among the rocks for whole weeks dii!ring the sunmier, and
was only driven back to society by the inclemency of the
weather ; of her story, which might be sad enough, I could
learn nothing. The lady who plays this part should
beware of singing with too stiff r^ularity ; even her music
or rather her style of singing it, should be a little mad.
Joanna Baillie (for who ever heard of Miss Sappho)
wrote to me that some of her friends had seen the Surrey
piece and censured severely the following circumstance:
the King led Ellen the whole length of the stage and took
his place upon a throne at the bottom in the discovery
scene. This she said was discourteous, and therefore out
of character. If you think so too, it can be easily corrected.
I wish I could direct you about the plaid ; but you had
better take the prettiest according to your own taste, for
the Douglases being a Lowland family had no particular
colour of tartan. I rather wish I could show you how to
put it on, for it is a great art, and when done prettily is
very becoming. I can only describe it by negatives. It
is not like a Highland serjeant^s, nor is it scarf-wise like n
shepherdess in an opera; but as I have no opportunity of
" rowing you in your plaidie " I should only puzzle you by
an attempt to describe it The plaid is fastened by a
brooch, which should bo large and show)\ The cliaussure
should be buskins of deer-skin ; this applies to the High-
land men also. Douglas, the King, and other personages
should be dressed in the old English fashion, from which
1810]
TO MISS SMITH
199
the Scottish dress differed but little. All caps or bonnets,
no hat& The bonnet should not be overlaid with feathers,
a single plume distinguished the Dunnie-wasseU or gentle-
man, when I first remember the Highlands, from the
peasant^
These little trumpery notices are all that occur to me.
Doubtless were I with you, I would, in my anxiety that
you should shine where I am at all concerned, plague you
enough about costume. If anything should occur in
which I can be useful, pray, my dear Miss Smith, com-
mand, and show as much of this letter to Mr. C. as you
think can be of use to him. A good Christmas and all
kinds of success to you, Walter Scott.
PJS. — I shall be anxious to hear how you succeed.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
2'2nd December 1810.
My dear Lady Abercorn, — We are dying here for
political news, even like sheU-fish at the ebb of the tide,
and you, my dear friend, who soar above us like an osprey,
and see aU the changes of the atmosphere at a distance,
have not the charity to drop me a single line to make me
wiser than my fellows. I am, however, in the happy state
of one who has nothing either to hope or fear from the
change I apprehend, unless as far as it affects my friends
or the country at large.
An administration who may dislike me can fortunately
take nothing from me ; and my friends who are now in
1 Scott's love of accuracy in cos-
tume was once shown in the green-
room, when Kemble was preparing
to go on the stage as Macbeth.
He took the liberty of divesting the
great actor's Highland bonnet of
**s\xndry huge bunches of black
feathers which made it look like an
undertaker's hearse, and replaced
them by a single broad quill feather
of an eagle sloping across his noble
brow." Kemble told Scott after-
wards that the change was worth
to him three distinct rounds of ap-
plause from the audience. — Miscell.
Works, voL iv. p. 205.
200 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dec
power have never seemed much disposed to boMend me
efiectuttUy. . . .
We have a report here that our Marquis is to be Lord
Chamberlain, at which I ehotdd greatly rejoice if I could
hope that there was foundation for it I am Hure they
will be much obliged to htm if he shall be disposed to take
such a troublesome office.
Should this fortunately be the case, I shall have a suit
to his Lordship on the score of the Edin' theatre ; having
been foolish enough to consent to be a trustee for the
public, along with my Lord Chief Baron, the Lord Advocate,
SoUcitor, and some other of our first people here. A dis-
pute has unfortunately arisen about the patent which has
involved Messrs. the Trustees, who had no other interest
in the matter than the pleasure of serving the public, in
great plague and vexation. // such an appointment
should take place, it would be very kind in you, my dear
Lady, to let nie know ea/iiy, that I may solicit an audience
on this troublesome business, with which, if I had known
as much of theatrical matters two years ago as I do now,
I would never have troubled myself upon any accounL
I am afraid you would scold me if I told you how idle
i have been since writing to your Ladyship, and therefore
I will keep my secret.
They are busy dramatizing the Lady of the Lake here
and in Dublin, and in Covent Garden, I carefully avoid
making inquiries, lest it should be expected I should pve
any assistance, and I would not willingly give the public a
pretext for supposing that I intended introducing myself
on them in another shapa It would be like being twice
tried for the same offence, so I content myself with instruct-
ing Mrs. Henry Siddons, who is a very pleasant as well as
a very amiable person, how she should put on, or as we
may say, husk her HiglJand plaid. Her husband, a very
worthy and honourable man, but with very little of his
1810] TO LADY ABERCORN 201
mother's genius, is our manager here, and I fear likely to
be hurt with this foolish embroilment of the patent, which
makes me more anxious about it than I should other-
wise ba
I hope you got your own copy of the Lady of the Lake
safa Perhaps, like other ladies, she was so late in paying
her respects, that she did not deserve to have her call
acknowledged.
We are going to set forward, in the middle of a snow-
storm I fear, to keep an old hereditary engagement of
eating our turkey and cheese with my friend and chief
Mr. Scott of Harden on Xmas Day.
Two days ago we had a dreadful accident on the coast,
two frigates lost by bad pilotage. They mistook the light
of a lime-kiln for the beacon of the Isle of May, and ran
straight ashore. Fortunately almost aU the crews were
saved. — ^Yours ever truly and respectfully, W. S.
TO JOANNA BAILLIE
MisTOUN, December Slst, 1810.
Nothing, my dear Miss Baillie, could have given me
more pleasure than your setting some value on the trinket
which accompanied my last, and not a little proud shall I
be of its occupying a place in the new gown. Charlotte
puts in for her share of merit, and is not a little delighted
that you should have assigned it to her. But when will
our mourning be over and our splendour shine forth?
Alas ! not I fear imtil we have mourned for our poor old
King, whose frame I should fear is graduaUy giving way
under this terrible malady. Yet if his recovery should
not be speedy and permanent, I scarce know how to wish
it, either for his own sake or that of the country, for the
unsettled and feeble domination of a Regency will not fail
to have its usual effects in setting the worst principles of
faction afloat, and dividing the coimtry between those who
202
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Dkc.
profess to stand up for the father, and those who adhere
to tho soQ, and that at a moment when all the united
talents of our best politicians, and the continued and
unanimous efforts of our whole nation, would not be more
than enough to ensure the safety of the commonwealth.
I am truly happy that the prince has behaved with
decorum and moderation. Any appearance of pressing
forward into power at such a juncture would imply a great
unworthinesa to possess it.
Even amid these tragic considerations it is impossible
to preserve gravity at. the &isks and frolics of our northern
Miecenas, Sir John Sinclmr, Bart. It is actually like the
Punch of the puppet show, who intrudes himself into
every scene, grave or tragic, whether it represents Kinjj
Solomon in all lus glory or the Universal Deluga To
show you how ossontially necessary this wise-acre thinks
it that he should have a finger in every man's pie, he
wrote me the other day a long letter, laying down rules
for a poem to be called the Lady of the Sea, and which
was to turn upon the adventures and intrigues of a Caith-
ness raermaiden, with whom ho almost promised me an
interview. I parried tho undertaking by reminding him
that he had brought the sca-nymphs so much into tho
province of natural history that they could no longer be
considered as fictitious beings, and had therefore ceased
to have any title to poetic commemoration.' This wise
' Tbe letter of this wnrth; gentle*
man boa bccti preaervGd, and lie
not only gravely guggeeta Buch a
•abject for a new puBin, but gives
some onrious details of his visit to
tha Trossach* ; " I was fortunate
enongb," Biiid the Baronet, "to have
n very favourabls day for Tjaitisg
the bounties of Louh Catherine, in
the fame of nhich I take a peculiar
interest, u it was first brought into
Dotdce by the pnblicatioD of the
Stalittital AKOunt of Seofland [of
which Sir John wa* the originator).
. . . You have increased the number
of visitora to l<och Catherine be-
yond mtaiure ; my carriage was
tbe 207tb in tbe course of this year,
and there had never been abuse
100 before in any ona aeaaon when
ita fame rested solely on prosaic
enlogiums ; so that the effect of
praise in vene compared to praise'
in prcwe is aj 3 to 1."
1810] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 203
epistle reminded me of the tragic plan he was kind enough
to lay down for you, and which, hard-hearted as you are,
you failed to avail yourself of. And that celebrated pro-
ject of Darius conducted me to a much more pleasing
subject, the Family Legend ; so before I left town for the
holidays I made John Ballantyne furnish me with the
enclosed copy of a letter to Mr. Henderson, which is the
second, he tells me, he has written to him about the copy
money; it wiU apprise you how that matter stands, and
you have only to
Speak your wishes, speak your will,
Swift obedience meets them stilL
As for the metamorphosis of the Lady of the Lake into
drama, or rather three dramas, for the same adventure is
to be tried at Dublin, London, and Edinburgh, I would not
willingly have you believe either that I affect or possess
stoicism enough to be insensible to the applause of a
crowded theatre ; on the contrary, I think that of all kinds
of popular plaudits, this is the manner in which an author
has his most satisfactory, and perhaps mtoxicating, draught
of success. But I shall have no more honour, supposing
any of these attempts successful, than the cook who roasted
a turkey yesterday has for the capo-rota (I think house-
wives call it so) . . . presented us to-day out of the reliques
of the feast.
I cannot think with much patience of such persons
as Reynolds and Morton garbling my unfortunate
verses and turning that into dramatic dialogue which is
but well enough as it stands in minstrel verse; and
therefore once more do I wish the whole affair at tho
bottom of Loch Katrine, nor do I care if they carried the
whole race of melo-drama along with them, provided the
stage were left open to the tragedies of a certain fair lady
who does not know her own merit, or believe what her
friends tell her on that point. . . .
M SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS pEC. 1810
UttiDwbile I sliaU watt with anxiety the promised
Perhaps I may have a Fisgah sight of it when I
) to Hampstead io spring, which in the event of my
[ to London, is one of the most pleasant objects I
hare in view.
K there be anything incoherent in this letter, pray
aaozibe it to my working in the neighbourhood of a ball,
tar am iho little Scotta of Harden, with the greater part of
my mm, are dancing in the "Sew Year Eve . , .
I
CHAPTER VII
1811
EDINBURGH AND ASHESTIEL
" Now on the scene Vimeira sbould be shown,
On Tklavera's fight should Roderick gaze,
And hear Coninna wail her battle won.
And see Busaco*s crest with lightning blaze : —
But bhall fond fable mix with heroes' praise ?
Hath Fiction's stage for Truth's long triumphs room ?
And dare her wild-flowers mingle with the bays.
That claim a long eternity to bloom
Around the warrior's crest, and o'er the warrior's tomb ! "
Vision of Don Roderick.
CHAPTER VII.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
£din>-, llth January 1811.
I MUST not, my dear Lady Abercom, allow you to
remain under your airy delusions as to my good faith.^ . . .
The first hundred lines of the Lady of the Lake were
written, I think, in October 1809, and the first canto was sent
to your Ladyship in Ireland so soon as it was complete,
and you were the first who saw them excepting one friend
and the printer, Mr. Ballantyne, who is a great critic as
well as an excellent printer. I have been always, God help
me, too poor and too impatient to let my poems lie by me
for years, or for months either ; on the contrary, they have
hitherto been always sent to the press before they were a
third part finished. This is, to be sure, a very reprehensible
practice in many respects, and I hope I shall get the better
of it the next time. I assure you serioualy, my dear
friend, that I am Tvot about any new poem, and it is need-
less to add that nobody can have seen that which has no
existence.
Whenever I do begin any work you shall know it;
but I hope we shall meet first. When the idea of a new
poem has at any time crossed my imagination, I fore-
see great difficulty in the choice of a subject I have
sometimes thought of laying the scene during the great
civil war in 1643. This would have the advantage of some
novelty, and the characters of the period might be rendered
^ Lady Abercom had complained confidence regarding the Lady of
that her friend had withheld his the Lake when in progress.
207
higUy poGtical. The only ihii^ I have rhymed since The
Lady of the Lake is translations from somo very old Swiss
battle-songs for a work called Northern Antiqwilies, v/KitAi
is imdertaken by two friends of mine, who are very learned
and very indigent, and to whom therefore I am glad to
give a little assistance.
I was quite deh'ghted with Mr. Perceval's speech,' and
indeed with his conduct through all this most unhappy
business. He has risen greatly in the opinion of the
country, and, with all who stand by the good old
distressed Monarch at this crisis, will have a more noble
reward in his own conscience and in the applause of all
good men, than any continuation of power could have
bestowed. I beg of your friendship, dear Lady A,, to let me
know when there is any probabiUty of a favourable change
in the King's malady ; ill news will come soon enough.
The Whig interest here are solemnizing their approaching
power by givii^ parties, etc.,^somewliat indecent this.^
The Duke of Argj^le's marriage was a nine days' wonder,
and is already forgotten.^ I saw Lady Charlotte for an honr
one evening as she passed through Edinburgh.* She is
still looking beautifuL We hear she is or was on the
eve of marrying Lord Petersham. Don't you think that
might be as well let alone ? She has, I should think, left
Scotland now, having passed through Edinburgh whtla
I was at Mortoun,
I have sometimes serious thoughts of going to Portugal ;
■ Id the debate is PnrllBRient on
the Regency Bill. Dec. 1810, ren-
dered iieoBSBary by the suddon ill-
uem nf tbe old king, which followed
the de&th of bis favourite dsughter
Piincega Amelia.
* The expected change of ndmin-
iatration od tbe appoiulment of a
Regent did Dot take place.
* George William, sixth Duke,
married tbe daughter of the Earl of J
Jersey, OD Not. 2S, ISIO. She hull
been the wife of the Uarqnia of I
Anglesey.
' Lidy C, Campbell, daughter
the fifth Duke of Argyll, i
Lady- in- waiting to the Fiinoew c|
Wales. See Diaty nftKe Titiua d
OtorgtlV., 2 Tola. 8vo, 11
1811]
TO LADY ABERCORN
209
that is, if the war lasts and Lord Wellington is to be
supported there. I have described so many battles that
I would compound for a moderate degree of risque to see
one, and I suppose a non-combatant would be in no great
danger, and that I could easily get letters to headquarters.
But all this is rather a vision than a schema
Mr. Knight's ^ idea of a poem is an admirable one. Fray
have the goodness to remember me to him, and believe me,
with all respectful remembrances to the Marquis and the
family, your honoured and obliged, W. S.
TO THE SAME.
February 25th, 1811.
My deab Ladt Abercorn, — Two of the enclosed were
sent me yesterday, and I take the liberty to beg your
acceptance of one of them. It is prettily engraved and
not worth refusing. The dog is my poor deceased Ccump,^
^ Richard Payne Knight, the well-
known nnmiamatist who had sag-
gested a subject for Scott's muse.
* Readers will recollect the
pathetic account of Gamp's burial
in the Garden behind 39 Castle
Sto«et, the whole family standing
in tears round the grave, while
Soott himself smoothed down the
turf with the saddest expression
of face his daughter had ever seen.
— See Life, voL iii. p. 189.
The following is Sir Walter's
letter to Mr. Stevenson, referred
to at p. 36 :—
" Camp was got by a black and
tan English terrier called Doctor,
the property of Mr. Stone, Farrier
in Rose Street, about 1800, out of
a thorough-bred English brindled
boU-bitch, the property of Mr.
John Adams of the Riding School,
Adjutant to the Royal Edinburgh
Volunteer cavalry. He was of
great strength and very handsome,
VOL. I.
extremely sagacious, faithful and
affectionate to the human species,
and possessed of a great turn for
gaiety and drollery. Although he
was never taught any tricks, he
learned some of his own accord,
and understood whatever was said
to him as well as any creature I
ever saw. His great fault was an
excessive ferocity towards his own
species, which sometimes brought
his Master and himself into danger-
ous scrapes. He used to accom-
pany me always in coursing, of
which he was a great amateur, and
was one of the best dogs for finding
hares 1 ever saw, though I have
since had very fine terriers. At
last he met with an accident which
gave him a sprain in the back from
which he never recovered, after
which he could not follow when I
went out on horseback. The ser-
vant used to tell him when I was
seen coming home. I lived then at
O
210 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [March
whom your Ladyship has often heard me mention : my
friends wrote as many elegies for him in different languages
as ever were poured forth by Oxford or Cambridge on the
death of a crowned hoad. 1 have Latin, French, Italian,
Oreek, Hebrew, German, Arabic, and Hindostanee poems
to his memory. The distant view is that of Hermitage
Castle, which the artist had ingenuity enough to draw from
a very wretched sketch of mine. There was a Mezzotint
print done from the same picture, but &r inferior to the
enclosed.' I hope you will honour it with a comer in your
boudoir. . . .
TO HISS SMITH.
Edik., 12lh March 181L
... I AM very glad the manager found his advan-
tage in the Lady of the Lake which, as far as I can judge,
AsheBtial, and th^re were two ways
by which I might retuin. If tiie
servant Mud, 'Camp, your Muter
U coming back by the hill,' he rau
to meet me m that direction. If
the lad said, ' by the ford, ' he came
down to the bonk of the river to
welcome me ; nor did he ever niake
a mistake in the direction named.
I might mention many insbuicos of
aimilar sagacity. He was seldom
scolded or paniahed, and except in
hiB pagnacious propensities, I never
saw so manageable a dog. I could
even keep him from fighting so long
as I bad my eye on him, but if 1
quitted my vigilance for a moment
he w>a sure to woriy the dog near-
"He is painted in two portriiits of
hiB owner hy Raebum, one at Dal-
keith Palaoc, and one in my own
possoBsioQ. He lived till about
twelve years old, and might have
lived longer bat for the severe ex-
erciaes which he had taten when
yoang, and a considerable disposi-
tion to voracity, eapeoially where
Boinuil food was to be come by. I
could add a number of curious
anecdotes of his sagacity, bnt thej
are connected with a family loM,
since anstained, and are painful to
reoollect or detail. There is enough
to illustrate Mr. Stevenson's pic-
tore, which was painted by Mr.
Howe, then a painter of aniroala of
some merit. W. S.
GD13BDHOH, MarO, llO, ISIt.
"I may add that the breadth oE
his chest and broadness of hia pam
made him a capital water-dog, s
when 1 used to sboot wild d
which was not often—
The engraving by C. Turner ot
Raebum's portrait of Scott, punted
in 1808, for Constkble.
1811]
TO MISS SMITH
is very well adapted for the stage ; and I am delighted
that you were thought a proper representative of EUen,
because that is paying Kllen a very high compliment.
Our attempt at the Lady of tJie Lake did not succeed quite
so well ; yet it answered expectation, I believe, as to
profit- The words of the pooni are retained ; but, as they
were thiown into the arrangement of blank verse, th©
dialogue had, to those acquainted with the poem, the
appearance of an old friend with a new face. Tou
always missed the expected, and perhaps the remembered
rhj-mo, which had a bald effect I think your plan
infinitely preferable.
In point of representation Mrs. Young played the mad
captive superbly, and threw everybody into tears, Mrs,
H. Siddons did not perform Ellen so well as I expected ; she
had got somehow a little too Cdumhiniah, and fell short
in tho dignity which should mingle even with the playfol
simplicity of a high-bom maiden. But you are not to
whisper this to any one, for Mrs. H. Siddons is a very
particular friend of mine, and I know it would hurt her
were it to come round. They are now going to buy the
London edition of tlus said poem called the Knight of
Snotodoun, which will probably produce them a house or
two. I am told Roderick recovers and marries Ellen, there
being no Malcolm Graeme in the ease. You must know
this Malcolm Graeme was a great plague to mo from the
b^inning. You ladies can hardly comprehend how very
stupid lovers are to everybody but mistresses. I gave him
that dip in the lake by way of making him do something ;
but wet or dry I could make nothing of hina. His insigni-
ficance is the greatest defect among many others in the
poem; but the canvas was not broad enough to include
him, considering I had to group the King, Roderick,
and Douglas. I should have told you that a young man
of uncommon talent and accomplishment (Mr. Daniel
312
SCOTT'S FAMILIAK LETTERS
[April
Terry') played Roderick Dhu delightfully. Ho is a rising
actor, studies hard, and is a man of extensive reading, fine
taste, and amiable manners. Ho often come3 to read
3 to me of an evening. . . .
TO THE S4ME.
Edihb.. ith April ISll.
That not hing may be wanting in my power to enable
you to represent the Witch Dame of Branksonie' in proper
costume, I lose no time in answering your letter. The
lady, when engaged in her magical intercourse with the
spirits, should I think have a sort of stole or loose upper
scarf with astrological hieroglyphics of the planets. I
have seen Prospero wear such a thing, which you may
remember he desires Miranda to pluck from his shoulders.
For the same reason 1 would have the hair loose in the
first scene, and afterwards put under such a head-dress as
Queen Mary is usually represented with. The first scene
ahoidd be a good deal studied in point of dress and scenery,
for I conceive the lady's intercourse with supernatural
beings is more to be understood from external appearances
than from anything she actually says. I quite approve of
your changing dress for tho tournament. Only still be so
good as remember you are a widow, and must therefore be
rather sumptuous than showy in attire. The black velvet
with old point will be quite in taste, and so will the relief
of the green and gold. If you do not like Queen Mary's
coif, you may chuse among the prints to Birch's Liven.
Pray drub your management for the general blunder of
' Daniel Terry had jiut joineil London, but was not aoeceasfcl.
Henry SiddoDa's Company, and by He died in 1629.
his maoy accomplish menu soon
became a friend ot Scott, foi whom ' In Lag of Iht Lail jVnufrcJ,
he had the mostunboonded venera- dramatised nnder tho title of
tion. He afterwards became Border t'evdi, or the Ladj/ t^Bur-
IT of the Adclphi Theatre in clfaeh, in three acta.
1811] TO MISS SMITH 213
dressing the Scottish borderers in tartan. He might
as well make them speak Gaelic. They should have
the bonnet; and in a very picturesque ballad by a living
borderer I find a spirited description of the appearance of
Wat of Harden as handed down by tradition, from which
some hints might be taken. I should say that the poet is
lineally descended from the henchman of this famous
marauder, a man selected for huge stature and great
strength, and called, in allusion to his very impoetical name
of Hogy the Wild Boar of Falshope, and that it is from
£Bm[iily tradition that this account of his protector's array
was handed down —
" And he 'a away to Holy Rood,
Among the nobles a',
Wi' bonnet like a girdle broad,
And hair like Craighope snaw.
His coat was o' the forest green,
Wi' battons like the moon ;
His trews were o' the good buck skin,
Wi' all the hair aboon ;
His twa hand sword hung round his neck,
And rattled to his heel.
The rowels of his silver spurs
Were of the Rippon steel ;
His hose were braced with chains of aira.
And round wi' tassells hung.
At ilka tramp of Harden's heel
The royal arches rung."^
If Wat Tinlinn comes on the stage, an excellent sketch
of his proper costume may be seen in the frontispiece to
the first or second voL of Grose's MUita/ry Antiquities,
where an English archer is represented in his leathern
jacket studded with iron plates. Only Wat Tinlinn should
have a pike instead of the ugly mallet in the print.
If I were to write anything for the stage, it would be
for the delight of dressing the characters after my own
fancy. But I am sure I never shall have that plcasura
^ See in Hogg's Mountain Bard the ballad of GilmanscUuch,
114 aOOrrS KODUAB LKTEEBS [Ann.
The nnnon monapd^ of Aa taotibetftaM MeoMii Hy
eidndai g wjiluiig baft ifeov; and nodoB Aa mmageni
•>iMn|^ f l fjy i ^ fnfiii f^ iDon Aift dasvliD bsffo loMt roal
taito for Aa itega as «a cfagml amnnneBt Thflir Iioaia
flmit ba atniBoii, *1mwp taito mnii ba aonndtad, and tha
boan and taila af mdiaa aodiBoae bofaqg pacwm^yat
Yaiiaiiaa vidi dioaa af dia nion pcCla aiid bettor adnoated
pert af aoeielj, vbj traJ^ we may eay; vith a lifttla aliena-
tionaflliBcId
kdiaimtonsi
It mcfoeeoe my good opinion of tba Inh natioQ that they
have not &Ilen into the geDeral depnsrily of diamatie
teete^ and that they do jnetaoo^ my deer Miei Smith, to
your mentsL I afaell be ddighted lAen we eea aee yon
oooemoTB in the Lend of Gakeii^eB your letter eeems to
ptomisa Adiea ! end pny let me know how the lady of
Bncdeochis received. Believe me^ with nncere legude,
yomr fiEuthfol firiend and servant^ W. Soott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
AsHManEL, 30c4 April 1811.
My deab Friend, — I promised I would not write any
poetry without letting you know, and I make all sort of
haste to tell you of my sudden determination to write a
sort of a rhapsody upon the affidrs of the Peninsula. It is
to be called the Viaian of Don Roderick and is founded
upon the apparition explanatory of the future events in
Spain, said to be seen by the last King of the Gothic race,
in a vault beneath the great church of Toledo. I believe
your Ladyship will find something of the story in the
Comtesse D'Aunois' travels into Spain,^ but I find it at
most length in an old Spanish history of the aforesaid Don
^ Anlnoy, or Annoy (Marie- d'Espagne^ 1091 et 1699. 3 vola.
Catherine), RtlaUon du Voyage in -12, Paris.
1811] TO LADY ABERCOEN 215
Eoderick, professmg to be translated from the Arabic, but
being in truth a mere romance of the reign of Ferdinand
and Isabella. It will serve my purpose, however, tout de
"mSme. The idea of forming a short lyric piece upon this
subject has often glided through my mind, but I should
never, I fear, have had the grace to turn it to practice if
it were not that groping in my pockets to find some
guineas for the suffering Portuguese, and detecting very
few to spare, I thought I could only have recourse to the
apostolic benediction, " Silver and gold have I none, but
that which I have I will give unto you/' My friends and
booksellers, the Ballantynes of Edinburgh, have very
liberally promised me a hundred guineas for this trifle,
which I intend to send to the fund for relieving the
sufferers in Portugal I have come out to this wilderness
to write my poem, and so soon as it is finished I will send
you, my dear Lady Marchioness, a copy — not that it will
be worth your acceptance, but merely that you may be
assured I am doing nothing that I would not you knew of
sooner than any one. I intend to write to the Chairman
of the Committee by to-morrow's post. I would give them
a hundred drops of my blood with the same pleasiure, would
it do them service, for my heart is a soldier's, and always
has been, though my lameness rendered me unfit for the
profession, which, old as I am, I would rather follow than
any other. But these are waking dreams, in which I
seldom indulge even to my kindest Mends.
I have not heard anything from Mr. Dundas. His
£ather wrote him a letter, of which he sent me a copy, and
which is worth twenty disappointments. It is frank,
generous, and if too warmly partial to me, is very honour-
able to his feelings, admitting his judgment to be blinded
by personal regard. I have written to Mr. Dimdas in hopes
to bring this matter to some end or other. They must
give Mr. Home a pension in the event of my resignation,
216 SCOTFS FAMTTJAR LETTEBS [Mat
and really I see no reason why they should economize for
the State at the expense of my rising £EKmily. By diminish-
ing my establishment, devoting my time to letters, selling
my library and my house in town, and retiring to the
comitry for life, I shall be able to make a provision for my
yomig people without dependence on any ona My house
is worth £2000, and my library, which has been my most
expensive hobby-horse, worth a great deal more, even
retaining the more useful books. So that if they choose to
prefer any other person to my office, I shall only have to
r^ret having spent five years in doing duty for nothing.
I have realized some hundreds a year besides my Sheriff-
dom, which is £300 more, so that I shall have enough for
all the useful, and some of the ornamental, purposes of
income, and have the less right to complain of any dis-
appointment
Adieu, my dear friend, for deuce take this poem, it
must be written before it can be read. I beg my kindest
respects to your noble friends, and am ever, your truly
obliged W. S.
P.S. — When does your Irish journey take place ? I must
waylay you at Dumfries.
TO A SCHOOLBOY.!
AsHESTTEL, 6th May 1811.
. . . The friends who know me best, and to whose
judgment I am myself in the constant habit of trusting,
reckon me a very capricious and uncertain judge of
^ Written to James Dusautoy, a on the back of each. None of
lad of fifteen, who had sent Scott Scott's replies were accessible to
some specimens of his versilication. me, and the above letter is quoted
In the Abbotsford collection there from Southey's Life and Corre-
are many letters from boys and spondence, voL iv. p. 20. Mr.
young men seeking counsel, all of Dusautoy was a distinguished stu-
which Scott appears to have re- dent at Cambridge, but died thei-e
plied to, and then folded them suddenly of malignant fever about
carefully, writing name and date 1814.
1811] TO A SCHOOLBOY 217
poetry; and I have had repeated occasion to observe that
I have often failed in anticipating the reception of poetry
from the public. Above all, sir, I must warn you against
suffering yourself to suppose that the power of enjoying
natural beauty and poetical description are necessarily
connected with that of producing poetry. The former is
really a gift of Heaven, which conduces inestimably to the
happiness of those who enjoy it The second has much
more of a knack in it than the pride of poets is always
willing to admit ; and, at any rate, is only valuable when
combined with the first. ... I would also caution you
against an enthusiasm which, while it argues an excellent
disposition and feeling heart, requires to be watched and
restrained, though not repressed. It is apt, if too much
indulged, to engender a fastidious contempt for the ordi-
nary business of the world, and gradually to render us
unfit for the exercise of the useful and domestic virtues
which depend greatly upon our not exalting our feelings
above the temper of well-ordered and well-educated
society. No good man can ever be happy when he is
unfit for the career of simple and commonplace duty;
and I need not add how many melancholy instances there
are of extravagance and profligacy being resorted to under
pretence of contempt for the common rules of life. Cul-
tivate then, sir, your taste for poetry and the belles-
lettres, as an elegant and most interesting amusement;
but combine it with studies of a more severe and solid
cast, and such as are most intimately connected with your
prospects in future life. In the words of Solomon : " My
son, get knowledge." . . .
TO LADY ABEBCORN.
Edinb., nth May 1811.
I DO not know anything of a play of mine, my dear
friend, imless it be a sort of a half mad Grerman tragedy
218 SCOTTS FAMILIAE LETTERS [jAay
f
which I wrote many years ago, when my taste was 'very
green, and when, like the rest of the world, I was taken in
with the bombast of Schiller. I never set the least value
upon it, and as I gave copies to one or two people who
asked for them, I am not surprised it should have risen up
in judgment against me, though its resurrection has been
delayed so many years. I happen fortimately to have a
clean copy, of which I entreat your acceptance. The story
of the Invisible Tribunal, on which it is founded, is probably
familiar to your Ladyship. A very good little Qerman
romance entitled Hermann of XJnna is founded upon it, and
was translated about the time I employed myself in this idle
task. The only tolerable scene is that between the mother
and son, which I think would have a dramatic effect
I long to know when your motions are fixed My wife
will accompany me to Dumfries, as she is very desirous to
have an opportimity, however awkward, to have the honour
of thanking you for all your kindness. She is engaged in
copying the Vision of Don Roderick as fast as I copy it
out for press, in order that your Ladyship may be possessed
of it so soon as it is finished. It is all in the stanza
of Spenser, to which I am very partial. . . .
I am about a grand and interesting scheme at present,
— no less than the purchase of a small property delightfully
situated on the side of the Tweed, my native river. The
worst is, there are few trees, and those all young. I intend
to build a beautiful little cottage upon the spot, which will
either be my temporary or constant residence, as Mr.
Arbuthnot^ succeeds or fails in his kind exertions on my
behalf. I am sure I cannot be sufficiently grateful to him,
or the kind friend who interested him in my fortune. I
have a letter from Mr. R. Dundas, who pleads his journey
to Scotland as a cause of delay, and seems pretty confident
of bringing matters to a favourable conclusion. Am I not
^ Mr. Charles Arbuthnot, one of the Secretaries to the Treasury.
1811] TO LADY ABERCORN 219
a good philosopher to write verses when I have £1300 a
year trembling in the scale ? But how could I help myself
by being anxious ? . . .
TO THE SAME.
Edinb., 25th May 1811.
Ht deab Friend, — ^The calamity which has befiallen
our Courts of Justice, and Scotland in general, by the
sudden death of our Lord President,^ renders it impossible
for me to be at Dumfries on the 27th, agreeably to my
intention, as we are all thrown into great confusion by so
cruel a loss. I have, Grod knows, my own peculiar share
in this general misfortune, for both in my official inter-
course and in private life I lived upon the best and most
intimate footing with the great judge we have lost.
There never was a more general sorrow extending over
all classes and parties of men. He was a rare instance
of a man who attained universal popularity by the
discharge of his duty, although he scorned to court it by
any of the usual arts. And I do not believe that high
and scrupulous integrity, extent of legal knowledge, and
that dignified demeanour so necessary to support the
credit of a Court of Justice, ever met so happily in a
person of his eminent station. He had not been at the
head of our law above two years, — just long enough to
show that what we all admired was no extraordinary
exertion in consequence of his promotion, but the steady
and uniform tenor of his conduct. He was not ill above
half-an-hour, and I had parted with him the day before,
in great health and spirits, after much laughing at some
nonsense or other; but such is our precarious tenure. I
forget, my dear friend, that you probably did not know
^ Robert Blair of Ayontoan (son chosen Dean of Faculty 1801,
of Rev. Robert Blair, minister of Lord President, 16th Nov. 1808,
Athelstaneford, author of The died May 20, 1811.
Qrave\ admitted advocate 1764,
330
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[July
this excellent man, but as a dear frigid of mine, and »n
irreparable and unspeakable loss to Scotland, I am sure
you will regret our loss of him, . , .
TO MORSITT.
... I AM quite delighted with your account of youi'
journey, and would be most happy if I could promise my-
self the pleasure of seeing you in Yorkshire this season.
But as the French ambassador told the king, wishing to
show that he understood the vernacular idiom and familiar
term of the English language, " I have got some fiah to
fry." You must know that my lease of Ashestiel b^ng
expired. I have bought a small farm, value about £150 yearly
with the intention of " bigging myself a bower," after my
own fashion. The situation is good, as it lies along the
Tweed about three miles above Melrose, but alas! the
plantations are very young. However, I think if I can
get an elegant plan for a cottage it will look veiy
well, and furnish me amusement for some time before I
get everything laid out to my mind. We stay at
Ashestiel this season, but migrate the next to our new
settlements.
I have only fixed upon two points respecting my in-
tended cottage, one is, that it shall stand in my garden, or
rather kailyard ; the other, that the little drawing-room
shall open into a little conservatory, in which conservatory
there shall be a fountain. These are articles of taste
which I have long determined upon. But I hope before a
stone of our paradise is begun we shall meet and collogue
about it, I believe I must be obliged to my English
firiends for a few good acorns, as I intend to sow a bank
instead of planting it, and we do not get them good
here. I will write to you again vety soon, being now
busied in bundling off my presentation copies of Don
1811] TO MORRITT 221
Roderick. Charlotte joins in kindest respects to Mrs.
Morritt Our little folk are all indebted to your kind
remembrance, and I am ever yours, W. S.
TO LADT ABERCORN.
Edinbuboh, 5<A July 1811.
Many thanks, my dearest friend, for your kind re-
membrance from Dumfries, which I postponed answering
from day to day because I expected continually to have
had Don Roderick before the public. I sent a small private
copy, of which I printed a few to give away among par-
ticular friends, to Mr. Arbuthnot on Sunday last for your
kind acceptanca By to-morrow's post I shall send him
one of the large-paper copies, which is better fitted for
your weak eyes. I hope sincerely they are getting
better, and I beg you will not exert them too much,
but get some one to read to you. When very young
and a hard student I injured my eyes greatly by
reading very late, and writing still later; but I found
great advantage from the constant practice, then recom-
mended to me, of washing the throat and particularly the
back of the neck repeatedly in the course of the day with
the coldest spring water I could get; and my eyes are
now tolerably recovered, though I am very cautious of
straining them. . . .
We have, indeed, in poor Lord Melville, lost a generous-
spirited patriot, a man of the most extensive political
information, and one of the kindest friends in private life,
that ever adorned society. Lady Melville is still at
Dunira, in the Highlands, bearing her incalculable loss
as people must bear irremediable afflictions. The fatal
disease was an ossification of the veins and fibres of the
heart, which had commenced so far back as 1802,
attended with violent palpitation and fainting fits. He
was quite sensible for several years of the nature of his
222 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [July
complaint, that it was gradually produrang an interrup-
tion to the circulation in the very seat of life, and must
be mortal sooner or later. He has left a very remarkable
letter to a medical Mend, dated six or seven years bock,
in which he expresses this opinion of his disorder, and
promises to be attentive to regimen at table; but as to
riding fast and speaking vehemently in public, from which
ihe physician had also dissuaded [him], he says that he
must be left to the dictates of his own feelings, both in
the exercise and in the discharge of his public duty; and
that he must ride fast or slow, as the feeling of the
moment prompted, and that he could not think of
speaking in public as if his physician was one of his
audience. It is very remarkable that for about two years
before his death, all the painfiil symptoms of his disorder
seemed to disappear, and he never in his life, as he himself
told me, enjoyed better health. Yet upon opening the
body it appeared that the large ventricle which dischaiges
the blood through the system, was contracted to nearly
one third of the natural size by the progress of the
ossification. He was quite well the day preceding his
death ; he had arrived by a hasty journey from the
Highlands, to be present at Lord President Blair's funeral,
with whom he was connected by early, uninterrupted, and
intimate friendship. During the two days he was in
Edinburgh' he was chiefly occupied in assisting to arrange
the family affairs of the President, whose family is but
indifferently provided for. Lord Melville wrote a most
affecting letter to Mr. Perceval, recommending Mrs, Blur
to the protection and generosity of the public, to whom
her husband has rendered such eminent services. In the
evening he made his visit to the disconsolate family,
> Lard MelTille hod gone oat ohjldren, and returned to Bdin-
from Edinburgh to Amiaton with burgh on Tuesday ewl;. — Jmufoa
hU daughter on Sundaf eTening, ifanoire, p. SOS.
■pent all Monda; with her and the
1811] TO LADY ABEECORN 223
whose house is next door to Lord Chief Baron's/ then his
residence. Upon his return he supp'd with the Chief
Baron, who did not remark anything particular in his
appearanca As he undressed to go to bed, he directed
his mournings to be prepared for next day, when the
funeral of the President was to take place, and at the
same time said, ** I lie down satisfied, for I have done all
the painful duty which friendship exacted from me," or
some expression to that effect. Li the morning he did
not ring at his usual hour of seven, for he always rose
early, and his servant, becoming alarmed, entered his
room about eight, and found him dead, and all remains
of vital heat quite departed. It was clear that he had
never waked, but passed away in sleep to a better world
where there is neither calmnny, persecution, nor sorrow.
One arm was laid over his breast, and the other stretched
by his side, — the attitude in which he usually slept. It
is a remarkable coincidence that he died on Mr. Pitt's
birthday (supposing that he departed before the morning),
to which must be added the singular circumstance that the
early friend of his youth, whose funeral he came prepared
to attend on the next day, was then lying dead within
a £dw rooms of him. Whether the quick and animated
feeling of grief did or did not hasten this strange cata-
strophe, can only be known to God Almighty ; but many of
our medical men do think that the event, though perhaps
it could not have been long deferred, was precipitated by
the painful emotions with which the President's death,
and the sad employments which devolved upon Lord
Melville in consequence, were necessarily attended.
I met him very often during his stay in Edinburgh
last spring, being usually asked to meet him while he was
on the round of visiting his old friends. I think my wife
and I dined in company with him and Lady M. at
^ Robert Dandas, Lord Melville's son-in-law.
234 SCOTTS FAMILIAB LETTEES [Jclt
different houses, six or seven djjs toeedier. beades their
honooiing us twice with thdr ocxnpAny in Castle Stzeet.
He WAS in h^ health And spintS;, And tiot ocHnmnnicAtiTe
of corioos infcMTnAtion And Anecdotes respectii^ Pitt's
AdministiAticML I took the libertjr lo Ask him wh j he did
not write down some of these particalAis for use of futoie
historians^ He promised that if I CAme to Donira I
should see some documoitB which he had preserved with
such A view, but hAd never found leisure to Arrange them.
No doubt An immense doAl of valuAble and curious
mAteriAls for history would have [been] preserved hAd our
dear friend pursued his resolutioiL He showed mo in
confidence a very curious state of the coiiespondenoe,
which he had with the present ministers upon the last
change, in which, by the way, he was but indifferently
used. Hjs loss will be severely felt by the Pitt interest
in Scotland, for his long possession of power and influ-
ence had enabled him to acquire claims upon the grati-
tude of many individuals which will expire along with
him. His domestic affairs will turn out better (or at
leiist somewhat better) than his friends expected, but
Lady Melville will be but indifferently provided for. . . .
It is said the Regent has expressed a wish that something
should be done for Lady M. He caused his Secretar}'
write to the President's son-in-law, expressive of his R H/s
desire that a provision suitable to the services the Lord
President had rendered the countrj' should be made for that
family. This looks like laj-ing himself out for popularity.
My next letter will be on a pleasanter subject, for I
want to tell you, my dearest friend, that I have bought
a small farm . . . and I want your advice about planting
and building a cottage, and fifty things besides. — Ever,
ray dear friend, your truly grateful and obliged,
Walter Scott.
1811] TO LADY ABEECORN 225
TO THE SAME.
AsHSSTiEL, 2Sth Jvly 1811.
... As the shortest reply to your kind inquiries about
the size and nature of my cottage, I send you a sketch of
the plan, marked with the accommodations which may be
necessary.^ There is nothing romantic in the situation,
but the neighbourhood of a very noble and bold stream of
water. The place I now inhabit is much more beautiful,
but then it is not my own. I intend to plant ahnost the
whole property, excepting about twenty-four acres above
the road, for arable purposes, and the meadow near the
proposed cottage for pasture. Thus in time I shall be
embosom'd in a little wood, tho' at present the place is
very bare. I am torturing my brains for the best means
of Tonquering the prim regularity of artificial plantations,
which I think may be done by putting in plants of
different ages, and even sowing some part of the ground.
Wood rises very fast with us everywhere. I shall have
time enough for my plans, for I do not obtain possession
till next May. A larger farm boimds my little patch to
the south, which is now to be sold, and I would not hesi-
tate to purchase it were my matters finished above stairs,
but otherwise the difference between the interest of money
and rent of land is too great for me to think of it. . . .
We have been christening Lady Dalkeith's little girl
(would it had been a boy). She is called Margaret, after
the Lady in the Lay of the Last Minstrel, and Charlotte
and I had the honour to be sponsors (as representing our
betters, cda a^entend), . . .
Adieu, my dearest friend. I must hear your page say
his lesson, and it is hard to say whether the preceptor or
the scholar finds the task most wearisome. But I do not
chuse he should lose ground during his holidays. — Ever
your faithful and obliged, W. Scott.
^ See facsimile, end of vol. i.
VOL. I. P
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Aug.
TO HIS MOTHER.
AstTESTiEL, mh Augatt ISll.
I POUND jour letter on our arrival firom Uertoun,
where we had been for two or three dajs. I had u. few
lines from Jack,' from London, without any direction how
to write to him, but I shall address to Viim Cfidtenha/m
(not Chatham as you mistake it), and as the post-office
people always are alert at those watering-placeg, I am sure
that will find him.
Two days ago I bid as far as £6000 for a farm which
lay near my little retreat, but at length gave it up. as far
beyond the value, especially as another much more to
my purpose will be in the market in a year or two.
I might perhaps have felt bolder on this subject had I
entertained further hope of having my salary made up, hut
the unfavourable state of the king's hoidth makes so happy
a circumstance very unlikely. I am advised to keep myself
ready to go to London at a moment's warning, and have
done so for this month post, I own I have little expecta-
tion Irom personal solicitation, and shall avoid the expense
of a London journey if possible. Lord and Lady Dalkeith
have been staying with us for two days. You would be
delighted with them, especially with the Lady.
I grieve to observe the death of poor Mr. ML Mont-
gomery, and can easily conceive the distress so unexpected
a misfortune in the family of a kind neighbour must have
given you. He was a very good and respected young
man. . . .
The bairns are all welL I labour Walter daily in
Ccesar and Virgil, and on Sundays in Buchanan's Psalms,
a great exertion for my impatient temper ; however, be-
tween yawning and scratching our head, we get on pretty
welL Charlotte sends her kind love. In my present un-
' Major JohD Scott.
1811] TO HIS MOTHER 227
•
settled state (which pray do not mention to a human
being), I cannot ask you to come here, but if it has a ter-
mination before our good weather has quite fled, I will
send the carriage to meet you at Bankhouse, and you may
bring Crookshanks or Jessy with you, to take care of you
like a lady, as you are. — Believe me, dear Mother, your
dutiful and affectionate son, Walter Scott.
TO JOHN RICHARDSON.^
AsHSSTiEL, I4ih August 1811.
I YESTERDAY saw the anuoTice of your change of state
in the papers, which gave me sincere joy. I beg you will
accept my best congratulations on the subject, with my
hope that you will find the marriage state what I am sure
it will be to a man of your sense and temper, an allevia-
tion of the necessary pain of life and more than a duplica-
tion of its pleasures. Mrs. Scott begs me to say that she
claims an opportunity of being made acquainted with
Mrs. Richardson whenever your residence in Scotland will
permit, or our happening to visit London, of which last
incident there is no speedy chance. If you can visit
Ashestiel before you leave Scotland, you know how happy
you will make us, and I wiU shew you a bare haugh and a
bleak bank by the side of the Tweed, on which I design to
break a lance with Mother Nature, and make a paradise
in spite of her. I have the Tweed for my henchman for
about a mile; I should not otherwise speak so crousdy.
If you can prevail on your bonny bride, therefore, to " busk
her and come to the braes of Yarrow," you shall see per-
adventure what you shall behold.
^ John Richardson of Kirklands, land under the Whig government ;
Roxburghshire. This learned law- and though Scott and he differed
yer had a wide practice aa a Parlia- in politics, they were close friends,
mentary Solicitor. He waa at one Mr. Richardson died in 1864.
time agent for the Crown in Scot-
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Sept.
I am greatly obliged to you for your attention to my
hobby-horse, and the very curious volume you have sent
mo as forage for it. . . .
TO MOHRITT.
Stpitmber 1^11,
I don't delay long to thank you for your kind offer of
acorns, which 1 will accept with the greatest pleasure. . . .
I assure you I will plant them in your name with my own
hands and those of my little people, and we will promise
ourselves a Morritt grove when the fit time shall como
round. Next year, as I shall have, properly speaking, no
place of residence in the country, I hope to be a wanderer
and to brighten the chain of friendship at R«keby. I
should like very much to go into Wales if I could get any
good companion, but I don't much approve of travelling
alone, there are so many good things which rot in one's
gizzard, as Sancho pathetically complained during the
interval when the Don imposed silence upon him. I am
quite happy that there is to be an union between the
houses of Lindsay and Pennington. Lady Balcarres used
to be my patroness many a day j^o, when like a great
shy lubberly [boy] as I was, I used to be very proud of the
shelter of her countenance at parties and a seat in her box
at the theatre, where she was a constant attendant. Lady-
Anne Lindsay ^ had great taste, particularly for painting.
She does not indeed place mountains on their apex liko
that of Zarenta in Bruco's travels, or those of Selkirkshire
in Miss Lydia White's drawings, but what her representa-
tions lose in the wonderful, they gain in nature and
beauty. It happened by accident that a brother of Lord
Balcarres dined here when I received your letter, and I
made him happy by telling him his nephew met the
' Better knowD u Lady Anne B&rturd, ftotlior of "AoliJ Bobin
Gray."
1811]
TO MORRITT
229
approbation of a Mend of Lord Muncaster, one who was
likely (as much as any one I know) to take a lively interest
in an event which affected the happiness of a friend's
family.
The Edin' reviewers have been down on my poor Don
Roderidki^ hand to fist ; but truly, as they are too fastidious
to approve of the campaign, I should be very unreasonable
if I expected them to like the celebration thereof I agree
with you respecting the lumbering weight of the stanza,
and I shrewdly suspect it would require a very great poet
indeed to prevent the tedium arising from the frequent
recurrence of rhymes. Our language is unable to support
the expenditure of so many for each stanza; even Spenser
himself, with all the licences of using obsolete words and
uncommon spelling, sometimes fatigues the ear. They are
also very wi-oth with me for omitting the merits of Sir
John Moore; but as I never exactly discovered in what
they lay, unless in conducting his advance and retreat
upon a plan the most likely to verify the desponding
speculations of the foresaid reviewers, I must hold myself
excused for not giving praise where I was unable to see
that much was due. . . .^
FROM LADY HOOD.
London, July 22d, 1811.
My dear Mr. Scott, — . . . I have been thinking much
of Don Roderick, who is I think deservedly popular in
1 The Vision of Don Roderick,
pabliflhed in 1811, for the benefit of
the Portuguese.
' The Edinburgh Reviewer re-
marked that " in point of fact the
poem begins and ends with Lord
Wellington, and being written for
the benefit of the plundered Portu-
guese, and upon a Spanish story,
the thing could not well have been
otherwise." But the omission of
Sir John Moore's name from the
list of British heroes — the only
Commander-in-Chief who had fallen
in the memorable contest — was not
allowed to pass without remon-
strance even from Scott's own per-
sonal friends. The lady, who was
too soon to be heir of the line of
Kintail, wrote the generous pro-
test here printed.
230 SCOTT'S FAMILIAK LETTERS [Jdly
many respects. You know I told you honestly at first
that I thought him very far inferior to his predecessors.
Yet there are some beautiful lines in the poem, for instance
the whole of the Confession ; and the distinction between
the three nations is highly characteristic and spirited.
There are also many of these dear Httle traits that I de-
light in, such as
But, my good friend, how could you name that fatal phun
and not " pour your wailings " over the lamented chief that
fell there, a hero peculiarly endowed with the chivalrous
and noble spirit calculated to ensure him from fostering
that admiration which bis ungrateful employers in the
hateful spirit of party wish to deprive him of. Surely his
sufferings, the slights and insults offered to hi m by Mr.
Frere, and the ungrateful neglect and low abuse of his
memory, . . . present altogether the most melancholy pic-
ture of a great mind insulted and oppressed by its enemies,
that is to be met with in any history ancient or modem.
Setting all party aside, I think the character and
story of Sir J. Moore highly poetical ; fraught with honour,
sensibility, and courage, he had not like Lord Wellington
that insouciance of mind which enabled him to bear under
the severest trials, nor was he attended by that propitious
star which seems to guide the living hero thro" every
storm into the haven of success and favour. Lord Wel-
lington's foresight is much and deservedly applauded, but
was Sir J. M. inferior, tho' no sun gilded his prospect ?
Yet the dark and fatal cloud which terminated his career
he discerned from atar, big with all the malign influence of
party spirit. ... He knew from the beginning what must
be the result of the obstacles thrown in his path, of the want
of confidence of his employers, and of the being forced
at such a season without resources into the heart of the
1811] FROM LADY HOOD 231
desert of Spain ; if he was unsuccessful, was it then his own
fault ? There seems now no doubt that he was sacrificed
to the advancement of his junior oflScer Lord W., yet he
fell not a willing sacrifice but kept his ground to the last
Indeed, my dear friend, I do wish his character had been
at least touched upon in Don Roderick, not so much on
his own account, for his fame is already secured beyond
the malice of his foes by the beautiful and impartial his-
tory of his last campaign, in which the despatches of
Ministers themselves are damniTig witnesses against them,
but because the total omission of the name of this illustri-
ous chief is, and ever will be, looked upon as proceeding
from party attachments in the Bard. You felt he was an
injured man and therefore could not mention him without
execrating the conduct of those whom you look upon as
your friends. My opinion is, that when the day of moral
as well as of political retribution shall arise, the blood of
Sir John Moore will lie heavy on the souls of his enemies ;
it will cry for vengeance with that of the innocent victims
of Copenhagen and the devoted champions of Walcheren.
... Of the many whom I have heard praise Don Roderick
not one but has said, " Why this strange and partial omis-
sion of Sir John Moore's very name?" So finished a
character, so perfect an hero, must not remain uncrowned
by the wreaths that you can so well bestow — doff thy
party for a moment and nobly touch upon them. You
who have felt so sensibly the injustice done to one of our
coimtrymen^ must not suffer party and prejudice to blind
you to hx greater injuries offered to another. Excuse, my
dear Mr. Scott, the warmth and freedom with which I
have expressed myself . . . Yours most truly,
Mary Hood.^
^ Lord Melville. letters has unfortunately disap-
' Scott*8 reply is not available, peared since Mrs. Stewart Mac-
as the Seaforth collection of Scott's kenzie's death.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAB LETTERS
[Oct.
TO HIS MOTREB.
AsBsariEi^ Sepiember SOlh, [1811].
. . . Yotr will have, you see, no occasion for your spare
bed, though little Walter is not less obliged to you, and
his parents on his behalf, than if he had accepted your
affectionate offer. The truth is, besides, that with the
sweetest disposition in the world and very tolerable parts,
the little gentleman has a propensity to idleness ; I hope
not greater than is natural at his age, but which often re-
quires a stronger check than you, my dear Mother, would
chuse to apply, or perhaps thou any one would apply
except a father. So that I think Just at this period of his
life he would rather be a plague than a comfort to you.
He reads from one to two hours Latin with me every day,
so I hope to keep him up to the class, even if he should
be a few days later of joining them, especially as his
memory is one of the strongest I have observed. They
will all be in town about the middle of October, and will
be proud to attend you in such numbers and at such times
as may conduce most to your amusement.
TO MR. HAKTSTONGE.'
AsirasTiEi, 2ii\ October IBll.
... I AH glad you saw the tomb of poor Bums. Tho
simple inscription you observed was the composition of his
wife, the once lovely Jean. It is a disgrace to our country
that something more worthy of his fame is not erected
over his grave, but altho' frequently proposed, it has uni-
formly fallen to the ground, from want of subscriptions,
or from some disagreement about the nature of the moau-
• Matthew Wald HarteWnge, & Sooti in hja edition to Saift. He
pleasant Irish gentleman residing waa a freqnent corre«poodent.
in Dublin, who wai of aerviM to
1811] TO MR HARTSTONGE 233
ment to be erected ; indeed, we are not famous for doing
anything to preserve the memory of our Bards. I have
been these twenty years member of a club for erecting a
monimient upon Ednam Hill to the memory of Thomson,
but alas, we have never to this day been able to collect
above a very few hundred pounds, totally inadequate to
making anything respectable.^ ... I am ever yours truly
obliged, Waltee Scott.
^ The monument to Thomson re- the fine maoBolenm, now in St.
ferred to was at last erected at Michael's churchyard, Dumfries,
Ednam in 1S20. But Burns had not was finished in 1815, and the poet's
to wait so long for recognition, as remains transferred to it.
CHAPTER VIII
1812
EDINBURGH AND ABBOTSFORD
" And shall the minstrel harp in silence rest
By silTer Tweed, or Yarrow hung with flowers ;
Or where, reflected on Loch Katrine's breast,
High o*er the pine-dad hills Benledi towers ;
Saye when the blast that sweeps the mountain crest,
Wakes the wild chorus of .£olian song ;
Save when at twilight grey the dewy west.
Strays with soft touch the trembling chords among ;
Whilst as the notes with wajrward cadence rise.
Some loTe-lom maniac's plaint seems swelling to the skies."
Edinburgh Annual Regiiter, toL iii. p. Izxxyiii (1810).
CHAPTER VIIL
TO LADT ABERCOBN.
IH January 1812,
Mt deab Friend, — There was some learned man or
other, whose name I have forgot, that invented a theory to
account for all the petty misadventures, unlucky chances,
and whimsical contretemps of life, by supposing a certain
description of inferior daemons not capable of any very
great or extensive calamity such as earthquakes, or revolu-
tions, or famines, or volcanoes, but who were just equal to
oversetting tea-urns, breaking china, carrying notes to
wrong addresses, letting in unacceptable visitors, and keep-
ing out our friends whom we wished to see, and organising
all the petite guerre which is so constantly waged against
our Christian patience. It is owing, I fancy, to the inter-
vention of a whole hive of these little diablotins that I have
postponed from day to day acknowledging your kind re-
membrance, in hopes every post which arrived would give
me leave to begin by assuring you that my matter in
which you so kindly interest yourself is concluded. . . .
O the beautiM cottage you sent me! But there are
practical objections affecting the extent and irregularity of
roof, which in our severe climate can scarcely by any
labour be kept water-tight where there are many flanks,
I have borrowed several hints from it, however, and I will
send you a plan and elevation of my intended cottage. I do
not intend to begin it this next summer. There is*a small
farm-house on the place, into which by dint of compression
237
238 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jan.
I think I can cram my family. THs will give me a year
to prepare my accompaniments of wood, walks, and
shrubbery, and moreover to save a little money, clear off
old scores, and encounter my lime and mortar engage-
ments courageously. During our short holidays I waa
working at Abbotsford in the midst of the soow for three
days together ; but I was recalled by my Httle people
taking the measles — very favourably, however, I am
afraid if I permit you to chuse a page between my two
boys, you will desert the eldest for the youngest. Your
original attendant is a boy of on excellent disposition,
sensible, bold, and at the same time remarkably gentle and
sweet-tempered ; but the little fellow, if it please God to
spare him, will turn out something uncommon, for he has
a manner of thinking and expressing himself altogether
original. You shall ehuse, however, when you come to
my cottage; but I shall not be siu^rised if a feir lady
prefers the striking to the reasonable, especially when both
are amiable and good-tempered. They are all recovering
as well as possible.
You ask about my business in the H. of Lords and my
exceptions at Lord Holland, It was a very silly business,
devised I believe by Lord Lauderdale, merely to injure
my feelings, by mentioning the misfortunes of my brother,
at a time aud in a manner when it was impossible for
me to have an opportunity of making any reply or
defence.* . . .
As to Lord HoUand, of whom I always had a very
different opinion, and who I think is (politics apart) a
worthy and amiable man, I was only desirous he should
know the next time he had occasion to mention any one's
name in pubhc, he would expose himself to disagreeable
feelings in private if he did not fix his charge upon secure
grounds. The feeling was bom with me not to brook a
■ See tAft, vol ill pp. 234-4a
1812] TO LADY ABERCOEN 239
disparaging look from an emperor, when I had the least
means of requiting it in kind, and I have only to hope
it is combined with the anxious wish never to deserve one
were it from a beggar.
I am not surprised that Tom Campbell ^ disappointed
your expectations in society. To a mind peculiarly irritable,
and gaUed, I fear, by the consciousness of narrow circum-
stances, there is added a want of acquamtance with the
usual intercourse of the world, which, like many other
things, can only be acquired at an early period of life.
Besides, I have always remarked that literary people think
themselves obliged to take somewhat of a constrained
and affected turn in conversation, seeming to consider
themselves as less a part of the company, than something
which the rest were come to see and wonder at. If your
Lad3rship's friendship is not too partial in supposing me
less quizzical than my neighbours, it is not owing to any
good sense of my own, but to the fortunate circimistances
which comiected me with good company, and led me to
feel myself at home in it long before I made any literary
essays. Since my success, I have always endeavoured to
play my little part in society as quietly and good-
hiunouredly as I could. — Ever your truly obliged,
W. Scott.
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
ir.D. [1812.]
... I HAVE got a beautiful design for my cottage from
Stark of Glasgow, a young man of exquisite taste, and who
must rise very high in his profession if the bad health
under which he suffers does not keep him down or cut
^ Scott knew Thomas CampbeU two yotizig poets met at an autmnn
well. An amusing instance is given gathering at Minto Castle. See Sir
of the latter's shyness and unsocia- Gilbert Elliot's lAft^ and Seattle's
bleness as early as 1802, when the CampbeU,
him short He has most, gentlemanlike and amiable
manners, and his whole appearance indicates genius, but
not less clearly that it will be but sbortlived ; I was
greatly concerned for him the few days he spent at
Ashestiel with me. I do not intend to proceed upon this
great adventure for a while as yet ; the UtllG farm-house
has five tolerable rooms in it, kitchen included, and if all
come to all we can adopt your suggestion and make a bed
in the bam ; so you see I keep the leeside of prudence in
my proceedings. While I was watching my infant or
rather my embryo oaks you have been wandering under
the shade of those celebrated by Pope and Denham. or in
a still earlier age by James and Chaucer. How often have
you visited the site of Heme's oak and called up the
imaginary train of personages who till the stage around it
in representation ? And was I obliged to your kindness
or that of Geoi^e Ellis for a bag of acorns from Windsor
Forest which reached me lately ? I wish you had found
each other out ; he is one of the most amiable and enter-
taining men in the world, and his wife a good-humoured
and lively woman. Their residence is at Sunning Hill.
probably not very distant from yours. I conclude Dr.
Baillie is now released from his melancholy and hopeless
attendance on the Good old King; we are here alarra'd
and stirr'd with unauthenticatcd rumours concerning the
state of the Prince Regent's health, God forbid any of
them be founded on truth, . . . — Ever, my dear friend,
affectionately and respectfully yours, W. Scott.
TO LADY ABEBCOKN.
Edikr., 2Sd Janvary 1S1£L
My DEAHEST Friend, — I should bo very unjust to your
kindness did I not take an early opportunity to inform
you that the pension business is at length completely and
1812] TO LADY ABERCORN 241
finally settled. ... I thought it proper after the pension
had been fixed, to offer my colleague Mr. Home to make
up to him any difference between his pension and what
he formerly drew, which he has in part accepted. ... I
delayed this information both that I might assure you of
my final settlement with Mr. H., and also that I might
send you a plan of my cottage. But though I have suc-
ceeded in the former and most material point, the procras-
tination of the architect, which, poor fellow, is owing to very
precarious health, has hitherto prevented my sending the
sketch and plan. We are now, my dearest friend, as com-
fortable in our circumstances as even your kindness could
wish us to be. Neither my wife nor I have the least wish
to enlarge our expense in any respect, as indeed our
present mode of life is of that decent kind which, without
misbecoming our own situation, places us according to the
fashions and habits of our country at liberty to mix in the
best society here. So that we shall have a considerable
saving fund for the bairns
The good we meet with in this world is always blended
with qualifying bitterness, and mine has been heavy
enough. I do not reckon in this the anxiety I have
experienced [on account of illness] in my family.
. . . But what I must really set down as a calamity are
the deaths of poor John Leyden and the excellent Duke of
Buccleuch. The former was known to the Marquis. . . .
The Duke of Buccleuch^ had been long breaking, and I
thought the last time I saw him (about a month before his
death) that the hand of fate was upon him. Yet his family,
accustomed to his daily and gradual decline, were not much
alarmed, and the final close was very sudden, as he died in
the arms of his son, who had been his nurse and secretary
during his illness, and had scarcely ever quitted his room.
He was buried on the 17 th in the family vault at Dalkeith.
^ Henry, third Duke of Bucoleach, died Jan. 11th, 1812.
VOL. I. Q
343
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Jan.
and I never saw so many weeping eyes at the funeral of
either high or low. Everything was by his own express
desire as private as was possible, which indeed was
necessary, for, considering that the whole border counties
had expressed a desire to send in their Yeomanry and
local Militia Corps, and his situation as Lord Lieu-
tenant of this county, there would have been at least
ten thousand men in attendance. As it was arranged,
only forty or fifty noblemen and gentlemen were invited,
who were connected with the family either by relationship,
clanship, or strict friendship. The Duchess Dowager has
behaved with the firmness of principle, supporting the
whole family under their distress by her own strength of
mind. My friend Lord Dalkeith succeeds to the power
and fortune of his father, with some points which these
evil times require ; for with all his father's good-nature he
has something in him which will not allow it to be
trampled upon, and I think that in our homely ballad
rhyme he is likely to prove —
u hcdgr- &bout his friande,
A htckle to hU foes
When I tell your Ladyship that a heckle is the many-
toothed implement with which hemp is broken and
scutched, I think you will understand the allusion.
I mention these particulars because I believe your
Ladyship is interested in the family. I hope soon to send
you the drawings and plan ; meanwhile, I ever am, your
Ladyship's truly obliged and faithful, W. S.*
' Lady Abercorn replies^" Aa
your BncoesB in life is amoagHt the
very fev thingi that cm give me
real pleaiure, you may believe your
tno l&st letters have b«eu most wd-
oome. I do moat aincerely rejoice
that the bnainoBS is completely set-
tled, and that you are now quite in-
dependeot of power and {Hlrty. , . ■
1 hope before I leAve thia world U>
see yon once by yoar own fire«ide
with all your family about you.
I could never see a man I mora
highly reapect and admire, and I
do OBBure you I have more pnde in
your calling me your deareet friend
than I should in being so oon-
sidered by the greatest Mouardi
in the world."
1812] TO MOERITT 243
TO MORRITT.
Melbosx, 2d March 1812.
YouB letter, my dear Morritt, found me in this place
dirtying myself every morning to the knees in hopes of
making clean walks for Mrs. Morritt at Abbotsford, and
throwing my money, not indeed upon the waters, but upon
the earth, in hopes of seeing it after many days, in the
shape of shrubs and trees. The pleasure I have in this
work, perhaps from its novelty, but I would fain hope
from the nature of the thing itself, is indescribably interest-
ing to me. I have got nature in a very naked state to
work upon, but a brae, a haugh, and a fair river famish good
component parts, and the very trial and exertion necessary
to make out the rest is happiness itself It is very shame-
ful in me to have been so long in acknowledging your
kind information about your Memorabilia. My work
Bokeby does and must go forward, or my trees and enclo-
sures might perchance stand stilL But I destroyed the
first Canto after I had written it fair out, because it did
not quite please ma I shall keep off people's kibes if I can,
for my plan though laid during the civil wars has little to
do with the politics of either party, being very much con-
fined to the adventures and distresses of a particular
fEuuily.
I must certainly refresh my memory with the scenery,
and brighten the chain of friendship at Bokeby before I
can make great progress in my task But your kind
memoranda have helped me greatly in the meantima I
must unquestionably read RonceavaUes} from which I ex-
pect great pleasure. For reviewing it I can hardly under-
^ BoneesvaUea is the title of a siiry poet " referred to was Charles
poem by Richard Wharton, then Pybus, who was Commissioner from
Secretary to the Treasury, which 1707 to 1803, and published a folio
Morritt had recommended strongly in 1800 entitled the Sovereign,
to Scott. The previous "Trea-
244
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[March
take, considering the numerous and important aSaiis of
Abbotsford on earth, and Rokehy on paper. If however
I was sure that I could do it in a way to please the author,
I should scarcely decline. Certainly he is the first Trea-
sury poet since the splendid epistle of Paul Pybxis, and
should therefore be encouraged by his brethren, aa a rich
man is alwaj-s considered as a credit to his relations,
I was once the most enormous devourer of the Italian
romantic poetry, which indeed is the only poetry of their
country which I ever had much patience for ; for tifter all
that has been said of Petrarch and his school, I am always
tempted to exclaim like honest Christopher Sly, " Mar-
vellous good matter, would it were done." But with
Charlemagne and his paladins I could dwell for ever.
I grieve to hear of Lady Aberdeen's disorder, so young
and beautiful, and apparently so good and amiable.' But
consumption seems often to seize upon those victims
whom we would most wish to exempt from its grasp.
Her brother Lord Hamilton is, I am afrmd, djing of the
same disorder.
That Lady Hood should have been so far removed
from us and her friends is a hard circumstanca But I
comfort myself with the reflection that it was right for her
to go. India will amuse her better than she expects.
She will hke the splendour and the dignity of her situa-
tion. She will also be in her right place, and that ia
everything, where keen feeling and great vivacity are
predominant. . . . The good old Buke of Buccleiich is
also dead, and haa not left a kinder or more generous
heart behind him. If you meet the present Puke in
London, in society, pray make up to him on my recom-
mendation and in my name. He is a good cut of a Border
chief, firm, manly, and well-principled, and only dlfiering
from his father by having something in him that will not
< Ladj Aberdeen died 20tb Febtuary 1S12.
1812] TO MORRITT 245
make it safe tx) return his kindness with ingratitude, and
then to apply for fresh favours, which was often success-
fully practised on his father. . . •
FROM JOANNA BAHUE.
March Uh^ 1812.
. . . But to return to my purse ; ^ I hope you will like
it, and I have made it strong enough that your heavy gold
coins may not break thro' it. If it should do you little
good, it has done me a great deal ; for I have worked with
pleasure at it for some time past, when I could be pleased
with no other employment. It put me in mind of an old
woman in Ebtmilton who was haunted by the Deil ; and
she got some flax to spin from my mother, which proved
a great blessing to her, for she returned in a few days,
telling my mother with great delight that as long as
she was employed in spuming the minister's yam the
Deil had no power over her. Don't suppose, however,
that working for you has charmed down a very evfl spirit,
though I confess it has had power over a dull, and often
a very cross one.
We have aU admired the old mouth-piece, and long
much to know the history of it, if any there be, besides its
being old.
I doubt the Laird of Abbotsford has not told me
truly and honestly aU the rooms that are to be in his
new house, and that the museum-room has been omitted
Rob Roy's armour (for I suppose you have got it; pray
let me know if you have), this purse, with its old coins,
and many other things gathered and to be gathered, must
require a place to be kept in, and we shall see there some
years hence a collection like that at Strawberry Hill — the
1 For an account of the silk Scott's ''Nicknacketories,'* see Z^/^
purse knitted by Joanna Baillie for vol. iii. pp. 392-3.
346 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEES [Mabch
collection of a poetical, sentimentnl antiquarian, where
such things as the gloves of Mr. Hampden have their
value, along with the armour of Francis the First. But
I hope this room will be filled with contributions {rom
your numerous admirers, rather than purchases from
curiosi ty- brokers ; tho' your last friendly letter has in-
formed mo of what gives me great pleasure, and I ought
not now to be so much alarmed at tho liberality and
magnificence of your ideas. Well may you prosper, and
fortunate may you be aU your life long ! and may those
you leave behind you be so also !
It was very kind of you to tell me of the happy change
in what regards the salary of your office, and since it is
told me in confidence I shall keep it for my own private
satisfaction. To encourage you in your prospects as a
country laird, I must tell you that the trees I planted in
Gloucestershire are doing well, and the land on which they
are planted is nearly doubled in value since my brother
purchased it about 7 years ago. He then paid £30,000
for it, and he could sell it now for £55,000. I must say,
however, he has spent or misspent nearly £10,000 upon
it. But I must say no more on this subject lest you
think me entirely worldly in my sympathy for my friends.
Now, though I do wish those I love to be comfortably
rich, it is not the first blessing I think of on their behal£
To see how your laurels flourish in this country, growing
every year deeper in root and stiudier in stem, gives
me more pleasure than all the lands of Abbotsford. . . .
I suppose you know that your brother-poet Campbell is
going soon to give Lectures on Poetry at the British
Institution. Mr. Sotheby has persuaded him into this,
and I hope he will do himself credit. His remuneration
is to be, I understand, £200 for 6 lectures. I hope
Ilia Scotch tongue will not stand greatly in the way of
his popularity; but m reading specimens of poetry to
1812] * FROM JOANNA BAILLIE 247
an English audience it must be a considerable disadvan-
tage, for his is a bad kind of Scotch.^
TO THE DUCHESS OF BUOCLEUOH.
Abboisfobd, 2(Hh March 1812.
Madam, — I am just honoured with your Grace's
commission, which you may depend upon my executing
with all possible delicacy on my return to Edinburgh,
which takes place on Monday. The poor bard (I will
not, as my jpridenae friend Miss Seward once expressed
herself, name his thrice unpoetical name) is, I fear, a
person whom it will indeed be difficult to serve to any
essential purpose; yet nature has been liberal to him in
many respects, and it is perhaps hard for those bom imder
better auspices to censure his deficencies very severely.
I am here as busy as possible, dressing up this little
spot, which is, to say truth, as bare a doll as any of your
Grace's young ladies ever made bibs and tuckers for. But
the Spaniards have a comfortable proverb, namely : " Time
and I agauist any other two." I was much surprised and
gratified by Mr. Macdonald's^ kind and most acceptable
attention, who sent me some beautiful frxiit trees of his
own grafting, which I have just seen carefully planted.
This is beiQg a counsellor in good earnest, not only to give
advice, but the means of following it I trust one day, like
good Master Justice Shallow, to press the Duke to stay and
eat a last year's pippin of my own raising. • • •
TO HIS DAUQHTEB.
MsBTOTTN House, IWh April 1812L
My deab Sophia, — Mama and I got your letter, and
1 Scott replies: <*I think the but I never heard him read."— i^/e,
brogue may be got over if he will vol. iii p. 392.
not trouble himself by attempting
to correct it, but read with fire and ' Mr. Macdonald, head-gardener
feeling ; he is an animated reciter, to the Duke.
24S
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Apbii,
are happy to think that oui little people ore all well and
happy.
In Lord Hailes' Annals you will find a good deal about
Melrose Abbey, which you must fix in your recollection, aa
we iU'o now going to live so near it. It was founded by
David the First, one of the best of our Scottish kings.
We have had very cold weather here indeed, but to-day it
is more favourable. The snow and frost has prevented
things getting on at Abbotsford so well as I could wish,
but a great deal has been done.
I expect to find that Walter has plied his lessons hard,
and given satisfaclion to lir. Brown, and Aun and Charles
are I daresay both very good children. You must kiss them
all for me, and pat up little Wallace.* Finette" has been
lame, but she is cow quite weU. I beg you will remember
' The following letter Ib indorsed
in Scott's hand, '• Mr. William
Dunlop, with a dog ohriBtencd
Wsllioe." . . .
Uusnow, JviyWt, 1809.
Dea^r 8 IB,
It is nearly two jrears ago, when
»T»ilitig myself of yonr polite hos-
pitality at Aslieatiel, that I under-
took to procure you a West Country
(Scotch) Terrier. I found tlie task
more difficult tlian I inuLgined, as
the hreed which I bad in view is
DOW Tory scarce, oor indued do I
believe I woold have been able U>
fulfil ray engagement, had it not
been for the assistance of my friend
Miss Dunlop of Dunlop. As sooii
as ever she understood for whom
the animal I was in quest of was
intended, Dunlop, Stewaiton, and
all (he neighbouring parialics were
nnsnoaeasfully ranaacked , no ir would
the young geatleman who will he
delivered to you along with ttus,
have ever harked, bad it not been
for the trouble this Isdy took in
accomplishing a conference between
bis Dame and Sire . . . who hul
hitherto resided in different parte of
Ayrshire. In truth be was brought
the world for the express pur-
pose, as sbe w
iwmg
her gratitude to the Poet who had
ao often beguiled and delighted tho
solitary life she leads. I wish, after
all this, be may turn out worth
sending. All that 1 can say of tJte
race Is, that in addition to dghting,
killing rata, drawing badgers, Mid
BUcb like canine accomplishmeutB,
they are noted (or sagacity and
cDiiipanionableness. If yon moan
to perform any operation on hin
tail or eara, it is now full timOL
Hebas,asyou will perceive, hitherto
been kept Bacred. . . . Believe ma,
yonr obliged and taitliful servant,
WU.1. DCSLOP,
' A beautiful •etter with soft
silken hair, long pendant ears, and
araiUleye, "the parlourfai'ouril©,"
OS she appeared to Washington
Irving five years later.
1812] TO HIS DAUGHTER 249
me to Grandmama when you see her, and also present
my kind compliments and Mama's to Miss Miller.^ We
are now at Mertoun, but return to Ashestiel to-morrow,
and I think we shall be at home on Thursday or Friday,
so the cook can have something ready for us, — a beef-steak
or mutton-chop — in case we are past your dinner-hour.
Tell Walter I will not forget his great cannon, and believe
me, my dear Sophia, your affectionate Papa,
Walter Scott.
to m. w. hartstonge.
Ashestiel, 20^^ AprU 1812.
Dear Sir, — ... I have been shaping a tale of the
civil war, in which an Irishman makes a conspicuous
character. I only hope I shall be able to express in it my
sense of the high qualities of a nature more nearly allied
to my own than the fire of the former and the prudence
of the latter is always willing to admit An Irishman, to
use the phrase of the kitchen, with which I am just now
much at home, for old Macbeth,^ Charlotte and I and the
lame dairy-maid, are keeping house by ourselves, and all
club their skill to make up the dinner, — an Irishman then,
comes a little sooner to the boiling heat than we do, and
we on the contrary smother in our caution, not only the
flash which offends, but the gleams that cheer and delight
society. We both endure hardships better than our im-
perial neighbours of England, but the Scotchman does it
through hope of better, and the Irishman through a gay
indifference, in which he has this great advantage, that as
he hopes for nothing, he cannot be disappointed. I need
not add that with all this national interest I am delighted
with every anecdote of Irish manners and antiquities. I
delight in O'Neal of the nine hostages and all his
^ The children's governess. to be addressed by Kemble at
' The Scotch butlor, who nsed Ashestiel, as "Consin Macbeth."
250 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [May
paraphernalia of warriors and creaghts, out of which more
of tbe picturesque parts of poetry may be wrought than
out of a dozen battles of Jeua or Austerlitz. The Edin-
bv/rgk Register is shortly to be forthcoming, and I have
long delayed writing to you, because I expected to send
you a proof sheet of the Trwmpet and Ckurch Bell} with
which I have taken great liberties. You will find the
poem remains entirely yours in language and sentiment,
but is considerably expanded, somewhat changed in ar-
rangement, and a good deal chastised as to rhymes, in
which you are not uniformly correct, which is not prudent,
because it is a fault every fool can discover.
As the poem stands, there is not a line in it of which
the germ did not exist in your hurried sketch ; and I think,
tho' my part has only been that of the planter or plast^er
to the mansion already built, you will find it improved,
and will not be displeased with me for putting your name
in firont of it. . . .
TO LADY ABEECOBN.
ABBorafoBD, BY Mblsosk,
3d Mai, \B\2.
Judging, my dearest friend, of the distress in which
you must have been involved by the late most unhappy
incident,* I have not ventured to interrupt it by any letter
of mine ; sensible I could oft'er no consolation but that which.
is naturally derived from the lapse of time, and the respect
which we owe to the decrees of Providence. Alas ! when
I think of the inroads made by fate upon the social circle
I met at the Priory some years ago, and upon our mutual
friends, it seems like recollecting another world. To the
' Tba venes bb revised by Scott ■ The death of liord AberooniV
■re in the Annual Regiiler, vol. iii. daaghter, tbe Coouteu of Abar-
pt. 2, p. xciii. dees.
1812] TO LADY ABEECOEN 251
two dear and valuable members of the family, I may add
that of Lord Melville, your ardent and firm friend, and of
others with whom we are mutually connected. Even the
death of the Duchess of Gordon,^ though certainly a person
not to be mentioned in the same breath with any of the
others, is a striking deprivation. She filled a certain place
in Scottish society, and will be missed both from the good
and the harm which she did in it . . .
My own little matters being all settled, I have been
amusing myself with planting and decorating as well as
I can the banks of the Tweed at Abbotsford, which is the
name of my own possession. Your Ladyship may believe
that where no one else can see anything but fallow and
broom and furze, I am anticipating lawn and groves. This
horrid weather, however, bids fair to baffle my hopes for
one season at least.
I am very apprehensive of the consequences of a
scarcity at this moment, especially from the multitude
of French prisoners,^ who are scattered through the small
towns in this country, as I think very improvidently. As
the peace of this county is intrusted to me, I thought it
necessary to state to the Justice Clerk that the arms of
the local militia were kept without any guard in a ware-
house at Kelso; that there was nothing to prevent the
prisoners there, at Selkirk, and at Jedburgh, from joining
any one night, and making themselves master of that
depdt; that the SherifiGs of Boxburgh and Selkirk, in
order to put down such a commotion, could only command
about three troops of yeomanry to be collected from a
great distance, and these were to attack about 500 dis-
ciplined men, who in the event supposed, would be fully
provided with arms and ammunition, and might, if any
1 The Duchess Jane died in Lon- ' There were about 50,000 French
don, and her remains were interred prisoners in Britain at this timet
at Einrara at her own request.
253 SCOTTS FAMIUAB LETTERS [Mat '
alarm should occaskm ib& small number of troops now
at Berwick to be withdrawn, make themselTes masters of
that seaport, the for^catioos of which, although minoufl,
voold serve to defend them mitO cannon was Insjught
. igsiDstthem. A beautiful conftisioD this would make in the
present unsettled state of the manu^tareTs in the north
of England. Truly, though not very ambitious of a hang-
man's office, I think I could willingly do that good turn
for some of the orators of the London Common Hall who
are, for the pleasure of hearing themselves talk, doii^
incalculable mischief by inflaming the minds of the
common people tbrot^h the whole country.
Is Dot the chai^ of parties like a dream, and did yoti
ever see anything so like a game at conmierce as the
opposition picking up the Princess of Wales so soon as
they had lost the Prince R^enC ? We addressed him on
the 30th April at the Head Court, where they put me in
the chair, and made me draw the county address.
I have nothing to add, my dearest friend, except that
I long to have a line from you, were it only to say how the ^
Marquis i& I trust the late increase of Lord H.'s &mily
has had some effect in alleviating his distress. God pity
poor Lord Aberdeen — ho has bad a heavy blow,* — Ever,
deur Lady Abercom, yotur truly, faithful, and respectful,
W. Scott.
TO HOBRITT.
4M Mar 1612.
Mt dkar MoBRrrr, — Notlm^^ can exceed the tale of
the mlver chalica I will miuntain that in point of law
the question it afforded was a prettier point to be mooted
* Lord Aberdeen'* grief waa >o pathetic eatriei u " Tidi I " " Vidi
inteoM kt thU time, ftnd for many led obacnriorem," " VeriBgim& dnl-
montliiaftemrda, that he believed cUniok inugo," are of freqannt
the (pint of hi» young wife appear- occurrence. . . . — See Sir A. Qor-
ed to him almoet daily. In a very don'* Ittvunr, p. IS.
Meied diary kept b; him toch
1812] TO MOERITT 253
than the celebrated question of the black and white horses.
What would the Civilians Benkerschorkius and Pagen-
, stecherus^ have made of it, if they had come to dispute
whether fomn or mhstance should be the rule of classifying
this renown'd utensil ; and if the schoolmen had got upon
such a topic, what a mist of metaphysics would the splen-
did vase have been involved in ? Truly Lucky Finlayson's
apostrophe was but a faint and fleeting ejaculation com-
pared to this kindly and doughty altercation. I hope the
Lady will not prove so far dissatisfied with the fame of
this luminous piece of household goods as to leave it
at home, and reconcile herself to more humble con-
veniences upon the next excursion. She cannot, I fear,
hope to give any other implement the same celebrity
which the beautiful Duchess of Hamilton conferred upon
a superb china punch-bowl, long preserved at the Tnn of
Howgate, near Edinburgh, and never produced by the
Landlady, Jenny Dods, without relating the circimistances
to which it owed its renown. I would therefore have her
abide by her vessel of Potosi, which I trust wiU yet afford
us more sport I would have it stolen and recovered, and
an objection taken to the indictment of the thief, that the
vessel he had abstracted was inaccurately described as a
silver tankard. By-the-bye, such pieces of plate seem to
be singularly liable to occasion odd scrapea There is a
huge implement of this metal at Amiston, not reserved
for the commodity of any individual, but usually brought
in after dinner, when there is a large company, for the
general use and benefit It chanced one imlucky day that
there was a good deal of singing after dinner, which de-
tained the ladies some time longer in the eating-room than
was usual The bell was nmg for some purpose or other,
when, to the utter astonishment and confusion of all pre-
sent, the ancient Butler, a man of a most reverend and
1 See HtaH of Midlothian, W. N. (48 vols.), vol xi. p. 377.
264 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [August
dignified appearance, having no doubt that it was the well-
known signal, stalked into the room bearing in both hands
this brilhant heirloom, equally remarkable for its huge
size and its antique appearance, which however admitted
of no equivocation respecting its use. He had fiairly
marched to the top of the room and placed Ms burden on
its usual throne, before he perceived his blunder. His
exclamation of " God forgive me," his hasty retreat, shroud-
ing with a napkin the late object of his solemn entry, and
the confusion of the good company, may be more easily
conceived than described. This story the Chief Baron tells
with great humour.
I agree very much in what you say of CliUdc Harold.
Though there is something provoking and insulting both
to morality and to feeling in his misanthropical humour,
it gives nevertheless an odd pungency to his descriptions
and reflections, and upon the whole it is a poem of most
extraordinary power, and may rank its author with our first
poets, I see the Edinburgh Review has haul'd its wind,
which I suppose is as much owing to Lord Byron's political
conversion as to their conviction of his increasing powers.
. . . What say you of Lord Wellington ? If these
faineants who have been the bane of the Spanish cause do
not prevent its success, I think nothing else idtimately
will prevail against it.
As tor the house and the poem, there are twelve
masons hammering at the one, and one poor noddle at the
other, so they are both in progress, Charlotte begs her
kindest respects to Mrs. Morritt, and hoping to hear from
you soon, I am, ever truly yours, Walter Scorr.
TO CHARLES CARPENTER.
Abbi^tsfosh, Avgua Uh, 1812.
Aa we advance in life our social comforts are gradually
abridged. Do think of this, my dear Carpenter, and come
1812] TO C. CARPENTER 255
tack to Britain while the circle of your friends is not
materially diminished. I am happy to see, from your last
expressions, that affairs promise to let you escape from
India in a year or two. As health is better than wealth, I
trust you will hasten the period of your return as much as
possible, and pray send us early intelligence, as I shall
make a point to meet you in London at least, if not at
PortsmoutK Our private afiairs continue prosperous, and
our &mily healthy ; they are all fine children, but little
Charles, the youngest, promises to possess extraordinary
talent My income has been greatly increased by my
predecessor, or rather colleague in office, being placed by
Government upon a superannuated pension, which gave
me access to almost all the emoluments of the office, to
which otherwise I would only have succeeded after his
death. To bring this about was one of the last labours of
poor Lord Melville, whose steady friendship for me was
active in my favour to the very verge of his lifa En-
couraged by this good fortune, my lease of Ashestiel being
out, and it being necessary as Sheriff that I should reside
in Selkirkshire occasionally, I have bought a farm of about
120 acres lying along the side of the Tweed. ... I have set
to work to plant and to improve, and I hope to make Abbots-
ford a very sweet little thing in the course of a few years.
Till we shall have leisure and time and money to build a
little mansion, we have fixed our residence in the little
farm-house, where our only sitting-room is about twelve feet
square, and all the others in proportion : so that, upon the
whole, we live as if we were on board ship. But besides
the great amusement I promise myself in dressing this
little farm, it is convenient and pleasant as lying in my
native country and among those to whom I am most
attached by relationship and friendship. We have also a
very pleasant friend of yours in our neighbourhood, the
fine old veteran. General Goudia He lives about three
S56 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Sept.
miles bom us, and wiia here the other morning as keen as
a school-boj about a fishing party to a small lake in our
vicinity ; he and I have a debate about a new harpoon for
sticking salmon, which he invented, and which 1 have the
boldness to tlunk I have altered and improved ; he speaks
very often of you and will be delighted to see you. . . .
Domestic matters are not so comfortable ; there havo
been, as you will see from the papers, very serious dis-
turbances among the manufacturers of the Midland
Counties, which by the mistaken lenity of Government
have been suffered to assume an alarming degree of
organisation, Correspondonces have been carried on by
the malcontents through every manufacturing town in
England and Scotland, and the infection had even reached
the little thriving community of Galashiels, a flourishing
village in my district I was not long, however, of break-
ing these associations and securing their papers ; the
principal rogue escaped mo, for having heard I was
suddenly come into the place, he obsei-ved, " It 's not for
nought that the hawk whistles," and so toolc to the hills
and escaped.
Charlotte is in very good health, and begs her kindest
remembrances. She proposes to write, but I will not
vouch for her letter, knowing her talents for procrastina-
tion in such matters. There is a noble estate with a fina
old house and park to be sold within ten miles of us, I
wish you were here to buy it, as it would suit you very
well for a summer residence. Charlotte joins in kindest
regards to Mrs. Carpenter, and believe me. dear Carpenter,
ever your affectionate friend, Walteb Scott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
ABBoraFoaD, 2nd StptaiAer 1812,
My dear Lady Marchioness, — I have not heard from
you this long time, at which I begin to be a little fretted.
1812] TO LADY ABEECORN 257
as I am very desirous to know what your Ladyship and the
Marquis are doing. We saw the Kembles a day in Edinr.
where I went on purpose from this place to see him
on the staga I think he played Coriolanus and Cato as
near perfection as I can conceiye theatrical performance.
His whole appearance in the former was the patrician
warrior, and in Cato the Stoic senator and patriot. It was
absolutely enchanting, and formed one of the few exhibi-
tions which I could have seen begun again when the curtain
had dropped.
Here I am in fiill possession of my kingdom of Barataria.
. . . We are all screwed into the former farmhouse. Our
single sitting-room is twelve feet square, and the room above
it subdivided for cribs to the children; an old coal-hole
makes our cellar, a garret above the little kitchen with a
sort of light closet make bedroom and dressing-room,
decorated-lumbered, my wife says-mth aU my guns,
pistols, targets, broadswords, bugle-horns, and old armour.
Then I have the livelong day to toil among masons and
workmen not few in number, for I assembled forty or fifty
round a bonfire on the news of the battle of Salamanca.
To be sure there was the attraction of an ocean of whisky-
punch, which brought in several occasional recruits. The
banks of the Tweed looked very merry on this glorious
occasion, and the light of the various bonfires reminded
me of the old times when they were kindled for another
purpose —
'' Red glared the beacon on Pownell,
On Eildon hills were three,
The bugle-horns on moor and fell
Were heard continoally."
The bugle-horns, however, have given way to the pipes
and violins, which were all put into requisition on the
occasion, and the people — at least my subjects — danced
almost the whole night. As for my more grave occupa-
VOL. L R
258 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Sept.
tions, my little plantation is thriving very well, and my
offices are in a fair way of being completed. I have also
gut a good wall buUt around a sheltered and fertile spot ot
about three-quarters of an acre, which I hope will make a
clever little garden. In the meantime, I am not a little
puzzled in my attempts to acquire some knowledge ol
shrubs and trees, especially those that are not indigenous. I
am reduced to such shifts that I asked a lady the other day
what shrub it was that had a leaf like a saddle, and wa.'-
much edified by learning that it was the tulip-tree. By such
awkward steps do learners ascend the ladder of knowledge.
I am puzzling my brains about a poem called Rokeby.
1 have had it loi^ in hand, but I threw the whole into th«
firo about a month since, being satisfied tliat I had corrected
the spirit out of it, as a lively pupil is sometimes flogged
into a dimce by a severe schoolmaster. Since I have
resumed the pen in my old Cossack manner. I have
succeeded rather mora to my oiiti raind. It is a tale of
the Civil Wars in 1643, but has no reference to history or
poUtics, only embracing the adventures and distresses of a
particular family of Cavaliers.
Adieu ! niy dear friend. All this nonsense is meant to
estort from you an answer; let it but say you and the
family are well, and, howsoever short, it will be most ac-
ceptable to your truly faithful and respectful,
Walter Scott.
FROM LADy ABEBCORN.
Sept. 1813.
My dear Friend, — I cannot deny but that I have
been a little angry with you. for it is now about 3 months
since I was told that you were writing a poem, and that
the subject was of the Civil Wars and the end of Charles
the ist's time. I concluded, as I had done before whan others
of your poems were announced to me, that it was a sUnj.
L
1812] FROM LADY ABEECORN 259
for I was certava you would have told me as soon as any
one ; but I now am used to it, and shall always believe
all your acquaintances know eyerything before ma So
mucli for that, but in the meantime I am not the less
anxious to read it^ and shall send for one as soon as it
comes out I make no doubt of its merit, but I confess I
wonder whether, if you have not aerioudy destroyed the
first, you would let me read it. I really cannot bear the idea
that you should have consigned to the flames so much of
your writing, which I make no doubt, though it might be
inferior to your Cossack Tnanrier, is still better than any
one else could do, and if you have a mind to make your
peace with me let me have it ; you may send it by the
mail, it will come very safe. . . . Lord Aberdeen left us
nearly two months ago. He was here about six weeks with
his 3 children, and I do really think they are as lovely
children as I ever saw. His eldest daughter (they are all
girls) is without exception the cleverest girl I ever saw.
She is about five years old, and quite a magnificent-looking
child, with a stOl more magnificent imderstanding. If
you should see them, observe that creature. She used
every day to have a new poem or new fable to repeat to
Lord Abercom after dinner, and she repeated as well as
Kemble could. I certainly think her quite a prodigy.
Lord Aberdeen was better in spirits than I could have
hoped, but it will be long before he recovers himself.^
TO LADY LOUISA STUART.
20th Sept, 1812.
My dear Lady Louisa, — ^Your most encouraging, as
well as beautiful verses, joined to our friend Morritt's
remonstrances, have given a new spur to the sides of my
intent, and I wrote to Morritt that I would make a raid on
him with bag and baggage, scrip and scrippage, about
^ These attractive children all died young.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Skft.
Monday. But just after ray letter was despatched, I was
mads acquainted that my atteudance was indispensable
upon the 5th, at a meeting of Mr. Don's friends pre-
paratory to the head court of Free-holders on the 6th, for
that my eloquence was to be put in requisition for that
day. Mr. Don is, you know, the Duke of Buccleuch's
candidate for Roxburghshire, and I believe the Duke has
few things of a political nature more at heart than his
success, 80 I must do my possible, however little that may
be. The only effect this will have is to expedite my
journey somewhat, as my stay will be rather more brief at
Rokoby than I had reckoned upon this morning. On
Thursday night we sleep at Edgerston, upon the border,
Friday at Carbridge or Hexham, and I hope we shall find
it possible to get to Rokeby Saturday night, as the distance
cannot be above forty miles. But if bad roads, etc. render
this impossible, which is likely enough, we shall, God
willing, be at Rokeby on Sunday before dinner, where I
trust wo shall still tind your Ladyship a tenant of that
hospitable mansion.
The poem has no fault unless I could find in my heart
to wish it had a more worthy subject, but I am not able
to bring my mind to that point of self-denial, so I can
only promise to do my best to merit the encouragement
your Ladyship so kindly gives me. I do not greatly fear the
professed critics if I can possibly keep hold of the reading
pubUc, which can only be done by an interesting narrativei
"Ugly Meg" is a much larger drawing than any at
Bothwell, on another, and I think an improved plan.
I hope one day to exhibit it to your Ladyship in this
little cottage.^ . . .
I can add no more, being interrupted by two matters of
great consequence. The first is to plan out of some debris
dug out of the rubbish of the Abbey at Melrose, a Gk)thic
> A sketch by C. K. Shsrpe.
1812]
TO LADY LOUISA STUART
261
firont to a Well ; ^ the other, to buy if possible some acres
of ground on a little lake about a mile from my cottage,
which is exactly the lake of the Fisherman and Genii —
Meanwhile, believe me, with great respect, dear Lady
Louisa^ your Ladyship's much honoured and obliged
humble servant, Walteb Scott.
TO JOANNA BAILUB.
Abbotbiobd, Oct, llth, 1812.
My deab Miss Baillie, — ... As for Bokeby, I am
now working at it in my old Cossack manner, after destroy-
ing a whole canto, in which I attempted refinement and
eleganca I have revisited the scenery, and fortunately
met good weather. My eldest boy and girl went with
Mrs. Scott and me, and as we crossed, recrossed, and
quartered the border counties, I think they heard border
history enough to sicken them of it for their whole livea
My boy, on his litde pony, rode about five-and-twenty
miles a day with me without being fatigued, and was
sometimes relieved by his sister.
I am sorry the Qvxirterly Review has been savage on
Mrs. Barbauld,' for whose talents I have had long and
sincere respect. But I camiot condemn the principle of
their criticism, and I imagine Mrs. B. herself wiU admit
that it wiU be long ere the renown of Lord Wellington is
eclipsed by that of General Hull' In fact, I detest
1 To HartBtonge, Oct 29th, Scott
wrote: — "I liave just finished a
well, coDBtmcted out of a few of
the broken stones taken up in
clearing the rubbish from Melrose
Abbey at removing the modem
church. It makes a tolerable de-
ception, and looks at least 300
years old. In honour of an old
Melrose Saint I have put an in-
scription in a €k>thic Latin verse
written in these characters, AVE,
AVE, SANCTE. WALDAVB."
The structure may still be seen in
the grounds.
^ A very severe criticism of Mrs
Barbauld*s poem entitled ' ' Eighteen
Hundred and Eleven'* appeared in
the 14th No. of the Quarterly,
' An American general whose
strategy had not been successful
in the invasion of Canada, July
1812.
362
SCOTT'S FAMILIAB LETTERS
[Nov.
croaking ; if true, it is unpatriotic, and if false, worse. As
to my simple self, I am sensible of the value of Urs.
Barbaiild's own approbation, but I would, were it in my
power, blow up the ruins of Melrose Abbey and bum all
the nonsensical rhymes I ever wrote, if I thoi^ht either
tho one or other could survive the honour or independence
of my country. My only ambition Is to be remembered, if
remembered at all, as one who knew and valued national
independence, and would maintain it in the present
struggle to the last man and the last guinea, though the
last guinea were my own property and the last man my
own son.'
To a more pleasing subject, — our httle improvements
get on here pretty well. I have a noble spring, which
I have enclosed and covered with a Gothic front ... It
is on the side of a steep bank, and I intend that willows
and weeping birches shall droop over it with a background
of evei^jreens. In the bank which stretches along our
haugh. I have placed various trees and fringed tho whole
with shrubs. 1 have also planted many thousand acoms.
which begin to make a great show, the future oaks being
nearly as tall as your knitting needlo. I wanted to sow
birch with them, but found it diiEcult, or rather im-
possible to get good seed, which is extraordinaiy, as this is
certainly the country of birches. We are now in the fuiy
of a contested election for Roxburghshire, which will turn
on a very narrow majority either way, which must be my
apology for not bestowing all my tediousness on you. . . .
' In her poem Mra. Bsrbaold
preMged the decadeuoe uf this
conntiy nod the iDcreoio of America
in art*, »rnia, and virtue. In her
vUlon ol the luture she saw youth
f nl pilgritns.
crouing the Atlantio to contem-
plate the sacred niinH of BngUnd.
as touriata notr do those of (.IreeM,
London overthtowD, deserted, and
desolate, but Melnwe Abbey pre-
served from further deoay by tha
genius of .Soott ! — See Quartertf
JUvittn, voL vii. p. 311,
1812] TO SOUTHEY 263
TO SOUTHET.
Edinb., 2fUh Nw. [1812.]
I HAVE boon seldom more mortified than at finding
myself this October within 20 miles of you without having
it in my power, as the Fates would have it, to turn aside for
the purpose of brightening the chaia But I was just set
forward on my little tour when the General Election burst
upon us like a shot, and as our coimty was to be fiercely
contested, I had only time to spend three days at Rokeby,
where for some twenty reasons I would have liked to have
stayed a week, and then I hurried over Stainmore as fast as
possible to lend my most sweet voice to a losing contest
I heard at Bokeby of your pilgrimage to the head of
the Tees, which seems to have been as desperate a job as
my old acquaintance Bruce's to the head of the Nile. I
hope you liked Morritt as well as he Uked you ; ^ he has
great kindness and worth, good talent, and I fancy great
scholarship; above all he has a sound, healthy, honest
English understanding, which I begin to think worth all
the talent and learning in the world.
Now let me thank you for the Chnniana,^ which I need
not say highly amused me. Some trifles I can add: you
were right in your original idea that Lord Herbert of
Cherbury conceived himself to be odoriferous in person,
although Henry More had the same whim. It was prob-
ably, I think, rather some perversion of the nose than any
peculiar fragrance of the pores. I daresay with a certain
degree of early training a man's organ of smelling might
distinguish flavours as well as a common cur if he did not
reach the accuracy of the pointer. I knew an old lady
^ For Sonthey's own impressioiiB ^ Two vols, of the Omniana were
of this pleasant YiBit, see letter to pnbliBhed in 1812. There were a
hU wife, July 23d, 1812, printed in few articles by Coleridge in it.
voL ii of Life and Ocrreapondence,
hns fci^Bt, «h> kasw da Bm aad Aoo^ he bd
beett n M a ^rt m A b^ han^ wimiiijiin J (^ book in i n i yy i ,
pwUj- finot tie sons of d» Btooo, put^ bom otfav
SMuem. and pHtiy feoni kn "w^fc^* vi&. It pnrved s
ffDod Iiit fcr tke bookaelkr. h As Bkran'k nune and
hnnopT WM «cS kaown, and hf i hjjumi made its «s|- into
odker eooBCzia » ft book ctf atBtsbunent. The Bhob
Mo D fhwM in wiKBB I knev vis a gmr9 serioiis sort of s
jMssoii. a good deal iiiiiTaiiisiail bra titk vkidt nqoimd
eternal ez{JaiMtiana,aodatff mnaikaUe for the seal vitk
irtodi be kept gnndiiig imaiad ^aoses the whcda ermine
I had Mxne other trifles to say, bat as I am vnUng at oar
taUa m the Comt^ the none <tf lav^vs and vraoglii^
drms than out of my head. — Et^ yoaa,
Wauke Score.
1812] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 265
TO JOANNA BAILLIB.
Edinbuboh, Nov, 21, 1812.
• • . This will attend about one half of Eokeby; the
latter part is incorrect, being the proofis before they were
corrected, but you will easily be able to allow for their im-
perfection& I would have sent this packet sooner, but we
only came to town a few days since, and I have been very
busy since with the Peers' election, and one vile thing or
another. Besides, I wanted to send you that part of the
story where I was so unlucky as to run my head against
your ladyship's, which cost me the re-writing of my
Robber's song.i When you have amused yourself with all
this harum-scarum stuff, will you have the goodness to get
a cover from our obliging Mend Mr. Freeling, addressed to
J. B. S. Morritt, Esq., Bokeby, Greta Bridge, Yorkshire,
who is very curious to know what I have said of his beau-
tifid domain, a curiosity too laudable to remain ungratified.
In fact it is really a charming place, uniting in a remark-
able degree the romantic character of Scottish scenery,
with the rich verdure and huge forest trees that give
majesty and richness to that of England, and I wish you
knew Morritt and his wife, whom I like extremely, and have
therefore the vanity to think you would Uke them very
much also. If I were to be in town in spring, of which I
have no hope or expectation at present, and which I should
only desire for the pleasure of seeing a friend or two, of
whom you stand among the foremost, I would make you
acquainted, for one has a selfish pleasure in making one's
friends acquainted, as you always hear of them more
frequently. I have no leisure to add anything to this
1 The "Chough and Crow" in Baillie, printed in Lockhar^s Ltfe,
Orra. — Plays on the Pasaioru, toL vol. iii. pp. 349-365.
iii; Bee Scott's Letters to Miss
I
I
266 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dbc. I81»
scrawl, except my kindest remembrances to Miss A. '
Baillie, the Dr. and family.
I beg the sheets may remain in your own fireside circle
and never go out of your hand. I sufi'ered more by an
indiscreet communication than one would think such a
trifle could occasion; and believe me, when I say with
Captain Bobadil, " by the heart of valour in me, except il
be to some pccuhar and chosen spirit to whom I am ex-
traordinarily engaged, as to yourself or so, I could not
extend thus far." ' Though time presses I must not omit
to thank you for the various civilities with which you havA
honoured Mr, Terry, who is most deeply sensible of them.
. — Once more adieu ! Walter Scott,
TO TEffi DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUCH.
CiBTLK St., Ike. 1812.
I HAVE the honour to request of your Grace's usual. I
kindness, the acceptance of a copy of Rokehy. To any
other person some apology would be necessary for heap-
ing quarto upon quarto, but as your Grace was really the
original cause of my writii^ any poetry, beyond the
bounds of a Ballad (since the Lay of the Last Minstrd, vas
only written to brii^ in Oilpin fforjier), I must inast
upon my privilege of overwhelming you with the wild tales
to which your encouragement has given occasion. I trust
your Grace will always believe me, your most respectful
and obliged humble servMit, Walter Scott.
I Evtry Man in hit ffvmour. Act 1 ac. i.
CHAPTER IX
1813
EDINBURGH AND ABBOTSFORD
" Tet once again the magic l3rre shall ring,
An exiled prince demands the lofty strain,
And Scotland's falchion drawn to fence her king,
And clans embattled on their native plain ;
The Stoart's heir demands his father's reign.
And Highland loyalty, with dauntless truth,
Welcomes the wanderer from the lonely main,
And to her bleeding bosom clasps the youth.
The wandering sprite was heard on lake and hill,
And thrice the bittern shriek'd, and echo clamour'd shrill. *
EdiiUfurgh Annual Register , vol. iii. p. 88.
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITEEABY WOEK
1813— AOE 4S
smtnuxsuiiKoU Id pnbliiban' Songi for On
Id ptogmw, aJw Life of tba
me Ijtniuuihi
y tbs BegcDt,
Aildresi from Ihe City of EdinbntBh to
Prince lU'EEnt in November.
Aidat if Triimaiii poUlehed inonj.
nunulr V B*Ilut^e & Co.. Edlnbi
in ISiDO.
Umsln of llu Rtijrn of Kint Charlei IXt
firtl, ^f Sir Phnip Wirvlak, Kb, b
Sto, publUhed b; BeUntTSt.
CHAPTER IX.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
Abbotsford, Sth January 1813.
My dear Friend, — I have been a great vagabond
during the autumn, and since then have been hard at work
at my new poem, which (with official duty since November)
has made me a very complete slave. The earliest sheets
which can be got together are to be sent to Mr. Arbuthnot,
through whose cover I think you will receive them more
speedily and safely than by the stage or mail coach* I
intended to have sent you my goose in giblets, or in other
words, my poem by detached cantos, but I Uked it so little
in detail I was unwilling the Marquis should see it until it
was finished, always in hopes I should be able to mend it
as I got on. Accordingly, I think I have finished my
bandit Bertram with some spirit, and that the last canto
comes off better than I had anticipated. I saw Lord Aber-
deen for literally a moment in the midst of the bustle of
the Peers' election.^ . , I wished he would have stayed a day
to look at the painting of Duddingston,^ etc., but I could not
prevail with him. He left Edinburgh that same evening.
You ask me, dear Lady Abercom, how I like Lord
Byron's poem, and I answer. Very much. There is more
original strength and force of thinking in it, as well as
command of language and versification, than in almost
any modem poem of the same length that I have happened
to meet with. It is really a powerful poem, — the more
^ The election at Holyrood of the for at the Union in 1707.
sixteen Peers to represent Scotland ^ By Thomson, which the artist
in the House of Lords, as provided intended for Lady Abercom.
20d
270
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Jad.
powerful becaiise it: arrests the attention without the aid of
narrative, and without the least apparent wish to conciliate
the favour of the reader, Lut rather an aflectation of tie
contrary. I say an affectation of the contrary, because I
should be sorry to think that a young man of Lord Byron's
powers should really and unaffectedly entertain and
encourage a uontempt for all sublunary comforts and
enjoyments. That we can be completely happy in this
state of things, that is to say, that we can be so placed as
nmther to feel a void in our hearts or in our imaginations,
is altogether inconsistent with our nature, and to mourn
therefor is as wise as to regret that we have not wings, or
that we lack the lamp of Aladdin, neither of which, by the
way, would make us a bit happier if we had them. But
any one who enjoys peace and competence, and what I hold
equal to either, at least to the latter, the advantage of a
weU-informed mind, need only look round him to find
out by comparison abundant reasons for being thankfiil
for the rank in which Providence has placed him ; and
the wisest as well as happiest man is he who makes him-
self as easy in it as he can. This tinge of discontent,
or perhaps one may almost say misanthropy, is the only
objection I have to Lord B.'s very powerfiil and original
work.
I had a temporary correspondence with Lord B. on
rather an odd occasion. The Prince Regent, who now
makes patte de velours to the gens des httrta, desired at
some party to be introduced to Ld. B. (who by the way
had written a very severe epigram on the fracas with LA
Lauderdale),^ and said many polite things to him, and what
your Ladyship would hardly guess, a great many of your
friend. Lord B„ knowing the value of a prince's good word,
put all these sugar-phuns in possession of a person to be
sent to me, and I could do no less than thank the donor,
' "Weep, cbughMr of « royal line," etc, — .Se« Byron, 8to, p. 553.
1813] TO LADY ABERCOEN 271
and so I had a civil letter from Childe Harold upon the
subject^ By the way, there is a report Childe Harold is to
be married to an heiress of our northern clime
I commimicated your Ladyship's message to the Ihike
of Buccleuch, but I have seen very little of him this year,
for BowhiU, their seat in our neighbourhood, is to be
repaired and enlarged, so they were not there this autumn,
and I have been only twice at Dalkeith, being kept very
hard at work. I expect to see him on Tuesday, when
Bokeby is to be christened, on which occasion the printer
always gives a little party to a few of my friends, at which
the Duke always attends. . . .
I have just escaped to this place for a few days, to look
at and direct my little creation. I think it will be prettier
than I ventured to hope, but it will take some years.
There is a superb spring which I have covered with a
little Gothic screen composed of stones which were taken
down when the modem church was removed from Melrose
Abbey. As I got an ingenious fellow to put my little
fragments of columns and carving together, you would
really think it was four hundred years old. It is covered
with earth all aroimd, above and behind, and my morning's
occupation has been planting weeping wiUows and weeping
birches about and above it.^
Pray let me know whether there is any hope of your
being soon in Scotland, since I certainly must contrive to
meet you on the route, as I fear you, or rather the Marquis,
wUl hardly be tempted to visit Duddingston.^ I should
like much to know how he is, and shall be proud if he
finds anything to like in Rokeby, though I am sure he
will scold me for many blunders, and negligences, and
very justly. — Your honoured and obliged and grateful,
Walter Scott.
^ See Life, vol. iii. pp. 393-402. ' Lord Abercorn's mansion near
' See an^e, page 261 and note. Edinburgh.
272 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jan.
Eokeby was b^un and fiabhed as it now stands be-
tween the Ist of October and 31st December. Think
what a push, and excuse my silence. I destroyed some
part that was written before.
FROM JOAKNA BAILLIE.
HAMFStE4l>, January 14tA, 1813.
A THOUSAND thanks to you, my dear Mend ! You are
very good, and therefore, as is meot and right, very dear
to me.
Your lumbering 4to, as you call it — the noble poem of
Rokeby, as I call it^came to my hands two days t^o, and I
have already read it twice. . . . Take my best thanks f^in
for your valuable present before I begin to speak of it.
lost I should forget to thank you afterwards. It is a
part of my treasure and worldly goods that will do me
good all the days of ray life. I wish you could have seen
iae when it arrived. My sister was from home, so I stirred
my fire, swept the hearth, chased the eat out of the room,
lighted my candles, and began upon it immediately. It
is written with wonderful power both as to natural objects
and human character; and your magnificent bandit,
Bertram, is well entitled to your partiality; for it is a
masterly picture, and true to nature in all its parts, accord-
ing to my conceptions of nature. Your Lady and both
her lovers are very pleasing and beautifully drawn; her
conduct and behaviour to them both is so natural and
dehcate; and so is theirs to each other. How many strik*
ing passages there are which take a hold of the imagina-
tion that can never be unloosed! The burning of the
oastle in all its progress is very sublime; the final sceae
also, when Bertram rides into the church, is grand and
terrific; the scene between him and Edmund, when he
weeps to find that there ia any human being that will shed
1813] FROM JOANNA BAILUE 27?
a tear for him, is veiy touching and finely imagined. I
say nothing of what struck me so much in the 3 first
cantos. And besides those higher beauties, there are those
of a softer kind that are wonderfully attractive; for
instance, the account of the poor Irishman's death, after
he had delivered the child to the Lord of Bokeby, which
made me weep freely, and the stealing of Edmund back to
the cave by night with all the indications of his silent
path ; the owlet ceasing its cry, the otter leaping into the
stream, etc., is delightful Your images and similes too, with
which the work is not overloaded (like a lady with a few
jewels, but of the best water), are excellent. Tour songs
are good, particularly those of Wilfirid; but they have
struck me less, somehow or other, than the rest of the
poem. As to the invention of your story, I praise that
more sparingly, for tho' the leading circumstances are well
imagined, the conducting of it seems to me too dramatic
for a lyrical nsmrative, and there are too many complex
contrivances to the bringing about the catastrophe.
It seems to me you are hankering after and nearing
to the drama prodigiously. Take possession of it then
fairly and manfully. You have ample powers, and the
favour of the public into the bargain ; and if I must be
eclipsed in my own demesne, I wiU take it from your hand
rather than from any other.
Send me a better play than any I have to boast of, and
if . 3h.de of humaaUmity should p», „v» raj mtad
for a moment, by the setting of the sun I shall love you
more than ever. . . .
I must not be so imgrateful as to finish my paper
without thanking you, in addition to all my other thanks,
for the very handsome notice you take of me in the notes
to Rokeby. You lose no occasion to stick a sprig in my
cap when it offers, and there are no honoiurs which I wear
more proudly. J. B.
VOL. L s
^T*~"*'^ IZTTEHS
[UUCB
I
a
}
3ffn I Trail j'.n. -v"^i.:i ~~i "ii^ riT anchor of Tri J
I i<:i5r :.; ii;iii:e. r^ ic>:.i.i."Tij :e .iizi ict .ud ttsi i
:ara rn^r^ x "nri ^rkLiii a inra ^ Have ;
■sdiiiHs. 1 ziiji:; -:i;r r-^mi:^ tariea. ... I heivr
■ufi 7=a^7 Zks~.:-^:L m:xz tri.se :c :iie poem, ic
:.; r.-^ l: i zlics ~ .Us r-i— jjt. 1: iis not, hn
■iiricaz.-:* Azui :zzj:z.ez.z. iz:. ^i•:^:. -z-i. We wiHsee ^
s^zi a^^ zr:c 'us Tr.-i:<; .viiT-rsacioiL Tei
■SCC7. ... I: Lis j.:,i Trc-i-rrrul^ '-«=re. bot feas
itJLr.cC i= L:oi:c. -in: t-s :az. learn
T^ idli^b.-iru -s-iiirl-fr -v— I hirpe be of s
Its. lI:?Ti"= z;il:L 1^= 2Ai ."ir siowaonn lo-
liLii Lz. :'ir: ~ :si zr.L-i—j.':'.: s'lAz-e ia che "worl |
CiT :l/ii'2. '-i:fc.--- ■- Ti.it^ir ii 1::;1; :i£ inj ttae 5
L:^:..i-'.: i--7:-j j,-i L;t :r.;i:v x'It, ac-i the •
,-■- : J /.. . . ■.. ,. , .._.'- ..." .,■ .\ •
v-ji..--. -,!r.>v. i::i "LLli I jz_ ,iir-:i I f-:5:poaed a-j
lii::^ b«:ve«a itim Holfenl,
•a.-i:!.: :>'.■;. i-itijr of iriJ.'jce, Kiid Mr*.
'..■.* br-.lii. ',/ Tr-.-i.-n
TO MOEEITT
275
Ejver, I am somewhat of Sir Lucius 0"Wg^ior's
'} quarrel ifi a pretty quarrel as it stands,
that first seek to accommodate it, say L^
w, I am in equal disgrace with the other
r, for the owls of your good city who are
Qvite her back to the stage, not content
irect appHcatioQS, which I pud no atten-
I formally applied to me (the sapient Capel
reproscntaiivo), through the medium of no
I Messrs, I^onginan & Co. So I was obliged
liar jaws and give this worthy federation my
oining them to ask Mrs, Siddons to do an
Vow, although these were stated with great
: the highest praises on Mrs. Siddons' past
Ls' present, yet I am sensible that even
1 as to Mrs. Siddons' future will not be
• a palate which has been accustomed to
juenco of Mra. Fitzhugh and Lady MU-
<r, I must hold fast mine integrity, for I
world do her the injury of even seeming
1 a foolish proposal, especially as I rather
rd answer had in it a sort of nolo episco-
.el/jf is now published here and almost
Kh the Edition was a double one, i.e. 6CX}0.
Lo press again. The 4to was overprinted
ftet the Ballaiitynes have only about 30 of
1 was threo-fourths of the whola I have
kptable present from Lady Alvanley, two
e indeed, by Miss Arden, one of Mor-
Lane of the Tees and Greta in the park at
Eokeby. They are really extremely clever, very like the
scenes they represent, and require none of the allowance
usually indulged to amateurs. By the way, I have in safe
■ See Sheridan'i Bival*.
276 SC0TT5 FAJOUAB, LETEEBS [MAlcn
keeping Uis. Uorriu's dnwii^ of Hortham Tower, and
have had it coined. I wish I knew a safe way of forward-
ing tbeorigiiuL
I hope they do not meaD seriously to seiKt the Dake of
Cambetlaad to Hanover. Sorely we hare made eoougfa.
of (Rich experimeats. CharioCte sends kind lore to Mia.
Uorritt, and I am ever, most tmly yours,
Waitkb Scott:
to the duchess op buccledch.
Eddistkcb, ^Sd MarA 1813:
Uadah, — I never apdogise for mtmding upon your
Grace when I can recommend to you an act of kindness or
of charity, for I am always sure that the cause would ad-
vocate itself even if introduced by a stranger, and I think
your Grace would scold me if I did not think that in such
a case as the enclosed,^ I have as the only minstrel of the
Clan, a sort of privil^e to be a beggar. I believe there
is now no remnant of the Household Poet except the
Laureate and the Highland pipers. Of the rights of the
former I know nothing, but if I may r^ulate myself on
those of the Piper, who is always the most important as
well as the most noisy attendant of the Chieftain, I will be
quite warranted in bulging a guinea from your Grace and
another &om the Duke to save a brother minstrel from
veiy short commona I do not warrant that the poetiy
will be good, as the poor man has not been lately in a way
to improve his talents, which were ori^nally fax from de-
spicabla But what your Grace may miss in amusement
you will, I am sure, account more than compensated in
boimty to a poor man who I fear needs it mucL If Lord
Montagu has not forgot me he will give me a guinea alsa
I hope the Duke and Lord 'Whichester,^ the gallant Lord
* Bflferring to the Queen'* Walt,
by the Ettrick ShopherdL
I
I
1813] TO THE DUCHESS OP BUCCLEUCH 277
John and all the young Ladies are weU, especially my little
god-daughter ; I have got a little keepsake for her, but I
will claim a dinner at Dalkeith or Bowhill on her birth-
day before I produce it It is a very ancient and simple
brooch, which I think may have one day fixed the mantle
of a British princess. — Your Grace wiU always believe me
your most respectful and very faithful humble servant,
Walteb Scoti.
TO LAD7 ABERCORN.
Abbotsford, 23d March 1S13.
You have a great right, my dear friend, to upbraid my
imgracious silence, and yet heaven knows the five fingers
of my right hand have had so much to do for six months
past that I believe they have sometimes wished for the
cramp as a relief from the pen. If you will recollect, my
dear Lady Abercom, that Rokeby was written as fast
as my hand could write it, that moreover I have Swift to
bring out before the Birthday, that our oflScial duty, though
formal, and easily discharged, is still duty which occupies
two or three hours each day during the terms of the
court, that I had the burden of constant attention to the
police of the little county of which I am Sheriff, where
certain agitators of Luddism had begun to be busy, above
all that I had Abbotsford to convert from a bare bank and
meadow into a himian place of habitation, I think you
wiU pardon my eyes for turning very heavy when the
various labours of the day were over, and when I was most
disposed to send remembrances to a friend whom I have
so many reasons to esteem and to love. I have been here
for some days directing the important operations of the
spring, and particularly the stocking of a garden, which I
trust will be a tolerable one for ordinary wall fruit if the
easterly hazes which infest the Tweed in the season of
278 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [March
flourish will permit Forest trees flourish with me at a
great rate, and of my whole possession of 120 acres I have
reduced about 70 to woodland, both upon principles of
taste and economy. I have been studying Price' with all
my eyes, and not without hopes of converting an old
gravel-pit into a bower, and an exhausted quarry into a
bathing-houso. So you see, my dear Madam, how deeply
I am bit with the madness of the picturesque, and if your
Ladyship hears that I have caught a rheumatic fever in
the gravel-pit, or have been drowned in the quarry, I trust
you will give me credit for dying a martyr to taste. I trust
to find the Kembles still in Edinburgh. J. K. is, I think.
greater than himself, and that is twenty times greater than
any actor I ever saw. I attended him most futhfully
until we left Edinburgh, and to my very great amusement
indeed. He is a very magnificent study for any one who
is fond of dramatic representation. I will take care of your
Ladyship's commission, and will add to any new books the
Kembles may be able to find, two or three little volumes.
The first and most interesting is a spirited imitation of my
vnanner called the Bridal of Triermain. The author is
unknown, but it makes some noise among us. The other
is a httle novel, rather too much of the marvellous cast
for my taste, but written with some spirit and interesL
Perhaps I may find something else before my packet goes
off, especially an 8vo Rokeby, which must be ready by the
time I get to town. I am quite proud of the Marquia'a
approbation : you know how very highly I hold hla Lord-
I was very well diverted indeed with the Rejected
Addressea, but I really did not think it necessary to ex-
press my satisfaction to the Messrs. Smith, the authors.
I would certainly have done so had I had a handsome
opportunity, but the gentlemen are perfect strangers to
' Sit Uvedule Price's TreatUe on the Pidnraque^
1813] TO LADY ABERCOEN 279
me, and to intrude a compliment upon them might have
looked like deprecating their satire, a point on which my
feelings are perfectly invulnerable.
The poor Princess of Wales — surely her fate has been
a hard one, and no less so to have fallen into the hands
of her present advisers, whose only object in making these
scandalous anecdotes public is to disgrace the royal family
in the eyes of the public. After all, the whole affair reminds
me irresistibly of a hand at Commerce. The present
ministers, while out of office, held the Princess in their hand,
— a court card to be sure, but of no great value. They
have the luck to take up the Prince, cast by the blunder of
their opponents, and they discard the Princess as a matter
of course, while the Outs, equally as a matter of course,
take her up, and place her in their hand as being a kind
of pis dUer. And thus goes the strange game at poUtics.^
I have had it intimated to me through the Prince's
Librarian that his Royal Highness desires his library to be
open to me when I come to town, and wishes me to be pre-
sented, with many other words of great praise and civility.
I should soon lose my sunshine, I fancy, were I to go to
Kensington, which I certainly would do if I were asked,
having no idea that the Princess's adversity cancels my
obligations to her for so much attention as I have received.
And so four hundred miles' distance has its advantages.
Miller* has given up business and my present publishers
are my old friends and school-fellows the Ballantynes of
Edinburgh. To publish for myself might be more lucra-
tive, but from the connections I have with them I really
get as much by Rokeby as I ought in reason to expect,
and more than was ever given for any poem of the length,
— 3000 guineas. Yet the first edition has paid them, and
^ The new administration after of the ill-nsed wife of George rv.
Perce^'s death, nnder Lord Liver- ' Wm. Miller, publisher, Albe-
pool, was supported by the Regent; marie Street, who had just sold
the opposition then took up the cause his business to Mr. John Murray.
/
y
SCOTT'S FAMILLAE LETTER;
[April
the second will be clear profit to the publishers. I will
write a few lines by the Kembles, whom I hope to see before
their departure.
TO MISS SMITH.
Edikk., &lh April 1S13.
My deab Miss Smith, — ... I have been much teazed
lately with applications to join the subscription for tho
recall of Mrs. Siddons, and have at length, with great
reluctance, for undoubtedly it was a deUcate subject, been
obliged to give my reasons for declining. In fact she will do
' a great injustice to herself if she suffers herself to be lured
back to a situation of such labour, when her constitution
has obviously suffered so much. I wonder if these ladies
and gentlemen have subscribed to make her immortal and
unattackable by age or by decay, for I think that is tho
only thing that can render their proposal reasonable. The
parting was made just at the time it should have been,
retaining enough of her astonishing powers to command
our admiration, while the unavoidable decay of strength
and constitution reconciled the public to losing her. I
hope she will not be cajoled into returning, for she can
never repeat the same impressive parting, or receive from
the public such testimonies of regret and esteem. These
things happen but once, and more last words are always
dangerous.^
We have had John Kemble here for some weeks, who
is now doubtless by far our first artist among the acton.
s. SidJoua retired from the great emotion her parting worda.
Londou ttago an June 30tb, 1812,
at CovBLl Garden, whora ahe acted
Lady Macbeth with so much power
that at the conclnsion of the sleep
scene the audience could not bear
to look on any of tbe other actors,
though John Kemble was there ;
he led his lister to the houl of the
stage, wbera she delivered with
ending with —
The audience took leave of thsir
favourite with great ai:cluiiatioDB,
aod at once left the honae, withont
waitbg for the concluaiou of the
play.
1813] TO MISS SMITH 281
He has been fashionable, and has drawn great houses,
much to the advantage of the Harry Siddons, whose house
was not much frequented in the beginning of the season.
Mr. Pinkerton the historian has had a tragedy here, but it
was not successful The interest was of a disagreeable kind,
and the scenes not connected so artfully as to produce
dramatic effect; othcr™e, the poefy i I ^ con-
siderable merit^ We have not yet seen Coleridge's play,*
but are to have it on Saturday for Terry's benefit I doubt
it - make no g™.t imp^Jcn; i^Z^ting Terry »d
Mr& H. Siddons, we are heinously unprovided for any
tragic effort . . . Adieu, my dear Miss Smith, and believe
me, ever your sincere friend, Walter Scott.
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART.
BoTHWSLL Castlb, 22nd April 1813.
Dear Mr. Scott, — I shall make you no apology for my
long silence, or for owning that I did not attempt to read
Rokeby till about a fortnight ago, my mind having been
thoroughly untimed to pleasure, and needle-work my chief
resource and occupation. No more of what does not con-
cern you. Let me now say how glad I am to see a third
edition already printed, a proof its popularity equals that
of its predecessors. When I come to my full relish for
poetry, I believe it will be as great a favourite with me ;
the characters, always your forte, are full as masterly, and
Wilfrid's in a manner new, because the milder virtues in a
man never were made quite interesting befora
Rowe's Altamont ^ is insipid ; your friend Miss Baillie
gives us the female character, not the male, in her gentler
heroes; even in novels they commonly only serve as foils
to more impetuous spirita But Wilfrid is almost the first
^ There were two anonymous of StratJiem on M9Tcti2L — Dibdin's
historical plays put on the Edin- Annals.
burgh stage at this time — Caledonia ^ Bemorae, acted in Edinburgh
on Dec. 23, 1812, and The Heiress in April 1813. ' Fair Penitent.
I.
283 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEES [April
object of tbo reader, attracts one's pity and affection, and
never one's contempt Bertram as an individual is also
very original ; tho' of the same species as Roderick Dhu
and William of Deloraine, perfectly distinct from them,
himself alone in every word and action. I was forcibly
struck with the parting scene between him and Edmund
in the cave, his depression rendered so pathetic, and the
sublime simile of the tropic aun. His finale on entering
the church highly satisfies me. The songs are almost all
charming ; that to the moon, the bandit's ballad and
chorus, and the cypress wreath especially.
I could say much more, but must speak of the Bridal
of TiHermain, and as a faithful spy, will give you a strict
account of all I have heard, good and bad. Lady Douglas
read it aloud to Lady H. Ancrum, the young ladiea, and
me ; the Scotts were gone. It produced exclamations of
surprise and delight, and was all approved, excepting one
part, the ridicule on Luc/a lovers etc, from page 103 to
109 inclusive.
You are the only author I ever yet knew to whom ono
might speak plain about the faults found with his works;
if this were ymirs, I could fairly own the disapprobation
of that part was very decided. I ventured to say the poem
seemed meant as an imitation of your style, and you some-
times had careless lines. "'No," replied Lady D. in-
dignantly, " but Walter Scott never wrote anything in such
bad taste as this; it is quite unlike Mm, and I cannot
understand how it could come from a person capable of
writing the remainder, which really is beautiful"
On Lord Newbattle's arriving from Edinburgh the other
day very full of it, and saying a Mr. Gillies was its author,
she bogged him, if he knew Mr. Gillies, to persuade bim to
strike out that passaga The Glasgow bookseller also gives
it to Mr. Gillies,' so we are quite satisfied. . . .
> Mr. Robert F. GiUtes.— See J(mmal, paeaim.
1813] FEOM LADY LOUISA STUAET 283
I think you will enjoy an odd incident that occurred
yesterday. In the change for a draft Lady D. found a
Paisley guinea note, pretty dirty and greasy, on the back of
which was a blotting that by chance she observed to look
like verse. With much pains I deciphered these lines —
^ Farewell my note 1 and whereeoe'er ye wend
Shun gaudy scenes to be the poor man's friend.
Te *ye left a poor one, go to one as poor,
And drive despair and hanger from his door.''
She vows to keep it sacredly for some object of charity. I
am charged with her kindest remembrance, and beg you
will give mine to Mra Scott — Believe me, ever your much
obliged, L. Stuart.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
22nd AprU 1813.
Many thanks, my dearest friend, for your kind atten-
tion about the verses. They are very clever indeed, and
had it not been that my friend Lydia White lies rather
open to be practised upon, I should never have suspected
them, though in the circumstances I deemed further
inquiry due for the sake of the public.^ It was very hand-
some of the author to put me on my guard, and I beg you
will express how kindly I take it of him. I imderstood
from Miss White's second letter that I could get no
feasible account of the authenticity of the verses, and our
friend Lady Melville when in Ireland had heard of the
quiz and wrote to me about it. I put the lines into the
Beffister, by way of contributing to a work which I think
very well of. . . .
The Bridal of THermain is the book which has ex-
cited most interest here. Jefifrey lauds it highly, I am
informed, and is one day to throw it at my head. I have
^ Modem verses which had been sent to Scott as an original poem by
Swift.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[APEcn.
added a little book called Poetical Epistles} or some such
name, only for the sake of the first two pieces, or rather
of two or three paragraphs of them, or rather for two lines
applying exactly to a Tiew from Abbotsford—
"Soft slept tbe mist on cloven Eildoo laid,
And distant Melrose peep'd fTom leaTj shade."
The attempt to render Theocritiis into broad vulgar Scotch
is totally unsuccessfuL I also add Horace in London, by
the authors of the Rejected Add/resses, but which does not
add to their fiime. In the first place, many of the topics
they have touched are gone by, for who now thinks of Mrs.
Clarke or Duke and Darling ? But besides, the pubhc will
1 The FocUeal Kplsllt* were
written by the Rev. Robert
Morehead, ofterw&rda Dean of
Edinburgh and snbaeqnentlf Rector
of Easington, Yorkshire. I am
indebted to the conrtes; of the
kuthor's granddaughter for per-
mittvig mc to ase the following
letter addressed "To the [anony-
moiiH) author of Mpietla from
SeoUand and Traniktioni, etc.,
care of Mesira, Ramsay and Co.,
PHntera, Edinburgh."
I shoold not, sir, have anffered
your card to remain [so] long iiU'
anaivered if I had thought that I
could offcryou any criticisms uppn
your interesting poems. But I Atn
not a great friend either to giving
or receiving advice of this nature.
A friendly critic may no doubt
sometimes be of service to an author,
hnt I think very rarely.
It once happened to me, when
less hackneyed in composition, to
shew a amatl poem to about a do£en
personi,whom Icooantted as having
taste and jndgroent. They all
bononred my attempt with general
approbation, but favoared me at
the same time with ao many special
objections that not a line of tha
poem escaped uoblotted, excepting
two, which were neither good nor
bad, but essentially neceisaiy to
carry on the story. As my good
fnenda, however, did not in g«neTBl
agree upon their objections, I took
the liberty of departing from them
all ; and from that liros I have
never sought or given any eriticiim
except from two persona, whose
cast of feeling with my own.
I trost, air, that yoa will hold
this aa an apology for my declining
to oSer any particnlar remarks on
a poem to which I can so lafely
and conacientionslygive my sincere
approbation.
Tharo is one conplet in yoor
Epialie which I suppose I have
quoted a hundred times, as it de-
HcribeH exactly the distant view of
Eildon and Melrose from the upper
part of my little farm, I meant to
have said all this a long while since,
but have been prevented by a
variety of trifling biiaiDess.
1 wish you. sir, all health to
follow your literary amuaementa,
and aboutd be happy at any tims
to shew myself your obliged ser-
vant, WiLTCB Scott.
1813] TO LADY ABERCORN 285
not bear too much jocularity from one quarter ; fun upon
ftm is apt to grow a little tiresome. Accordingly, Horace
in LoTidon has been coldly received, and the authors who
were, as lions of the first order, received into the fashion-
ablo menageries last season, are no longer in the same
request. So at least says the echo we hear of London
tattle. I desired the Ballantynes to add three thick
volumes of Eastern Tales, the most complete collection
of the kind ever published, which I dehght in most ex-
tremely. I fear you will find the print, though beautiful
for the size, too small for your eyes; but they are an
excellent stock-book for the saloon. A volume of popular
romances belong to the set, on a plan which will be con-
tinued if the public like them. To all these I have added
what are worth all the rest, Crabbe's new Tales, strongly
marked with his manner, diction, and style of thinking;
but very interesting from the deep insight which they
afford into human character. It is scarcely possible to
look at his portraits without recognising them as painted
from nature, though one may never have met with the
originals whom they resemble. Any of those books which
your ladyship may not like on perusal may be returned, if
you think proper, and any order to my friendly publishers
I always consider as an obligation on myself.
I have an old copy of the history of the Highwaymen.
It is ill-written and ill-selected, yet curious. What a book
might be made out of the causes cA^bres of England, col-
lected upon a principle similar to that adopted by the
French editors of that popular work. The criminal records
of Scotland would be still more extraordinary ; for, joined
to the pecuharity of manners, tho custom or rule of taking
down the whole evidence in writing, which prevailed till with-
in these thirty years, afforded complete materials for such
a selection, which, by the way, I have often thought of.
I am now far advanced with Svnft. When my task ig
286 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [April
over I mt«Dd to arrange for publication a very complete
collection of songs and poetry respecting the insurrectionB
— for I will not call them rebellions — of 1715 and 1745,
for the purpose of malting a supplement to the Border
MinntrdBy, and bringing down the ballad history of
Scotland to the middle of the eighteenth century.
You may depend on out meeting at Dumfries in
August, and I will go on a day's journey with you if I do
not increase the difficulty of your accommodation, which
with so largo a suite must necessarily be considered. —
Adieu, my dearest friend, God bless you, W. S.
There is at Dublin a man of great but eccentric genius
named Maturin.' His father held an office of emolument
in the post-office, but from circumstances of inaccuracy,
which however was not held to affect character, lost his
situation, and was thrown from opulence to indigenca
The son, in whom I am interested merely from his high
talent, was a clergyman in the diocese of the Bishop of
Meath, who tells me that he behaved remarkably well, hut
held tenets too Calvinistic for the church, and which wera
likely to prevent his progress. He is now settled in
Dublin, and keeps, I understand, a boarding-house for
young gentlemen studying at Trinity Colloge. He is an
excellent classical scholar, and a man of general informa-
tion on all subjects, with the power of expressing himself
powerfully either in verse or prose. Two of his novels fell
into my hands, and struck me much as evincing a strong,
though very wild and sombre imagination, and great
powers of expression. His powers of language indeed
sometimes outrun his ideas, Hke the man who was run
away with by Iiis own legs. I think this man really deserv-
> Charlei Robert Mstarin, one of auccenfully introducied t,t Drnr;
the many unfortuaate men of Ltme in ISIS by Keui. The
geciuB whom Scott endesvoured to original MS. with Matarin'i letten
Berve by advice and pecuniary to Scott, is ttill proBerved ti
'"is drama ^erCram w(u Abbotsfoid.
1813] TO LADY ABERCORN 287
ing of patronage from his talents, and capable of serving
the Duke of Richmond's administration by his pen, should
it be thought worth while to inquire after Imn. At
present he seems to be in the way of adding another ex-
ample to the long roll of unfortunate men of talents Ireland
has produced. If your ladyship can turn the eye of any
great person upon him who may be willing to patronise, I
cannot, from the account I hear of Mr. Maturin from the
Bishop of Meath, suppose it will be ill bestowed.
TO HIS DAUGHTER.
Abboisfobd, 3d May {very like 3<2 Maaxh in Temperature) [1813].
My dear Sophia, — I received your letter in which you
say nothing of Walter's schooling. I hope that goes on
welL I am sorry to say the poor Cuddy is no more. He
lost the use of his hind legs, so we were obliged to have
him shot, out of humanity. This will vex little Anne, but
as the animal could never have been of the least use to
her, she has the less reason to regret his untimely death ;
and I will study to give her something that she will like
as well, to make amends, namely, a most beautiful peacock
and pea-hen, so tame that they come to the porch and
feed out of the children's hands. They were a present from
Mertoun, and I will give them to little Anne to make
amends for this family loss of the Donkey. I have got a
valuable addition to the Museum, some of the hair of
Charles i. cut from the head when his coflSn was discovered
about a month ago in St. George's Chapel at Windsor.
Dr. Baillie begged it for me of Sir Henry Halford, under
whose inspection the coffin was opened The hair is a
light brown. This is my best news. The worst is that
everything is suffering from cold and drought Give my ^
kind love to Walter, Anne, and little Charles. I assure
you the gardens are well looked after, but we want a little
rain sadly. The Russians have taken Dantzick and you
288 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [May
have escaped reading some very cramp gazettes, conse-
quently a good deal of yawning. Mama joins in kind
compliments to Miss Miller, and I am always, yomr affec-
tionate papa, Wal'ihe Scott,
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
[IS13.]
You may conceive, my dear friend, the surprise and
pleasure with which I received the precious relique your
letter enclosed. I say you may imagine it, because your
fancy can comprehend everything, but I will not allow-
that any one else can comprehend the matter in the
slightest degree, I have had a thousand diiferent fancies
about the proper mode of enchasing and preserving it
without being able to satisfy myself, but more of this
when I can acquaint you with the result.^ My pleasure
was the greater at being possessed of this inestimable re-
lique of distressed majesty, because I had been interesting
myself deeply about the discovery of Charles's grave with-
out the least hope of being so far a partaker in its spoils.
Perhaps it will interest Sir Henry Halford to know that
the reports to which Clarendon alludes, as unfavourable to
the statesmen of the time, were founded on the following
circumstances. OUver Cromwell was buried with great
splendour, and it was the hope and expectation of the
Royalists that rites equally sumptuous or more should
have been rendered to the body of Charles l^ Accord-
ingly it has been affirmed that a sum was actually appro-
priated for that purpose, and that as Charles il employ'd
it upon his pleasures, he was lain to shelter himself under
the economical subterfuge that his father's grave could
not be discovered, a matter highly improbable, let Lord
Clarendon say what he will, and indeed as appears from
' Fordeacriptionof theGoIdRing mgit, aee Li/t, vol. iv. p. 141.
eneloeing King Charles's hair with ' Rfhtllian, vol. vi. pp. 243-45,
the word " Bem«iDb«r " Burroutid- Lond. 1826.
18131 TO JOANNA BAILLIE 289
his own narrative and that of Herbert, as well as from the
late remarkable discovery, by no means accurately con-
sistent with truth.
I did not think Charles's hair had been quite so light ;
that of his father, and I believe of all the Stuarts till
Charles il, was reddish. My friend James Skene of Rubis-
law inherited from his mother, a descendant of Bishop
Juxon, the Bible which Charles gave on the scaffold to
the prelate, with the emphatic and enigmatical word
Bemerriber, to which no good clue has ever been found.
I wish Dr. Baillie had been at Windsor. I should
have liked to have known how the Regent looked upon
this solemn occasion, for the incident was a trjring one.
Tory as I am, my heart only goes with King Charles in
his struggles and distresses, for the fore part of his reign
was a series of misconduct ; however, if he sow'd the wind,
God knows he reap'd the whirlwind, and so did those who
first drew the sword against him, few of whom had occa-
sion to congratulate the country or themselves upon the
issue of these disastrous wars. Soimd, therefore, be the
sleep, and henceforward undisturbed the ashes, of this
unhappy prince. In his private capacity he was a man of
unimpeach'd virtue, worth, and honour, and bore his mis-
fortune with the spirit of a prince and the patience of a
Christian. His attachment to a particular form of worship
was in him conscience, for he adhered to the Church of
England during his treaty in the Isle of Wight and after-
wards, when by giving up that favourite point he might
have secured his re-establishment; and in that sense he
may be justly considered as a martyr, though his early
political errors blemish his character as King of England.
My great-great-grandfather by the mother's side, John
Swinton of Swinton, narrowly escaped being among the
commissioners who tried him, being an especial friend
aad councillor of old Noll (the more shame for him). He
VOL. L T
, no SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [itAY
VM onb of the principal managers for Scotland during the
mtOROg, unm ; and upon the Restoration, finiiing bimself ia
great danger of shoring the fate of Arg^le, he chose to
•MmiB the faith and manners of a Quaker, on whidi
ocoinoii it was observed if he had not trembled he would
not Itne quaked. A grand-aunt of mine used to tell me
her &&er'3 astonishment, who went to bed a EEkshionable
JOOBg gentleman, laying aside one of the rich laced suits
of thfl time, and upon awaking found a compleat suit at
Knum Pure habiliments laid down in the stead of his fine
dotliw; but it saved his father's neck and estate, the
OODZt Batisfying themselves with some gruesome fines,
idlidi the family feel the effects of to this day. Some
other lelations got cUpper-claw'd on the other side, losing
both l«id and life for the Stuarts, so that I heard enough
<rf the Civil Wars on both sides of the question. I must
not conclude these desultory anecdotes without my kindest
lemambrances and thanks to Dr. Baillie, through whose
intercession I have been so much honoured. I think, with
the sword of Montrose, and this lock of the unfortunate
Charles, I am fairly set up as a Cavalier, and it would be
scarce possible for me to be anything else were I disposed.
I really grieve for this juncture of affairs, but it will
blow by if the B^ent has prudence. The minister would
deserve well of his country who would advise him to ex-
tend to his wife the protection of a husband, and tken with
a good grace exert the authority of one. I think, and
have some reason for thinking, that had Perceval lived
he would have attempted to place them on a less scandal-
ous footing. . . .
TO LADT ABEECORN.
Bdins., 2I«( Map [I8I3].
Mt deakest friend," — Your letter (always most
welcome) was doubly so as it promises the pleasure of
1813] TO LADY ABERCORN 291
seeing you so soon. Any day after the 12th July you may
rely on my meeting you at Longtown, and proceeding a
day or two with you in any direction. I presimie you go
over Stainmore, in which [case] Mrs. Scott and I will pro-
bably go as far as Greta-bridge, to visit my friends the
Morritts at Rokeby. My cortege will in that case be
rather patriarchal, as I shall probably have my boy and
girl with me ; but this will be no great inconvenience, as
they can get beds in the town at Longtown, and at Penrith
(which I fancy will be your next day's journey) there is
a very large inn. You travel, I presiune, with your own
cavalry as usual Should you keep the west road by
Kendal, I will go so far as that town, and so to Keswick
and see Southey. Till the 12 th July I am necessarily
detained by attendance on the court here; for although
we can play truant sometimes, the ill-health of the wife of
one of my colleagues has carried him to Harrowgate this
season, and there cannot above one of us be absent at a
time without the risk of stopping the business of the
court.
I like Lord Abercorn's plan of all things in the world.
It is a sort of muddling work which would amuse me very
much, and I am convinced I could divest the cases so much
of technicality that it would form a most entertaining book.
Of course, it would only comprehend Scottish causes, for
knowing nothing of English law, I would make a foolish
figure on that groimd. There is one great objection, how-
ever, to this imdertaking, and that is, that the collection
would hardly be complete without the Douglas cause.
But this revival would be accompanied with unpleasant
feelings to the present family, with whom I have always lived
on particular intimacy. Lideed, I do not anywhere know
so clever and pleasant a companion as Lady D.,^ and
you know besides she is an aunt of the Duke of Buccleuch,
^ Frances, Lady Douglas.
292 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [May
and her daughter is married on an uncle of my neighbour
and kinsman, Scott of Grala; so I would do nothing to
displease, or rather to hurt their feelings for the universa
K the Marquis thinks this chapter can be skipt oyer,
I will be most anxious to set my researches on foot. The
half barbarous state of Scotland until 1748 gave rise to
deeds and incidents of the most wild^ mysterious, and
original character, and even in my own time I have known
professionally some cases of a most singular description.
I am half tempted to abridge the circumstances of one
which occurred during the last sitting of our courts^ and
is still in dependence.
About the middle of the last century a Scotch gentle-
man of landed property, by name Carruthers of Dormont^
married an aimt of the late Duchess of Grordon. The ladies
of this family were not famed for circumspection, and this
dame went astray. The husband obtained a sentence of
divorce against her ; but before the proceedings could be
finished she was delivered of a daughter, which law fixed
upon Dormont as a legitimate child, heir to his estate by
fonncr settlements, although he had ever}' possible reason
to believe that the infant was an alien to his blood. He
refused to see the child, and as he was obliged to maintain
it, he resolved it should be in such a manner that the girl
when she grew up, should never either know her rights, or
have an opportunity of vindicating them. She was shifted
from one obscure place of concealment to another (removals
which afterwards could only be traced by the affection
of her nurse, who had traced the poor infant through all
the places of abode out of pure affection), and at length,
when about five years old, she was sent to reside with an
ignorant and low farmer amid the wildest part of the
Cheviot Hills, with positive instructions that the girl
should receive no other education than should enable
her to read the Bible, and that she should be bred in the
1813] TO LADY ABERCORN 293
most humble mamier. Still however, dressed and edu-
cated as a peasant wench, the girl showed some spirit
and sense above her fortune. She spumed (one of the
witnesses says) at the name of Bobson which they endea-
voured to fix upon her, and as her guardian was talkative
in his cups (a predicament in which, like most Cheviot
farmers, he was frequently placed), she learned by degrees
more of the mystery of her birth than Dormont designed
she should ever know. Being a pretty girl she did not
want admirers; nay, as she disdained all of utterly low
degree, the son of a neighbouring petty squire called
Routledge ran away with and married her. His father's
estate was very small, and burthened with debt. The
young couple were not economists, and distresses came
thick upon them. They had recourse to her legal father,
as he may be called, and stated their claims to a share of
his estate while alive, and to inherit it at his death, but
being miserably embarrassed were at length glad to sell
their rights for about £1200, which was received and
spent. Calamity came still more heavy. At length the
husband died a prisoner in Carlisle jail, the wife, who had
been the victim of ill fortime from her birth, soon followed
him to the grave, and a boy and girl who survived be-
came the objects of the charity of a distant relation. The
boy (who was so young when his mother died as to have no
knowledge whatever of the peculiar circumstances under
which he was bom) was fitted out for the East Indies.
Before he went on board, his benefactor put into his
hands a packet, and desired him to take charge of it. It
referred, he said, to some claims of his mother on a Scotch
estate, and might one day be useful to him should he
return from India an independent man. The youth left
the papers with some others in the hands of a friend in
London, and went to follow his fortima It seemed that
the iU planet which haimted his mother had exhausted its
294 SCOTT'S FAMILLUl LETTERS [Mat
influence, for Henry Routledgo was prosperous, and ob-
tiuned an hottourablo situation in the Company's service;
and in process of time obtained leave to return to Britain.
He visited Cumberland, his native county, and was in-
duced, from the love of grouse-shooting, to extend his tour
to Dumfriesshire. An extraordinary chance led liira to
chuso his residence at a petty inn, near the very estate <rf
Dormont, now possessed by a grand-nephew of the old
laird. The name of the stranger (after he had been a
guest for a day or two) struck the landlady, who, like
most of her class, was a sort of record of the ancient and
modem gossip of the parish, where it may be thought so
odd a history as that of Routledge'a mother was well
known, for her claim had been made public at the time
when old Dormont compounded with her and her husband. ,
This chattering old dame did not fail to engage Mr. Rout-
ledge in discourse about his family history, of which she
found with great surprise he was totally ignorant. The
lights she gave him on his mother's melancholy history
recalled to his recollection the packet given him by his
benefactor, who was now dead. When ho returned to
London he caused the papers it contained to be laid
before English Counsel, who of course could only advise
him to consult lawyers here. He left directions to do so,
and to commence law proceedings if necessary. The late
President Blair (then Solicitor-General for Scotland)
advised a lawsuit, on the ground that Mrs. Routledge
and her husband, in compounding their own right,
could not transact away that of their son. When Mr.
Routledge returned a second time from India, he
was greeted with the joyful intelligence that the first
decision of the cause was favourable. He gave a ^nner
to some of his friends, and to his counsel, and — I am
sorry to add the catastrophe — was found dead in his bod
next morning, having broken a blood-vessel during the
1813]
TO LADY ABERCOEN
295
nightw So ended this strange eventful history, but so ended
not the lawsuit, which is still maintained against the
Carruthers in possession, in the right of the deceased
Boutledge's sister, Mrs. Majendie, wife of the Bishop of
Bristol (aa I thinky
My cause cdibre has occupied so much room that I
have none to enlarge upon the present marriage-law of
England and Scotland. Being quite opposite to each
other, the one acknowledging as legal a marriage which
the other annuls, it clearly follows that a man may have
a lawful wife in each coimtry at one and the same time,
and also a lawful family by each wife, and this with per-
fect impunity, because, as neither country will acknowledge
the marriage made in the other as existing, a trial for
bigamy is out of the question. It is a comfortable circum-
stance in such an arrangement, that the two wives, if they
wish to retain their credit, must live in different coimtries,
for she who crosses the Tweed loses her character. — It
would require much more room than I have left to say
how much I am your Ladyship's most obliged and faithful
himible servant, W. S.
TO MORRITT.
Edinb., 25th June 1813.
My dear Morritt, — I fear our match has missed fire,
and Triermain will not be reviewed; but what the reason
^ The decision favourable to Mr.
Routledge was given in February
1811, but the ultimate decision of
the case was unfavourable. Upon
Mr. Routledge's death, his sister,
Mrs. Majendie, wife of the Bishop
of Bangor (not Bristol) took his
place as pursuer of the action ; and
in May 1812 the First Division of
the Court of Session by a majority
of 4 to 3 held that the compromise
of [1759, by which Mr. and Mrs.
Routledge accepted £650 (not
£1200) from Mr. Carruthers in full
satisfaction of their claims, was
binding upon their heirs. This
judgment was affirmed by the
House of Lords in 1820, after a
reference to the Court of Session
for the opinion of the whole judges.
See Reports in Faculty Collection :
also 4 Dow 392, and 2 Bligh 692.
296 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Junk
may be for this alteration I cannot learn without makiiig
inquiries, which would not be prudent. It is 8£ud that
Jeffrey, the scourge of authors, is about to pay a visit to
America almost immediately. The reason of this move is
variously assigned ; but the public, always willing to put
the worst construction upon such matters, spread a whisper
about a claim made upon his unwilling hand by some fair
nymph whose pretensions he is willing to parry. This
however I don't boUeve a word of, and cannot see what
good changing his climate would do him in the case sup-
posed. He has some connections in America, and I
fancy is willing to take the opportunity of the long
vacation to refresh himself in the congenial almosphero
of a republic.
By the way, I got a present from an American gentleman
of a most admirable brace of volumes, entitled The Sist&ry
of New York during the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich
Knickerbocker. It is an excellent and very humorous
satire, much of it doubtless lost by its being local, but
enough remaining [to] entertain me highly,' I will brii^
it to you if you are to be at Kokeby in the beginning
of August ; for you must know that for the purpose of
settling some business, I am to meet the Marquis of
Abercorn on the border in the commencement of that
month, and I must travel on a day's journey, or perhaps
two, in his suite. This will bring me to the foot of Stain-
more, and it would be difficult to turn mo there if I thought
Mrs. Morritt and you were on the other side. I ahould
like to know how this will suit with your motions.
In consequence of the success of Eokeby and some other
favourable circumstances, I am now busied with clearti^
off all old scores and scraping together ray Httle property
' Mr. Harry Brevaoit, a friend (April S3rd) the appredfttiTe l«tta
«( Washington Irving, sent the printed in Irving'* ij/c, voL L
book to Scott, who wrote in reply p. 197.
1813] TO MORRITT 297
for the benefit of the brats, and by Christmas I have every
reason to hope that I shall find myself a free man of the
forest, with some thousand poimds in my pocket, besides
my house and the farm of Abbotsford. But in these cursed
times I cannot as formerly get cash for my bookseller's
bills. . . . This will certainly be my last transaction of the
kind : for should I write again, I will rather keep the copy-
right than subject myself to these inconveniences. Indeed
I was partly aware it would have been better to do so with
Rokeby, but I wished to buy Abbotsford and settle myself
on the Tweed, without which I think I could hardly have
been quite happy anywhere. . . . Above all let me know if
I shall find you at Rokeby when I part with the great
Marquia I should tell you how well the wild flowers
from Thorsgill are flourishing at Abbotsford, how the
currant bushes (wild videlicet) are sprouting out on the
Abbotswell, all which I hope Mrs. Morritt and you will
'Come to see one day or other. Begging my kind compta,
with all apology for a scrawl written to the tune of a
pleading which goes very deeply to injure the character
of Ossian Macpherson, — Ever yours truly,
W. Scott.
FROM MORRrrr.
RoKEBT 2Qth June [1813].
... I FEARED for the success of your scheme of Trier-
main from all I heard in London. There was a strong
suspicion of the author, and some of those who knew you
best were not to be deceived. W. Bose exclaimed directly :
"Aut ErcLsmi est aut Diaboli" and many others swore it
was your& I told more lies about it than an Old Bailey
Evidence, and only hope you are prepared to answer
for my sins, and won't leave me to be punished for serving
your cause, so long as dried pease are to be found, by which
you can walk occasional penances pro salute animce rtvece.
298 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [Junk
But tho' the suspicion will prevent the review of the Bridal
of Triermain, whence arises this ominous silence about
Rokeby ? I was told Jeffrey had prepared that article for
the last review, and then struck it out, and delayed the
volume till another was written to fill its placa Tell me
what you know of this mantcuvrc. . . .
I have to thank you for Joanna Baillia I dined in
company with her at Lady Milbajike's, introduced myself
in your name, was graciously received, and we " swore «n
eternal friendship,"' a vow I mean to keep. She Is a
delightful person, and I hope she thinks me the sama
Besides, her unaffected and unassuming genius was made
more piquant in my eyes by the Rev. Dr. Parr and Lord
Erskine, who were of the same dinner, and who each pu&d
the other in alternate compliments, which were mutually
accepted and carried to account, till it was almost impos-
sible to refrain from laughing at a scene fully equal to one
of Foote's best farces. You shall have the particulars tn
August, and judge of the treat we had. Vanity in all ite
various modifications was never so brilliantly displayed,
and after all there is nothing so entertaining.
Lord Byron has written a new poem, and in compli-
ment, I suppose, to Rogers' Epic, has published it as a
fri^:ment, and dedicated it to him. I hope tho joke will
not become universal, for it is very conceited, and spoils,
moreover, a good poem. He calls it the Giaour, a word
that has sadly plagued the bas-bleu, for they cannot talk
about it till we Turks have instructed them in the true
pronunciation. He has paid you an involuntary tribute,
for in many of his pass^es he has copied your manner;
but he seems fated to compliment and to cultivate every
man in turn whom his earher productions abused. The
story, where it is told at all, is powerfully and spiritedly
done. . . .
' See Cuming's Sover$.
1813] FEOM JOANNA BAILLIE 299
FROM JOANNA BAILLIE.
Eylakd, Honiton, JWy l$t, 1813.
My dear Friend, — ... I have met with your friend
Mr. Morritt, and begun, I hope, an acquaintance with him ;
for I should be sorry to think that what is past is all
I shall ever have of his society. I had the good luck to
find myself seated next to him at dinner at Sir R Mil-
banke's, tho' we had not been introduced to each other,
and had the luck also, while I was struggling with my own
foolish reserve for something to say to him, to be spoken
to by him first. This made all easy. We talked about
you and Bokeby and some other agreeable subjects, and
I found myself so much placed to my heart's content, that
aU the wit and learning of Dr. Parr, who sat smoking his
pipe in great glory at the other end of the long table,
was entirely lost to me without regret. . . .
This, then, is one of the two things ; the other is getting
acquainted with Miss Edgeworth. If you would give a
silver sixpence, as you say, to see us together, each of us
would, I am sure, have given a silver crown (no small part
now of the real cash contained in anybody's purse) to have
seen you a third in our party. I have found her a frank,
animated, sensible, and amusing woman, entirely free from
affectation of any kind, and of a confiding and affectionate
and friendly disposition that has really gained upon my
heart. We met a good many times in large parties, and
thrice in a more familiar way ; and when we parted she
was in tears like one who takes leave of an old friend.
She has been received by everybody, the first in literature
and the first in rank, with the most gratifying eagerness and
respect, and has pleased — I should rather say delighted —
them alL She is cheerful, and talks easily and fluently, seems
interested in every subject that comes into play, and tells
her little anecdote or story (when her father does not take
300
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTEI^
[July
it out of her mouth) very pleasantly. However, in regard
to her father, tho' it is the fashion to call him a great bore.
she is not so much hampered as she must have been
when in Edin^, where I was told she could not get
leave to speak to anybody, and therefore kept in the back-
ground wherever she went. When they take up the
same thing now they have a fair wrangle (tho' a good-
humoured one) for it, and she as often gets tho better as
he. He is, to be sure, a strange mortal, with no great
Utct, as it is called, and some small matters of conceit; yet
his daughter is so strongly attached to him that I am sure
he must have some real good in him ; and, convinced of
this, I have taken a goodwill to him in spite of fashion,
and maintain that if he would just speak one half of what
he speaks he would bo a very agreeable man.
You would have been amused if you had seen with
what eagemesa people crowded to get a sight of Miss
Edgeworth, — who is very short, — peeping over shoulders
and between curl'd tetes to get but one look. She aaii
very well herself, at a party where I met her, that the crowd
closed over hor. She did indeed cause a strange commo-
tion ; and had Mad" Stael come as she was expected at th«
same time, I don't know what would have happened; tho
town must have run mad altogether. She, Mad" Stael,
is now arrived, and has the whole field to herself; but her
reign for this season must be short, as the company will so
soon leave town. . . .
I have been reading lately Lord Byron's new poem, the
Giaour, which I suppose you have seen. There are benuti-
Ail passages in it : the sinking of the body into the sea, th«
murder of Hassan, and the simile of the butterfly chased
by a child, compared to another vain pursuit, which is
eminently beautiful, etc, ; and on the first reading, notwith-
standing the strange broken way of insinuating the story,
me exceedingly. However, after being open-
1813] FROM JOANNA BAILLIE 301
mouthed in its praise for a day or two, when I came to
read it a second time, a great part of the charm, I know
not how, had fled. He is satisfied with giving the energy
of passion, without its nobleness and grace, and one cannot
be the least interested for either Leila or her Giaour, but
very well satisfied that they should either be drowned or
confined in a monastery, as the poet may see fit. Hassan is
the only person in the story that I could sympathize with.
Lord B. has no mean portion of native genius ; but he
seems to me, notwithstanding the very different character
of his persons and stories, tor have Walter Scott perpetually
in his eya I wonder if he is himself aware of this,
and whether he would not be ready to break my head for
saying so. There were touches here and there at which I
could not help caUing out your name, viz., where he says,
on the ambushed foes firing on the followers of Ha^an
four or five — ^I forget the number — came to the ground,
and " three shall never mount again." I say not this to his
discredit ; I believe he has not imitated such graces from
you, but caught them. Tho' passion, as he chuses to paint
it, is revolting, yet it is naturally and forcibly expressed,
and if he thought more worthily of human nature he
might, I should think, excel in tragedy, and possibly he
may turn his thoughts this way.
How I have filled up my paper with I don't know what.
Farewell ! it is time to have done. I hope this will find
yourself and Mrs. Scott and the children well, and ofier
my kindest wishes most cordially. — With all kind and
sisterly goodwill, yours truly, J. Baillie.
TO MORBirr.
Abbotsfobd, Melrose, l^h July 1813.
. . . Here we are alfresco at length enjoying the sweet
wr of Tweedside, instead of the stifling fumes of the Parlia-
ment House. Old Button, the Geologist, parcvs et infrt-
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [July
qaens Veorum ctiltor, used to say it was worth wMle going
to a presbyterian kirk for the pleasure of coining out, and
truly I am of the same opinion as to the Court of Session.
Everything is flourishing here magnificently, and some of
my new planted trees actually rival an expanded umbrella
in height and extent of shade, I was fortunate enough to
be in town when Lord Compton and Mr. Pemberton passed
through. They appear to be very good young men' T
spent part of Sunday in showing them the Abbey and
other iiiemorables, and they dined and spent the day with
us. I have given them a letter to Mrs, Clephane, for aa
they are bound for Staffa, and the Laird is not at Ulva, it
will be a point of consequence to find them some accom-
modation in the land of mist and billows,
Your account of Jeffi-ey's retreat was the right reading,
I remember seeing the young lady, some time ago, at his
house at dinner. Thero is I bohevo a family connection
between the parties! Meantime the Review is put into
commission. John Murray, Professor Playfair, aad aome
third person whom I forget (Thos. Thomson, I beheve), are
the Commissioners. What halcyon days for poor bards
and authors I I think Triemiain begins to be more
noticed. I hear much of it in society, and nobody with us
smokes the truth We keep our purpose of being at
Rokeby in the first week of August, though we are in some
degree dependent on the motions of our great Mortjuis. My
present intention is to bo at Drumlanrig about the 25th,
' Mnrritt wrote , .
TOTj Ukeiy hear of r
. " You wiU
le about the
I, from Lord
Compton and Mr, Pemberton, two
yonng friends of mine, who are
travelling your roud, and to whom
I gave a letter for you, at I u iahed
to procure tbeca tbe opportunity of
awing Edinburgh under your am-
picei. Lord Compton is Lord
Northampton '■ eldest son, and Mr.
Pemberton, a young Sbropihin
geotleman. They stayed here (our
or five days, and I hope will miike
an iatereeling tour.
I hear JeBrey's tour to Amerie*
is not to avoid, but to fetch a wifey
and that she ii a niece of Johnny
Wilkes, bred and born in Ameri<a.
What a portentouH conjunction oE
philosophic republicanism I"
1813] TO MORRITT 303
where I shall see what the Duke of Buccleuch is makmg
of his new domain, and lend him some of my Gothic
knowledge, if he will accept it, to put his castle into repair.
I am told it is a grand old chateau, but my own early re-
collections make it a very gloomy one. Will there be any
chance of Heber's being in Yorkshire in August ? I fear
not ; he skips about like a flea in a blanket, and no man
knows where to find him. . . .
TO THE SAME.^
Brouoh, Sunday, l(Hh August 1813.
My dear MoRRrrr, — Our disappointment of this morn-
ing, which on any other occasion would have been the
theme of sufficient mortification, is quite lost in anxiety
about dear Mra Morritt's health. I trust this will find her
continuing better, and would never have forgiven you had
you allowed us upon any point of mere ceremony (and
what better could our meeting, under such circumstances,
have been) to have come forward at the risk of disturbing
her. When we hear that she is getting stout we wiU talk
of taking amends for our little tour, either on our return
from London, if we go there next spring, or by your coming
to Abbotsford next autumn, for my cottage, though very
smaU, has room for Mrs. Morritt and you. AU this dis-
cussion will be for a happier moment ; meanwhile I write
chiefly to assure you of our deep and sincere interest in
your present distress, and to beg you will let me know how
Mrs. Morritt is, by a line addressed to Abbotsford, where
we wiU be I think by Saturday. I intend going a little
out of the direct road to spend a day or two with Southey,
if I have the good fortune to find him at home at Keswick
— Believe me ever, dear Morritt, most faithfully yours,
Walter Scott.
^ After leaving Lord Abercom the alarming illness of Mrs. Morritt,
Scott proceeded towards Rokeby, and turned his steps to Keswick,
bat on reaching Brough he heard of
304
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[Aug.
TO M. W. HAllTSTONOE.
Abdotsiobd, 2Ut Avffial [181.^
, . . We were delighted with Drumlanrig, which is a
most princely abode, a large Gothic quadrangular building
in stylo and character not unlike Heriot's Hospital in
Edinbui^h, and plann'd by the game great master. Inigo
Jones,' It is situated on the extremity of a lofty hill, which
projects like a sort of promontory from a mountainous
background, and overlooks a largo tract of comparatively
open country, so that the casllo looks quite tha queen
of the valley. The Nith runs near it, through a most
romantic channel of broken rocks, where the walk of the
last Duchess of Qiieensberry, " fair Kitty, blooming, young
and gay," is led with some taste, but the park and tha
mountains are sorely divested of wood, the late abominable
"old Q." having laid the axe to the root with a witness.*
After ten days' residence with our Chief and his Lady,
we strolled on as far as Keswick, where I spent a day with
Southey. He read me some parts of a poem to bo entitled
Don Roderick (the last Gothic King of Spain being the
hero). It is most highly impressive, and what is curious, ha
has a picture of Don Roderick at confession, an exact pen-
dant or counterpart to mine, for he represents him a man
more sinned against than sinning. As he had not seen my
verses, the coincidence was very striking.^
As for myself the sight of Carlisle Castle set me tramp-
ing up a tale (not for publication, being too wild and
clannish), called Kimtiont Willie : you will find the stor)-
in the Bordei- Minstrelsy. If I have ever courage to write
out my tale, you shall have a copy. — I ever am, most
truly yours, Walter Scott.
' The Architect of Heriot'n H<u- okiried »□ by William Aytoun.
pital, Edinburgh, Is now generally ' Willian), third Karl of M*reb
and fourth Duke of Queengberry.
iindeTatood to have been W. Wal-
lace, "the King's Muter Muon,"
At hii death in 1631, the work wu
Sea Scott'B Poaical Worts,
vol. ii. pp. 376-7.
1813] TO LADY ABEECORN 305
TO LADY ABEBCORN.
Sept, 3d, 1813.
My deab Lady Abercorn, — Our little trip was soon
ended^ and we got into all our cottage routine without any
incident worth telling, excepting that I have been surprised
by an offer of the situation of poet laureate, vacant by the
death of Mr. Pye. This was very handsome on the part of
the Prince Regent, and I feel flattered accordingly; but
there were many reasons against accepting the appoint-
ment, and I have accordingly declined it, with every ex-
pression of respect and gratituda The necessity of writmg
odes twice a year is a difficulty which no one ought to en-
counter who has any poetical character to lose ; at least I
am sure I should find it insurmountabla The thing might
be easily done in a decent sort of way as old Whitehead
himself describes it —
" Whose Muse obliged by sack and pension
Without a subject or invention,
Must certain words in order set
As innocent as a Gazette,
Must some half meaning half disguise,
And utter neither truth nor lies."
But this mediocrity of performance is precisely what is most
intolerable in poetry, and I should neither have done
justice to the Prince's judgment nor credit to my own, had
I accepted it without the hope of doing something better
than making milk-and-water verses about the " natal day "
and the " new-bom year. ' When the office was offered to
Gray, it was offered as a sinecure, and indeed I think it
would become the Prince's good taste to abolish the absurd
and ridiculous usage of compelling a poor devil to write
bad verses twice a year, by way of honouring the royal
family and ministry for the time being; and until this be
done, I think it will be difficult to get a man of real talent,
unless from the mere love of the salary, to undertake the
office. As for myself, all I have to fear in the matter is
VOL. I. u
306 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Skfi.
that some busy misrepresenter may whisper in the
Regent's ear, that some Kensington House ^ partialities
rendered me unwilling to accept an office in the Royal
Household 80 handsomely offered by H, R. H's express
direction. I trust however this will not be the case,
as I have stated frankly that any poetical eiibrts which
may have attracted H. R H's approbation have bees
free and spontaneous, and that I fear to trammel myself
with the regular discharge of a constant and recurring
poetical commemoration,— that I could not be exculpated if
I accepted the situation so honourably tendered to me,
unless I was conscious of the power of approaching to such
excellence as might vindicate the selection the Prince had
made, that besides I held professional appointments of
Home value, and this seemed to be one of the few things
calculated to provide for some literary person who had no
other adequate establishment or opening to fortune. All
this I stated as civilly as I possibly could, and I think the
Prince, who has both good sense and good taste, will eadly
understand that there may bo other reasons which cannot
so well be written, why I should reject the wreath " pro£aned
by Gibber and contemned by Gray." . . .
TO C. CARPENTER.
AsBOTSFOKD, Sept, 3d, 1813.
My dear Caupenteb, — I have just got your letter of
10th of February, and a fortnight before Charlotte re-
ceived the valuable and much admired package of cottons
and long cloths, which she values still more as a plet^ of
Mrs. Carpenter's regard and friendship. Our little girls
will be all as fine as so many little Queens, and Charlotte
herself will feel no little pride and satisfaction in appearing
in a dress which she owes to the kindness of so valued b.
' Then the residence of the Prioceas oE Wales.
1813] TO C. CARPENTEE 307
relation. I obseirve Mrs. Carpenter finally purposes leaving
India in October. I should like very much to be in Eng-
land on her arrival, and if possible, I wiU certainly contrive
it. We have two months' vacation from 12th March to
12th May, during which time I should think it likely
Mrs. Carpenter will reach Britain, and should she then
think of coming North, I will undertake to be her escort,
if she will accept me. . . .
Our domestic news is limited to our being all well;
the little people are much what I could wish them, very
affectionate to each other, and dutiful to us ; they have all
rather good parts, and little Charles, your name-son, shews
marks of genius which may perhaps turn to something
remarkable. But as our Scotch proverb says, " It is a long
time to the saddling of a foaL" . . .
TO MORRirr.
Abbotsford, ah September [1813].
My deab Morrtit, — Our journey here was of course
not the pleasantest considering the state in which we left
Mrs. Morritt's health. And on taking up our usual occu-
pations my quiet has been disturbed by the offer of the
Laurel, — nothing less if you pleasa The matter was very
handsomely meant by the Prince Regent, and as hand-
somely expressed, and I was somewhat puzzled how to
avoid the ungracious appearance of flinging an intended
favour back in the donor's face. But it was impossible to
think of being Laureate. A sort of ridicule has always
attached to the character, and Horace himself could not
have made the regular duty of the office decently respect-
able. Besides, the coimtry has done its part by me, and
this appointment seems rather to belong to some one who
has dedicated his time to literature, independent of every
other profession. Last of all, a place in the household is
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[SSPT
a sort of tie on votes and political conduct, and no man
ought to pledge himself in these matters, since ministers
might ba changed, and then the Ex-Laureat«, which I
should probably soon be, would make rather an absurd
figure. So I transmitted my nolo in the civillest terms 1
could devise,' and I think you will approve of my having
done so. I am much more flattered with Marshal
Beresfords' approbation than with that of Principalities
and Powers. I have a natural love for a soldier, which
would have been the mode of life I would have chosen in
preference to all others but for my lameness. And yet 1
made the discovery a good many years since that I should
have been but an indifferent soldier. The essence of
military skill rests upon mathematical principle, combined
with an accurate estimate of the moral and physical facul-
ties of your own troops, and those who are opposed to you.
The most simple and effectual mode of bringing a given
number of men to a certain point at a certain moment is s
singularly dry study, and yet it comprehends the grand
principle of mihtary tactics. So I am well contented to
look at war poetically and to give it all the cast of chivaliy
and romance, which in fact, is a mere appendage to the
reality like the red coats, standard, and kettledrums. But
my interest remains unabated in those who have fought
the good fight, and to Marshal Beresford I think wo owe
the splendid example of a regenerated people. The diy
bones have been warmed into life under his admirable
management, and I trust he will be spared to enjoy those
honours which are due to his labours and hazards of every
dcscriptioa The meeting at Rokeby will be indeed a joy-
ous one, and happy shall I be when it takes place.
' See Lctlera to Lord Hertforii, reading Bohbj/. and he reqaeMad
&nd Mr. Clarke, the Ecgent'a Ijb- Idr. Morritt to eoDvey to tba
rarian, in Li/e, vuL iv. pp. IW nnd aulbor hia AuknowledgenieDt for
M3, the fauidaonie compliment ho Iwl
■ Marshal Bvroaford hnd beeu paid him in Jion Sodrrifk. . . .
1813] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 809
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
... I FEAR (yet why should I say so in the circum-
stances?) that the fatal termination of the poor old
monarch's illness will soon (if it has not already) restore
Dr. Baillie to his family. I would I could augur well of
what is to follow, but, alas ! a public defiance of morality
is but a bad bottoming for a new reign ; it is incalculable,
the weight which George the iiL derived from his domestic
conduct But we must hope the best, and none is more
willing to hope it than I, who would do my little best for
the Crown of England if it hung upon a hedge stake.
When I shall come to rummage your portfolio and eat
your pudding at Hampstead is very uncertain. If I should
walk in the morning after you receive my letter, pray
do not take me for a wraith ; ^ but it is much more likely
I shaU not see London for several years as I did not come
up this summer when I had real and serious business to
do. My most agreeable errand will be to claim the pro-
mised communication of your future plans. — Adieu, God
bless you, W. Scott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
Abbotspobd, Qth November 1813.
Many thanks, my dearest friend, for your kind letter,
which found us loitering away our time as usual by what
some one calls "well-simg Tweed's baronial stream." It
is really a fine, though not a very large, river when it passes
my kingdom of Barataria, and is at this moment mustering
up all its waters with a voice like distant thimder. Alas !
it is a summons for me to prepare for scenes of a very
different kind, and to abandon my cottage for the noise
and dissonance of our law courts which commence their
^ An apparition in likeness of a person appearing soon before or soon
after death. — Jamieaon,
SCOTT'S FAMILIAit LETTERS
[XOT.
sessions on the 11th. I cannot say with the patient sul>-
mission of Biackstone —
"Then welcome buflineas, welcome strife.
Welcome the c«res and thorns of life.
The drowsy bench, the babbling hall.
For thee, Mr Justice, welcome ail." '
On the contrary, I foar if Justice slept till I went to Edio-
burph to wake her, her Totaries would think her deaf as
well as blind. But go I must, and it is no small comfort
to think we have had the most delightful season OTer
remembered in Scotland, and that part of it was employed,
my dear friend, in meeting you.*
Mrs. Morritt, whose indisposition alarmed tia not a
little, is getting better, — not so much so, however, as to
give great confidence in her future health.
I am sorry nothing can be done for poor Moturin;
but I cannot think of intruding myself upon Lord
< 7^ Lauiyer'i Faractll to Au
Mute.
' It IB worth repeatiDg Scott's
description of Lord Abercom'a
altdagt and mode of travelliiig to
and from Ireland. He met the pro-
oeuioD between CarliHle and Loog-
towni— "The Udiea of the family
and the houeehold occupied four
or Gve caniuj^EB, all drawn by the
Marqais'a own horeeH, while the
noble lord himaelf brooght np the
rear, mounted on haneback, but
decorated with the ribbon of the
order of ihe Garter. On meeting the
cavalcade, Scott turned with them,
atid he was not a little unuaed
when they reached tiie village of
LoDgCowD, which he had ridden
through an honr or two before,
with the prepaiatiouB which he
found there matte for the dinner of
the part;. The Marquii'e major-
domo and cook had arrived there
at an early hour in the monung,
and overytJiing was now anonged
for hie reception in the paltry Lttie
pnbtic-houae, aa nearly aa poeuble
in the style usual in his own lordly
mansiona. The duclis and gaae
that bad been dabhiing three or
four hours ago in the rillogo pcmd
were now ready to make their ap-
pearance uodoT Qumborleu dti-
guisea as nUria ; a regular bill-cif-
fare tianked the noble MarqiuB^
allotted covet ; every haokaback
towel in the plaoe had been prmniiit
to do service as a napkin ; and,
that nothing might be wantjtig to
the mimicry of aplendoar, the
lady's poor remnants of crockery
and pewter had been furbished up,
and mustered in solemn order on a
craay old buffet, which wms to
represent a sideboard worthy of
LuculluB."— i-f/e, iv, p. 9fi.
L
1813] TO LADY ABERCORN 311
•
Whitworth, for whose character and situation I have the
respect which both so eminently demand What could he
think of me but as the most conceited coxcomb in the
world, if because my writings may have given him an hour's
amusement, I should think myself entitled to intrude any
one on his patronages merely as a friend of mine ? I never
saw Mr. Maturin in my life, and probably never shall, nor
have I any other motive in wishing him well than that
which I think would be common to me with Lord Whit-
worth, — the wish namely to assist a man of very con-
siderable literary powers, and, as I am informed, of a most
estimable priv^ character, who is fighting manfuUy with
adverse circumstances and a feeling mind As his present
employment is to receive as pupils and boarders such
yoimg men as attend Trinity College, it may perhaps be in
your ladyship's power to mention his name to any of your
Irish friends who may wish such an accommodation for
their sons; and in doing so I am convinced you would
serve them as well as this imfortimate young man. His
character renders him, I understand, very fit for such
a trust, and after all it is astonishing how much the
slightest glimpse of encouragement from such high rank
and fashion as yours, my dear Lady Marchioness, will
do for a person in his situation. Your encouragement is
like a beam of the sun, productive of effects far above your
own calculation, and if a poor roturier may judge, I think
it one of the most enviable attributes of rank that you can
do so much good d peu de frais. What an excellent
Bishop of London you have given the kingdom in Mr.
Howley. I hope he has not forgotten me, as I shall be
quite delighted to register a bishop among my friends.
His charge is, I should suppose, among the most important
in England, and the trust could not be reposed in more
worthy hands.
So Lord Aberdeen begins to figure in the great game.
312 SCOTT'S FAMIUAK LETTERS [Nov. 181S
and a greater sure was never played for by nations.^ If I
had nothing else to do but to indulge a wayward and
wandering spirit, I think I would set oft" to make him a
visit at Commotau,* and I would trust to his receiving mo
like a harper in an old ballad —
I intend to write to him one of these days to procure me,
if possible, a sketch or print of the Cossack Hettman
Platow. An Enghsh officer who was known to this
renowned partisan begged one of his lances to add to my
collection of arms, but I believe it was lost when the
French re-entered Hamburg. Platow is a great favourite
of mine, as well from Sir Robert Wilson's account of him
formerly, aa from his conduct during the campiugn of
I am truly grieved for what you tell me of a great lady.
She has thrown away her cards most deplorably in suffer-
ing herself to be made a catspaw of to serve the purposes
of the very people who at one time would willingly have
had her head ofC That she should leave quietly is the
best her friends can wish her, though it is not, I should
think, quite agreeable to her temper.*
' Lord Abordecn bsd gone k> poraryheadqaiirterBof th«Enipanir
apecial Envoy to Auitrik from Francis.
Britain.
* EommotMi in Sazonj, the tern- * The Princeu of WaU*.
J
CHAPTER X
1814
EDINBURGH AND ABBOTSFORD
Wild miuic peals, the clansman grasps his glaiye,
And Oladsmuir owns that faolchion's deadly sway ;
Hide, hapless Albyn, hide fair honour's graye.
And deepest horrors shroad Dnimmossie's day I
And bid thy broadest, darkest forest's ware
Conceal his mountidn path, his lowiy bed ;
And bid each mist-clad hill, each dropping caye,
Shed *' dews and wild flowers" on the wanderer's head.
Ah ! bathe in drops of balm his feyer'd brain ;
Ah 1 hide the mnrder*d friend, the ghastly spectre train.
Edifiburgh Annual JReffitter, toI. lit p. Ixzzyiii. 1810.
CHAPTER X.
TO MISS SMITH.
Janvary Sth, [1814].
... I SEE by to-day's Gowrier that you have been again
summoned to the presence of royalty; so you will be quite
a court lady, and we will all ask favours of you. I shall
certainly be both curious and pleased to see a woman of
Made, de Stael's literary reputation, though probably I
may see very little of her, unless particularly introduced,
for you know our circle is a very small one, and she will
be quite immersed among all the gay parties of this
northern metropolia They are all, I hear, djring to
see her; but our latest reports on the subject will not
allow that there is now much chance of their being grati-
fied, for we hear her Scottish journey is postponed ...
Coleridge has succeeded so well that I trust he will
write again. There is perhaps too much of the mist of
metaphysics in his dialogue, but he is naturally a grand
poet. His verses on Love, I think, are among the most
beautiful in the English languaga Let me know if you
have seen them, as I have a copy of them as they stood in
their original form, which was afterwards altered for the
worse. . . .
I can tell you almost nothing of our household. Two
nights since we were at a splendid gala of the Duke of
Buccleuch on Twelfth-night The Duchess was so kind as
to ask Walter and Sophia, who, as they had never seen
anything of the kind, were enchanted beyond description.
The whole house was open'd and illuminated, and I think
315
316 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jam.
there were about 300 guests; so that evGn to my ©yea,
pretty much accustomed to fine parties from some London
experience, the effect was strikingly magnificent; and I
was proud of it, for the honour of my chieftain and clan.
Wo spent the summer at Ahbotsford, which is far from
being so pleasant as Ashestiei, all the planting being of my
own making; but everybody (after abusing me for buying
the ugliest place on Tweedside) begins now to come over
to my side. I think it will be very pretty sis or seven
years hence, whoever may come to see and enjoy, for the
sweep of the river is a very fine one of almost a mile in
length, and the ground is very unequal and therefore well
adapted for showing off trees. The opposite side belongs to
my friend and kinsman, young Scott of Gala, who has in
the kindest possible manner planted any banks which could
assist my prospect,
Mra Scott sends kind compliments, and I ever am,
my dear httlc friend, very truly yours,
Walter Scott.
to mobritt.
IBth Jantf. 1814.
Once more many and kind thanks to you. But I can-
not express the pain your letter ^ves me on Mrs. Morritt's
account and yours. I had heard somethii^ of it from
Lady Douglas, but not tiU two days sinca I trust in G!od
that she will be able to persevere in the course which may
be recommended to ensure a life so necessary to your
happiness, and to that of all who know her. Have you
consulted Bullie ? I have great f^th in him ; he has less
quackery than is usual in his profession, and is a most up-
right and Bound-thinkii^ man. Alas, my dear friend, this is
one of those cases in which we offer every advice at random,
with scarce the hope of sug^sting anythii^ that has
1814] TO MOEBITT 317
not occurred to the suflTerer. And what can I say in the
way of consolation, but what your own religion and philo-
sophy back an hundred times better than those maxims
which, even when the motive cannot be doubted, serve but
to aggravate instead of aUaying the feelings of affection,
woimded as yours ? Would to God it were in my power to
say or do anything which could amuse Mrs. M., for judging
jfrom what you say, much of the disorder necessarily lies
in the nerves, and might perhaps be subject to be occasion-
ally relieved by amusement. At any rate I am sure if
Mrs. M. sees how much you suflfer, and you are not the
sort of person to conceal it imless by busying yourseK in
speaking or reading, your distress is the most likely thing
to add to her disorder. You must therefore put a con-
straint on yourself, while she is undergoing a painful pro-
cess which I trust will end in restoration of her health ;
and if you think that by writing jfrequently or sending you
the trifles of the day, I could aid you in a task so painful,
I will be the most faithful correspondent you ever had in
your life.^ Poor Walter, who has not forgot Mrs. Morritt's
kindness of last year, turned quite pale and then red, and
then broke into tears, and ran from table when he heard
she was very unwell, which was great feeling for a rough
High-school boy. I need not say how much Mrs. Scott
shares in all your distress.
It takes away great part of my wish to see London this
spring, unless I heard Mrs. Morritt were getting better,
and will be an additional motive for my wishing to take
a short tour upon the Continent, which will be open to
us if these wonderful good news continue.
Pray inquire after my letter if you have not received
it There may be things in it which I should not like to
faU into other hands.
^ It wUl be seen that one of the was sent for Mrs. Monitt's enter-
earliest printed copies of Waverky tainment.
318 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jan.
I do not send any compIimentB to Mrs. M. because
you must not read her this letter, but you will not doubt
my best and most friendly wishes, as well as Charlotte's^
— Yours ever, Walteb Scott.
TO THE SAME.
NoTHraa could be more welcome, my dear Morritt,
than your two last letters announcing a lightening in the
domestic horizon, lately so unhappily overclouded. I
trust your new regimen for our dear friend will succeed,
and that she will be supported by the state of your hopes
and spirits. In the strange and inoxpHcable combination
of our body and soul, the former is much supported even
in the most trying circumstances by the elasticity of the
mind, and I know Mrs. Morritt's feelings will depend much
upon yours even during the period of extreme weakness.
It is wonderful how stomach complaints assume fonns
capable of deceiving the best medical men. My friend
Rutherford of Edgerston languished for two years imder
a disease with the most alarming sj^mptoms — faintings,
cold sweats, total loss of appetite, perpetual and most
oppressive headaches and low fever. He found a
physician however at Bath, who discovered that the cause
of all this misery were some obstructions which he con-
trived to remove by severe medicine, and to my great
pleasure, I find my old friend as lively, active, and able to
drink a glass of claret as ever he was in his lifa It is the
most extraordinary recovery I ever witnessed, and shews
how the worst symptoms may give way to proper treat-
ment, when the radical cause of mischief is once fwrly
ascertained.
We have had here the most severe snow-storm I ever
witnessed, excepting 1795. The London Mails were stopp'd
for four days, a circumstance almost unheard of, and they
1814] TO MOERITT 319
still come irregularly. Two Bussian friends of Lord
Pembroke who lived a good deal with us were the loudest
in their complaints of the cold weather^ and astonished
to see everybody enduring it without fiirs. The eldest a
Mon& Politica (an excellent name for a diplomatist, which
is his profession) is a very well informed and pleasant man,
and has been over the whole world, I believa His com-
panion is a very good and pleasant young man, Mon&
Severin, son of the Minister of Justice at Petersburg.
There is little chance of your meeting them in the present
circumstances, but should it so happen, I think you will
like them. Have you observed in the Cawrier a very
magnificent account of the Battle of Leipsic by an eye-
witness — ^not a military detail, but what is more interesting
to a non-combatant, the general impression received by a
distant spectator of this tremendous scene ? I have written
to London for the pamphlet which, if it corresponds with
the extract, must be one of the most interesting I ever
read.^ It has all the materials for painting or poetry richly
scattered through it Pray send for it if you have not
already perused it, and let me have your opinion.
I send you enclosed an etching done to the life by my
friend Charles Sharpe. You don't know him I think, but
Lady Louisa does. The likeness you will readily recognise,
at least so I am told, for I never saw Corinne. Don't say
you got it from me, as I have no wish to commit myself
with a Lady of such literary distinction, and who, besides,
threatens us with a visit here, where I may probably have
the curiosity to see her at least, though only from
curiosity.
As your conscience has very few things to answer for,
you must still burthen it with the secret of the Bridal,
It is spreading very rapidly, and I have one or two little
faery romances which will make a second volume, and
^ Shobert'B NarraUve from 14th to 19th October 1813, Lond. 1814.
320 SCOTT'S FAMILUR LETTERS
which I would wish published, but not with my name.
The truth is that this sort of muddling work amuses me,
and I am something in the condition of Joseph Sarfaca
who was embarrassed by gettii^ himself too good a reputa-
tion ; for many things would please people well enough
anonymously, which, if they bore me on the title-page.
would just give mo that sort of ill-name which precedes
hanging, and that would be in many respects inconvenient
if I thought of again trying a grartde opus. I will give
you a hundred good reasons when we meet for not
owning the Bridal till I either secede entirely &om the
field of literature, or from that of life.
Poor Weber could not have intruded upon you ; he is,
I End, — and I am glad to find it,~-put under medical
restraint for some time, which 1 have not the least doubt
will bring him round. It is a most melancholy business
and I fear has been helped by distress.'
We are raising a subscription (horrid word) for a monu-
ment to Bums ; an honour long delayed, perhaps till some
parts of his character were forgotten by those among whom
he lived. I am anxious to forward it, and if you think you
can get me a few guineas among your acquaintances when
you begin to go about a little, I will send you a copy of
the resolutions. The situation is a very fine one, and if
the subscription is successful, of which i have little doubt,
it will be a credit to the country, and a great ornament to
DumMes, There are few people who do not owe a guinea
or two to Bums's memory for the pleasure his works have
afforded them.
What a scone Stanley is now witnessing'* I hope he
keeps a Journal and makes memoranda of all that comes
under his eyes, both as to the useful, the curious, and the
' For lui account of Weber, ' Morritfa nephew, nho m*
Scott's amuiUGiiiU, see L^i, pan- then with Sir G«arge Bow in
aim. Germany.
18U] TO MOREITT 321
picturesque. I wish our prisoners could be delivered at
Verdun. I think if a polt of Cossacks were promised a
thousand pounds or so from the patriotic fund, they would
contrive to redeem them. Jock of the Side, Wat of
Harden, or any of our border moss-troopers, — a kind of
Cossack in their own way — ^would have made a good hand
of such a job. . . . Charlotte sends a thousand kind wishes
to Mrs. Morritt. — ^Yours ever, W. Scott.
TO THE DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUCH.
ACarch 1814.
The Draft for £10, 10s. I will transmit to the Ettrick
bard as soon as I reach Edin', and I am afraid it will
be with him as with Bayes's army, who exclaimed on a
similar donation, " We have not seen so much the Lord
knows when." ^ But I trust his gratitude will be equal to
your kindness and munificence.
Tour Grace does me but justice in supposing how
deeply I was interested in the dreadful misfortune at
Ditton.* But in lamenting so many things which money
cannot repair, and especially the curious old Ubrary which
I had so often wished to rummage, we must not forget the
consolatory view of the disaster, but be thankful that con-
sequences more melancholy and equally irretrievable have
not taken place. ... If your Grace will suppose me
chatting to you, I will tell you of a letter, that is the
contents of one, which my mother used to inculcate upon
us when in the nursery, as containing a sovereign antidote
in cases like that of Ditton. While she was residing with
an uncle on the sea-coast of East Lothian, a small brig,
ship and cargo, the property of the master who sailed her,
chanced to be stranded near their place of residence on a
stormy winter night. The master and crew were with
difficulty saved jfrom the wreck, which shortly after, in the
^ The Rehearsal. ' The destmction by fire of Ditton Park near Windsor.
VOL. L X
set fas^ettxag mj jvODg
There are DO news in tbe foRst, DnkssaKpcMt that the
Daks takes Xerai^ into his ovn hand, as the [Amse is,
which, if it {Htire trae, win make BowtuD ooe oi the finest
Highland places in Scotland.
TO MOERirr.
ISpriKg. 1814.)
Mt dear Morbitt, — . . . JefErey is returned here with
his bride, very gay and very full of news. He had a grand
skirmish with Madison, of which he gave me a very
' Soott had anotlier (tory of tli«
Lovtly Ptggy >t an earlier rtage
when the noregenerkte mn^ler,
John Blower, wii her ikipper. Hi*
widow Mkid, "When I Wftd hae
had hlm'gie np the Lanity Ptggv>
•hip and orgo, t
in the pra jen o' !
he wad aaj to m»— ' they may pn;
thatatandtiie risk, Peggy Bi^a, for
I 've made inanraooe.' "— SL JbMM't
Wdl, W.N. tdL xxxiiL p. 110;
'^
1814] TO MORRITT 323
diverting account He describes the President as being ^n
exceedingly mean-looking little man, who met him with
three little ducking bows, and then extended a yellow
withered hand to him like an old duck's foot After these
symptoms of firatemization, he proceeded to question the
critic very solemnly touching the nature of the sensations
which the American war excited in the British public. To
which Jeffirey replied in his best poco curante style, that
he believed nobody in Britain thought anything at all
about the American war, and that he thought it likely
that many well-informed people did not know that we
were at war at alL Something, he said, he had heard
about it at Liverpool, and once or twice when we heard of
a frigate,^ we used to wonder for a day and then think
no more about it He then gave battle on the principle
of the war, saying that we only exercised the rights of
nations, and that if America wanted a new international
code, it was his business to propose such a one as might
suit both parties, since otherwise we must go on exercising
the acknowledged right vested in us by the law of nations,
and defending ourselves when attacked, so that the war
was quite defensive on our part This, Madison told him
very bitterly, was a mere verbal pleasantry. Jeflfrey says
that Madison is a mortal enemy to this coimtry, and
has been prophesying for four or five years past that
every year would be the last of Britain's greatness. He
adds too that Madison and his ministry are heartily
tired of the war, and would fain back out of it if they
could do so without giving great advantages to the other
party.2
^ The success of the American their ships extorted the respect of
frigates in single encounters with their opponents,
the English during this unfortunate ^ President Madison, as sketched
war was not only disagreeable but by a fellow-citizen, was a little,
unexpected. At the same time stoutish man, with powdered hair,
the skill and courage with which and penetrating blue eye, grave in
the Americans handled and fought manner, and slow in speech, cer-
3U SCOTTS F Aim.lAR LFTTERS
I think he has reuimed & macfa belief sabject than h*fl
Tent AWfty, but vhen Broagham and Homer vorrj I
» Hula I suppcee he will hold his own t«neta. He is yerj
violent igainst peace with BoD&pane if tho allies an
dJBpaeed to eurj od the war to his utter destmctioiL On
tbe other hand, he toiA me this moming that he thoi^t
it mmld be very unreasooable to blame miuifitiss for
acce din g to the best peace they could get if the Cooit
of Austria woold not proceed irith the war.
TO THE 3A3fE.>
9li Jalf I8U.
Mt dear Mobbitt, . . . Now, I must acconnt for my
own laziness, which I da by referring you to a smaQ
anonymous sort of a novel, in three volumes, which you
will receive by the miul of this day. It w«s a very old
attempt of mine to embody some tnuts of those characters
and manners peculiar to Scotland, tbe last remnants of
which vanishe<l during ray own youth, so that few or no
traces now remain. I had ssritten ^eat part of the first
volume, and sketched other passages, when I misled the
MS., and only found it by the merest accident as Z was
nunmaging the drawers of an old cabinet ; and I took the
fancy of finishing it, which I did so fast that the last two
volumes were written in three weeks. I had a great deal
of fun in the accomplishment of this task, though I do not
i
tainlf > greit contnst to JtSmj'n
■lim, active little figure and ahup
inciiiTs voice. A more becoming
account of the iDterview ii given in
Cockbnrn'a Li/e, where we are told
that JeSrej loagbt it for the par-
poae of Mcuring a uie pasuge for
hiouelf and bia wife in a cartel
■hip. See also WaahingtOD Irvlng'a
Life, voL i. p. 24S, for Brevoort'e
letter of ^intiodnction to JtSrej.
' Thia abort extract from a letter
alreadj printed ia tha fitst refer-
ence to Waverky in the owre^and-
ence now before me. Beyond
Ermine, Dm BalUntjmea, and
Comtable, Monitt appear* to have
been the only friend totroated
with the secret at tUs date.
Tbe book waa published on 7th
July.
1814] TO MOERITT 325
expect that it will be popular in the Souths as much of the
humour, if there be any, is local, and some of it even pro-
fessional You, however, who are an adopted Scotchman^
will find some amusement in it. It has made a very
strong impression here, and the good people of Edinburgh
are busied in tracing the author, and in finding out
originals for the portraits it contains. In the first case,
they will probably find it difficult to convict the guilty
author, although he is far from escaping suspicion, for
Jeffirey has offered to make oath that it is mine, and
another great critic has tendered his affidavit ex contrario ;
so that these authorities have divided the good town.
However, the thing has succeeded very well, and is thought
highly of I don't know if it has got to London yet I
intend to maintain my incognito. Let me know your
opinion about it I should be most happy if I could think
it would amuse a painful thought at this anxious moment
I was in hopes Mrs. Morritt was getting so much better
that this relapse affects me very much.
FROM MORRITT.
Jvly lUh, [1814].
My dear Scott, — How the story of WaverUy may con-
tinue in the two last volumes I am not able to divine, but
as far as we have read pray let us thank you for the castle
of TuUy-Veolan and the delightful drinking bout at Luckie
Macleary's, no less than for the character of the Laird of
Balmawhapple, and of William Hose's motley follower,
commonly yclept Caliban.^ If the completion of the story
is equal to what we have just devoured, it deserves a place
amongst our standard works. . . .
Sir Everard, Mrs. Rachel, and the Baron of Bradwar-
^ Davie Gellatley was thought to have been sketched from David Hinvee.
— See Joumalt voL ii. p. 186, note.
326
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Jo-r
dine are, I thitvk, in tho first rank of portrails for nature
and character. . . . The ballad of St. Swithin and scraps of
old songs were measures of danger if you meant to con-
tinuB in conceahnent, but you wear your disguise some-
thing after the manner of our friend Bottom the weaver,
and the reality will in spite of you peep out
Perhaps I like what I have read even more than I
should at any other time, because never came a kindness
ao gratefully and opportimely. Mrs. Morritt is really
better than she has been for some time, and in the long
tedious confinement which such an illness inflicts, and the
weakness which makes hooks of amusement the only
source of her enjoyment, the keenness of pleasure which
your story has given to her has communicated itself to me.
She bids me express in the strongest terms how very,
very much she feels obliged to you for this attempt to
afford her amusement, and assure you that nothing has
given her so much delight in reading, as what we have
read of this story, or in reflecting on, as the kind friend-
ship which prompted you to send it for her at such a
time.^ She has gone to bed with her head full of adventiues,
and I promised her to express to you how much she en-
joyed them. The strings you have touched of humour and
pathos depending on national character and real life have,
• Scott repliea on July 31th joBt
before nailing to tha Hebrides. "As
to Wat'o-Uy, 1 will plaj Sir Pretful
for ODce, and maore you that 1 left
the story to Qng in the Brat Toluma
oD purpose ; the second and third
liaverathermorebustleandintereBL
I wished (irith nhat fluocew) Hearen
ksows) to aroid the ordinary error
of novel-writers, whose first volume
ia utnally their best. But lince it
haa served to amuse Mrs. Morritt
and yoa utqm ab inilio, I have no
doubt yon will tolerate it even
unto the end. It may really boost
to be a tolerably faithful portrait
of Scottish manners, luid has beio
recognised as snub in Edinburgh.
The first edition of a thooaanil iu-
Btantly disappeared, and tha book-
seller informa me that the aeeond.
of donbletbequantity, will not sap*
ply the market for long. As I
shall be very anxious to know how
Mrs. Morritt is, I hope to have a
few lines from you on my return,
which will be about the end of
August or begiimitig of September."
—See Li/e, vol. iv. pp. 174-5.
1814] FROM MOREITT 327
with few exceptions indeed, been so seldom touched that
they have all the charm of novelty to us, and therefore
you must not wonder that we as ''strangers bid them
welcome."
We are pretty absurd in Westminster, for you will see
that Lord Cochrane is again to be a Senator, notwithstand-
ing conviction, expulsion, and pillory.^ At least so the
electors resolved on the day of nomination, and nobody
appeared to oppose him, while Sir Francis Burdett pro-
claimed his wrongs and his virtues to a mob. . . . This
worthy synod unanimously acquitted the noble Lord of
aU sins, past, present, and to come.
Your Scotch aristocrats managed his forefather ^ better
at the Brig of Lauder, who, I believe, did not deserve a tow
half as welL Burdett spoke better and showed more talent
for mischief than I gave him credit for ; he is very well
adapted to his work I fear we shall have sad squabbling
amongst ourselves now that we have no longer any foreign
enemy; and in truth if the Regent was determined to
draw down unpopularity and odium on his own head, he
could hardly act better for the purpose than he does. The
execrable folly of his expense, and the taste that disgraces
it still more, is really more like madness than mere royal
absurdity; besides all the silly squabbling about the
Princess, and now the rebeUion of his daughter, for which,
however disastrous to us, nobody can pity him who recollects
how he behaved himself to a much better father. Adieu,
dear Scott ; I envy your retreat at Abbotsford. Give our
very kindest regards to Mrs. Scott and our yoimg friends,
and ever believe me, dear Scott, yours sincerely and affec-
tionately, J. B. S. MORRITT.
^ Lord Cochrane was saved from the sentenoe he should stand beside
this last ignominy by the firmness of him in the pillory,
his colleague Sir Francis Burdett,
who threatened the Goyemment ^ The favourite of James ni. ^See
that If they carried out that part of Tales of a Orandfaiher,
SCOTT'S FAmLIAR LETTERS yvi-X
FROM THE SAME.
LoMWK, Julii 21(1, [1814].
. . . We havo finished Wai-erley, and right sorry we
are that we cannot forget it all and b^;in de novo. I
wish however with all my heart I could persuade you to
own it at once. If you could be supposed at first, from
diffidence of success in a style of composition hitherto
untried, to be unwilling to stake the fame you had acquired
in a diiferent branch of hterature, on the event of a novel,
your original concealment is accounted for ; but really it
is now worse than useless, for the volumes we have just
read would add to the faine of the best poet in our huguage,
by the extent and diversity of narrative and imt^iuation
they display ; and your name would procure them readers
■who without it are justly averse to opening a blue-backed
tjook, after the thousand and one annual abortions of the
circulating hbrary have terrified them at unknown authors.
Besides this, amongst the reading world you are I find
named as the author, not merely at Edinburgh, for I have
heard here about Mr. Scott's novel, boldly pronounced, and
the unknown author begins to be accused of a trick which
I really think will be rather prejudicial than advantageous
to your fame. Pray reconsider this, and reflect whether it
is not worth while to descend from your arabizsh into the
open field, where you will find more friends than enemies,
and where your name and cognizance are ah^ady a host in
themselves, . . , The story is very interesting, and very well
varied from the humorous to the pathetic. The stile 1
think is equally happy, and never so redundant as to let
the attention sleep.' . , .
You have quite attiuned the point which in your post-
' Scott, in reply, uys on tbe hy doing m be would deprive
24th, that " he will not otm Wartr- himself of th« pleMun of wriliiig
leg : " his chief reason being that again.
1814] FEOM MORRITT 329
script preface you propose as your object, — the discrimina-
tions of character which had hitherto been slurred over
with clumsy national daubing. Waverley's character is
very natural throughout : but I always feel a little spite
against him for the ease with which he replaces Flora
by a new mistress. She is too lovely to be so soon
forgotten, even tho' she were inexorable, but you will
say this is part of his unsettled character ; and so it is,
but I cannot help wishing the change had been in the
contrary direction. . . .
Adieu, dear Scott, and with imited love from us to all
our friends at Abbotsford, believe me ever truly and affec-
tionately yours, J. B. S. Morritt.
FROM THE SAME.
BoKSBT, 22d August 1814.
My dear Scott, — As I suppose you are ere now almost
at the end of your tour,^ perhaps this will be in time to
welcome you back to Abbotsford. I fear you have tra-
velled under the wrathful influence of Jupiter Pluvius ; at
least we have had a great deal of rain and cold weather
for the last fortnight, which may have destroyed some of
the charms of the Hebrides. . . .
Your reasons for not owning Waverley are indeed
cogent, and have had the success which seldom attends
reason in this world, for they have convinced me that you
are right, and that I was wrong. The more I read of the
book, the more I liked it, and I rejoice to hear it has had
so rapid a sale. We read it fairly twice through, besides
occasional dips, so that you may be very sure it amused
us, and I certainly liked it better on the second reading
than even on the first. I am rejoiced that this yoimg
Falconbridge is not to be the last of his family. ... I
* See Life, vol. iv. p. 176.
S30 SCOTT'S FAMILIAit LETTERS [Oct.
envy you the pleasure your tour must have given you, for
I know your taste for such a trip as you proposed ; pray
import the result of your meditations amongst the cU6^
and sea-gulls, or embody them into some wild story that
may amuse us all next winter, . , .
Yours truly and afiectionately, J. B. S. MoERirr.
TO JOAKXA BAILLIE.
Edinbijbch, Oeiobrr 28tA. [1814].
My dear Mrs. Eaillie, — If twenty years at the bar
and within the bar had left me any blushes, they would
absolutely bum the paper when I sit down to write to
you ; but you are aware I have been very busy, and that
besides I have been it wanderer on the face— not of the
earth, but of the ocean, for a good part of my usual play
time. I assure you I can tell you something of deserts
vast and antres dire. Chough I was not so fortunate as to
meet any of the honest folks whose heads grow beneath
their shoulders. Tales of mermaids, however, we had
many; and saw the man who saw a sea-snake big enough
to girdle the earth for what I know. But what I was par-
ticularly delighted with was to find that the sea agreed
with me so very well that I may venture a little voyage
whenever I have a mind. We were six weeks upon our
tour, and visited almost every remarkable place in Orkney,
Shetland, and the Hebrides. What was not quite so pro-
mising a sight, we saw an American, that same Peacock '
with a fiery tail, which annoy'd the trade so much, in the
channel between Britain and Ireland. We were prepared
to run as well as we could, and fight when we could
not help ourselves, when a breeze and a ridge of rocks
' Scott aarrDwly escaped beiug b dvBcription of this doIightEol
carried olT n prisoner of w&r by cruise see hiii Diary, {othudj; the
the heavily -armed privateers Pia- greater portion of the fourth voluine
eoek and Princt o/mn/chalel. For o£ the Li/c
1814] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 331
to our leeward stood our Mend, and we got off for the
fright.
So you have retired from your former prefix of Miss
Joanna Baillie, and have adopted the more grave appella-
tion of Mt8. Well, you may call yourself what you please
on the backs of letters and visiting cards, but I will warrant
you never get posterity to tack either Miss or Mrs. to the
Quaker-like Joanna Baillie ; we would as soon have Wm.
Shakespeare, Esq.
Bichardson was with us one day or two in summer with
his wife, who seems very pleasing, but waa then in deUcate
health. ... I shewed Bichardson the Pinasters ; they had
suffered much by the extreme drought of the season, but
came about a good deal in November. I intend, in humble
imitation of the hermit Fincal in the Tales of the Oenii, to
dedicate a seat to you in my bowers that are to be.^ . . .
In the meantime we look bare enough; but I will take
care they shall make the most of their time and grow very
fast, if you will promise to come down with your sister
and see them next season. I trust however we shall meet
before that, for I intend to be in London this spring, and
hope to bring my wife and eldest girl with me. Sophia is
a very good girl, and, like her namesake in " Tom Jones,"
plays and sings papa to sleep after dinner; only I have
the "Bonny Earl of Murray," "Hughie Graeme," "Gil
Morrice," and so forth, instead of " Bobbin Joan " and " St.
George for England," which soothed the slumbers of honest
Squire Western. She only croons after all. ... I am very
anxious to know what progress tragedy has been making,
and when I am to have a peep. I assure you I shall be
most faithful, and secret as the grave; besides, I want to
hear of the Dr. and Mrs. Baillie, and of your sister, and
^ See story of Mirglip the Persian, example. — Also letter in Li/ey
Scott soon afterwards tells his friend Nov. 1815, describing "Joanna's
how he proposes to follow Fincal's Bower."
332 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dzc.
what you have been all doing, and what preparing to do ;
how you liked Wales, and whether it put you in uiind of
poor old Scotland. There are few countries I long so
much to see as Wales. The first time I set out to see it I
was caught by the way and married, God help me ! The
nest time, I went to London and spent all mj" money
there. What will be ray third interruption I do uot know,
but the circumstances seem ominous. And now I see from
the face of the learned gentleman who is pleading at the
bar that ho will presently dnish a very long, very elaborate,
and very dry pleading upon an abstract point of law, so T
shall pack up my^papcrs in my green bag and give them
to my Brownie ; that is an attendant who does the whole
duty of ray office if 1 chuse it, and is paid by the pubhc;
and then I will go to a sale of prints and try to buy a Gne
one of Charles Edward, done in France, and suppressed, t
dare say you, like a good Weatland Whig, wish it may be
a-going, a-going, gone before I can get to the sale.
MrR Scott joins in kind remembrances to you and Mrs.
A. BaiUia — Ever, my dear friend, most respectftilly yours,
Walter Scott.
I
(
TO SOUTHEY.
BmNBUBOH, 2Sd December 1814.
I HAD a most valuable proof of your friendly remem-
brance, some months ago, in the poem of D<m Roderick. I
know no instance in which your genius has been more suc-
cessfully and honourably employ'd, and the high tone of
poetry mingled with the most generous feelings of patriot-
ism and private virtue would hand you down to posterity
one of the highest of British poets, had you never written
another Una I will not be tempted to say more upon this
subject, except just to motion the interest with which I
f^ain perused those passages which I heard you read at
1814] TO SOUTHEY 333
Keswick, and how much I was pleased to find that my
memory, not quite so retentive as in early youth, had upon
this occasion served me faithfully. I have also to thank
you for your official Lyrics, which will make up a trio of
real poets who have worn the laurel, Spenser, Dryden, and
you. Your task will in future be more difficult, for in
these piping days of peace what can you find to say, and
our transatlantic campaigns have been so managed as to
afford few subjects of poetry as laurels for our generals.
It is a very humbling consideration that after having faced
the lion, we should still be exposed to be gnawed by the
rat, but it is the natural consequence of despising an enemy,
— a consequence of national pride which has ever been
its own severe punishment
My own vacation was partly spent in a very pleasant
voyage round the coast and islands of Scotland, of which
we made a very complete survey, comprehending Zetland,
Orkney, the Hebrides, and the remarkably wild and moun-
tainous deserts of Sutherland and Rosa One cave I saw
in particular, which I think greatly exceeds anything of
the kind I ever heard o£ There is an exterior cavern of
great height and breadth and depth, like the vault of a
cathedral Within this huge cave, and opening by a sort
of portal, closed half way up with a ledge of rock, we got
access to a second cavern, an irregular circle in form, and
completely filled with water. This was supphed by a con-
siderable brook which feU from the height of at least
eighty feet, through a small aperture in the rocky roof
of the cave. The effect of the twilight, composed of such
beams as could find their way through the cascade as
it fell, was indescribably grand. We hoisted a boat into
this subterranean lake, and pursued the adventure by
water and land for a great way under ground.^ Another
^ See Life, vol. iv. pp. 280-290, for the fnU desoription of Uamh
Smowe, Sutherlandshire.
334 SCOTT'S FAMILIAB LETTERS [Dec. 1814*
cave which wo viaited in the isle of Egg was strewed with
human bones and skulls. The whole inhabitants of the isle
having taken refuge in it to escape from the fiiry of the
Macleods, whom they had offended, their lurking-place
was discovered, and fire was maintained at the mouth of
the cavern until every man and mother's son were suffo-
cated. What a fine subject for Coleridge ! This pleasant
adventure only chanced about 150 years ago, as far as we
could discover.
I think you will now be mourning for the affairs o
Spain. Surely the same Ferdinand the Beloved is like the 1
man, who when a friend had snatched down a fowling- j
piece, and successfully defended his homo against robbers^ I
afterwards very gratefully went to law with him for spoil-
ii^ the lock of the gun. In two or three days, or rather
next week, I will send you a thumping quarto being J
entitled and called The Lord of the Isles.
I was much disappointed at my absence &om Abbots
ford when \V9rdfiw0rth called. I should have been
particularly happy to have shaken him by the hand. . .
Yours very truly, Walter Scott.
CHAPTEE XI
1815
EDINBUEGH AND ABBOTSFOED
*' Go forth, my Song, upon thy yentturous way ;
Go boldly forth ; nor yet thy master blame.
Who chose no patron for his humble lay,
And graced thy numbers with no friendly name,
Whose partial zeal might smooth thy path to fSune.
There toas — and ! how many sorrows crowd
Into these two brief words \— there was a claim
By generous friendship given — had fate allow'd,
It well had bid thee rank the proudest of the proud !
"All angel now — ^yet little less than all,
While still a pilgrim in our world below !
What 'vails it us that patience to recall,
Which hid its own to soothe all other woe ;
What 'vails to tell, how Virtue's purest glow
Shone yet more lovely in a form so fair !
And, least of all, what 'vails the world should know.
That one poor garland, twined to deck thy hair,
Is hung upon thy hearse, to droop and wither there ! "
Lines on the Duchess of Buccleueh
concluding The Lord of the Isles.
London, Keqilwortli, md Iloksliy.
De»Ui Qf m™. Mortilt ia Novembor.
Iwrf 1/ Iftr IiJu, (to, published
OonaUble In Januirr.
fltly tfaniKrinti, S TOlc, publtnUed
Oonttlblo In Febnuiy.
NtTHorle iif Hk SmntmllM, i TOla. S
publlibed b; Countable.
Boir&iivfi IVm>, «q. £<-0, pubUatafd bj
Lalsg and Blukwood.
1^ EUrtck OarianS, roy. 8ra, B^luCfB*.
Decenibeit.
OoaMbutlon to Qmrteilt Saitv—
Ml>a Aunen'i Enmn.So. !7, October,
CHAPTER XI
TO LADY ABERCORN.
Edinr., January lO^A, 1815.
My dearest Friend —I hope you have long since
received the Lord of the Isles ; one of the first volumes out
of the press was sent to you under an oflSce cover. I could
not superintend the sending away these copies as usual,
because we were rather a complaining family, as the Scotch
say. My eldest boy has contrived to have a decided
smallpox, in defiance not only of vaccination, but of inocu-
lation thereafter. You may be assured we were alarmed
enough, for the appearance of the smallpox in this genera-
tion is like one of the giants in Ariosto who comes alive
after he is killed. Nothing could be more easy than the
maimer in which he had the disorder, and he is now quite
weU. I propose to exhibit him along with the Indian
Jugglers who are just arrived, as the youngster that has
had the smallpox naturally after both vaccination and
inoculation. I trust this matter will be closely looked
into by medical men, for it will be a very serious business
fifty years hence should the smallpox break out suddenly,
as probably the lower class may n^lect the vaccinating
operation, or go through it superficially.
The world do me too much honour in giving me
[blank in original]. What I know, or rather guess, about
that work, I will teU your Ladyship when we meet, which
will be soon, as I expect to be in London in the month
of March.^ I think I shall bring Mrs. Scott and your
^ Reading Scott's letters to Lady he wishes her to know that he
Abercom carefully, one sees that was the author of the novels, but
VOL. I. Y
33S SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jab.
Ladyship's acquaintaoce Sophia with me, and be about
a month in London. If it were not for the equinox galee,
which may make it uncomfortable for my companions,
I would come up by sea, for if there is a route I am tired
of, it is that vile North road, which has less to intereet
one than the same extent in any direction in Great
Britain.
My plan for last spring was to have gone to the Con-
tinent, when I should have seen the great entrde into
Paris. I was pretty sure of the light of Lord Aberdeen's
countenance if I could have joined the great army, and
might have hoped for Lord Caatlerei^h's also. At any
rate if a horse or a mule could be got, I should have gone
on very well, for few people submit with more indifference
to want of accommodation of all kinds. I was disappointed
in this by very exaggerated reports of the difficulty of pass-
ing through Flanders, and especially getting past Antwerp
and Bergen-op-zoom, I was so angry at not seeing the
grand crash that I had little curiosity about the subsequent
part of the entertainment that was performed here.
As for my Irish journey, it was a mere excursion of
twenty-four hours, for we were not longer upon the coast
than was necessary to visit the Causeway, excepting a few
minutes at Port Rush, where I saw your Ladyship's Mend
Dr. Richardson. I was only one of a large party, so that
I could hardly have escaped from my friends even to the
hospitality of Barons Court, though nothing would have
delighted me more than to have surprised you on Irish
ground. ... As for the Lord of the Ides, I think it is my
last poetical adventure, at least upon a laige scale. I
swear not, because I do not make any positive resolution.
rts his Isttera were flliown to her
fMnity and friends, he eipresaed
them BO OA to avoid discovery-
Even without these evuHive replies
Lady Abercam needed ^o farther
confiniuitioD of the authorship of
Oiiy Manneriag than Scott's own
letter to bci on the Dormont cam.
Seeon^t, pp. 292-9S.
1816] TO LADY ABERCORN 339
but I think I have written enough, and it is unlikely I
shall change my opinion.
I beg to be most respectfully remembered to the
Marquis. Sophia is much honoured in your remembrance;
she is now growing a great girl, and is very sensible and
good-humoured, and is a great comfort to Charlotte and
me. Indeed, if one dare judge from what appears in early
life, my yoimg people are all well disposed.
Next to seeing the great men themselves, nothing can
equal beholding them on the canvas of Lawrence, who is
one of the first geniuses of his art, and merits his extended
fama That is a pleasure I propose to receive soon. — ^Be-
lieve me ever, dear Lady Abercom, your truly grateful and
affectionate friend, Walter Scott.
TO MORRITT.
Edikb., 2l8t January 1815.
Dear MoRRnr, . . . Best and kindest compliments.
The weather here seems setting in for a feeding storm,
as we call it when the snow lies so long that the sheep
must be fed with hay. I have just seen Caberfae's^
hearse pass. I trust they will send it by sea, for on land
the journey must be fearful at this season. There is
something very melancholy in seeing the body pass, poorly
attended, and in the midst of a snow-storm whitening
all the sable ornaments of the imdertaker, and all corre-
sponding with the decadence and misfortunes of the
family.
Adieu. I hope soon to see you in Portland Place, and
to find Mrs. Morritt quite strong and revived by her abode
on the seaside. — Ever yours most truly,
Walter Scott.
1 Francis Lord Seaforth, laat baron of ElintaiL
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
[Jas.
EsniBOROH, January 31, 1815.
Mv DEAR Friend, — I have been rather unwell with
a cold, and the severity of the weather prevented Siddons
from coming to see me, but I wrote to him immediately
on receiving your letter, and received the following answer,
which prepares you for a letter from the manager liimsel£
I had also to negotiate a proposal with him about Kean
coming down here, to which the beginning of the letter
alludes. I have not the least doubt that Siddona will
be most anxious to bring forward the Beacwi} though 1
am afraid he is not at present very well supported by
a company. I shall not, however, say much of this
matter, having been at the theatre only once this season:
but I have no doubt that the merits of the piece
will triumphantly carry it through any defects of the
performers. I am glad the Lord of the Isles found his
way to Hampstead, and was fortunate enough to give you
amusement, I have often wish'd you would take the
Bruce for hero of a drama: he is an uncommon fine
fellow, and we have a much better and clearer account
of him than of most historical heroes.
You will readily, I think, acquit me of the most distant
wish to add another to the order of fiddling, rhyming, and
painting kn^hts, an order of chivalry for which I neves
have had particular respect I am of Mrs. Page's opinion:
" These knights will hack." I will not change the tirticle
of mj gentry. I take it, the world would say, with Falstatl',
" I like not such grinning honour as Sir "Walter hath." As
for Walter, poor fellow, I hope he will marry for love and
work for money. I should certainly be pleased that my
daughter-in-law had some little property or fortune to help
the ttt-dnage., but I think it is by far the least important
consideration. FrugaKty and domestic affection make
' A BeriouB musical drBLUiB od Hope. — See Plays on tht Pattiona, vol. liL
1815] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 341
a much better fortune than that of a second Miss Tilney
Long, supposing the possessor deficient in these qualitiea
It makes the husband's industry the labour of love, and
the happiest marriages I have seen have been those which
b^an under circumstances which required economy.^
We stfll keep our purpose of being in town to burnish
the chain of friendship, as the Indians say, and particu-
larly the valuable tie which connects us with Hampstead.
Sophia will be delighted to be your honoured guest for
a few days, and I will be charmed with the opportxmity
of making her acquainted with you. Charlotte joins in
kind remembrances to Mrs. A. BaiUie and Mrs. Dr. Baillie.
And I am, very truly and aflfectionately yours,
Walter Scott.
to lady abercorn.
Edinb., 15^ Fi^brvary 1815.
My dear Friend, — . . . I shall be very curious to see
Moore's poem.^ His songs are most of them exquisitely
beautiful, and he seems ahnost to think in music, the notes
and words are so happily suited to each other. He is
certainly a man of very considerable poetical talent, but
I think has not been very fortunate in being so much in
fashionable Hfe, where a man who frequents it without
fortune or rank is very apt to lose his time without adding
to his reputation. I am very glad his poem is likely to fix
his independence. As for the Lord of the Idea, it has done
very well indeed; the people are tearing the printer to
pieces for the next edition. Your copy was sent the day
after the Prince's, to whom I thought it necessary to send
one. I think it went under Mr. Freeling or Mr. Croker's
frank. One went to Lady Stafford at the same time and
^ Scott's reasons for changing his ' Lalla Rookh had just been
mind on the baronetcy are given purchased for 3000 guineas, though
in his letter to Joanna Baillie, it was not published until 1817.
December 1818, Life, vol. vi. p. 13.
p
342 SCOTTS FAMILIAK LETTERS [Tkb.
arrived safe. I trust you have yours long sinca We have
nlmost settled our expedition to London in the course of
next luoDtb. 1 shall be much delighted to see some of the
friends there to whom 1 have been such a stranger for six
years. My first thoughts will of course turn to St. James'
Square.
1 spoke to Mr. Thomson about the picture. He did
not like it, it soems. and is doing another. I wish he may
be as successful as in one he presented me with, which is
really, and without any allowance being required, a very
fine thing indeed. It is a view of Cricbton Castle, near
Edinburgh, onco a favourite haunt of mine, but not
slavishly correct as to the surroimding landscapa
We have Salt, the Abyssinian traveller, here just now,
a remarkably pleasant conversible man if I can judge from
one interview. He corroborated my old acquaintance
Bruce in all his material facts, although he thinks that
he considerably exaggerated his personal consequence and
exploits, and interpolated much of what regards his voyage
in the Red Sea He is to dine with me on Thursday.
Does your Ladyship think it would be an acceptable com
pliment to present the beef without roasting, according to
the fashion of the court of Crondar ?
The Duke of Buccleuch is as well as a man can be
under the dreadful dispensation which it has been his lot
to endure. I have been much with him and have great
occasion to admire both his firmness of mind and depth of
feeling. He is fortunate in Lady Anne Scott, liis eldest
daughter, who is really worthy of the excellent mother she
haa lost, and whom I have often heard call her " her com-
fortable daughter." She is now a real comfort to her father,
and dischai^s the duties incumbent upon her as head of
his family with the utmost propriety. But Dalkeith, and
still more, Bowhill, will be long places of sad and solemn re-
collection to all who remember the late excellent Duchess.
1815] TO LADY ABERCORN 343
I have a better apology for writing an unintelligible
letter than the bad pen which your Ladyship pleaded, and
which I should never have discovered unless you had told
me of it, for I have the whole bustle of a law court going
on about my ears at this moment with '' Mr. Scott, will you
let me look at that process ?" and " Mr. Scott, will you be
so good as to touch Mr. Hume to speak to the Lord
President?" etc etc. etc. So I beUeve I had better stop
in good time before I write absolute nonsense Wherever
I am for the time, I cannot cease to be your Ladyship's
truly attached and most futhful and obUged friend,
Walter Scott.
I have got a most beautiful drawing of Pitt, from
Hoppner*s fine painting. It is in India ink and really looks
as if it could speak I am delighted that Lawrence likes
the Lord of the Isles, I would rather please one man of
feeling and genius than all the great critics in the
kingdom.
TO THE SAME.
COBNEB OF WhITEHOBSB StBEBT, PlOCADUiLT, TuMdoy^
[London, April 1815]. ^
My dear Lady Abercorn, — I have been here these
three or four days, always hoping, trusting, and expecting
that your Ladyship would be in town. But your house in
St. James' Square is otherwise occupied, and I cannot learn
whether or when you are likely to be in town, though your
Ladyship will believe I am most anxious to pay my respecta
Mr& Scott and Sophia are with me, and we came up
1 Out/ Mannering was publiBhed quite delighted. I feel quite
in February, and as soon as the charmed with the Dominie, Meg
Courts rose Scott went to London, Merrilies and Dirk Hatteraick,
but before starting he had learned characters as true to nature and as
from Morritt what he thought of original and forcibly conceived as
the book. I had almost said could be drawn
, . . *' We have read as far as the by Shakespeare himself.'* . . .
6nd of the second volume and are
[Pmiuu, i^ laA, ISIS.]
Mt WLia Bbotheb Walieb, — I yeaerdiT reoensd
foor letter of tlie 9th Decemba Ust, kx sach is the
bIowimm of cooreyuice here th>t nuoj in<«ths s«De-
times ehqiee between the dates of writing and reccing
letters, uul sometimes they do not come to hand at all, u
was the case with your letter of the 30th September last
The first account I received of it and Wavcrie^ is
contained in your last letter. This vexes me much, as
both letter and book must have fallen into bad hands, or
they would have been forwarded by this time. . . .
I am here at present for a few days on leave, as my
time was short, the roads scarcely passable. I ran the
risk of finding the ice open, and proceeded in a canoe
with my father and two of my red brethren down the Sl
Lawrence. We had a prosperous voyage, and paddled
ninety miles from sunrise to sunset — shooting all the
^
1815] FEOM THOMAS SCOTT 34&
rapids in a style that would surprise any person un-
acquainted with the dexterity of the Indians. This favour
I acquired from my situation amongst my tribe, being a
Mohawk chief and warrior by adoption, under the name of
Assarapa. In truth, my intercourse with the Indians was
the only thing from which I received any pleasure at Com-
wall Their settlement at St Ridac and on the islands was
nearly opposite to Cornwall, and I preferred the manners of
the native Indians to the insipid conversation of our own
officers. . . .
FROM THE SAME.
NoIkUe,
. . . Yesterday morning Captain Norton, the chief
of the Five Nations, left. I had the pleasure to be his
intimate acquaintance, and he is a man who makes you
almost wish to be an Indian chief. What do you think of a
man speaking the language of about twelve Indian nations,
English, French, German, and Spanish, all well, being
in possession of all modem literature — having read with
deUght your Lady of the Lake, and translated the same,
together with the Scriptures, into Mohawk — having written
a history of the five nations, and a journal of his own
travels,^ now in London ready for pubUcation, and being at
the same time an Indian chief, Uving as they do and
following all their fashions. For, brother, you ask doth he
paint himself, scalp, etc. etc. ? I answer yea, he doth ; and
with the most polished manner of civilised life, he would
not disdain to partake of the blood of his enemy at the
banquet of sacrifice. Tet I admire and love the man, and
would cheerfully give fifty guineas that you could see him
for one half-hour. He is afraid that the Edinbv/rgh
Review will be hard on his book. I promised to write to
^ The "Travels'* here referred of St. John into Mohawk see
to do not appear to have been pub- Quarterly Review, vol. zzrvi. pp.
lished, but for an account of 9-11.
Norton's translation of the Gospel
346
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[July
you to have it reviewed in the Quarterly. It surely is ft
strange circumstance that on Indian Chief should produce
a literary child. , , .
TO JtlHN RICHARDSON.
Abbotsvokd, ISfA July 1815.
I AM going to give your unwearied good-nature a bit
ot troubla I have determined to take a trip to Paris,
vid Brussels, to see this grand finale. My companions
are young Alexr. Pringle of Whytbank, and Kobert Bruce,
Advocate. I understand we shall want passports, and am
uncertain whether they can bo had without coming to
London, which would bo a horrid bore ; will you solve me
this doubt and get the passports if they can be had ? If
descriptions are necessary, Robert Bruce is lall, say, 5
feet II, brown hair, light eyes, long face, stout-made;
Pringle about 5 feet 6, light hair and eyes, round face and
slightly made. My own I need not add. Brussels is our
first object, next Paria I write in baste, having just
taken this sudden frisk into my head, resolved to see this
second Brentford.*
ling in 1693,
given from
Itiner&ry ;—
' Scott and his two frienda, so.
compuiied by John Soott of G&la,
left Ediubargh on Friday, J aly 28th.
As u coDtruit to the mode of travel-
July 28, Left Ediabnrgh at S A.M.
„ 29, „ Nowcutk for York.
„ 30, „ York
„ 31. „ Hull
Aug. 1, ,, Lincoln
„ 2, ., Peterborough
„ 3, „ Cambridge
,, 4, „ Harwich
(The ordinary packet had left, but a boat
SO guineas, )
The travellers niited Watortoo,
and proceeded to Paris, arriving
there ou the 16th, where they re-
mained for leveral weeks.
Scott and Gala returned by way
oFDiuppe, London, VVarwick.Eenil-
worth, and Rokeby, arriving at
L few notes may ba
Mr. Bruce'a ua.
HulL
Lincoln. 1 Staga
Peterborough. jCoache*.
Cambridge. I
Harwich.
EelvoetsluyB. ^
hired for the party at
AbboUford before the end of 8op-
tember. The poem on Walrrioo
was published in October, and
Panl'a LcOtn to hU SinsfblJt in
the following January. — Sea l^ifit
vol V- pp. 54 -M.
1815]
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART
347
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART.
BoTHWBLL Castlx, October 29th, 1816.
I COULD not write, my dear Mr. Scott, till I was
thoroughly acquainted with the poem, and could at once
thank you for your kindness in sending it me, and say
what passages had struck me as peculiarly beautiful
First, the scene of repose at the b^inning, and all down
to the awful conclusion of No. 7. Then the magnificent
metaphor in No. 13 ^ is one of those happy expressions that
with a single word fill the whole mind beyond what entire
pages could do. The following address to Buonaparte
appears to me admirable from one end to the other.
Nos. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 not the less so for steering clear
of invective and abuse. But the winter torrent crowns
everything. Is not that thought quite new?* I have
been trying to recoUect whether I ever saw the image
thus applied anywhere else, and I cannot be sure. If
not, you are a lucky man, for I must say it approaches
sublimity. To conclude, I could scarcely stand No. 20,
when Lady Douglas read it aloud to us, nor did I find it
less affecting when I read it afterwards to myself These
are my honest opinions, just as I should give them to any
third person : and let me fairly add that I by no means
expected to be so much pleased. Whatever subject draws
universal attention, sets "every goose ftrcackling," every
newspaper declaiming, descanting, admiring^ lamenting,
exaggerating, is harder for a poet to handle than Swift's
1 [Then Wellington I thy piercing eye
This crisia caught of destiny—
The British host had stood
That mom 'gainst charge of sword and
lance
As their own ocean-rocks hold stance,
Bat when thy voice had said " Advance I "
They were their ocean's flood.]
^ [*' And art thou he of Lodi's bridge.
Marengo's field, and Wagram's ridge !
Or is thy soul like mountain-tide.
That, swell'd by winter storm and
shower.
Rolls down in turbulence of power,
A torrent fierce and wide ;
Reft of these aids, a rill obacnre,
Shrinking unnoticed, mean and poor.
Whose channel shows dlsplay'd
The wrecks of its impetuous course,
But not one symptom of the force
By which these wrecks were made I "]
I ai^ of ilM ttampanioas
I jwolt. after fiving bd Itaig defaamd from all iotercourse
\ vilfa fiBghad, I look it mto my bead to seod her the
I aoBgi^Kn Mr. Pin's annirenHy. begmiung —
I
Sot because sbe loved poetiy itben I knew her : she had
Cu* the best qui^ sense of them all, bat the Gods had
made naae poeticaL Hovever, she dearly loved her poor
&ther, whom she resembled in many points of character,
and she was his comfort and darUng ; therefore I thought
that one stanza of the soi^, very gratifying even to my
feelings, vould shed balm upon her heart And you
will see by what I have transcribed of her answer, that
I did not think wrong, or take too great a liberty.
I hope my nephew, the ambassador to Paris, had an
opportmiity of making acquaintance with you while you
were there. As soon as I knew you were goii^ abroad, I
charged him to try for it, and in his answer he said how
glad the Duke of Wellington would be to see you. I wish
there were any chance of your coming hither, that we
might talk over many matters comfortably. Did not you
1815] FROM LADY LOUISA STUART 349
say something of Christmas possibly ? I long for " Paul "
to his kinsfolk, with which you have something to do,
I understand; and yet more for the "Antiquary," what-
ever fountain that and its brother streams may flow from.
Bad news, alas ! of poor Mra Morritt ; to my extreme dis-
appointment, for I hoped she was getting the better of
her wearjdng complaints ; yet by Mr. Morritt's letter last
week she had begun to mend again, and was better than
when you called at Rokeby.
Will you remember me very kindly to Mrs. Scott, and
to my young friend Sophia, and ever believe me, your
much obliged and sincere, L. Stuart.
[Indorsed by Scott, " This applause is worth having. "]
TO LADY LOUISA STUART.
28^^ Nov, 1815.
Dear Lady Louisa, — I need hardly say that your
applause is always gratifying to me, but more particularly
so when it encourages me to hope I have got tolerably
well out of a hazardous scrape. The Duke of Wellington
himself told me there was nothing so dreadful as a battle
won excepting only a battle lost And lost or won, I can
answer for it, they are almost as severe upon the bard
who celebrates as the warrior who fights them. But I
had committed myself in the present case, and like many
a hot-headed man, had got into the midst of the fray
without considering well how I was to clear myself out of
it The approbation of your royal correspondent ^ is very
flattering, because it flows from those feelings which
one naturally wishes to touch and to awaken. Paul,*
for whom I was but partially responsible, is to fall
^ "I had sent his Bong for the wrote him word how much ahe was
meeting of the Pitt Club (contain- pleased with it."~LADT Stuabt's
ing that stanza, ' Nor forget his note to transcript,
grey head,' etc.), to the Queen ^ PauTs Letters to his Kintfolk,
Dowager of Wurtemberg, and published January 1816.
SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS
[NOT^
upon my entire shoulders. But it would have required
BriareuB, or Briars as my little boy just now called him
(I suppose thinking of his claws rather than his hands),
to get handsomely through all I have been doing since I
came home. In the first place, there was the Battle, with
several smaller pieces which I intend to print with the
Visio7i of Don Riylerick, of which I will send yoar
Ladyship a copy when I get to town. Et puis — but that
is a great secret, there is a second volume in the press,
by the author of Triermain. A strange piece of work
it is, I promise you, being called and entitled Harold ih£
Dauntless, a sort of tale of errantry and magic which,
entre nous, I am very fond of, though ashamed to avow
my frailty. When I get to town I will send the first
canto under the seal of secrecy. Besides, as each great
painting has its original sketch, I have given the
Ediitirwrgk Annual Register some lines on the Battle of
Waterloo called the Dance of Death, a hurly-burly sort of
performance; so I leave you to guess, my dear Lady
Louisa, if I could form any other designs upon the public
at present. If you ask me why I do these things, I would
be much at a loss to give a good answer. I have been
tempted to write for fame, and there have been periods
when I have been uompeUed to write for money. Neither
of these motives now exists — my fortime, though moderate,
suffices my wishes, and I have heard so many blasts from
the trumpet of Fame, both good and evil, that I am
hardly tempted to solicit her notice anew. But the habit
of throwing my ideas into rhyme is not easily conquered,
and so, like Dogberry, I go on bestowing ray tediousnoss
upon the public. . . .
TO MORHITT.
Abbotstobd, 2nrf Notientber 1815,
My dearest Mokritt, — The enclosed affair would have
reached you long since but for a little bustle attending
1815] TO MOEMTT 351
Mrs. Scott's going into Edinburgh, which lett me for some
days without a domestic. It is not so good as I wish it ;
but after repeated trials it is as good as I can make it,
and my friends here seem satisfied enough. I have another
copy for you, with a new edition of JDon Roderick, and
some additional trifles. In one respect these matters
have answered well; for since I acquired possession of
some of my copyrights, and adhered to the plan of retain-
ing the property in the new publications, money has
tumbled in upon me very fast, and I am enabled to make
a Tery nice little purchase adjoining to Abbotsford, which
will cost about £3000. I know it will do your kind heart
good to know I am increasing my territories on Tweed-
side, and at so easy a rate. You who gave me so easy a
shove when I was pinched with my long-dated bills, will I
know rejoice that your friendship has not been throwing
water into a sieve. The place is at present a sort of
Eamtschatka, but marches along with my own, and has
capabilities especially for planting and forming grass
parks, which let here very high.
I shall soon (ascending to Parnassus from Mossknow)
send you a little 2nd voL to Triermain called Harold the
DavmUess, an odd sort of tale which I have taken into my
fancy to write, for indulgence of a certain propensity to the
marvellous which I think you share with me. I have
written it rather roughly, but con a/more, and I believe it
will amuse you. Above all, I hope these trifles will find Mrs.
Morritt well enough to take some interest in them, which
would give them so high a value in the eyes of the author.
I learn from Lady Louisa that Mrs. M. is a good deal better,
and hope most sincerely the information is accurate. We
think often and anxiously about you by our fireside. It
is now comparatively lonely, as Mrs. Scott is gone in to the
great musical festival, and Sophia attends her. Now, like
Jeremy, I have an indifferent good ear for a jig, but your
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Nov.
solos EDfi sonatas give mo the spleen/ so I e'en remained
liehind to prune my oaks — now dwarfs — into such shapes
as may become them when they shaJJ be giants. Then I
shall have such a piece of work lining out my new planta-
tions and enclosures, and selecting trees at the Selkirk and
Melrose nurseries. In short I persuaded myself I was
better here. Walter is shooting wild ducks, partridges,
and hares most manfully ; though rather young to carry a
gun yet, as he is very stout and manly of his age, I have
^ven him a long and strong Spanish barrelled fowling-
piece, which will not burst should he load it to the
muzzle, and is too long for him to shoot himself unless
absolutely by malice prepense. He generally brings in
some game, and will not derogate from his forefathers,
who were excellent horsemen and good sportsmen in
their day.
Adieu ! remember me most kindly to Mrs. Morritt, and
pray let me know the first spare moment how you both
do.- — Ever most truly yours, Walter ScoTT.
TO THE SAME.
My dear Morritt, — It was with melancholy satis&c-
tion — but still with satisiactiou — that I received your
letter. To know from yourself that you are well in health
Congreve'fl Love for Lovt, Act cIohh my hopes and her suSeringB.
c. 1. I cannot write more now ; my minil
U indeeil tocn and harassed, though
my health haa been anpported iiDder
all I suffer more than I could hope.
I tniat I can bear what God in(liet«,
but indeed it is very bitter to mc
nbose only object in life for yeara
hu been her happineu and health,
and mice were all centred th«TC.
God bleas you. Ever kindly And
' The following note prepared
Soott for the intimation of Mra.
Morritt's death, whii^h reached him
a few days ktsr :—
My dear Scott, — Your letter
and your kindnces are a cordial to
a poor sinking wretch like me, at
an hour when I wanted comfort.
Mrs. Morritt
a few days »
1. MORBHT.
1816] TO MOKRITT 363
and resigned in your affliction to the will of heaven is all
I could have hoped to hear.
Our social affections are given us to animate our duties
while we are here, and their objects are withdrawn from
us that we may be taught to reflect that this transitory
scene is not our resting-place. If yours, my dear friend,
are now so severely wounded, your present suffering is in
proportion to the domestic happiness which you have
enjoyed for many years. And thus even the excess of
your calamity carries with it a motive for resignation. I
am happy to hear that you have with you a friend upon
whose affection you can rely, and confide securely in that
strong sense of duty which forms so marked a point in
your character, that you will shortly find in active exertion
some relief from the intensity of your present feelings. It
is needless to say how deeply Mrs. Scott and my young
people sympathise in your distress, honoured as they were
by the kindness of the excellent person whom you lament.
It is no small satisfaction to me as a father to see with
what warmth my children retain remembrance of these
circumstances.
Lady Hood is here just now, and I left her yesterday
shedding many tears over her own family distresses and
yours. It occurred to us both that some time hence, and
before you are obliged to go up to Parliament, you might
find mental relief by spending some time in this place. I
would find you comfortable lodgings very near me, so that
you would have a sort of home of your own, while I hope
you would live as much in family with me as possible, and
we live so very quietly that you would feel yourself under
no constraint. Your advice too and assistance would be
of the most material consequence to Lady Hood, and I
know that holding out a prospect of serving a friend is to
you always the most powerful motive that can be proposed.
I propose this as a plan not to be immediately executed,
VOL. I. z
354 SCOTT'S FAMILUR LETTERS [Nov. 1815
but to be kept in view when your mclination^ prompt, and
your business permits you to leave Rokeby. Do think of
this, and if possible, bring Mr. Meyrick down with you ; we
will love him for your sake, and learn to do so for his own.
I am sensible that at first you will feel repugnance at the
idea of seeking to divert your thoughts by exterior objects
from the feelings which now wholly occupy them, and
which will long hold the upper part in your mind. But
it is our duty, as early as human frailly will permit, to
hold ourselves open to such consolations as we may receive
from change of place and of objects, and although we at
first feel constriuned and hurt by such a change, yet the
exertions which it naturally requires become gradually
their own reward.
Mrs. Scott begs her kindest and most aftectionata
remembrances, and I am ever, my dear Morritt, but more
especially at the present moment, yours most truly and i
kindly, Walter Scott. \
CHAPTER XII
1816
EDINBURGH AND ASHESTIEL
The herring loves the merry moonlight,
The mackerel loves the wind,
But the oyster loves the dredging sang,
For they come of a gentle kind.
Now hand your tongne, baith wife and carle,
And listen, great and sma',
And I will sing of Glenallan's Earl
That fooght on the Red Harlaw.
Elspeth's Ballad — Antiquary,
FAMILY ANNALS AND LITEBAEY WORK
1816— AQB 45
Duth of broUiii, Mtjoi John Soott, 8tb
Paul-i MUri to hi! KlruJbOt, pnbllshod Ij
CoTutsble In JumarT.
Thp AtUii[wiTji. S villa., pabllihix) hj
ConeUblclDHiy.
HUlmy o/ Enroif tor ISM, In ZdinEwt*
Anntiol ]ta/itler, QcbobfiT.
Tola of Kif Landlord, lit mra\es ; Ptart
Dwtrf, ind Old VirlaUl]/, i Tola., pnb-
llsbed by Unmr and BUokwcwd, Df-
Oontribntloni la ^naMifly Stvitvi—
Cii7I«len Faperi, No. 30, Juiiury.
flyron'. CMUt Hurold, cuts Eli. Nol 91,
October— JsnluirT.
CHAPTER XIL
TO ADAM FERGUSON.
Edin., I2th March 1816.
My dear Adam, — I received yours yesterday, and highly
applaud your resolution to hang the trumpet in the hall
and study war no more. ... I have had often a delightful
vision about you. You must know I have added to
Abbotsford a good large farm, on which there is a mansion
about the caUbre of the Laird* a ain house, or rather larger,
commanding a most beautiful prospect of the Eildon hills
and Melrose, or where, as the poet has it —
'' Soft Bleeps the mist on doven Eildon laid,
And distant Melrose peeps from leafy shade/'
. . . Now your sisters and you might comfortably
inhabit this mansion during summer, and it would be
admirable shooting quarters, near enough to us and others
to be quite sociable, and distant enough to be perfectly
independent. This is a plan for future consideration, but it
affords us a prospect of laying our auld grey pows together,
as we used to do our young rattlepates. The house will
only cost you paying the window-tax (about 50 shillings),
and if you want a paddock for a cow and horse you shall
be handsomely dealt by. I hope you will keep this in
your recollection when you think of a summer settlement.
The Blucher flying coach sets you down within half-an-
hour's walk of the spot There is an old man in the place
whom I will not disturb for a year or so, so we will have
enough time to think of it. At all events we will see you
at Abbotsford this summer, and I trust you will like
Eaeside. . . .
857
SCOTT'S FAMILUK LETTERS
[April
TO JOANNA BAIILIE.
AsBoTsro&D, \2lh April IS16.
... I HAVE added a most romantic inmate to my family
— a large bloodhound, allow'd to be the finest dog of the
kind in Scotland, perfectly gentle, afFectionalo, and good-
natured, and the darling of all the children. I had him in
a present from Glei^arry,* who has refused the breed to
people of the very first rank. He is between the deer-
greyhound and mastiff, with a shaggy mane like a lion,
and always sits beside me at dinner, his head as high as
the back of my chair ; yet it wUl gratify you to know that
a favourite cat keeps him in the greatest possible order,
and insists upon all rights of precedence, and scratches
with impunity the nose of an animal who would make no
bones of a wolf, and pulls down a red deer without fear or
difficulty. I heard my friend set up some most piteous
howls, and I afisure you the noise was no joke, all occa-
sioned by bis fear of passing puss, who had stationed him-
self on the stairs.' . . .
' Glengiitr)''< note may i
GiHitT CoTTtoe, M March isin.
.Mt dkab Sib,— We returuad the
length of Kinross on Friday, aod
got home yetterdny. I wished
much tn have seen you again rela-
tive to the dogg. I have a cross much
admired, which generally attend
my carriage, They can travel with ■
out inconvenience with any horse,
»nd make famoua watch -dogs,
Thair aire wu the sheep-dog called
the " Biue Dog of Spain" that kilb
the wolf and preserves their valU'
able flocks from hears ; their dam
the genuine Highland deer-hound,
which race I have mwntained like-
wise in perfect purity. Should you
inonn lliat croM, and say so by
letter how noon you read this (I
will get yoor favour by the pint
of Tuesday evening, the last tbat
oan overtake me here), he shall be
in your poHsesston on TbnrsdAy
tint. HU name ii Maid&, out of
respect for that action in which my
hi'Dther had the honour to lead the
T8th Htghlanderi to victory. This
dog is now in hii prime, and h*i
been bled to deer and roe, and
should you wish for more of the
deer blood for yourself command
me fretly. — I remain, dear (or,
always yours obliged and very
truly, A. MACDOjiH-t.
'' Nimrod, MaJda'a successor, was
not BO forbearing with Uinse. — See
Jo'imal, vol. ii. p. 273, note.
1816] TO SOUTHEY 359
TO SOUTHEY.
Abbotsford, nth April 1816.
... It would have been indeed a meeting to have had
your company on the field of Waterloo ; the most decisive
as well as the most glorious victory which was ever gained,
and in the most just cause. I do not know whether I
admired most the skill of the general, or the persevering
and enduring bravery of the troops whom he led on that
memorable day, but between them they proved the truth
of what we have often agreed upon as a leading principle,
that for victory, it was only necessary to place British
troops under a general in whom they had deserved confid-
ence. Had this been done from the first, what seas of
blood might have been spared ! . . . The Duke of Welling-
ton fairly fought himself into the confidence of the public
and the administrators of the public. The difficulties
which he encountered in his outset would fill a volume,
and I cannot help thinking the better of m3rself, that
though totally unknown to Sir Arthur Wellesley, and only
judging of him from the spirit of decision with which he
conducted the Indian campaigns, I considered him long
before the defence of Lisbon, and in spite of the Conven-
tion of Cintra, as the only man we could send forth to
meet Bonaparte. ... I do not know how much you have
lost by not seeing the Duchess of Richmond, for my own
acquaintance with her is as slight as possible, but I know
many of her and his intimate friends. She gave me an
interesting account of her ball, which was broken up in so
particular a manner.^
I should have liked to have gone through Flanders,
and yet hope to do so. There is something in the char-
acter of the Walloons (not to mention their resemblance
in figure and features to the Scotch) which greatly in-
1 Scott saw the Duchess when in Brussels in August 1815.
360
SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS
[ApRa
terested me, and one cannot forget that Froissart, the
most picturesque of historians, and PhUip de Cominea,
perhaps the most faithful, both came from Flanders,
and that a thousand memorable actions have rendered
the land classic; they are besides a good people, and
have some faith and honesty left among them, much dif-
ferent in that respect from their neighbours, the French,
whose sense of religion and morality is down at zero. . . .
I hope you will contrive a border excursion this next
summer, and bring Mrs. Soulhey with you to this least of
all possible houses, which however has a poet's comer for
you and her. Think of this and oblige him who is always
truly yours, W^u-ter Scott.
TO JOANNA BAILLIE,
[End 0/ Apra 1819.]
My dear Friend,— I am glad you are satisfied with
my reasons for declining a direct interference ivith Lord
B[}Ton]. I have not, however, been quite idle, and as au
old seaman have tried to go by a side wind when I had
not the means of going before it, and this will be so far
plain to you when I say that I have every reason to believe
the good intelligence is true that a separation is signed
between Lord and Lady Byron. If I am not as angry as
you have good reason to expect every thinking and feeling
man to be, it is from deep sorrow and regret that a man
possessed of such noble talents should so utterly and
irretrievably lose himself In short, I believe the thing to
be as you state it, and therefore Lord Byron is the object
of anything rather than indignation. It is a cruel pity
that such high talents should have been joined to a mind
80 wayward and incapable of seeking control where alone
it is to be foimd, in the quiet dischai^ of domestic duties
and filling up in peace and affection his station in society.
The idea of his ultimately resisting that which should be
1816] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 361
fair and honourable to Lady B. did not come within my
view of his character — at least of his natural character ;
but I hear that, as you intimated, he has had execrable
advisera I hardly know a more painful object of con-
sideration than a man of genius in such a situation ; those
of lower minds do not feel the degradation, and become
like pigs, familiarised with the filthy elements in which
they grovel; but it is impossible that a man of Lord
Bjrron's genius should not often feel the want of that
which he has forfeited — the fair esteem of those by whom
genius most naturally desires to be admired and cherished.
I am much obUged to Mrs. Baillie for excluding me in
her general censure of authors ; but I should have hoped
for a more general spirit of toleration from my good friend,
who had in her own family and under her own eye such
an exception to her general censure — ^unless, indeed (which
may not be far from the truth), she supposes that female
genius is more gentle and tractable, though as high in tone
and spirit as that of the masculine sex. But the truth is,
I beUeve, we wiU find a great equaUty when the diflferent
habits of the sexes and the temptations they are exposed
to are taken into consideration. Men early flattered and
coaxed, and told they are fitted for the higher regions of
genius and unfit for anything else, — that they are a superior
kind of automaton and ought to move by difierent im-
pulses than others,— indulge their friends and the pubUc
with freaks and caprioles like those of that worthy knight
of La Mancha in the Sierra Morena. And then, if our
man of genius escapes this temptation, how is he to parry
the opposition of the blockheads who join all their hard
heads and horns together to butt him out of the ordinary
pasture, goad him back to Parnassus, and " bid him on
the barren mountain starve." ^ It is amazmg how far this
goes, if a man will let it go, in turning him out of the ordi-
^ Varied from First Henry iv., Act i. sc. 3.
3«2
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[April
nary course of life into tbe stream of odd bodies, so that
authors come to be regarded as tumblers, who are expected
to go to church in a summerset, because they sometimes
throw a Catherine-wheel for the amusement of the public.
A ijian even told me at an election, thinking I believe he
was saying a severe thing, that I was a poet, and therefore
that the subject we were discussing lay out of niy way.
I answered as quietly as I could, that I did not apprehend
my having written poetry rendered me incapable of speakit^
common sense in prose, and that I requested the audience M
judge of me not by the nonsense I m^ht have [wTitten for]
heir amusement, but by the sober sense i was endeavour-
i^ to speak for their information, and only expected them,
n case I had ever happened to g^ve any of them pleasure,
way which was supposed to require some information
and talent, they woidd not, for that sole reason, suppose
me incapable of understanding or explaining a point ot
the profession for which I had been educated. So I got a
patient and very favourable hearing. But certainly these
great exertions of friends and enemies have forced many a
poor fellow out of the common paths of hfe, and obliged
him to make a trade of what can only be gracefully
executed as an occasional avocation, ftTien such a man
is encouraged in all his freaks and follies, the bit is taken
out of his mouth, and. as he is turned out upon the com-
mon, bo is very apt to deem himself exempt from all the
rules incumbent on those who keep the king's highway.
And so they play fantastic tricks before high heaven.
The lady authors are not exempt from these vsg&ries,
being exposed to the same temptations; and all I can
allow Mrs, Baillie in favour of the fair sex is that since the
lime of the Aphraa and Orindas of Charles ii.'s time, the
authoresses have been ridiculous only, while the authors
have too often been both absurd and vicioua As to our
leal friend Tom Campbell, I have heard stories of his
1816] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 363
morbid sensibility chiefly from the Minto family, with
whom he lived for some time, and I think they all turned
on little foolish points of capricious affectation, which
perhaps had no better foundation than an ill-imagined
mode of exhibiting his independence. But whatever I
saw of him myself — and we were often together, and some-
times for several days — was quite composed and manly.
Indeed, I never worried him to make him get on his hind
legs and spout poetry when he did not like it He deserves
independence well; and if the dog which now awakens
him to the recollection of his possessing it, happened for-
merly to disturb the short sleep that drowned his recollec-
tion of so great a blessing, there is good reason for enduring
the disturbance with more patience than before.
But surely, admitting all our temptations and irregu-
larities, there are men of genius enough living to restrain
the mere possession of talent from the charge of disqualify-
ing the owner for the ordinary occupation and duties of
life. There never were better men, and especially better
husbands, fathers, and real patriots, than Southey and
Wordsworth; they might even be pitched upon as most
exemplary characters. I myself, if I may rank myself in
the list, am, as Hamlet says, indifferent honest, and at least
not worse than an infidel in loving those of my own house.
And I think that generally speaking, authors like actors,
being rather less commonly believed to be eccentric than
was the faith fifty years since, do conduct themselves as
amenable to the ordinary rules of society.
This tirade was begun a long time since, but is destined
to be finished at Abbotsford. Your bower is all planted
with its evergreens, but must for seven years retain its
original aspect of a gravel pit.^ . . .
[rest lost.]
^ Joanna Baillie replies : — kind letter, and have been some-
'*. . . I thank you for your last what amused at your taking up so
364 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Mat
TO MOBKITT.
XoDatt.
... I AM very sorry for what has takon place between
Lord Byron and his Lady, for I was in great hopes that the
comfort of domestic socisty might tame the waj-ward irre-
gularity of mind which is, unfortunately for its owner,
oomiected with such splendid talent. I have known Lord
Byron do very great and generous things, and I would
have been most happy to find that he had adopted other
and more settled habits. But I should be afraid that is
hardly to be hoped for now. for the very circumstancea of
4clat which have attended the separation will prevent them
ever uniting again, for such breaches made up are like a
china dish clasped, it has an appearance of imion but has
lost its value, and must always be precarious and insecure
TO TERRY.
Edinbusoh, 19(A May ISlIt
Dear Terry, — I would not have been so long in
thanking you for your kind intentions towards me, and
expressing my cheerful wish to stand Godfather to the
little heathen, had it not been that a long illness of my
brother Major Scott, has been recently closed by his
death, which, with the necessary arrangements which de-
volved on me, has occupied my time for some days past,
You remember his health was always weak, and it was a
matter of surprise to us all how he got through the winter.
serioiisly tbe defeoce of the wbolo drawing back and refuaing to aign
brotherhood and Biaterhood of poets it on various pretences, fev, Uiat
agaiDBt the charge at eccentricity powerful agent ! vos suppoaod to
and Mlfisbnesa. Mra. B.'b remark (irevoil on him at last. Lad; B..
was made in an untoward hour, poor thing ! will now, I hope, hkve
and we will not maiataiD it in all aome peace. She has the «dvaii-
poiutB. That moit extraordinary tage of having now do contraty or
poet who gave ocoaajon for it ia divided affection to contend wiUi,
DOW gone abroad, and will, I hope, for she uid feel uothiog for him
return no more. The acporatiaD now but unmixed avenioD and dii-
woi signed before he went. After gust. . . ."
1816] TO TEREY 366
The separation, however, is always a shock when it comes,
cutting up by the roots many an old domestic remem-
brance, which must now be forgotten because there is no
longer an individual with whom they can be communi-
cated. But the old and infirm must make room for those
who are entering upon the stage, and I sincerely congratu-
late you upon having acquired a new tie to existence with
all the duties connected with it. In giving my name to
the little fellow, see you do not add an L to your own.
Walter Terryi would be a most ominous sound. I hope
Mrs. Terry continues to do as well as you can wish, and
will soon be up and busy. I have safely received the play,^
music, etc. : the scenes seem to hang much more closely to-
gether than in the original sketch, and it is on the whole
incalculably improved. The songs are very good. I would
have you make no alterations in the plates for the music.
I have arranged with Campbell so that " Rest thee, babe "
will not in any shape interfere with the way in which they
now stand. I hope you have safely received a certain
novel in three volumes.* It is at press again, 6000 having
been sold in six days. ... W. S.
TO THOMAS SCOTT.
29th May 1816.
My deab Tom, — . . . [Statement of T. S.'s interest in
Major Scott's Estate.] This seems of particular con-
sequence with respect to Uttle Walter because, of course,
though it may be very difficult for me to be useful to you,
it is quite different the power of forwarding a young man's
views on entering into life, and if he proves what we both
would wish and hope, he can hardly select a line of life in
which I could not be directly or indirectly of some service
to him. There is a possibility also (though such expecta-
^ Ouy Mannering, dramatised by performed at Edinburgh until Feb-
Terry, was put upon the London ruary 1817.
stage in March 1816, but was not * The, Antiquary.
366 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [May
tions are of all others the most contingent) that my
children may be much wealthier tlmri I, in which case
r would naturally wish to do something for yours, which I
could do without injustice to my own. So that for everj'
reason I would prefer your returning here, were it not for
the limited income with which you now have to struggle.
With between £300 and £400 a year economy may doubt-
less live without running into debt. And without con-
suming the capital, the interest joined to your annuity will
amount at least to that sum, independent of what properly
you have remaining in the Isle of Man.
. . . Times hero are not good, but mending. The
farmers have been half ruined by the sudden fall of the
value of protluce, but I think it is now rising. In fact.
great part of the panic was owing to the sudden and
general retrenchment of tlie Bonk credit throughout Scot-
land. The farmer who used to carry a bill to the Bank to
pay his rent, was suddenly obliged to send his stock and
crop to market, instead of that convenient representative
of his wealth, " Please to pay," and so forth. Where there
were so many sellers, buyers turned shy, and money became
daily scarcer. But things are coming round again, after
much individual distress. . . . Last year I was on the
Continent for the greater part of the Autumn, and wa« at
Paris within a very short time after the battle of Waterloo,
It was something new to hear the bagpipes playing before
the Tuileries, and to see the Highlanders broiling on the
cuirasses of the French Imperial Guards their rations of
beef and mutton. The Parisians were as gay as ever, not-
withstanding this recent visit of Europe in arms, and all
the apparatus of cannon turned upon the celebrated Pont
Neuf and Pont Royal, with matches biuning and a
Prussian Artilleryman at each longing for orders to fire
it My wife and family are all well, and send best love to
their aunt and you. . , .
1816] TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH 367
TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH.
Abbotstokd, June 5th, 1816.
My DEAR Lord, — I have made a start of three days to
this place to see the great Babylon which I have built, the
bog which I have drained, or rather attempted to drain,
and the trees which I have planted. Babylon I found
about as broad and long as I left it, but as there is no
certainty in human affairs, the bog has proved not so soft
as that to which the Bard likened his dear Molly Mogg,
but on the contrary hard-hearted, or in vulgar phrase,
surrounded by a good stomacher of whinstone rock,
and the trees, poor dear creatures! suffering under the
influence of a dry cold blighting wind, which, if it lasts,
will cure us of our complaints of cheap meal for one while.
To recreate myself under these disappointments, I was
imder the necessity of accepting the honour done me by
the Souters, who requested me to lay the foundation-stone
of a sort of bam which is to be called a Free Masons'
HalL There was a solemn procession on this occasion,
which, that it might not want the decorum of costume,
was attended by weavers from Hawick, shoemakers from
Jedburgh, and pedlars from Peebles, all very fine in the
scarfis and trinkums of their respective lodges. If our
musical band was not complete, it was at least varied, for
besides the town drum and fife, which thimdered in the
van, we had a pair of bagpipes and two fiddles, and we had
a prayer from a parson whom they were obliged to initiate
on the spur of the occasion, who was abominably frightened,
although I assured him the sanctity of his cloth would
preserve him from the fate of the youngest brother alluded
to by Bums in his " Address to the DeiL"
I wish I could by a comer of Prince Houssain's tapestry
pay your Grace a visit at Bath. I resided there the sixth
year of my life and have a strong recollection of the Abbey
368 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Aoaj
Church, tho Orange Grovo, the Avon, and a statue <
Neptune, which then stood at the Ferry which led
Spring Gardens, I recollect the river as dark ai
yellowish, at least to my northern eyes. ... I beg to be
most kindly remembered to Lady Anne and the other
young ladies, the fir and heather chieftains, and aU the
friends around your Grace. I hope your Grace will be
at Bowhill early enough ib the season to make out the
proposed fishing for the monster ^ at Cauldshields Loch.— J
Believe me, my dear Lord Duke, ever yom- truly honouradi
and obliged, Walter Scott.
TO MOUKITT,
Abbotbtord, ^thAnguit [1816].
My DIIAR MoBHlTT, — I ^vrote you a long letter the othell
evening. Your plans of operation received this morning J
will suit me most admirably, especially if you come hy«
Jedburgh, I must be there at the Circuit on the I4th4
Sept, and abide tho 15th (Sunday) in my official attend-
ance on the Judge, Now, if you sleep at Otterbounie on
the 13th, which is an indifferent sort of he<^e inn, you
will find me at Jedbui^h on the evening of the next day,
and we have Sunday to look about us at Jedburgh and
dine with the Ju<^, who is my old school-fellow and a
very pleasant man; and on Monday morning, unless
you should wish to take a turn towards Kelso, we will
breakfast at Abbotsford. My being able to get to Harvies-
town depends on my getting forward some work which
I have in hand, and which I will show you. But at any
rate, I have plenty of time to weary you to death with
showing you all that is to be seen, so I expect you will
stay with me as long as you possibly can. Look over
Froissart before you visit Otterboume; the ground con-
firms his account of the battle wonderfully. You will of
' SooU'b pet aaperstition, the Wtitaroow.
1816] TO MORRITT 369
course visit Hexham: the church is very curious, with
some old Roman monuments, and the situation beautiful.
Between a miserable inn called Tom-pill and Otterbume
(that is supposing you come from Hexham), on a small
brook near a place called Woodbum, is the curious Roman
town or camp of Risingham. Near this stood the figure
called Robin of Risingham, now not existing. It waa
mentioned in the notes to a certain poem called Rokeby,
and acquired such celebrity that the boor on whose
grounds it stood, teazed with the number of visitors, broke
it to pieces.^ ... I do not know anything else very remark-
able in that part of the road ; only, on the very march
when you enter Scotland, the Battle of Reidswire was
fought, being the last action between the Scotch and
EnglisL From Jedburgh I hope to be your cicerone my-
selC 1 write in great haste to save post. All here send
love and will be delighted to see you. — Most truly yours,
W.S.
TO JOANNA BAILLIB.
Edinburgh, Nov. 27, 1816.
My dear Friend, — . . . Welcome, my dear friend, to
the land you honour and to the friends who love you.* . . .
All I ever longed for on the Continent was their light
wines, which you do not care about, and their fine climate,
which we should both value equally; and to say truth,
I never saw scene or palace which shook my allegiance
to Tweedside and Abbotsford, though so inferior in every
respect, and though the hills, or rather braes, are just high
enough " to lift us to the storm " when the storms are not
so condescending as to sweep both crest and base, which,
to do them justice, is seldom the case. What have I got
to send you in return for the subUme description of the
Alps ? Alas ! nothing but the history of petty employments
^ Scott's Pottical Works, yoL iz. * Mrs. Baillie had just returned
p. 56. from a tour on the Continent.
VOL. I. 2 A
370
SCOTT'S FAMaiAB LETTERS
[Nov.
and a. calendar of increasing bad weather. The latter was
much mitigated by enjo3Tng for a good portion of the
summer the society of John Morritt. of Rokeby, who has
60 much of that which is delightful, both in his grave
and gay moods, that ho can make us forget the hill-
side while sitting by the fireside. His late loss * has cast
a general shade of melancholy over him, which renders
hhn yet dearer to his friends, by the gentle and unaffectad
manner in which his natural gaiety of temper gleams
through it and renders it still more interesting. . . .
A far different object of interest, yet still of interest
chequered with pity and disapprobation, is Lord Byron,
whose present situation seems to rival all that ever has
been said and sung of the misfortunes of a too irritable
im^ination. The last part of Childe Harold intimates
a terrible state of mind, and with all the power and
genius which characterised his former productions, the
present seems to indicate a more serious and desperate
degree of misanthropy. I own I was not much moved by
the scorn of the world which his first poems implied, be-
cause I know it is a humour of mind which those whom
fortune has spoilt by indulgence, or irritated by reverses,
are apt to assume, because it looks melancholy and gentle-
manlike, and becomes a bard as well as being desperately
in love, or very fond of the sunrise though he lies in bed
till noon, or anxious in recommending to others to catch
cold by visiting old abbeys by moonlight, which he never
I happened to see under the chaste moonbeam himself; but
I this strange poem goes much deeper, and either the Demon
I of Misanthropy is in full possession of him, or he has
J invited ten guests equally desperate, to the swept and gar-
nished mansion of Harold's understanding. On my word
of honour, I should expect it to end either in actual in-
sanity, or something equally frightful I am glad you have
' Mra, MoiriU, as already noted, died in November ISI5.
1816] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 371
contradicted the reports of his following a course of open
profligacy. I wonder who can have pleasure in circulating
such stories, were it not that the degradation of genius
seems to give as little pain to vulgar minds, as the plottvng
a bird does to a cook, who cares little whether it be a
dimghill cock or a pheasant. I would be glad to hear
that Lady Byron was as well as circumstances can entitle
her friends [to expect]. It is a terrible thing to be at-
tached to the flight of such a balloon as Lord B., and
the high interest which his writings maintain keeps him
in a manner before the eyes of the public, and prevents
his misfortune from dying away and being forgotten as
in the ordinary case.»
To return to my petty afiairs. I have some thoughts of
enlarging Abbotsford this year, and I have got a very pretty
plan which may be executed at moderate expense, having
the local advantage of plenty of stones on the property.
I have always had a private dislike to a regular shape of
a house, although no doubt it would be very wrong-headed
to set about building an irregular one from the beginning ;
but when the cottage enlarges itself and grows out of cir-
cumstances, which is the case at Abbotsford, the outs and the
ins without afford so much variety and depth of shade, and
within give such an odd variety of snug acconmiodation
that they far exceed in my estimation the cat-lugged
band-box, with four rooms on a floor and two stories
rising regularly above each other. From this you will
be disposed to augur something rather whimsical, and you
will be perfectly right. The present mansion consists of
two parts, divided from each other by an interval of about
34 feet, and I purpose the new building shall occupy this
interval, and thus connect the two dwellings. There is to
' The third canto of Chilffe he sent to Murray on January
Harold had just appeared, and 10th for the Quarterly Beview,
it impressed Scott so deeply Murray's Memoirs, voL L p. 373.
that he wrote a criticism which — See present volume, pp. 412-421.
372 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEEvS [Nov.
be a small oonaervatory (think of that) and a little boudoir
for my tine bust of Shakespeare, a good eating-room, and
a small den for myself in particular ; the ground falls so
much in front that T can secure any quantity of accommo-
dation below. Above I will have two comfortable bed-
rooms with dressing-closets ; the front, I intend shall have
some resemblance to one of the old-fashioned English halls
which your gentlemen of £500 a year lived comfortably in,
in former days. To augment the resemblance, I have con-
trived to bespeak certain canopies which at present adorn
the ancient and venerated, the Tolbooth in Ediubuigb,
so if my building does not give me a niche in the present,
at least I will get one out of it ; they are finely carved,
bemg intended for the reception of saints, and having held
them, I suppose, till John Knox knock 'd them down.
That curious old building, the Bastile of Edinburgh, and
formerly the place where the Parliament met, came down
this year, and the magistrates have very politely promised
rae any part of the ornaments which may suit my purpose,
and it will be hard if I cannot Bnd a purpose for all that
is worth carrying thirty inUes.
My plantations have grown this year like any mad, and
they are the only production which has thriven during
the late uncommon season, when nun and wind was the
constant order of the day: the weather has reaUy been
frightful, and its eftects on the country must be serious,
for much of the com has been standing in the snow, and
the potatoes have in general suffer'd exceedingly. The
same measure which last year was offer'd for nine pence.
and would hardly fetch that price, now fetches eighteen
pence, and you know how much our peasantry trust to
this excellent root. We hope, however, that things will
not be so bad as we anticipated some time since. There
has been a sudden and unexpected start in the price of
live stock, which about a month since was depreciated in
1816] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 373
a degree almost ruinous to the tenantry, and must have
ruined many. This is of great consequence, for if the
farmer is ruined, he cannot employ the labourer. Money
seems also to be becoming plenty, and credit is said to
be better, though no one knows very well why. The
opening of the ports for importation has had a great effect
in setting the looms agoing at Glasgow and elsewhere, for
the continental merchants are willing enough to take our
commodities, only they have no money to pay for them,
unless by omr buying their com. So that I trust upon
the whole, things will gradually come round again; the
imnatural state of things and the distorted channels of
commerce, which gradually arise out of the state of war,
make a dislocation which cannot be reduced to its natmral
and proper state without pain and suffering. In the
meantime, these are encouragements to an improver like
myself for carrying on all my hobby-horsical plans, for as
Uncle Toby says, " is it not in the cause of the coimtry ? "
In fact, we must find the poor folks work, and if that is
all they ask, — which, after all, is only diverting our super-
fluities to our own enjoyments, by means of their labour, —
all who have the means of doing it should find them
employment, — the best charity in one point of view, since
it preserves the independence of the labourer's character,
and is most useful in another, since the employer must
derive pleasure or advantage, or both, while he essentially
benefits the person employed. — Ever most truly yours,
Walter Scott.
to lady abercorn.
November, 1816.
... I CANNOT even conjecture who you mean by Mr.
Mackenzie as author of the Antiquary. I should think
my excellent old friend, Mr. Harry Mackenzie (author of
the Man of Feeling, etc.), was too much advanced in years
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Nov.
and plunged in business to amuse himself by writing
novels, and besides, the stile in no degree resembles his.
1 am told one of the Enghsh reviews gives these works by
name, aiid upon alleged authority, to George Forbes,
Sir William's brother. So they take them off my hands,
[ don't care who they [give] them to, for I am really tired
of an imputation which I am under the necessity of
confuting at every comer. Tom will be soon home from
Canada, as the death of my elder brother has left him a
little money, and he may answer for himself; but I hardly
suspect him, unless much changed, to be possessed of the
perseverance necessary to write 7).i7!« volumes. . . .
. . . The only thing I have been doing of late Is to
write two or three songs for a poor man called Campbell,
a decay'd artist and musician, who tried to teach me
music many years ago. He has made an immense collec-
tion of Highland airs, and I have given him words for some
of them. One of them is the only good song I ever wrote
— it is ft fine Highland Gathering tune called Pibrock an
Donuil Dkii, that is. the Pibroch of Donald the Black. As
your Ladyship likes scraps of minstrelsy, and I have little
that is interesting to say, I add the words.' . . .
TO LADV LOCISA STUART.
I, Sov. Uih, 1816.
Dear Lady Louisa, — Your kind token of remembrance
would not have remained so long unanswered, but for an
inroad of visitors who relieved guard upon me without
intermission until I left Abbotsford two days ago, and the
httle time which I could spare for my pen was necessarily
dedicated to getting forward with the labour I had in
hand, and which after all was a Utile, or rather not a
little, interrupted. For, besides that Abbotsford affords
' See Poetkca Werka, vol. xi. p. 319.
1816.] TO LADY LOUISA STUART 375
no more opportunity of seclusion than one would possess
in a moderate-sized lanthom, there is a sort of pleasure in
the present state of matters there to run about with every
new stranger, and tell him this I have done and this do I
design to do — so have things been formerly — thus they
stand now, and thus seen by prophetic spectacles they
will show hereafter. • . . The imfortimate guests, to be
sure, pay for their beef and port with wet feet, and
perhaps sore throats, when they are carried round to
see nature in her primitive nakedness, and the taUors
engaged in cutting out her new deaths. But then,
what came they forth to the wilderness to see ? For my
part, I make it a rule never to spare them either for
pinch'd features, benumbed hands, miry feet, or doleful
looks, and receive all the compliments which their sad
civility compels them to muster as a debt due and a thing
of course. Li the meantime, hours slip away, dinner
comes, and we are hungry — evening, and we are lazy —
night, and we are sleepy, and thus wears the world away.
In the midst of all these avocations, and at the expense
of neglecting the correspondence of some valued friend
(among whom none can rank more highly than Lady
Louisa Stuart), I have accomplished a novel, or rather
four volumes of tales, chiefly that I might not ruin myself
or do injustice to my family by this same rage of im-
proving like any mad. I intended to have written four
tales illustrative of the manners of Scotland in her different
provinces.^ But, as no man that wrote so much ever knew
so little what he intended to do when he began to write,
or executed less of the little which he had premeditated, I
totally altered my plan before I had completed my first
volimie. I began a border tale ^ well enough, but tired of
^ Scott dedicated the First Series South, OenUemen of the North,
of the Tales of my Landlord " To People of the West, or Folko/F\fe"
his loving countrymen, whether
they are denominated Men of the ' Bktck DiDarf,
378
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Nov.
the ground I had trod so often before 1 had walked over
two-thirds of tho course. Besides, 1 found I had circum-
scribed my bounds too much, and, in manage phrase, that
my imagination, not being well in hand, could not lunge
easily within so small a circle. So I quarrelled with my
story, and bungled up a conclusion, as a boarding-school
Miss finishes a task which she had commenced with great
glee and accuracy. In the next tale I have succeeded
better — at least I think so. It is a covenanting story;
the time lies at the era of Bothwell Bri^,' the sceae in
Lanarkshire. There are noble subjects for narrative
during that period, full of the strongest light and shadow,
all human passions stirr'd up and stinuilated by the
moat powerful motives, and the contending parties as
distinctly contrasted in manners and in modes of thinking
as in political principles, I am complete master of the
whole history of these strange times, both of persecutors
and persecuted, so I trust I have come decently otf, for as
Falstaff very reasonably asks, is not the truth the tr\ith t
You will soon judge for yourself, as I will take care to
send an early copy to (jloucester Pla«e, conditionally that
your Ladyship will have the goodness not to shew it to
any one till it is regularly published in London, for it is
very odd what trifles are summon 'd up as articles of
evidence. I will tell you when we meet what may have
given rise to my brother 's being named as the author of
Waverley, etc. It is a report which, if he would avail
himself of the very strong talents both of pathetic and
humorous description which he really possesses (car il y a
de qvAn), he might make a very fortunate report for
him. But he is one of the many many hundreds in whom
indolence has strangled genius, and the habits acquired in
an unsettled state of life are highly unfavourable to his
ever doing anything in this way, though the state of his
' Old Mortality.
1816] TO LADY LOUISA STUART 377
family would render it the wisest thing he could do. As
for Harold the Dauniiesa, I hope soon to finish him and
have him out, so as to charge horse and foot in the same
month. My ostensible employment is a view of the
history of Scotland, long since written, and on which I set
so much value that I shall revise it with great care.
Such therefore is your answer, my dear Lady Louisa,
when any one asks you what your fiiend W. S. is about.
Morritt was well, and generally speaking in good spirits
when he was with us : he bears and feels his loss like a
man, but he seems to have set up his rest and hope on
his nephew. Now this I do not like, for the poor young
lad has a consumptive habit, and the idea that our valued
friend is to dedicate his time and to build his happiness
on a prop so apt to fail him, seems to me rather alarming ;
much, much rather would I hear that he had form'd a
new connection, and I am only afraid of his pronoimcing
himself so decidedly just now as may prevent him from
thinking of it at another time. These things, however,
go most especially by destiny, and to destiny let us leave
them. ... I wish I could say I think the Duke^ weU, but
I do not; his spirits get above his strength, and he is
cheerful and makes others so, but he looks iU in general,
and I cannot look upon him without the most anxious
apprehensions. Would to God he had a r^ular and
hearty fit of the gout, for I think it flits about him in an
unpleasant manner. The young ladies are really charm-
ing girls, so gentle and sensible, and fond of each other, as
well as attentive to their father. Surely the family aflfec-
tions which Heaven has bestow'd on that family are
worth all other advantages.
Adieu, my dear Lady Louisa Mrs. Scott joins her
respectful compliments, and I ever am most truly yours,
Wali'er Scott.
^ Charles, Duke of Buoclenoh.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEES
[Nov.
TO MOERrrr.
Abbotbfobd, 22d Xotfmbtr 1818.
My dear Morritt, — I hope this will tind you well
recovered of all the colds and wettmgs which you caught
in the land of mist and snow, and not quite shivering when
you think of the banks of the Tweed- We have left them
for two or three days, and are now safely settled in Castle
Street. One of our first occupations was to unpack Shake-
speare and his superb pedestal, which is positively the
most elegant and appropriate piece of furniture which I
over saw. It has been tho admiration of all who have
seen it, and that has been half Edinburgh, for aught
that 1 know, for its arrival has made a great sensation.
. . . The figure came safe; and the more I look at it
tho more I feel that it must have resembled the Bard
much more than any of the ordinary prints, unless it be
that in the first foho edition,' which has all the appearance
of being taken from it. The forehead is more expanded,
and has not a narrow, peaked, and prig^sh look incon-
sistent with the dignity of Shakespeare's character, and
which strongly marks all tho ordinary portraits, which
seem to me more like Spenser than Shakespeare^
But to descend from Shakespeare, bis bust and cabinet,
to matters of humbler import, you will receive in a day or
two the TaUs of My Landlord. The last is, I think, the
best I have yet been able to execute, although written by
snatches and at intervals. It is quite finished, and I ex-
pect to get copies in boards by Friday or Saturday. Yours
of course will be sent among the foremost, and I will be
glad to learn it reaches you safe and gives you amusement
All things go on with us as usual. I have settled
Walter tightly to his Greek and Latin, to which we add
1 Puhlished in 1623. Shaka- It a beUeved to faave been Ukta
■peare diod iu 1616, uid the bust in from a death tnaak — See Wintefi
Stratford Cboroh woa placed there Shakfptart'* England.
within seven years after hU death.
1816] TO MOEEITT 379
French, Italian, and the elements of mathematics. He
goes to the manage thrice a week, and fences twice. With
reading history and attending to geography, he will have
enough to do through the winter. As for me, I bother
on with my proposed addition, and I have got, since I had
the benefit of your advice, that of Bullock and Mr. Blore,
so that I have every chance of ruining myself genteelly.
Meantime, they have ordered a new edition of the Tales,
which will help out these mighty operations against they
are set agoing. By the way, I have just received ChUde
Harold, part 3rd.^ Lord Byron has more avowedly identi-
fied himself with his personage than upon former occa-
sions, and in truth does not affect to separate them. It
is wilder and less sweet, I think, than the first part, but
contains even darker and more powerful pourings forth
of the spirit which boUs within him. I question whether
there ever lived a inan who, without looking abroad for
subjects excepting as they produced an effect on himself,
has contrived to render long poems turning almost entirely
upon the feelings, character, and emotions of the author,
so deeply interesting. We gaze on the powerful and
ruined mind which he presents us, as on a shattered
castle, within whose walls, once intended for nobler guests,
sorcerers and wild demons are supposed to hold their
Sabbaths. There is something dreadful in reflecting that
one gifted so much above his fellow-creatures, should thus
labour under some strange mental malady that destroys his
peace of mind and happiness, altho' it cannot quench the
fire of his genius. I fear the termination will be fatal in one
way or other, for it seems impossible that human nature
can support the constant working of an imagination so
dark and so strong. Suicide or utter insanity is not
^ On which Scott wrote the article, as will be seen, displeased
generous criticism in the 3l8t No. Lady Byron's friends. See ante,
of the Quarterly Review, This p. 371) note, and ^xwf, pp. 413-422.
380
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Not.
unlikely to close tlie scene. " Orandu/msit," as the sapient
Partridge says, " ut sit mens sana in corpore sano." '
Our weather here has been somewhat better ever aace
the eclipse. The sun. 1 suppose, felt himself bound in
honour to show that he had not been extinguished oul>
right on Monday last, which was much to be apprehended,
considering the blinking way in which he has been all
summer. For my part, I would not consent to look at
the echpso at all, for the sight of the unshadowed sun
would have been much the greater singularity of the two
as things have gone this season. Adieu, let this sheet of
nonsense only intimate that I long to hear from you, and
am grateful for the kindness that gave me ho much of
your timo at Abbotsford. I am lininishing my tale of die
heathen Dane.* Mrs. Scott and the young folks oflfer
respectful and affectionate remembrances, and I am tftet,
my dear Morritt. most truly yours, Walter Scott.
TO LADY ABERCORN.
29tA if ore mber [16181
My dear Lady Abercobn, — I have been long waiting
for an opportunity of writing to you with a good grace,
and I think I have found one which may Lq some degree
atone for my ungracious silence, which after all has only
arisen from my having nothing to say that I thought
likely to interest you. I have sent, imder Mr. Arbuthuot's
cover, four volumes of a novel, or rather a set of novels,
which I am strongly incUned to swear are the production
of the unknown author of Guy Mantiering, about which
you are so much interested. I suppose it will bo soon
published in London, but I hope these volumes will reach
your Ladyship before that takes place. The bookseller
here says he is not to publish till next week, but gave me
p. 4. is six cactaa, pabluhsd maaaj-
\ poem, moualy in 1S16.
1816] TO LADY ABERCORN 381
a reading of the volumes, and at my earnest entreaty
parted with the set I have the honour to beg your accept-
ance of. I do not like the first story at alL But the long
one, which occupies three volumes, is a most extraordinary
production. I cannot think it at all likely that young
Harry Mackenzie ^ wrote these books. I know him very
well, and have no idea that he has either time or disposi-
tion to bestow it on such compositions. He is high at the
bar, and has a great deal too much to do for writing novels.
His brother James might be more likely to amuse himself
in that way, but I think this also is unlikely. I should
like to know if you are of my opinion as to these new
volumes coming from the same hand. They form two
small packets addressed to your Ladyship under cover ta
Mr. Arbuthnot, Treasury, and I trust will come safe.
I conclude you have seen Lord 'Byron's new poem. He
is a person of most wonderful powers, and I think in no-
thing more admirable than in the new and fresh interest
with which he can present his own feelings, and his own
disposition, and his own misfortunes. Almost all char-
acters from Harold to Alp Arslan are more or less Lord
Byron himself, and yet you never tire of them. It is the
same set of stormy emotions acting on the same powerful
mind, distinguished equally by the eccentricities and the
temperament of genius ; it is the same sea in short, dashing
upon the same rocks, yet presented to us under such variety
of appearance that they have all the interest of novelty.
I have been living quietly at home all the last summer,
working hard at planting and improving my little property,
which of late I have extended to about six hundred acres,
most of which are of a waste and wild description, but not
incapable, from the inequality and exposiure of the ground,
to be made romantic, and even in some parts beautiful, by
planting extensively. So I saunter about from nine in the
^ Af terwardfl Lord Mackenzie.
382 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dec.
morning till five at night with a plaid about my shoulders
and an immensely large bloodhound at my heels,* and
stick in sprigs which are to become trees when I shall hare
no eyes to look at them. Somebody will look at them,
however, though I question if they will have the some
pleasure in gazing on the full-grown oaks that J have had
in nursing the saplings. There is something in these
operations that connects iia more with futurity than any-
thing which we can undertake, for we are sowing that pos-
terity may reap, and planting that they may cut down.
I conclude all the improvements at the Priory are now
completed, and that you are in quiet possession, and nob
thinking of London until spring. We have had dreadful
weather in this country, unmatched by anything in the
memory of man. A fortnight since people were cutting
com in the midst of the snow, and this not only in upbmd
districts, but in the best com country. Com is of course
rising fast, and as the wages of the labourers are low, I fear
there will be disturbances, unless caro is taken in time for
preventing them, — Ever, I am, with the most sincere regard,
dear Lady Abercom, your truly grateful and obliged friend,
Walter Scott.
TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH.
EoL-m., Ulh Decfmhrr 1818.
. . . YoPR Grace's health is too valuable to your friends
and the country, more especially at this moment, to permit
us to be very easy while you are eomplaming. Whv not
try Bath, my dear Lord ? It was of service on former occa-
sions, and I own I should not think the warm air inside of
BowhiU, when contrasted with the very sharp air without
doors, favourable to the cough at this time, when I think
the devil seems to have taken possession of a certain party
' Maida, see Glengarry's letter, anU, page 338.
1816] TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH 383
of the community. But if I were to say to you in the
words of Shakespeare —
*' what a time you have chose out, brave Chieftain,
To wear the kerchief ; would you were not sick,''
your heart, if not your tongue, would reply —
*^ I am not sick if Romans have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour."
Artillery is off for Glasgow, and also the arms to be de-
livered to the dite of the volunteers. I believe Govern-
ment are in possession of the plans of the discontented,
and that they are very extensive. They cannot but ulti-
mately bring their actors into destruction; but much
bloodshed will be avoided by timely precaution. Here
we are quiet, expecting the great Archduke Nicholas, a
shabby sort of name methinks —
'' Alas ! Nick. Nick, alas !
Right did they gossip,'' etc.
rushes involuntarily into one's mind. He is to be enter-
tained by the Advocate on Wednesday and the Provost on
Thursday. It is lucky we have such a respectable father
of the City at present He may sing with Cicero —
'* fortunatam natam me consule Romam."
Indeed, he deserves to be elevated from Dickie Gossip, as
we used to term him of yore, into Sir Kichard Gossip.^
Certainly I have seen provosts who would have made
strange work upon such occasions.
Lord Byron's poems mark great progress, I suspect, of
the insane turn which he has lately shewn, and which I
always thought his very particular cast of features strongly /
indicated. . . .
1 Mr. Wm. Arbuthnot, then Lord Poetical Worka, voL x. p. 365, Mr.
Provost of Edinburgh, entertained Arbuthnot was again in the same
the Grand Duke Nicholas at a office when King George visited
dinner on December 19th, 1816, Edinburgh in 1822, and was then
for which Scott wrote a song. — See created a Baronet.
384 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dec.
As your Grace la in the way of idle reading, I have
forwarded by the coach a copy of certain historical aSoos
called Talea of my Landlord, which give no bad picture of
the eminent covenanting period in Scotland. I was sur-
prised to Bnd Ballantyne had not sent a copy to BowbUl
of these and other matters. When I have the hononr to
meet your Grace, I trust to find you well recovered.
Charles Sharpe projects a publication of original letters,
from which I think much amusement will bo derived. I
know no man so deep in old genealogy and antiijiiated
scandal ; I fear he will destroy the honour of God knows
how many of the great^grandmothers of our present
TOo6i<ese. I believe the work will not be for sale, but I will
take care your Grace has a copy.
, , , J beg to be most respectfully remembered to the
young ladiea Walter is working at the riding with
Colonel Leatham, to serve Lord Dalkeith, in the auld
phrase. " when he hath aught to do." I suppose following
the greyhounds will be the iirst feudal service — Ever, my
dear Lord, your Grace's truly faithful and obliged,
Walter Scott.
to the same.
Edinb., 21M December 1816,
My DEAR Lord Duke,— I am glad the tales arrived.
James Ballantyne swore himself even blacker in the face
than nature hath made him that thoy were regularly de-
spatched, so 1 suppose that . . . the packet went on to
Carlisle and only reached Bowhill on its return. As your
Grace is in the humour of looking after the Covenanters, I
beg to add to the Bowhill collection the Hislory of W'odrow
in two volumes, folio, now become rare. I happen to have
two copies, my father having lent his to an old friend, no
great arithmetician, but a capital boa/c-fceeper, whose repre-
Bentatives bad the honesty to restore it after his death. It
1816] TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH 385
is a prolix piece of work, and altogether unfit to be read
from beginning to end ; but there are many cmious pas-
sages, especially interesting to the local antiquary. I add
a collection of the lives of the most eminent covenanting
heroes, published by an old Cameronian farmer called
Wilson,^ a tenant of Lady Loudoun.^ He was still alive
when the present young Lady came of age, and at the
entertainment then given to the tenantry she requested to
have this singular remnant and record of times and opinions
pointed out to her. She was requested to look aroimd, and
assured she would not fail to distinguish him. Accordingly
she at once fixed on an old man with long white hair, a
bonnet of extravagant dimensions, a blackish grey suit of
an uniform colour, and coarse gaiters of the same, which
looked like the spirit of some old covenanter come straight
from a conventicle. Her Ladyship made up to the old
Trojan, and told him she was aware for how many genera-
tions his ancestors had possessed the farm of Loch some-
thing or other, and how ready they had been to follow her
ancestors in resisting popery and arbitrary power, and
therefore she was determined the rent of that possession
should never be raised during her lifetime, and therewithal
she gave him her fair hand in token of her promise. But
the cimning old codger replied that he was infinitely bound
to her Ladyship, but that although in the good auld times
licking thwrnhs was the only ceremony necessary to make
good a bargain, yet in the slippery paths of this contu-
* In Old Mortality {W, N,, vol. old chronicler of the Cameronians,"
X. p. 156), Scott refers to "A True as Scott styled him, who died in
and Impartial Account of the per- 1793. The first edition of his Scots
secuted Presbyterians of Scotland, Worthies was published in 1775,
their being in Arms, and Defeat and the second in 1781 ; since then
at Bothwell Brigg in 1679, by it has often been reprinted. See
William Wilson, late schoolmaster also RedgauntUt, W. N,, vol. xxxv.
in the parish of Douglas," but the p. 196, note,
description of the Cameronian ^ Flora, Countess of Loudoun in
farmer applies more closely to her own right, wife of Lord Moira,
John Howie of Lochgoin, " the fine afterward Marquis of Hastings.
VOL. I. 2 B
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
macious and backsliding generation, a scrap of stamp-paper
was deem'd essential to ensure performance, and so he
converted what was perhaps a hasty compliment into a
tight life-rent lease. This book is a very singular one and
some winter day I will cover it with marginal not£& for
your Grace : the account of the Battle of Bothwell Bridge
is very cu-cumstantial and singular, I hope, my dear Lord,
you never refrain from asking any question respecting my
scribbling, the answer to which would give you the least
grati6cation. If I do not speak to your Grace on these
subjects it is because I don't remember we ever wanted
topics of conversation, and might be afraid of annoying
you till your Grace should tell me as the German Prince
told the Marquis of TullJbardine, Je auisfdcke de wow el
<le V08 petites affaires}
My view of Scottish History is not yeb gone to press.
for I wait Thomson's proposed publication of the Cham-
berlain rolls, which cannot but clear some doubtful
passives. If your Grace should in the meantime think
of commencing a course of Scottish history, I would
recommend Lord Hailes' Annals, Pinkerton's history,
flobertson's history, Laing's history, which series contains
the full history of Scotland. These books are veiy
dift'erent in merit, but of this when wo meet. I am truly
glad of the example your Grace sets to the country, and
am sure the good sense of Saunders will discover the
difference between those old patrons who fill his mouth
with bread, and now and then his noddle with a little
punch, and those new ones who would fill his brain with
political discontent, and still his hunger with universal
suffrage.^ After all, " Le vrai Amphitrion est I'ATnphitrwn
oil Von dine," as is wisely concluded by Moliere's Sosia. 1
> The Duke had Ibid 1 "You will
do me the jnitice to admit that I
hove never availed myself of mj
intimncy wilh you to spy out any
of yonr intended publicationB."
' At Bowhill the rule tru when
a fox was killed to give the beaters
a guinea's worth of punch.
1816] TO JOHN RICHAEDSON 387
propose myself that pleasure at Bowhill one day soon.
Maida is a little lame, but if lie gets better I would like
to slip him at a fox, should that matter be going any
day next week. I shall be at Abbotsford on Monday to
remain about eight days, wind and weather serving. I beg
kind respects to Lady Anne and the rest of the Baronial
firesida — Ever your Grace's truly obliged and grateful,
Walter Scott.
TO JOHN RICHARDSON.
Abbotsfobd, 23(i Dtcimhtr 1816.
I HOPE you had the Tales of my Landlord, an early
copy, though you have not said that they came to hand.
They have apparently succeeded to a wish. At least no
sale could be better than theirs is reported to be.
I beg to call to your mind the case of poor Henry
Weber. You will find it better stated by his sister, Mrs.
Fawcett, in the enclosed letter, than I can pretend to do.
Her husband was a captain in the Militia. Now these are
reduced, she also must have enough to do. If anything
can be got from the Literary Fimd, he is certainly a fair
object, both from genius and distress. Here it is difficult to
get English money, so I enclose a cheque for £10 sterling
on Sir William Forbes, and pray you in lieu of it to forward
a £10 note to Mrs. Fawcett, along with the enclosed letter,
which please to seal with a head, and at the same time
acquaint her whether or when anything can be done for
her brother's assistance. You will see what I have said
in the letter to her, which I hope is not drawing too deep
on your friendship in a calamitous case of this kind, or
committing you too much.
I have enlarged my dominions here not greatly in
extent, but infinitely in point of beauty, as my boundary is
now a strange secluded ravine fiill of old thorn trees, hazels.
r
388 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dkc.
guelder roses, iviEows, and so forth, with a dashing rivulet
and certain large stones which in England your cocknies
would call rocks. I call it the Rhymer's Glen, as it makes
part of the scene where Thomas the Rhjfmer is said to have
met the Queen of the Fairies. Vulgarly, it is called Dick's
Cleugh — a fieo for the phrase. I hope Mrs. Richardson and
the bairns are well, as we are at writing hereof. I am here
for the Christmas recess. Would I could stay longer, for
neither frost nor snow, and we have enough of both, could
keep me within doors here, and fine weather hardly can
drag me out to the plainstanes of Edinburgh, — Yours
truly, Walter Scott.
A Merry Christmas to you and yours.
TO TERRY. I
25(A BsMmter 181«. '
Mv DEAE TEitHif,— The " leetle poopy dog " ^ arrived in
great preservation, a little lean and qualmish however after
his sea voyage. From the length of his tail and the thin-
ness of the hair thcrouponj ho promises to rival the fame
of his predecessor, and I account him a real treasure. We
have got him safely out here maugre snow and wind, which
have been whistling finely on all sides of us ; in fact we
got through yesterday with great difficulty. I waded up to
the knees about two miles in snow; however, we made it ouL
To-day it is soft weather and everything aSoat. But I
hope to spend a week here in the midst of plans for planting
and building, and Lord knows what Taneguy dv, Chdtd,
oib e8-tu ? What work I should have for your measurii^
lines and compasses, could a wish brii^ you to the side
of these blazing logs and send you back again to your
necessary and important avocations.
Mr. Magrath is one of the most correct as well as one
See Wuhlcgton Irving's NtwtUad
and Abbot^ford.
1816] TO TERRY 389
of the sweetest singers I ever heard. How he may succeed
on the stage may depend partly upon other circimistances,
but his vocal powers must be successful He appears also
to be a modest, sensible man. • . • He flattered me much
by being pleased with Sophia's singing Scotch ballads.
Did I teU you Mr. Blore has made a beautiful exterior
for my cottage ? and did I tell you that I have acquired
a new glen near the lake? a quiet, invisible sort of a
deU where a witch might boil her kettle in happy
seclusion among old thorn trees and scathed rocks, in a
deep ravine totally out of sight imless you fall on it by
accident. My predecessor had a humour of digging for
coal in it, which prevented him including it in our first
bargain, but being cured of that folly he has bequeathed
me two or three lateral excavations which a little coaxing
will turn into natural caverns. The last man who wanted
work in this parish haa been for some time employed
in constructing a path up this odd glen. I call it the
Rhymer's Glen, because it makes part of Himtly Wood
where Thomas the Rhymer met the Queen of the Fairies.
All this is but a sort of trash, but it is what my head is
just now most busy about.
I hope you will make my respectful thanks acceptable
to Mr. St Aubyn for the very handsome and valued present
he has made me in Marmion. I have not yet ventured
to change his name, having been so called, though perhaps
it would be a more proper epithet in another person's pos-
session. I have some thoughts of calling him Harold if I
get over this scruple. I expect him to win many a silver
collar. It is in good company, for I have two gallant brutes
now as ever ran. I plagued your neighbour Mr. Bullock
some days since about some plans which he carried up
with him for my interior arrangements. I trust I shall
have them in a day or two, as my castle must stand still
till I get them. Maida, my great dog, has been sitting at
390 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTEES [Dec.
Mr. Bloro's instance to Mr. Nasiuyth, who admires him very
much. I was obliged to attend the sittings myself, for the
subject though regularly supplied with a cold beef bone
was apt to grow impatient. Mrs. Scott sends her kindest
respects to Mrs. Terry ; as for the pens, I have mt.ercepted
them, judging I was the most likely of the two to find
employment for them. They are by far the most useful
invention of the kind I have yet seen. I b^ my compli-
meets to the Lady and the kinchin,' and am, truly youn,
Walter Scott.
A merry Christmas to you.
TO LADY ABEBCORN.
Abbotsfoiu), 2Slh Dtfembrr 181$.
My deab Lady Abercorn, — I am truly glad the Tal
have amused you. In my poor opinion they are the beat I
of the four sets, though perhaps I only think so on account I
of their opening ground less familiar to me than th» '
manners of the Highlanders. I can assure your Ladyship
your laudable curiosity about the author would not rem^n
ungratified, but if Tom wrote these volmnes, he has not
put me in his secret. He has certainly powers both of
pathos and humour, and has also read a great deal of old-
fashioned sort of reading, but I greatly doubt his possessing
the steadiness of application necessary to write twelve or
thirteen volumes in the space of two or three years ; and,
moreover, I do not see why he should so r^orously keep
his secret By-the-bye, he and his family are coming
home; he has succeeded to about iSOOO by my eldest
brother's death, and will have, I suppose, as much more
when my mother is removed from us. So they cannot be
said to be in distress, if they will but be good managers,
especially as he has a small salary besides. His wife has
come over,
' A cbtld, in cant language. Gemiaii, Kindckta.
1816] TO LADY ABERCORN 391
To return to the Tales. . . . Burley is a real person,
and appears in the melancholy history of the period as
the leader of the party who killed Archbishop Sharpe on
Magus Moor, near St. Andrews. The command was first
offered to Hackston of Rathillet (Balfour's brother-in-law),
who declined it on account of there being some private
dispute between the prelate and him, which might lead
to the misconstruction of what these fanatics called the
execution of judgement. Rathillet and Burley were both
at the skirmish of Drumclog, where Clavers was beaten,
and at that of Bothwell Bridge. Hackston was after-
wards taken and executed, but Burley escaped, and died
almost immediately before the Revolution; and, if I
mistake not, was on board the Prince of Orange's own
vessel at the time of his death. There was also in the
Life Guards such a person as Francis Stewart, the
grandson of the last Earl of BothwelL I have in my
possession various proceedings at his father's instance, for
recovering some part of the Earl's large estates which had
been granted to the Earls of Buccleuch and Roxburgh. It
would appear Charles i. made some attempts to reinstate
him in these lands, but, like most of that poor monarch's
measures, the attempt only served to augment his own
enemies, for Buccleuch was one of the first who declared
against him in Scotland, and raised a regiment of 1200
men, of whom my grandfather's grandfather, Su- WiUiam
Scott of Harden, was Ideutenant-ColoneL This regiment
was very active at the destruction of Montrose's Highland
army at Philiphaugh, of which the country people still sing
a rhyme —
** At Philiphaugh the fray began,
At Hareheadwood it ended ;
The Scotts out o'er the Graemes they ran,
Sae merrily they bended."
In Charles ii.'s time this old knight suffered as
much through the non-conformity of his lady as Cuddie
SCOTT'S FAMILIAK LETTERS
[Dki
through that of his mother. It seems the kdy would not
be kept from Eildon Hills when there was any worthy Mr.
Kettledrummle or precious Mr. Rumbleberry to give her «
screed of doctrine. So Sir William was repeatedly called
before the privy council, and fined at different times to the
amount of several thousand poimds, although he proteetad
he was totally unable to rule his wife, and requested the
Council to take tho management of her Ladyship into its
own hands. But notwithstanding what one would have
thought a most reasonable plea, they sent him to Edin-
bui^h Castle, and afterwards to the Bass Island, where he
suftered throe years' imprisonment, My father's grand-
mother, who lived to the imcommon age of 98 years, per-
fectly remembered being carried when a girl to these field-
preachings with her mother, where the clergyman thundered
Irom the top of a rock, and the ladies sate upon their
side-saddles, which were placed on the turf for their accom-
modation, while the men all stood round armed ivitli swords
and pistols, and watches were kept on each neighbouring
eminence to give notice of the approach of the soldiers.
I mention these minute circumstances in order to make
your Ladyship aware how nearly our oral and family tradi-
tions connect themselves with these disorderly times.
I do not know that there is precisely such a place as
the Linn, described at the end of the tale. But in most
of the mountainous parts of Scotland such strange places
are to be found. I went on a pilgrimage with the Duke of
Buccleuch to visit one of them not long since, and it was
as horrible a place as imagination can form, and of a very
break-neck character. Here also some of the heroes of the
covenant are said to have held out, though it passes belief
how humanity could hold out against the cold, wet, and
accumulated horrors of such an aboda Only I don't think
it could be much worse than we have had with snow, flood,
and tempest, for these eight days that my wife and I have
1816] TO LADY ABERCORN 393
inhabited this cottage. But I feel very like Goldsmith's
Swiss —
" Dear is the shed that to mj soul conforms,
And dear the hill that lifts me to the storms.''
So I have been among the mists and snows about five or
six hours every day.
On looking over my letter it reminds me of the
character Captain Bobadil gives of Squire Downright:
" All old iron and rusty proverbs, a good commodity for
a smith to make hob-nails with." ^ After all, I recollect
one circTunstance which may interest you concerning these
tale& Old Mortality was a living person. I have myself
seen him about twenty years ago repairing the Cove-
nanters' tombs as far north as Dimnottar. It was his
sole occupation and only business on eartL I have an
indistinct recollection that he was from the parish of Close-
bum, in Nithsdale, and that his name was Faterson.^ • . .
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART.
Glouoesteb Place, Dtcmber Uh^ 1816.
Dear Mr. Scott, — I came to town yesterday morning,
to leave it again to-morrow. I found something you wot
of upon my table, and as I dare not take it with me to a
friend's house for fear of exciting curiosity ("TTAat t« tlmt ?
and hov) did you come by it?'') I have been reading
against time, devouring the food till I am almost choked.
However, gone through it fairly though hastily I have,
and now it is locked up in a drawer, there to lie safely till
I hear of it from others, and assure yourself no human
being shall hear of it from me.' I agree with you the
second tale is the best ; and yet while reading the first I
wondered what you meant by saying so, for it interested
^ Ben JoDBon's Every Man in hi8 Humour, Act i. sc 4.
^ See Introduction to W. N., vol. ix.
' Black Dwarf a,nd Old Mortality,
394 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Dec.
me strongly. But the second is super-excellent in ixll its
points ; it breaks up &esli groimd, and has all the raciness
of originality. I cannot help thinking it will bear down
the world before it triumphantly. As usual with certain
authors, it makes its personages our intimate acquaintance,
and its scenes so present to tho eye that last night after
sitting up unreasonably late over it, I got no sleep, from a
kind of fever of mind it had occasioned. It seemed as if
I had been an eye and ear witness of all the passages, and
I could not lull the agitation into calmness. Mause and
Cuddio hurried my spirits in another way ; they forced mo
to laugh out aloud, which one seldom does alone. On
a second slower reading I expect to be still better pleased,
and then also I suppose I shall find out the faults. At
present it has, in the Scotch phrase, " taken me off my
feet," and I do not criticise, though I think you will believe
me when I say I do not and will not flatter. One thing I
regret, that like the author of the Antiquary Jedediah did
not add a glossary ; because even I, a mongrel, occasionally
paying long visits to Scotland, and hearing Girsy at
Bothwell gate and Peggy Macgowan hold forth in the
village, — even I, thus qualitied, have found a great many
words absolute Hebrew to me, and I fear the altogether
English will find very many more beyond their comprehen-
sion or conjecture. But this may be remedied in another
edition. I have as yet only one great attack to make, and
that upon a single word ; but such a word ! such an ana-
chronism! Claverhouse says he has no time to hear
sentimental speeches.* My dear sir ! tell Jedediah thai
Claverhouse never heard the sound of those four syllables
in his life. We are used to them; but eentivient and
Bentimental were, I believe, first introduced into the lan-
guage by Sterne, and are hardly as old as I am. Let alone
the Covenanters' days, I am persuaded you would look in
' The objection nble word waa removed in the seewud adition.
1816] FROM LADY LOUISA STUART 395
vain for them in the works of Richardson and Fielding,
authors of George the il's reign. Nay, the French, from
whom they were borrowed, did not talk of le sentiment in
that sense till long after Louis xiv.'s reign. No such
thing is to be found in Madame de S6yign6, la Bruy^re, etc.
etc. etc. At home or abroad I defy Lord Dundee ever to
have met with the expression. Mr. Peter Pattieson had
been reading the Man of Feding, and it was a sUp of his
tongue, which I am less inclined to excuse than Mause's
abstruse Scotch, which I duly reverence, as she did
Kettledrummle's sermons, because I do not understand it
Once more I shall be much disappointed if this work does
not quickly acquire a very great reputation. I fancy Mr.
Morritt is in the secret; yet, as I am not certain, I will
keep on the secure side and not mention it when I write
to him, however one may long to intercorrmiune on such
subjects with those likely to hold the same faith.^
What you say of the Master of Bowhill gives me great
uneasiness, and I can perceive that his nearer friends are
not perfectly comfortable about him. Qod preserve so
valuable a life !
This is a very hurried letter, but I borrow an hour
from the night to scribble, being most really thankful to
you and unwilling to delay writing perhaps for several
days. — Believe me, your much obliged and very sincere,
L. Stuart.
^ Ltady Louisa Stuart appears not until after the publication of The
to have been told the secret of the Antiquary in May 1816.
authorship of the novels by Scott
II
nil
CHAPTEK XIII
1817
EDINBURGH AND ABBOTSFORD
I have lain on a sick man's bed,
Watching for hours for the leech's tread,
As if I deem'd that his presence alone
Were of power to bid my pain begone ;
I haye listed his words of comfort given,
As if to oracles from heayen ;
I have counted his steps from my chamber door,
And bless'd them when they were heard no more. —
Harcld the DaunUesSf Canto'iv.
VUtto of WuhlDgtaD living, ladr Bjiron,
uid Sir Dtvld WOklfl to AtboUfori
Har,iUl Ihr D<i<iXha, publlihtd by Uine-
Tki Sullan afStrrtulit.
Hilary 1/ Bfmfi tta IBIS. Bdinbv^ I
iiHoD to fiordcr JiUI^Ulu, a to
W>. SepUmbei.
Song, Tht Svn upm On Wiirdiaia BUL
OoutrlbaClon to QwirUii^ Stvleti}—
Talti 0/ ,Wv LmuitoM in Xo. 3S, JiDmuT-
K,Mi,u; FumnU >&(ni., MBteb.
CHAPTER XIII.
TO LADY LOUISA STUART.
Abbotsfobd, January \Bt, 1817.
My dear Lady Louisa, — You will already know better
than I do that the tales are like Don Quixote —
" Now their fame is up and may go
From Toledo to Madrid."
My private agent reports 4,000 copies sold and 2,000 in
active preparation, all bespoke; so that they have come off
with all acceptation. No circumstance in the matter, how-
ever, can give me half the pleasure of your Ladyship's kind
approbation, which I value beyond a whole wilderness of
critics or monkies either.^ I hope there is no great harm in
the Ues I am obliged to tell in self-defence, since my secret
would otherwise be at the mercy of every one who chose to
ask a blunt question. I very often qualify my denial with
this statement. It is very diverting how people are divided
— but from those I have lived much with I cannot escape,
and they have only the politeness to be silent on the ques-
tion. I suppose a thousand peculiarities of feeling and
expression, besides little anecdotes noted in one's mind,
mark such compositions to those who see much of you.
In the meantime the mystification of those who would see
very far into the millstone is sufficiently diverting.
Morritt is in the secret : you may communicate with
him on the subject with all freedom. We (an important
monosyllable, which includes on this occasion my wife and
me) have been here since the day before Christmas, amidst
a beautiful succession of snow, hail, rain, flood, and frosU
* MerekarU of Venice, Act iii. sc. 1.
809
400 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jan.
Twice the Tweed has been aa high as I remember seeing
it, and wo are nearly forty years' acquaintance (man and
boy). We live in the little cottage like the memorable
Cobbler, making it serve for everything but the actual kit-
chen, and such is the contradiction of human nature, that
each day, when our only dish is placed on the table, I thaok
heaven that I have escaped the feasting of Edinbui^b at
this jovial season. Yet had any one said "go, do this," I
suppose I would have consider'd it as a great afi&ont and
hardship. Is not this among the twenty things in life
that deserve the titlo Dryden gave his poem of " The Medal
Reversed." However, the cottage is destined (if such
visions of splendour are not reversed in their turn) to rise
like Rome under the empire of Augustus, who used to
boast he found the city of brick and left it marbla We
meditate adding to the old but-and-ben a splendid tene-
ment to contain on eating-room, and two good little sleep-
ing apartments with their dressing-rooms, and a book-
closet for my own use : so that I trust the nest time your
Lad3r8hip comes to Scotland (if there be faith in the
masons of Galashiels) we will be able to accoounodate you
for two or three days. The outside is rather fantastic, but
I think will look well, from the irregular combination of
the various parts of the building. I must not forget to
thank your Ladyship for your acute and indisputable
criticism on the application of the word sentimental How
it escaped my pen I know not, unless that the word owed
me a grudge for the iU will I have uniformly borne it, and
was resolved to slip itself in for the express purpose of dis-
gracing me. I will certainly turn it out the first opportunity.
I am going up to Bowhill to-day to see the master, and trust
I shall find him better. He writes in good spirits, and
complains less of his cough. . . . Mrs. Scott oti'ers her
respects, and I ever am, dear Lady Louisa, your very much
1 and faithful servant, Walter Scott.
1817] FROM LADY LOUISA STUART 401
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART.
GmssLHURST, January llth, 1817.
Dear Mr. Scott, — Perhaps this is a quicker return of
fire than you reckon upon, but I want, like a trusty spy,
to impart all my intelligence. First, let me say though,
that I feel the value of your confidence and return you
sincere thanks for it Thank you a little also for the
diversion it makes me share, — something similar to one I
used to take formerly by going disguised to ladies who
saw masks, in days when, from shjmess, 1 did not love to
hear the sound of my own voice. Hiding my face set my
tongue at liberty, and as my habits were always retired, I
was precisely the last person in London whom my nearest
friends could suspect of being the mask that teazed them.
Then came the enjoyment of their different accounts and
conjectures for a week afterwards ; and if I asked an inno-
cent question — " Pooh ! it 's a sort of thing you can't enter
into." You see I have been in training for a conspirator.
With the same amusement I now sit by the fire, sucking
in the sagacious remarks I hear. Says one, who has a
favourite relation that writes — what nobody reads — " I am
clear this is not by the author of Wav&rley ; it is too good.
Waverley was certainly Scott's : now Scott could not write
this, it is above him, and there is not that constant descrip-
tion of scenery that makes him so tiresome" — delighted
all the while to put the unknown author over the head of
the admired one. But in particular commend me to the
story sent us from Scotland ! The murder is out, and it
does not signify disputing. Mrs. Thomas Scott owqs all
the four books to be hers, with some help from her hus-
band, and some licking over by her brother-in-law. One
might reply : — "Verily I think the 'oman be a witch ; indeed
I do spy a great peard under her muffler." ^ I could not
^ Merry Wives, Act iv. bo. 2.
VOL. L 2 C
402 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jam.
help saying to Lady Douglas that most likely Mrs. T. Scott
had never owned any such thing; but in case it wore
proved that she had, it would convince me they were
altogether yours, and you had spread the report yourself
in _ordor to see how absurd a one the world could be
brought to swallow ; since Mother Pratt's peard was not
half so evident. For 1 do like the judge who told Barring-
ton, the pick-pocket, he had tried him as if he had never
seen bis face before. I endeavour to forget that I knom
a word of the matter, so aiu free to say what I believed
the first hour I read Waverley, and should have gone oo
beheving ever since, had you denied the charge with ever
so good a grace. I keep to the evidence before me ; aod
how any one who knows you can have a doubt, is past my
comprehension. Not for the anecdotes^— " they 're your«,
were mine, and might be told to thousands" — but the
little touches, the modes of esprosaion, the slight words
that raise a pictiu^ in one's mind with all the force of a
long simile, the hints which in the same way awaken feeling
or excite deep reflection, much more that I cannot de-
scribe, render it as distinguishable as a man's handwriting.
And this people every day swear to, without being able to
explain what gives them the certainty which yet they feel
they have, that it is John's and not Bichard's.
I shall not scruple to offer a few criticisms. Eamscliff
at the beginning of the Black Dvxvrf hushes Hobhie mi
the subject of his father's death, saying it was never cer-
tainly known who gave the fatal blow. At the end we
find the dwarf had been tried for it, found guilty of man-
slaughter, and suffered the punishment; ergo, no fact
could be ascertained more clearly. This oversight did
not strike me at the first hasty reading, nor has it any-
body else now, the interest of the story so hurries one on.
I take care not to point it out, but some of the envious
will hit upon it, and crow. I honestly tell jou that neither
1817] FROM LADY LOUISA STUAET 403
I nor anybody else can bear Miss Buskbody and her novels
at the end of the fourth volume. If it could but be erased
from future editions ! And now I will copy part of a letter
I have just received, without altering a word : —
'* I congratulate you on having had such a good meal
" as the TaZea. I think nothing can be more admirable
** than the characters, or more so than the closeness with
" which they are kept up to their original setting out.
" You never lose sight of the first impression they made
" upon you ; and on the whole no book of the present
" day seems to be so universally relished. The subject
** is disgusting and melancholy ; and though the continual
« dragging forth of Scripture on aU subjects, grave or gay,
" belongs peculiarly to the sect, and all their descendants,
" it is very offensive ; and being often done with great
" humour, will leave a ludicrous impression that may
" present itself when it should not. But the book is a
*' choice book, and I long to hear your judgement of it"
I wiU not be mysterious ; this comes from Mrs. Preston,
whom you have seen, and who is an unprejudiced person.
I fear the objection she makes has some foundation,
though I know nothing can be further from your prin-
ciples or intentions, and though I can hardly^tell how the
times and subject could be handled without stumbling
on some such rock of offence. But I dread the outcry
which those same descendants (as she calls them), who
are very numerous and very powerful at present, may
perhaps set up against the work. Its author may fare
fer worse than Lord Byron with all his atheism, for the
reason given to Louis xiv. why Molifere was persecuted
rather than the writer of a blasphemous farce — cette
pQce attaque la religion, MolHre joue lea divots. And
now I have done fault-finding for myself and others. All
besides that I have heard is praise; but in general the
coterie here (I am at Mrs. Weddell's, where we have been
404 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Jjut
reading it aloud) are disposed to think it not by tlie some
author as Waverley, etc., and to think it superior to all
throe. 1 myself place it ahove Guy and Monkbams, but
WaverU-y being my first love, I cannot give hiju up. As
a whale however I believe it does bear the palm, and it
Burprises one by not sinking into flatness after the return
of Morton from abroad ; which was a very slippery place
for you,, who profess never knowing what you are going
to write. By the byo, the authoress of one of c
novels, remarkable for the striking scene with which it
concludes, told a friend of mine that this occurred to her
first; i.e. she wrote the end, and then made a beginning
to it, shaped a story to bring it on. Suppose you trj-
same method nest time — it ia just Pope's, you know, whea
he wrote the second line of hia couplets before the first But
in Morton a fi*eah interest arises, and all is kept perfoclly
alive till Lord Evandale expires, which I would fain call iho
termination. I must mention a remark Mra Weddell has
repeatedly made : " This has the 'nature of Daniel Defoe's
novels, tho' with a higher style of writing. I can hardly
forbear fancying every word of it trua" And we are all
^reed that instead of perverting history, it elucidates it,
and would give a person partially acquainted with it the
desire to be more so. But I am afraid the wise young
people of these days, familiar with hydrc^u and nitn^^
and Pentandria Monogynia, do not read histoiy at aSL
Indeed, /oriyc the young, I have met with an established
Blue-stocking who had never heard of Sir William Temple,
and seemed only just to have found out there was once
such a person as Lady Russell
This letter is unreasonably long, considerii^ on whom
I am bestowing my tediousness, but I will not lengthen it
further with apologies. If you bum it unread, there will
be no harm done nor anybody affronted May your build-
ings and gardens prosper in proportion to your other works,
I
/"S
1817] PROM LADY LOUISA STUART 406
and no Baroness Howe arise in future times to demolish
them when they are become hallowed objects and classic
ground ! ^ With my best comphments to Mrs. Scott, beUeve
me ever your much obHged and sincere, L. Stuart.
TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH.
Edinb., 22nd January 1817.
My dear Lord Duke, — Many thanks for Tom Hutson's^
Minstrelsy, which I never heard before, and quite under-
stand. It has a wild poetical turn about it, singularly
fitted to Tom's occupation, and I think if Campbell ^ has
a good lilt for it, I will endeavour to patch it up with a
verse or two in the same tone. Your Grace (or Tom) has
made no mistake as to vrin, but as to break in the second
line, which should be brook or bruik, signifying in old
Scotch and northern English to enjoy, for which it is
used as a sjmonym in our law as " to bruick or enjoy a
farm." The word brook is still used in English in an
obUque sense. I cannot brook it, i.e. endure it, or rather
relish it. The moor-cock therefore gives his solenm oath
" He cannot brook the carle's win.''
He cannot, that is, reUsh the carle's (churle's or husband-
man's) mode of living — win being equivalent to wene,
habit of life — or perhaps tuin, mode of acquiring gain.
The point turns upon the preference given to a mountain
life and scenery, in which I think your Grace coincides
with your vassal the moor-cock, although perchance that
tribe may occasionally rue your similarity in taste.
I said nothing about the Records in the scroll of a Com-
mission,* but e'en put the saddle on the right horse, at
^ Pope's villa at Twickenham, * The Commission appointed by
demolished by Lady Howe. the Regent to search for the Scot-
^ A favourite keeper of Dnke tish Regalia in Edinburgh. The
Charles. warrant was issued in October 1817
^ Alexander Campbell, Scott's old and the investigation made on Feb-
teacher. See Life, vol. i. p. 73, n. mary 8th, 1818, when the "Honours
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[Jan.
Iea£t on the right hobby-horse, setting forth the lod^ng J
of the Regalia, and the reasons there were to suppoael
said Regalia were deposited in said chest, and the pro-
biibiUty that said Regalia had suffered or might be suifer-
ing damage by remaining unexamined for such a length
of time, and therefore issued " our sovereign will and
pleasure to open said chest and examine the state of the
Regalia, if therein found, and report thereon, that our
pleasure may be made known in the premises," and so
forth, in good set terms.
Now to the danger of the gu-ests : — the Mob we need
not fear, for it is a solemn article of the treaty of Union
that the Regalia are never to be removed from Scotland. |
And as to the Devil — hang him, foul collier, as Sir Toby |
says.^ Besides, it would be hard if between the authori^ ]
of the chieftain and the mi^c of the minstrel of the claa i
we cannot borrow Michael Scott's conjuring book ; and s
" Devils all, as awarl as pitch,
Be ye cock-taiiM, be ye switch,
Be ye ham'd, or be ye poU'd,
To defy you I am bold.'"
I have a curious manuscript song (a most perfect blast)
which I copied with many others from an old manuscript
at Amiston, upon the lo<^mg of the Regalia in the Castle;
if it could be set to music and solenanly performed before
the big-wi^ of the law, when they set forth to seek for
the royal treasure, it would have a striking and novel
of SeotUnd "
pr«serTBtioi
were found in perfect
D the gnaX oak cheat.
See Scott's MUceilanits, toI, vii.
uid Hfit vol. V. pp. 273-283,
' Tuielflh yighl,lAci iii. Sc 4.
* Scott in his Dteorgoil, pab-
liihed ID 1630, varied two liiiei of
tlUB elegant quatrain — {Poetical
Worlu, lii. p. 213),— and wm thna
hnmoroiuly (akea to toik by hia
friend BiMe for the plagiariam.
" My dear Scott, Hinvea haa jolt
broken in upon me with the follow-
ing exclamation: 'Lord) air, to
think that Sir Walter Scott ahoold
■teal the two beat linea ont of my
"Devils all, aa awart m pitch," eto.
and pnt them into the Doom <tf
Deoorgoil and never to make an
acknowledgment of theii being
mine ! ' How yon will anawvr Ud*
I know not." — See Jmtnuii, »«L ii
p. 186— David HiDves.
1817] TO THE DU?j; OF BUCCLEUCH 407
effect. The chest ought not to be heavy — there is nothing
stated to be lodged in it but the crown, sceptre, and sword
of state — none of them very weighty articles. I think it
most likely they are stiU there; the removal of them
would have inferred dire responsibility ; nor have our sove-
reigns since Queen Anne's time been so hard pushed as
to pawn the Crown jewels, which could have been the
only purpose of abstracting them. It is very true there
is a crown shown in the Jewel OflSce in the Tower, London,
called the Scottish Crown, but no notice of the sword and
sceptre which must have accompanied them. Should these
R^alia be returned non aunt inventa, I will believe that
the said sceptre and sword went to pay the knowing cut-
purse who, like Hamlet's uncle —
'* From the hist the precions diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket."
Our friend Lord Clerk Register has been very unwelL
I think he may give the Lord of the Merse another chance
one day. I trust this will find your Grace safely ^orived
at Bowhill, to which I propose to bring my cargo of old
iron as soon as I learn you are settled. I hope Lady
Margaret is quite stout again. — Ever your Grace's most
truly faithful, Walter Scott.
I am about to sign my name three hundred times for
variety's sake, in order to attest officially a set of the
papers in your Grace's appeal for the process before the
House of Peers.
FROM LADY LOUISA STUART.
London, February 10, 1817.
Dear Mr. Scott, — Mirror of prudence as I am, I
deferred my thanks for Harold^ tiU Mr. Morritt came
to firank them, for fear of being asked, "What can you
be so often writing about to Walter Scott ? " I do not
^ The poem of Harold the DauniUss, published anonymously in Janniuy.
40$ SCOITS FAiOLtAE LTTTEES [Feb.
«ft^W the n ww " g"T*«« m fi«'*t>ii>g ; it is Cuitasdc in Lord
Byron, bat nnfTr*1 Imc Toa hare kmked at the work
ymuself as puntos nj the^ Bametftnes do »t their csnna
tin thej see nothii^ ^is^^y : lay it by fiir > twelT^iiooth,
AWiA theu ctmuas to it &esh. I un sure voa will lilts it
better, fv tt has the true stamp and is no degenerata
cbUi of its fathet. Bat I would apply to you Mason's
epithet for Dryden (tbo* not in the same sense) " ttin^d
epeTtdOirifl:" Ydo bare flung thns \a the winds the
rich tnalfrialft of a puem that migh* nuko anutb^ man's
re^tatiijo. Were Harold's ramvendon more gradoal, had
you had patience lo dwell apon the wodciogs of his mind,
to soften his heait by degrees into bnmanity, what a
noble sulject' As it ts, howoTer, it will do for ma I
must mention my Eavourite passages — is one way, the
whole portrait of Witikind, in another, that of Metelill
and tbe gay beginning of the 2nd Canto. The signii^
the eroBB and lettii^ iaS\. the mace in the fifth. The
whole of the scene at Durham, \>\i t especially Vinsauf and
Walwaj-n, and that description of the rich man's feelii^
towards his physician — " Which oft was thotight but ne'er
so well expressed."' Surely all these, and more, are beauti-
ful and original I shall not deny perceivii^ something
of tbe huddling you ftcknowledge : perhaps the page did
not himself suspect he was ever to become a woman, when
he b^an like a genuine page with so many roguish tricks,
stealing purses and mantles, and scampering off on the
bishop's palfrey ? By the by, I am pleased with the litUo
kind word dropped in favour of my old acquaintance, his
present Right Reverend, to whom the world never likes
to do justice, because he has (or had, for he has almost
outlived it) a very slight harmless tii^ of the coxcomb,
mingled with a thousand excellencies, generosity and bene-
volence almost imbounded, and the humour of impartiality,
' Pope'i Essay on CrUicitm.
1817] FROM LADY LOUISA STUAET 409
bestowing the preferments in his gift upon piety, or learn-
ing, or merit of some sort or other, on persons often
unknown to him. "Oh but (say they) he has a vanity
in doing that." Well then, much good may it do him !
It would be a fine world if all the great patrons in Church
and State indulged the same foible.^
I piously believe what you say of the stubborn Muse
really existing, who will not come when you do call for her,
and will come when it pleases herself, altho' I have heard
a poet give quite another account of the matter — but then,
it was quite another kind of poet — old Mr. Hoole, the
translator of Ariosto, and who once fell in my way near
thirty years ago. He was a clerk in the India-House, a
man of business of that ancient breed, now extinct, which
used to be as much marked by plaited-cambric ruffles,
a neat wig, a snuff-coloured suit of clothes, and a corre-
sponding sobriety of look, as one race of spaniels is by
the black nose and silky hair. " When I have been long
otherwise employed, and out of the habit of writing verse,"
said he, " I find it rather difficult, and get on slowly : but
after a little practice I £eJ1 into the track again ; then I can
easily make a hundred lines in a day." Just as I might
reckon how many seams I could sew when my hand was
in ; and probably the act was full as mechanical Yet no
poet, living or dead, not even Mr. Hoole, with his method
and cambric ruffles, ever had so much sterling common
sense as yourself, and a good proof of it you give in re-
solving never to read the squibs thrown against you. I
am glad you are so indifferent about the wrath of the Unco
Guid, as Bums calls theni You have no notion what a
strong and increasing body they are in this country, and
how much resemblance they bear to the gentry described
in Old Mortality — chiefly in a certain odd, unaccountable
^ The allasion in Canto iv. to the Bishop of Durham, the venerable
Shnte Barrington.
410 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Feb.
tendency to tho factious aide in politics, from which you
would think metbodiam calculated to keep them alooL
" Aye ! aye ! the fellow was well hissed in the park,' '
were the decent words uttered on the late occasion by a
devout young gentleman of the right faith, who had how-
ever just taken orders in our church (professedly n-ishing
it destroyed), and was come up to town to solicit the
minister for a living; but his joy could not be contained.
I agree with you in thinking the open outrages proceeded
to a good thing. I can remember tho riots of the year
Eighty. We passed a tremendous week, but it kept us
quiet for the ten years following ; all the people who in
Seventy-nine, had thought it a good joke to set the mob
upon the ministerial houses, for joy of Admiral Keppel's
acquittal, drawing in their horns most visibly as soon as
they saw with their eyes what sort of a wild beast it was
when thoroughly let loose. The change of tone and Ian- i
guage was very striking, and the same individuals. I '
believe, never promoted mobbing again. A difierent race
had arisen by the time of the French Revolution. The
newspaper to-day teUs us of arrests for treason, but only
poor miserables. I wish some good-sized fish could be
caught in that net, — always provided the proof be such
as to bear out the accusation, for otherwise it does harm
and is a weak measure ever to brii^ forward that great
word. I wonder what possesses me to descant dius ! I,
who pique myself upon being the only old maid, having
no business whatever with politics, who forbears to take
them particularly into her cognizance.
" Have you read the Tales of my Landlord ? " continues
to be the first question everybody asks one. Here, some
of its greatest admirers are quite confident that it is not
by the same author as Wavetiey, and give very good
reasons for their opinion. Not so our two friends of the
' The Regent wai highly nnpopQlAr at tlUi dkle.
1817] FROM LADY LOUISA STUAET 411
two houses of Buccleuch and Douglas ; conjecture is at an
end with them, because they know who wrote it: your
sister-in-law has owned it a joint undertaking, and there
is an end. So, to my great diversion, they all write me
word how well they can trace the difference of hands, —
point out exactly where the weaker pen was laid down
and the stronger taken up. It is amazing to me that
Lady Douglas should overlook what I thought a most
daring step of the author's — the next thing to his own
signature; I mean the very name (invented by herself,
I believe) of her daughter Fanny's poor Uttle dog Elphin,
But not one of them takes any notice of it
My dear Mr. Scott, you are very good to me, but am I
not very bad to you, in repaying your precious gifts with
such unreasonable long letters ? Nothing forces you to read
them though. I shall end this after I have rejoiced with
you at the amendment I hear of in the Duke of Buccleuch's
health, and mentioned that friend Morritt looks very
well He encountered a far greater danger in his journey
up than in all his travels befora That he, his eldest niece,
her governess, and a servant who was on the dickey,
should all have escaped perfectly unhurt, is what could
scarcely have happened to any four cats in the same
situation. He will tell you the particulars himself, I dare
say, and the story will make you shudder. Pray give my
best regards to Mrs. Scott, and believe me, your heartily
obliged, and very sincere, L. S.
TO TERRY.
. . . My brother has sent me a curious knocker from
Canada, the foot of a deer which he had killed, moimted with
silver. We must dispose that on one of the doors within,
as it might tempt our border honesty if left out of doors.
I have an idea of opening the private door between my
412 SCOTTS FAMILIAK LETTEBS [Fra
study and the dining-room by meana of a deer's foot on j
the principle of " pull the bobbin and the Iat«h will come I
up." I have two deer's legs, tokens of hill sport many & j
liay since, which might be braas-moimtod and adapted to
such purpose. By the way, I havo got over my Waterloo
armour — two sets of cuirasses and a ponderous cap. , . .
... 1 am truly glad Mrs. Terry is coming round again.
In such cases, I am a great friend to those ancient and
established doctors, — Dr. Diet, and Dr. Quiet, and Dr. ■
Morrimao. I will be cautious in speaking on the subject |
for fear of alarming her fi^ends in York Place. ... I haTa l
availed myself of Mr. St. Aubyn's permission and changed I
Marmion's name (in respect of his inky cloak) to Hamlet;
ho promises great things. Old Double, the quondam I
Marmion of St. John Street, is not only dead, but fo^l
gotten, for James has got a little buntJn baby, and strata I
about " as great as tho Prince of Cond4," as the song saya^ I
raising the eye to tho ceiling and meditating the grand I
mathematical proposition how one and one can make
three. Do you think a commodity of real old stained
glass can be picked up in London ? . . .
TO THE SAME.
ABBcmvonD, FA. SI, 18IT.
... I UNDERSTAND Maturln is bringing [out] something
tremendous in the way of a melodrama. Shall we see
you and Mrs. Teny and youi^ Walter this summer ? I
have in my offer, and think I shall buy it, an ebony
cabinet six feet wide, which would just fill the place
where the book press now is in the little drawing-room-
' All my planting is now really over, but I have had
upwards of twenty hands workii^ all winter, which I am
old-fashioned enough to think is a better thing than if
I could have given each of them suf&age for a Member
of Parliament ; and what is more uncommon, the people
1817] TO TERRY 413
think so too. I have not allowed one man in the parish /
to ask work in vain, and must have been half ruined but /
for certain things you wot of /
FROM JOANNA BAILLIE.
London, Febraary 21rt, 1817.
My dear Sir, — I enclose to you a letter which I
received from Lady Byron yesterday, and regret that any-
thing I have to communicate to you, or anything I have
to say immediately from myself, should give you pain, as I
know such things must do to a heart like your own.
The amiable and candid view she takes of your motives in
reviewing, as you have done in the Quarterly, Lord Bjnron's
late works, is not the effect of prudence and deliberation,
but was the immediate fruit of her own sweet and forbear-
ing nature. I saw her, just after she had read the Review,^
not knowing who was the writer, and she well perceived
the use that will be made of it against herself. The next
time we met, a few days afterwards, she told me she was
informed the article was written by you (which I was not
willing to believe), but added that tho' it was calculated to
give an unfavourable impression of her to the world, she
believed it was written from a generous desire to befriend
Lord Bjnron, and honoured you for your motives. She soon
returned to the country, and has I suppose met with friends
who have viewed the publication in a very mischievous
light, which has induced her to send you this message,
for when she left me she hinted at no such intention.
There is nothing which the world can pretend to censure
in Lady B3rron but that she is supposed to be of a very
1 Of this article by Scott in the out, not only with regard to me,
3l8t No. of the Review Byron said : but to others, which, as it had not
'* The perusal has given me as much been observed elsewhere, I had tiU
gratification as any composition of now doubted whether it could
that nature could give, and more be observed anywJiere.** — Moore's
than any other has given ; . . . Byron^ royal 8vo, p. 342.
there is a tact and delicacy through-
4U SCOrrS familiar letters [Feb.
cold and unforgiving nature. That she is a woman of great
self-command I know, and where this is the oaso wo cannot
■well judge of the degree of feeling; but I never in the
■whole courso of my life met with any person of a mora
candid or foi^iving dispoaitiou. She has borne Lreatment
and wrongs exceeding anything I have ever heard of in
marrie<l liie ; and could she [have] hoped for any amend-
ment in his character, or even without this hope could she
have continued to live with him without becoming herself
worthless and debased, she would I am confident never
have left him. Yoii may perhaps suspect my testimony
as being partial to her and coining from her, and I know
not well how to remove the difficulty. I can only say that
I am most thoroughly convinced of tho truth of it, and
that 1 hope you will receive what I say with some degree
of confidence, till you shall find from better authority that
it is false. Why should I be too ready to think or believe
ill of Lord Byron ? After the great friendship I have on
all occasions experienced from yourself, I have not from
any of the modern poets received stronger proofe of a dis-
position to serve me than from hinL You will remember
too that when I returned from Switzerland, having heard
there that he was living with a gentleman and his wife on
the banks of the lake, how ready I was to suppose he was
in a respectable house, and to interpret this in bis favour.
But I wish I had been less ready, for I have innocently
misled you perhaps to think better of him and of his
personal state than he deserves. Not long after I sent
you my last letter, I learnt that this same gentleman and
his wife were a married man who has run away fi^m this
country, and a girl whom he has seduced, and that their
house was anything but a respectable one. This informa-
tion did not come from Lady B. Oh ! why have you
endeavoured to reconcile the world in some degree ■with
that unhappy man, at the expense of having yourself
I
1817] FROM JOANNA BAILUE 415
perhaps considered as regarding want of all principle and
the vilest corruption with an indulgent eye? Indeed,
my good, my kind, my unwearied friend, this goes to my
heart ! I truly believe that you have done it to cheer in
some degree the despair of a perishing mind, and rouse it
to make some effort to save itself; but this will not be.
You cannot save him, tho* by that effort you may depress
a most worthy character, who has been abready so sinned
against, and who bears the deepest part of her distress in
silence. And now that I am taking the privilege of a
friend — I had almost said of a 'mother — to rate you thus,
let me ask you why you have reviewed Lord B/s poetry in
a strain of praise which in my simple opinion is far
beyond its real merit ? I may not think you insincere,
and therefore I must even beUeve that your wits have been
a wool-gathering. I shall give but one instance of it, as I
would not prolong my letter. The thunderstorm on the
lake which you praise as the most sublime description —
" Far along from peak to peak the rattling crags among,
Leaps the live thunder ! Not from one lone cloud,
But every mountain now hath found a tongue,
And Jura answers thro' her misty shroud
Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud."
*' And the big rain comes dancing to the earth,
And now again, 'tis black — and now the glee
Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain mirth." ^
These famiUar personifications give meanness instead
of sublimity to the description (if description it may be
called), besides being far-fetched and fantastical I have
transcribed these lines from the Edinbv/rgk Review, which
also greatly praises this passage, but nevertheless my
opinion is the same in spite of two such high authorities.
What I should consider as bad in Wordsworth, I can never
believe is good in Lord Byron. I have many things which
I was to have said to you about myself, things in which I
^ From the xciL and xdii. stanzas of the third canto of Ohilde HaroUL
416 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [Marob
would ask your advice, notwithstanding your bad taste ia
poetry, but I cannot speak of any other subject at present.
I hope this wiU find you all well in N. Castle Street, and
send my kind wishes to Mrs. Scott and my young friend
Sophia. — Believe me always, my dear friend, truly and
aftectionately yours, J, Baillie.
FBOH THE SAUE.
Haicstbad, Marfh 3nl, 1SI7.
I THOUGHT I could not do better than send your pre-
vious letter ' to Lady Byron, that you might immediately
speak for yourself; and I am sure her mind will not
harbour a doubt as to the honesty and innocence of your
intentions. It appears to me that you have somewh&t
mistaken tho meaning of her letter, which was not to com-
plain of what you have done, but to prevent you, shoidd
expressions of strong oomphunt from her friends reach
your ears, from supposing they expressed her sentiments.
I entirely agree with you in your postscript, that it is
unwise in her friends to be vehement in their outcry against
Lord Byron; and I am sure they receive no encourage-
ment in so doing from her ; but you will readily grant that
it is not easy for those nearly concerned, who see such an
excellent young creature, with all her large fortune and
fair prospects, fall a sacrifice to the deUberate, calculating
selfishness of a man who only feigned an attachment to
her for his own worldly interest, to refrain from the bitterest
expressions of indignation. In his poem of the Dream, he
says he pronounced his marriage vows scarcely knowing
what he said, his mind filled with another object How-
ever, who those vehement friends are I don't know, for
tiho' I am intimate with Lady Byron herself, I am not
' Thia letter from Scott had ap' Joanna Baillis, as it ia not in Hr.
parently not been retumed to Baitlie's collectioa.
1817] FROM JOANNA BAILLIE 417
acquainted with any of her relations. Sir Ralph and Lady
Noel excepted
The fire-arms or daggers, kept at night on the table of
Lord B.'s bedroom, Lady B. herself made light of, and said
that she never supposed they were intended against her,
tho' he once pointed a pistol at her with threats. I must
not tell you the darkest part of Lord B.'s character, and
if I did, you would most likely not believe it. But I will
give you one trait of him which I may teU, and must be
believed. In those verses upon the poor governess, he
represents her as sowing all the mischief between Lady B.
and himself This person never entered his house or had
anything to do between them, tiU Lady B. was confined of
her child, and she was then sent for at his sister Mrs.
Leigh's desire, to take care of Lady B. Now Lady B. was
resolved to separate from him before her confinement, and
had taken advice of counsel upon it, at least a month
before it, and was advised by counsel to stay in his house
if possible, till after her child was bom. But the real
reason for Lord B, writing these verses was to wound the
character of Lady Noel, Lady B.'s mother : a most manly
revenge for any displeasure she might have given him !
As for the other matter in your postscript regarding
pecuniary affairs, it was settled before he left England. I
thought I had infonned you of this ; it was very wrong in
me not to do so. After refusing for a long time to give up
a reasonable part of her fortune^ for the maintenance of her-
self and child, he was induced to do it from fear, on finding
that she was possessed of stronger evidence of such matters
as he wished to conceal, than he had been aware of This
^ Byron told Med win that ''all mother in 1822, the division of the
I have ever received or am likely income was left to arbitrators —
to receive (and that has been twice Lord Byron being represented by
paid back too) was £10,000." When Sir Francis Burdett. -— Quar^er/y
Lady Byron's fortune came into Rtvitw, Oct. 1869.
her possession by the death of her
VOL. I. 2d
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS
[March
is a vantage ground which she will always keep for great
occasions, tho' trusting to her repugnance to all exposure
he will still venture to use the language of a man who haa
been hardly used. As to his feelings, were they genuinsi
he could not expose them to the world in the manner hs
does. That alone woidd be to mo the mark of a hypo-
critical and vulgar mind. Yes, I say vulgar, gifted th</
he be with poetical talents of no ordinary kind- I am hut
little in company, and hear little of what is said in tho
world, but hist week in a small assembly of literary people,
I heard this review mentioned by several people not con-
nected with Lady B. nor knowing that I was oven ac-
quainted with her, and they blamed it as an attempt to
oust a lustre over vice, which did not become the writer,
tho' some allowance might bo made for one Poet wishing
to help out another. I ivill say but one thing more on tho
subject, and then drop it for ever. Yon have not told ms
all your reasons for writing this review. It is said in Scot-
land, " there is nae ganging thro' the warl' without a weo
tate o' fausct"' Now your "wee tate o' fausef'on this
occasion I take to be, that the world of reviewers, rating
Lord Byron's works above their real merit (tho' that merit
is great), you were afraid by talking of him and them in
reasonable terms, to be supposed capable of feeling a degree
of envious rivalship. Had you done justice to your own
genius, you would not have fallen into this snare : your
modesty pleads your excuse. Walter Scott has no rival ;
and he is little better than a Guso Gibbie not to feel
it more assuredly. But I have forgot to say, adverting
" Middle Earth " : thus Tra«
Thomas in the enchanted Garden
of Elfland, where all qaMtioni
' Tate or tait, a Email particle :
[auaet from the French JdiuttU;
the proverb in this instance signi-
fying that " it is not always politic
to write or speak eiaetly aa one
thinks or feels on a sabject."
A little polite dissimnlation in
hot WM considered necessary in
be answered with absolnte
sincerity, declines the apple which
the F^ry Queen tells him will pn
him "the tongae that can never
lie."— BalUd, Thomat the Rhymer.
/^\
1817]
FROM JOANNA BAILLIE
419
again to your postscript, what comes from those who may
be supposed to be Lady Byron's friends will often make
against her; for some of her near relations, who are
people of the world — Lady Melbourne, for instance— have
always been her worst enemies ; while on the other hand,
two of her staunch friends are Lord Byron's nearest
relations, Capt Byron and Mr. Wihnot, while his aunt
Mrs. Byron always speaks of her in the highest terms. . . .
Since I sat down to write to Mr. Erskine I have re-
ceived this letter,^ and shall put it into your cover instead
1 EiBKBT, MarcA 5fA, 1817.
Mt deab Mbs. Joanna, — I
should have received unmixed grati-
fication from Mr. Scott's very kind
expressions concerning me, had it
not been for that misapprehension
of my feelings which has occasioned
him so much pain. I however
hope that a re-consideration of my
letter has removed the impression
of his having anything to regret in
regard to them. If, as appears to
me, he may still reason in part from
premises which are erroneous, this
only adds to my sense of obliga-
tion for his most candid opinions
of my conduct. I have many
scruples about occupying any more
of your time or his, yet I do not
think that either he or I should
feel quite comfortable, were I to be
silent or reserved, after his friendly
communication. In justification of
an opinion, formed however inde-
pendently, I wish to mention that
the persons who felt most con-
cern on the subject of that Review
were Lord Byron's two nearest
male relations, Mr. V^ilmot and
Capt. Byron — both men of integ-
rity and judgment, and they had
personal opportunities of thoroughly
investigating the motives of Lord
Byron's conduct towards me, and
of mine towards him. They are
therefore a little impatient (not
sympathising exactly with my feel-
ings) when it is supposed that any
apprehensions of irritability, or the
provocation of a casual estrange-
ment could have induced me to
leave for ever a husband whose
' ' hatred of hypocrisy " and * ' inborn
generosity" must surely preclude
the ideas of treating a woman with
studied cruelty, and of sacrificing her
to vindictive pride and selfish calcu-
lation. I confess / could not up-
hold the character of such a wife.
Sir James Burgess (an acquaint-
ance of Mr. Scott's), particularly
represented me in that light, with
the addition of external influence
over me, having given credit to
Lord Byron's story and circulated
it. He has since acknowledged
the error, which was to be in part
excused by his not being admitted
into our confidence. We had
wished to keep the business en-
tirely private. After it was made
public, I never consented to give
any currency to the knowledge of
my deepest wrongs; therefore, I
should be the more inconsistent
were I to "complain " of the con*
sequences of that voluntary reserve ;
on the contrary, I have to acknow-
ledge an experience of kindness
420 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [March ]
of my episllo to hiiii. Had I received it sooner, I should
not have troubled you with many things which I have men- j
tioned in my letter.
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
Mareh 17fA [Edishorgh, 1817J.
My DEAR Friend, — I have beou so very ill since I
wrote to you, that all around expected to havo seen the
last of me. On Tuesday 4th, I had dined at Dalkeith,
and finding myself rather unwell, I declined to stay all
night, which is my usual custom in that hospitable family.
When I came home and got to bed I had a severe attack
of the cramp, which kept Mrs. Scott up all night, and gave
me exquisite torment Yet on the Wednesday, after lying
in bed till two o'clock — a thing so unusual with me that
I cannot remember having had occasion to do so for thirty
years — I thought I might get up to receive some friends
of my sister-in-law. She had come from Canada on » |
visit to us, and was to leave us the next day, so I could
not think of breaking up a httle family party. About nine
o'clock, however, pain grew too violent for my stoicism;
when put to bed (having broken up the good meeting with
most admired disorder) my stomach rejected every species
of medicine, and an inflammation taking place, the men
beyond what could be Banctioiied
by the aspect under which circnm-
BtaDces have been generally pre-
Lastly, if ever that change
should tabe place which would in
my opinion render the eiertions oE
a true and disinterested friend
available to Lord Byron'* welfare,
I shoiUd feel very much disposed to
offer Mr. Scott such aid from my
acquired knowledge on some points,
as might contribute towards mak-
ing his zeal and abilities more
effective. I do uot say this from
any view to vnical advantage —
those prospects can never b« re-
stored. Mr. Scott vrill neverthe-
less believe that I shall alw»ya
remember with grateful regard
those who have stretched forth an
arm to save Lord Byron. . . .
With my most affectionate re-
membrance and the best thanka I
can give, I conclude yonra ever,
A. T. Bybok.
Pray use your own judgm«nt
about communicating the contanti
of this to Mr. Scott, but if sup-
pressed, pray convey my thanka in
1817] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 421
of art had recourse to profuse bleeding and liberal blister-
ing ; this brought the disease to reason after about four-
and-twenty hours, much of which was spent in such acute
agony that what intervals of rest intervened felt like the
sleep of the poor Indian during the intermission of his
tortures. The medical gentlemen used me as monarchs
do a rebellious province, and levied such exactions on my
blood and bones, as I shall not forget in a hurry, I promise
yoa My head is still as giddy as a top, and I have been
for three or four days endeavouring to get rid of the con-
sequence of the remedies. I assure you I consider the
event as a warning, and a lesson to keep — as my old riding-
master used to say — my horse well in hand, and be pre-
pared, as well as I may, for the tremendous Halt, which
must one day stop the career. Two reTna/rkoMea struck
me in my illness : the first was, that my great wolf-dog . . .
clamourd wildly and fearfully about my bed when I was
very ill, and would hardly be got out of the room ; the
other, that when I was recovering, all acquired and
factiticnis tastes seemed to leave me, and I could eat
nothing but porridge, and listen to no better reading than
a stupid Scottish diary which would have made a whole
man sick. ... I will not trust myself to say anything
on the subject of Lady B3rron's letter, but I feel a great
deaL I must say I never heard any one say anything
to her disparagement, though several have endeavoured
to palliate and apologise for Lord Byron's conduct — all
Whigs, by the way. I wish I had been bom and bred
£L Whig — it is a saving faith which cloaks many an error;
but this will vex you, who need wear no cloak yourself,
and therefore cannot think how convenient it might be
for other folks. I have a letter from friend Morritt (a
great friend of Lady B/s, by the way), with this postscript : —
" People here swear you wrote the review on Lord B. in
the Quarterly] you get great credit by it; I hope it is
423 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTEES [Mabot I
true. At least it contains your sentimenta more i
those of most others I meet with, and it does credit ton
your good-humour." Now Morritt (who is " Downright
DuQstftble") would not have let this sentence slip him,
if he could have dream'd of the review injuring Lady B.
So I am much cheered about this cursed blunder. I will
lay up your letter and Lady Byron'3 with much care ; the
time may come, when we are all dead and gone for many
a day, when it may bo interesting to some one.'
To a better subject — yoiu- own poems — I am delighted
to hear of your labours, and particularly at your taking up
the touching story of Lady Grizzel, with which I have been
familiar from my infancy from the misfortunes of my own
' forebears.' My mother's maternal grandfather was Sir
John SwintOQ of Swinton, who was an osile in Holland
at tho same time with Lord Marchmont, and my mother,
who is, thank God, still well and hearty, tells many of the
singular occurrences as if she hiui been there horseli
Lady Diana Scott, daughter of the last Earl of Marchmont
(Pope's friend), is alive and equally communicative, and
from some other family connections being far too fatally
connected with these State plots, I have heard a great
deal about them, and could almost paint Lady GrizzeL
' Byron married Miag Milbaoke,
2ii(] Jsnuary 1815, their daughter
WM bom December 10, hU wife left
him for her father's house, Juinary
16th, IS16. Their legal separation
was completed on April 22, and
Bjrron left Britain on April 25th,
never to retaru. Efforts on the
patt of friends to reconcile them
were tuuDCcessfuL Bjron died in
1S24, and his widow in 1860. For
many years Lady Byron maintained
a digniSed silence u to the caase
of their separation; but in 1830 Bbe
printed a reply to Moore's L\f€ o/
tht Pott, which VI DOW bound up
with the 6th vol of the octavo
edition withont comment. En I^ j
Byron's later yean she seems to
have brooded over her wrongs until
they took poasessioa of her as mouo-
maniacal delusions. Those who
care for more information will find
it in two articles in the QttaHcWy
Btvifw (vob. 127 and 128) (1889-
1870) ; and for Scott's generouB and
Judicious criticism, which wo* the
cause of the letters here printed,
readers are referred to tlie Qwirlerls
BtvieiB, vol. zvi. pp^ 172-208, a* it
is not included in Scott's ooHscted
/^
1817] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 423
I will be delighted to see how you will treat this beautiful
tale of domestic generosity and distress.^ ... I deny what
you allege of your unpopularity ; your name stands with
the highest, and above most who are accounted such, for
strength and originality of geniua I never heard this
disputed by any one whose opinion I would give a farthing
for. . . . The grasshopper is still a burthen to me, and I
feel tired and giddy with making black lines on white
paper. . . . — Ever affectionately yours,
Walter Scott.
TO TERRY.
Edinbuboh, 29th March 1817.
My dear Terry, — The plans and measurements for the
iron beams arrived safely. I have just expedited them to
Paterson. I have been prevented from going to Abbots-
ford partly by the death of one of my brethren of office,
whose duty devolves on my shoulders until his successor's
commission is signed by the Prince Regent, partly by some
recurrence of my vile spasms, with an oppressive pain in
my chest and other inconveniences. These are ugly
twinges, as your friend Lord Ogleby ^ says ; but such things
come when youth goes and strength wanes. I am, how-
ever, as anxious about my hall as if it were to be for ages
my dwelling-place, and thank you kindly for the interest
you take in it. I intend to be at Abbotsford for certain on
Saturday, 10th May, so that if I get the result of your
Sunday's deliberation any day next week I shall have the
opportimity to talk it over on the spot with my operative
friends, which will be the greatest possible convenience. I
shall not, I fear, get out again till after the 12th July, — avis
av, lecteur, which avis intimates that the sooner I can get
the advice of my counsel learned in the laws of taste the
^ Tho Legend of Lady Griseld Baillie. — See Metrical Legends, 1821.
^ Colman'a Clandestine Marriage.
424 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [March I
more likely I am to profit by them. ... I should like what- i
ever of the woodwork requires care done either here or in {
London. My honest neighbours of Galashiels are excelleot
masons, and have been, since the building of Melmse,
but ver^' sorry carpenters. I therefore joyfiilly acquiesce
in having the ivindows furnished in London, as IJir as
they may be supposed to require any particular neatness
and care. Staircase and bedroom windows I suppose we
may find here, as the expense of packing, carriage, etc.,
would be very groat in proportion to any advantage
which could be desired. 1 am going to despatch to Messrs.
Longman a small packet for Mr. Atkinson containing a sot
of my poetical labours. He will probably wonder at the
disproportionod size of ray poems and my house, but I
have Ariosto's excuse : words are more easily put together
than bricks. I sought everywhere to make up a large-
paper set, but it is quite impossible, and after all it is th^ J
ex doTi-o which can alone give value to the volumes. I
I woidd like, when your counsels are so far settled, to
know what articles should be finished in London, which hera
I understand the second (that is, the parlour) story of the
house is well oil I thoi^ht of making the balcony in
front of the house a verandah of cast iron ; the bars will of
course be covered with painted boards, which will be re-
moved in the winter season. Little advantage would arrive
from making it of [wrought] iron, which would be expen-
sive, and I think heavy. I have some thoughts of adopt-
ing the gas-lights should I find on an accurate inquiry that
they emit no smell. . . . Now suppose I do adopt this mode
of lighting, I intend to have the principal rails of my
balustrade cast hollow, and to finish at top with a flewr de
lys or thistle with burners. Along the bottom will be a tube
of communication, which on any rejoicing occasion can be
filled with gas, and lighting the burners at the top of the
rails you have an extempore illumination at pleasura I say
1817] TO TERRY 425
this is a whim that floats about my head with other whims,
and waits for some breeze of approbation to drive it ashore.
I have some other things to write to you about, but the
business of the session and this cursed pain in my breast
is inimical to a prolonged correspondence. I trust I will
soon get rid of both. ... I have made some progress in
Ye kern, what} but not to my satisfaction ; it smells of the
cramp, and I must get it into better odour before sending
it to you. — Most truly yours, Walter Scott.
TO THE SAME.
[May 1817.]
. . . Were you to see Abbotsford now it would confirm
you in your vocation of planting groves and plantations,
for our labours begin now to make a distinguished appear-
ance, and every year wiU add to them. The banks next
the house are allowed to have thriven faster than any in
this coimtry, and make some show, though only between
four and five years planted The Counsellor^ slipp'd through
my finders like a knotless thread through muslin, so I had
no opportunity to charge him with special greetinga . . .
That you may not think us altogether strangers to the
drama here, I will enclose you by the first parcel a couple
of bills for the theatre at Melrose, being for the Lady of the
Lake and Ouy Mannering. By the way. Listen's Dominie^
is a very fine thing, and does him infinite credit I saw
him for a second behind the scenes. I am delighted to hear
Mrs. Terry is restored to health and tp the occupations she
understands so weU, but do not iX.c amount to faggmg.
The httle pickaninny ha^m;^.aest wishes. They grow
up on us fast these young sr outs ; mine you would hardly
know, the girls are fast becoming young women. Walter is
^ i?o&i?oy, published in December. 'As Dominie Sampson on the
3 V7. Erskine, Lord Kinnedder. Edinburgh stage in April.
426 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [May
taller than I am by an inch ; he is a most beautiful horse-
man, and I resign my yeomanry saddle and broadsword to
him this summer, as I do not get on horseback once in a
month.
" The eldridge knight gave up his anns
With many a pitiful sigh I *'
However, people must grow old or die, which is the best
apology I have for folks declining in activity or str^igth.
. . . Hamlet (ci devant Marmion) turns out a most beauti-
ful dog, and to judge from his activity in puppyhood wiU
maintain the honours of his illustrious descent. — ^Yours
truly, W. S.
TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH.
Abbotsfosd, llthMay 1817.
My deab Lord Duke, — It was with equal pain and
surprise that I yesterday leam'd the melancholy loss which
your Grace and your family have sustained in the loss of
my much regretted friend. Lady Douglas, — a loss which life
cannot easily fill up ; for where are we to look for so much
soimd sense and penetrating judgment, joined to such
powers of fancy and kindness of disposition, or for wit
so happily blended with gentleness and good-humour?
When I last saw her we parted in a place of pubUc amuse-
ment, and with the hope on my part that I should soon
enjoy her society for two or three days in the ensuing
summer. And now I learn, that with all who knew her,
I must regret her as lost to us during the reign of tima
As we advance in life, and thoso whom we most honour
and value are snatched from us by unexpected strokes of
fate, it requires some reflexion not to fonn a conclusion
that the best and worthiest are earliest called home, and
to tremble for the friends whom life yet holds among us.
But it is not so ; the same doom waits us all, and these
1817] TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH 427
strokes seem most frequent only because they are most
impressive, and because, while we should hear with com-
parative indifference the loss of those less marked by
worth and talents, the death of one so much distinguished
by both as Lady Douglas seems to form a landmark and
an era in our life, from which all who were distinguished
by her friendship are to begin a new career, deprived of
what afforded pleasure to thefr past journey in proportion
to the intimacy which they had the happiness to hold with
her. It is now many years since Lady Douglas honoured
me with her regard, and such was my respect for her good
opinion that I feel I shall have an object fewer in any task
I may in future undertake, since I can no longer look
forward to the approbation she so often and so kmdly
conferred...
TO JOHN RICHARDSON.
Edinbuboh, Mokdat, I9th May 1817.
My dear Richardson, — Many thanks for your kind
remembrances and the pleasant prospect they give me of
seeing you in summer. I am always bringing you trouble,
and what is worse, inefficient trouble, and I fear the ro-
mantic circumstance which I am going to apprise you of
will be only another draught on your benevolent patience.
But it is a story in which you will be somewhat interested,
and I will give it to you at length.
About two years ago, a man in the extremity of poverty
and distress applied to me for work He had ten chil-
dren, he said, and was nearly starving. Finding that his
character was good, I did employ him in such work as
his exhausted strength permitted him to imdertake, and
having been bred a nurseryman, he was able to do many
little things, though not in Tom Purdie's phrase " to work
a day's work." It seemed to me that this poor devil was
428 SCOTTS FAMILIAR LETTERS [May
really marked out for a butt for misfortune to shoot at Ha
fell on ths ice at one time and injured himself greatly ; at
another he had a slow fever ; at a tliird o. rock fell on him
from the quarry, and nearly smiished his hand off; and the
scarlatina has been perpetually wrestling with one or other
of his ten children — one down, t'other come on The very
servants called him par excellence " the poor creature." I
do not know whether fortune has reserved, as a final blow, to
hold out to him a Pisgah prospect of great wealth, and then
puff the vision away, or whether she intends to make a
real fortunate youth out of poor Aitken, but there is a
large property of an intestate merchant of Ijondon in
which there seems to be a considerable chance of this
man having some interest. The father of this man had
a younger brother bred a gardener, and who left this
country early for the West Indies, His name was Georg©
Aitken, and my pauper says that he is named after bim .
He returned to Loudon a great many years since, certainly
much above twenty, wrote to his brother from Loudon
more than once, and sent them a trunk with presents.
But none of these letters have been preserved, Uiough
perhaps should it prove worth while, something might
be found out concerning them ; and I believe the exist-
ence of George Aitken and his departure for the West
Indies, also the fact of his returning and settling in London,
could be established. This however would be a very im-
perfect step towards proving the identity of my labourer's
uncle with the detimct. I hope you will be able by looking
over the enclosed letter to me from my very sensible Sheritf-
Clerk, Andrew Lang, to obtain without much trouble the
information which he points at, and I will reimburse any
of the necessary expenses. As the body is imder my
banner, I would not like him to lose any right which
he may actually possess, at least for want of a little
inquiry.
I
1817] TO JOHN RICHARDSON 429
Many thanks to you for your classical efforts on behalf
of John Kemble.^ I am infonned the medallion is most
beautiful. I hope we shall soon have some merry days on
Tweedside. — Ever yours most truly, Walter Scott.
TO MORRITT.
Edinbuboh, 2^th May 1817.
My dear Morritt, — I have been pretty well, thanks
to your kind interest and inquiry, — I might say very well
but for an attack of the cramp, which I had in consequence
of eating butter-milk with my oatmeal porridge, but I
soon got over it, and shall take it for a warning to meddle
as little with acids as I possibly can. I suppose this gave
rise to a report that I had had a relapse, which fortimately
has not been the case. I spent about a month at Abbots-
ford, — cold backward weather, and the young plantations
suffering for lack of rain : we have had a fine seed-time,
however, and please God to send us warm weather
we may look for a good crop, an event to be devoutly
prayed for.
Pray let me have your pamphlet on the Poor-rates, so
soon as it is out. It is an Augean stable ; it is the very
canker in the bosom of the coimtry, and no small claim
will he have on the gratitude of Old England who can
suggest a practical remedy. In general, I think you English,
both in high and low degree, stand rather too much isolated,
and too much detached from connections and relationship.
I own this makes some of the finest points in your
national character, — your high spirit of independence, your
freedom from prejudice and partial counsel, and the bee
exercise of your judgment on all occasions, without fear or
favour. But I think it has corresponding inconveniences.
^ Regarding a snuff-box presented to Kemble by bis admirers in
Edinburgh.
430 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [May
In Scotland men of all ranks, bnt especially the middling
and the l()wer classes, are linked together by ties which giva
them a strong interest in each other's success in life, and
It is amazing the exertion wliich men will make to support
and assist persons with whom you would suppose them
connected by very rcnjote ties of consanguinity, and by no
other hnk whatever. They have in the lower ranks a
wholesome horror of seeing a relation on the Poors' roll
of the parish ; it is a dishonour to thoni in all cases, and if
they are in close relationship, as parent and child, or
brother and sister, it is such a blot on their moral char-
acter, that the Communion has been refused to those who,
having the moans, did not prevent such a circuinstaQC&
Hence, in most parts of Scotland, Poor-rates are not very
griovouB, but in those abominable manufacturing districts
they are little letter than English, without English inde-
pendence to make amends for this hard-heartedness. It is
evident also that Poor-rates, when the recurrence to their
assistance becomes matter of common course, strike at
the very root of industry and providence ; for if you do not
give Hob parish assistance till he has not a crown left,
Hob will be a great fool if he works for more than he can
help, or spends a farthing less than his whole wages by the
time Saturday night comes round. This is a sad tempta-
tion, and I do not well see how it can be done away. I
have been attending practically to the effects of the
various modes fallen upon to employ the poor, and I think
I see some of them are of a kind to make irreparable havoc
■ with their habits of industry, notwithstandii^ the excel-
■ lent intentions of those by whom they were promoted.
: For instance, a large subscription was raised In Edui' by
: means of which 100 or 200 men were set to make a walk
round the Calton. To prevent persons from coming to be
' employed on this job who could get work elsewhere,
\ the wages were fixed so low as lOd. and a shilling, with
1817] TO MOREITT 431
some extra allowance to those who had faiiiilie& But so
far were they from feeling grateful for this species of as-
sistance, that they seemed unanimously to agree, 1st, that \
the wages were mere charity, and therefore dishonourable \
to the acceptors ; 2d, that the rate of wages (considering
their pay as such) was an imposition upon them ; 3d, that
it was a bomus or solatium paid to them by the gentry, to
prevent their rising and righting themselves at the ex-
pense of the aristocracy. And with these various views |
of the transaction, I declare to you that one good labourer )
whose heart was in his task would have wrought harder I
than any of those grumbling faindanta; and when young i
fellows were so employed, I consider their education to |
be as much improved as if they had been working a turn |
with the convicts. These observations refer, it is true,
to the mob of a corrupted and large city. But it is evi-
dent to me, that imless you can make it the interest of
labourers to exert themselves, and make what we call a
day's work, they acquire very bad habits by being em-
ployed in this manner, and that the best way is to allot
the work to them by the piece, taking care not to fix it so
low but what an industrious man might make wages of it.
The man then works with his whole heart and strength,
and reaps the benefit of his labours, or if that benefit prove
to be small, he has at least maintained the habit of honest
and boTiaJide labour.
I need not say how much I sjnnpathise with you on
the subject of Lady Douglas's death, — to me a most unex-
pected event. She was at Dalkeith in the second week
of March, and came to Edin' to see Kean. I handed her to
her carriage, and thus we parted at the door of a place of
pubUc amusement, not to meet again on this side of eter-
nity. So does this transitory world ghde away from under
us with all its pleasures and enjoyments. I dare not write
to Lady Louisa, and yet I must, after I see the Buccleuch
432 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS [July
family, which will be this day. I am well aware what a
cniel blow she has Biistained ; indeed it seems to luo, that of
all the persona I have kuown, Lady Louisa has been most
frequently under affliction from the loss of friends ; rare^
out of mourning, and fonned too for suffering so acutely
under those recurring blows, . , .
As for Jedediah,
" The ete.iture 's at his dirty work again."
But ttU this I will write to you about another time.> I
sincerely hope to get over the march to Rokeby this season,
which I may do the more easily as the workmen will make
residence at Abbotsford [disagreeable]. Nofa bene, most
of this letter was written on Wetlnesday last. Charlotte
and all the bairns aaluto you. Walter gets another dog
to assist Trout, conditionally that he learns his Tacitus
thoroughly against the 12th of August. — Believe me mosb •
truly yours, Walter Scott. I
TO THE DUKE OF DUCCLEUCH.
EDiiiB.,9lMJvlyUn.
My dear Lord, — I have an unexpected opportunity
of augmenting my retinue to Drumlamig with no less a
person than the renown'd Adam Fei^soa As I know
very few men that possess equally the powers of giving
and receiving amusement, and as your Grace seemed as
if you would like to see a little more of him, I will
be disposed to embrace this opportunity of making him
better known to you, unless anything should rendec
another time more convenient. It is not prudent to
pr&ner any one whom we desire should be agreeable, but
I think I am pretty sure of my card in the present in-
stance, otherwise I would not lay it down (for I deny the
' Hob So}/, 3 vols., WM published in December 1817.
I
1817] TO THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH 433
American visitor). Besides, the father of the said Adam
(the celebrated philosopher and historian) was always a
welcome guest at Dalkeith.
On Monday, I propose to be on the Braes of Glen-
faUoch at the head of Loch Lomond, and on Wednesday
steer my course towards Drumlanrig with my wife, Sophia,
and the aforesaid Adam.
I am sure your Grace will acquit me of any wish to
thrust my own friends upon you, but I really wish you
to see this singular person, although I should lose my
reputation (as I flatter myself I possess some) of being
sentev/r and diseur in ordinary to the House of Buccleuch,
as well as their bom minstrel and devoted friend.
I have just seen Maconochie, who insinuates hopes.
But Mac was always sanguine, and I hardly dare trust
myself to think on the probability of my arriving when
your Grace has had the news of being really Lord of
Linne, and free to cut and carve and mark your line of
enclosure. . . .
I have a humble request for your Grace, if you can
gain the lawsuit, which, as Satchells says,^ ought to be the
better for all poor friends—
" It is not gowd, it is not gear,
It is not lands, nor far nor near/'
but it is a draught on your patience, as well as your purse,
and is nothing less than your picture to hang in my long
room at Abbotsford, now building,
" To shine the bright palladium of the place."
Pray think of this ; you should sit for your own family,
and a copy will gratify me beyond description. — Ever your
Grace's truly obliged, Walter Scott.
^ Captain Walter Scott's Trtie History of Severed Honourable Famiiies,
4to. Edinburgh, 1688.
VOL. I. 2 E
434 SCOTT'S FAMILIAE LETTERS [Joyg
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
DBOMLAmuo Oastlb, Jviy 24, 1817.
Mr DEAR Friend,— -Many thanks for your kind letter,
which foUow'd me hither from Edinburgh. 1 had a
recurrence of my spasmodic attacks in the stomach,
tliough I am a good boy and do upon the whole as Dr,
Baillie was so kind to recommend Since the rise of
our Courts, I have been at liberty to take a little toup,
and to make a little run up to the head of Loch Lomoi
which I feel myself much the better for, as my life i^i
Edinbui^h is necessarily very sedentary. I have beettj
for some time with my chief in this magnificent old castk^
where one would require a plan to guide you from towor
to tower, gallery to gallery. The late Duke of Queens-
berry cut down the magnificent woods which once sur-
rounded Drumlanrig, but there are already four hundred
acres replantetl, and the Duke proposes to extend them
to upwards of a thousand. At his various seats this Lard
winter he has employ'd daily upwards of nine hundred
an<i forty labourers, at the expense of £70 per day. This
is something better than boarding useless thousands, or
squandering them in proftise living, or losing them at
games of hazard. . . .
Sophia is much honour'd and obliged by your remem-
brance, which she deserves as far as gratitude for your
kindness can render her worthy of it ; she will not, I think,
be much taller, but she has great health and spirits and
a very good temper. My son Walter ... I have some
thoughts of taking with me to France and Italy next year,
if I can make out a long projected tour in those countries;
methinks I will not die quite happy without having seen
somewhat of that Rome of which I have read so mucL
This year promises a fine harvest, and the poor folks are
particularly favoured in a copious supply of the finest
\
1817] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 435
potatoes, which, if our good weather continues, will be
soon in the market They merit all this, for their distress
has been extreme, and they may be said to deserve it, for
generally speaking they have borne severe privations with
great patience. On Saturday night I will be at my poor
kingdom of Abbotsford, where I hope to find my subjects
rejoicing at the expected return of plenty. The pasture
grass is far more plentiful than I ever observed before, so
that there is a profusion of verdure upon the hills and the
meadows which belongs to a better climate than poor auld
Scotland. I send you this disjointed chat amidst a great
clamour of preparation among the yoimg and the old for a
sally to some remote place among the hills, where we are
to dine on the turf What would I give that you were
with us, only they are singing so many Jacobite songs that
it is thought the full-length pictures of King William and
Queen Mary, which hang in the ante-room, will walk out
of their frames like that in the Castle of Otranto, and march
oflF in their royal robes to some mansion where their canvas
ears may avoid being shocked with such soimds. I beg my
kindest compliments to Mra A. BaiUie, the kind Doctor
and his lady, whose MS. of Colvmhus is so beautifully dis-
tinct, in all which my wife and Sophia cordially join. I
am sorry Lady Byron does not extend her tour to Scotland,^
as somehow or other I might perhaps have been useful to
her, which would have given me particular pleasura I
trust and hope she would not have refused me the oppor-
tunity of being so had such occurred.
I think Miss Edgeworth's last work deUghtful,^ though
Jews will always be to me Jews. One does not natiurally
and easily combine with their habits and pursuits any great
liberaUty of principle, although certainly it may, and I be-
lieve does, exist in many individual instances. They are
^ Lady Byron after all extended her tour to Scotland and visited Scott
at Abbotsford in Angnst. ' Harrington and Ormond,
436 SCOTT'S FAMILUK LETTEHS [Aug,
inoney-makGrs and money-brokers by profession, and it
& trade which narrows the mind, I own I breathed
freely when I found Miss Montenero was not an actual
Jewess. The second tale, Ofnwnd, is excellent, and King
Coray one of those inimitable sketches which Miss Edge-
worth alone can draw. The dramatic talcs I did not quite
so ranch admire; they wanted, from the very plan, that
variety of description which Miss E. throws into her narra-
tions. But the Irish-Scotch is most excellent. I would
have liked to have written the Scotch military musician
for her in the last drama ; he wants a spice of our pecu-
liar nationaUty. But whips crack, wheels rattle, dogs bay,,
and all is in motion, so I must close up the ' Kiver' white
I can get Borthwickbrae to frank it — Ever, my dear friend,
most truly yours, W. Scott.
FKOM FRANCIS JEFFREY.
My deah Scott, — ^Is there anything very absurd or
improper in my asking whether you might not be induced
to write a short account of our friend C. Sharpe's late
publication ^ for the Edinburgh Review ? My motive for
askii^ is chiefly, no doubt, my firm persuasion that you
could make a better article with very little trouble to yourself
than anybody else could do with a great deal ; but that
feeling would scarcely have encouraged me to hazard the
proposal did I not think that your friendship for the editor,
or author rather, might dispose you to give him a lift even
in our quarter, and that you still entertain such sentiments
towards me as at least to excuse readily anything that
might imply too great a presumption on your kindness. I
think the book extremely curious and entertaming, and
> The Secret and True Bittory 0/ James Kirkton, etc., edit«d bj C.
the Church {<f SwUand, by the Kev. K. Sharps, Edinborgh, 4bo, 1817.
1817] FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY 437
the notes, though far too Jacobitical for me, full of talent
and information.
If you should feel any dislike to be known to write in
the Edinbv/rgh Review ^ I can easily keep your secret, and
there are many people, though I am not of the number,
who think that your style does not unmask you. Pray do
not hastily refuse, if you feel any movement of inclination
to comply, and at aU events let me know that you have
pardoned the Uberty I take in making the appKcatioa
I rejoice sincerely to hear that you are quite stout, and
enjoying your woods and rivers as well at least as any of
the Abbots, your predecessors. — BeUeve me always very
faithfully yours, F. Jeffrey.
TO FRANCIS JEFFREY.^
Abbotsfobd, 5^^ August 1817.
My dear Jeffrey, — I flatter myself it will not require
many protestations to assure you with what pleasure I would
undertake any book that can give you pleasure ; but in
the present case I am hampered by two circumstances :
one, that I promised Gifford a review of this very Eirkton
for the Quarterly ; the other, that I shall certainly be im-
able to keep my word with him.^ I am obliged to take
exercise three or four hours in the forenoon and two after
dinner, to keep off the infernal spasms which since last
winter have attacked me with such violence, as if all the
imps that used to plague poor Caliban were washing,
wringing, and ironing the unshapely but useful bag which
Sir John Sinclair treats with such distinction — my stomach,
in short. Now, as I have much to do of my own, I fear I
can hardly be of use to you in the present case, which I
am very sorry for, as I like the subject, and would be
^ Printed in Appendix to Cock- March that he had laid aside the
bom's Life of Jeffrey, vol. L pp. article on Kirkton for the Quarterly
417-8. Review half finished.
* Scott mentioned to Murray in
4SS SCOTTS FAMILIAE LETTERS [Ado. 1
pleased to gi\-e my ovm opinion respecting tho Jacobitism
of tho editor, which, like my own, has a good spice of
aflectation in it. mingled with some not unnatural feelings
of respect for a cause which, though indefensible in
conimon sense and ordinary policy, has a great deal of
high-spirited Quixotry about it.
Can you not borrow from your briefe and criticism
a couple of days to look about you here ? I dare not'
ask Mrs. JeSrey till next year, when my hand will b»
out of the mortar-tub; and at present my only spare
bed was till of late but accessible by the feudal accom-
modation of a drawbridge made of two detils. and stUI
requires the clue of Ariadne. Still however t.here it is,
and there is an obHging stage-coach called the Blucher,
which sets down my guests within a mile of my mansion
(at Melrose, brii^-end) three times a week, and restores
them to their families in like manner after five houn^ ',
travelling. I am like one of Miss Edgeworth's heroines,
master of all things in miniature- — a little hi]], and a
little glen, and a little horse-pond of a loch, and a little
river, I was going to call it, — the Tweed; but I re-
member the minister was mobbed by his parishioners for
terming it, in his statistical report, an inconsiderable
stream. So pray do come and see me, and if I can stead
you, or pleasure you, in the course of the winter, you shall
command me,' As I bethmk me, I can contrive a bachelor
bed for Thomson or Jo. Murray, if either of them will come
with you ; and if you ride, I have plenty of hay and com,
and a bed for your servant. — Ever yours aflfectionately,
Walter Scott.
' The remit of this ftpplication Je&ey") lathe Edir^mrgh tor J-ane
VM Eui article (" the first for tea 181S on Maturm'a Women.
years and nritteii for the lore of
I
/X
1817] FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY 439
FROM FRANCIS JEFFREY.
Cbaioorook, I4th October 1817.
My DEAR Scott, — I have left your kind letter so long
unanswered that I have no right to your implicit belief
when I say that I have seldom received any letter which
aflforded me so much gratification, or any invitation I was
so eager to accept. The truth is, however, that when it
arrived I was in a state of high perplexity about going to
Ireland, and was unwilling to answer it till I could see the
result, and that project was scarcely blown up when I was
hurried away, partly by business and partly by foUy, to the
Highlands,— from which I only returned three days ago,—
and have talked of nothing but paying you a visit ever
since. I had at one time engaged to go to-day with
Thomson, but that was first stopped by poor Heniy
Erskine's funeral (from which I am just returned), and then
by the intelligence that you were yourself coming to Edin-
burgh for a day or two, to-day or to-morrow. I send this,
therefore, to your house in Castle Street, just to say that
if you are to be at home, and will be generous enough to
receive me any time after next Saturday, I shall be de-
lighted to spend a day with you on the banks of the Tweed.
If you could possibly spare me an afternoon here before
that day, for which I am inextricably engaged, I need
not say how happy it would make Mrs. J. and me ; but
I am aware how unlikely it is that you should have any
hour disengaged in so short a visit In the meantime,
and at all events, allow me to ofier you my most hearty
and grateful thanks for the indulgent and most friendly
manner in which you received my very venturesome
request, and for the hopes you even aUow me to entertain
that it may hereafter be substantially granted. I am more
proud a great deal of the personal goodwill to which I am
resolved to ascribe this gracious reply, than I should be of
440 SCOTTS FAMUJAR LETTEES [Smt
the complimeDts of half the peerage, and can only say ihat
I think I have partly merited it by having invariably relied
on it under circumstances that are not always extremely
enwuraging. — Believe me always, dear Scott, your obliged
and faithful servant, F. Jeffbet.
Send your answer to George St.
I TO JOHN RICHARDSOX.
Abbotspom), S8IA SepC IS17.
Cebtain afEairs which you know of have turned out so
amaziiigly profitable as to have enabled me to make con-
Biderable additions to this Ultle property, and to undertake
a still further extension of my wings, which will probably
soon flap the Eildon Hills. This has ^veu me many
delightful walks and much important and active employ-
ment, which is no small object at a period of life when
coimtrj- business suits one better than countn" sportsL
Yet think not but what 1 still course and bum the water ; ^
the gun I have resigned to Walter, who is a very suc-
cessful sportsman, and comes home loaded with grouse,
blackcock, "and partridges. If I thought it would come
safe by the Carlisle coach, I would beg Mrs. R's
kind acceptance of some game; a black-cock from tho
Rhymer's Glen would shine in the second course in
Fludyer Street.
When you see Tom Campbell, tell him, with my best
love, that I have to thank hbn for making me known to
Mr. Washington Irving, who is one of the best and
pleasantest acquaintances I have made this many a day.
He stayed two or three days with me, and I hope to see
him again. — Ever, dear Richardson, yours,
Walter Scott.
1 ■• Bnming the water " — i.e. apeuing aolmoa by night
1
1817] FROM WASHINGTON IRVING 441
FROM WASHINGTON IRVING.^
Hawick, 8^, 23, 1817.
My dear Sir, — I have been excessively disappointed
in not meeting with you yesterday. It was not my inten-
tion to have intruded again on your hospitaUty, for I had
heard in Edinburgh how much your time has been engaged
by company of late, but I could not feel satisfied to leave
Scotland without once more seeing you. I had hoped to
have had that pleasure at Jedburgh, but was most provok-
ingly detained all day at Melrose for want of a chaise, so as
not to reach Jedburgh imtil after your departure. I can
only then take fetrewell of you by letter, which I do with
a heart fiill of the warmest sentiments of regard. Sur-
roimded as you are by friends among the most intelligent
and illustrious, the goodwill of an individual like myself
cannot be a matter of much importance, yet I feel a grati-
fication in expressing it, and in assuring you that I shall
consider the few days I passed with you and your amiable
family as among the choicest of my life.
My tour in the Highlands was delightful The weather
was as fine as could be desired, and the scenery beyond
my expectations. Indeed, everything has conduced to
make my Scottish excursion one of the most charming
I ever made. I have met with nothing but agreeable
people and agreeable incidents ; and I return with a heart
stored with golden recollections for after yeara
Mr. MacDonald Buchanan was not at home when we
came over Loch Lomond, so that I did not call at Ross
Priory, but I had the satisfaction of meeting with him at
Mr. Jeffirey's a few days since.
I cannot but express my satisfEiction, on calling at your
1 Washington Irving had been at a farewell call after his Highland
Abbotsford from August 30th to tour on his way south in Sep-
September 3rd, 1817, and he made tember.
SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETIEES
[Deft J
house yesterday, at being welcomed by my old &iend
Hainlet. and at learning that he and his fellow-calprit,
Hector, had been reprieved from the " Tyburn Tree;' and
a pony bought for their amusement and reformation. I
felt so much interested by every moying thing in your
eatablishiiicnt that I should have grieved had any of them
met with disaster.'
Whether I shall ever have the pleasure of again se^ng
you is a matter of extreme imcertainty, for when once
separated tn this wide world, who can tell if they will ever
be jostled together again ; but wherever I go I shall bear
with me the warmest wishes for the happiness of youfsdt
and your family.
Present my ancere remembrances to Mrs. Scott and
the young people, and believe me, my dear sir, verj' faith-
fully your friend, Washington IRV^NO.
TO JOANNA BAILLIE.
pABU&HS^jT HousB, Det. 12, 1S17.
Mt deab Fbiend, — If I were not a bankrupt as a
correspondent, I ought to begin with a thousand apologies
for my ungracious silence to the kind correspondent whose
friendship I so much value ; but I have been so long and
so often a defaulter in this way, that I think nothing I
could say would mend the matter, and so I shall " e'en let
I
' Hamlet wu the block grey-
bomd — "the warder of the castle"
— who gare Irving a noUy re-
ception. What crime the dogs
had committed to merit snch a
■evere sentence is unknown, — pos-
ubly dangerous ' coquetting with
■heep'— but that they had been
forgiven ii shown by Scott's re-
marks to Terry a few days later ; —
* ' Hamlet, ci -divaiU Mamiion, pro-
mises most capitally : he is a bold,
fine dog, more healthy than I ever
•aw any of the Newmarket breed,
and runs most capitally : he has
killed several hares already. He
is, moreover, a very fnnny and
amiable fellow, and ia at tiiii
moment gnawing my shoe latchets.
loyoni
eheii
Dfall
the fireside."
See Irving's L\/e and LtUert,
vol. i. pp. 318-322, etc., also AbboU-
ford and NeieeUad, London, I83GL
^
1817] TO JOANNA BAILLIE 443
the flee stick in the wa'." I cannot give you so good an
account of my health as you, I know, would like to hear.
My spasms have been firequent and violent, especially
since the weather set in moist and dark, but they have
only once come to such a height as to render the use of
the lancet necessary, as in spring ; so I think, on the whole,
the complaint may be mitigating its rigour. So runs the
world away : in youth we seek pleasure, and in manhood
fame, and fortime, and distinction, and when we feel the
advance of years, we would willingly compoimd for quiet
and freedom from pain. But I should be very ungrateful
were I to complain loudly, for I know no one who has
enjo/d so many years of uninterrupted good health as
has fallen to my lot, and so I will e'en submit to the bad
health which Heaven may be pleased to send ma About
our dear Miss Edgeworth and her very interesting com-
munications, I never saw the criticisms she mentions,
but I am sure if they mentioned my name along with hers,
I should feel that they did me the highest degree of
honour, and I am sure I can venture to say as much for
the anonymous author of the novels, supposing that his
modesty and good sense bear some proportion to the
talents he has displayed. ... Do say aU you can that
is kind on my part to Miss Edgeworth, whose genius
honours us all, as her gentleness and modesty honour
her genius. I am delighted to hear that her father's
life is to appear: under her hands it cannot fail to be
a model of its kind. Did I tell you how much I was
delighted with Kirig Corny ? Sophia says I am partial
to him for the great authority he affords for roaring
when folks are in actual agony.^ I have been intending
to write to Miss E. ever since I came from France, and
I have a half-written letter to shew that my good
intentions were not whoUy ineffectual, tho' interrupted :
^ See Miss Edgeworth's story of Ormtrnd,
M4 SCOTT'S FAMILIAR LETTERS paa
certainly, I will not go down to the grave with this
I
head, for after all i
only
mgratitude <
base sloth that makes me fall behind in this sort of
engagement I am much more irregular as a correspond-
ent since my children are grown into companions. There
is a song, or a lesson, or a something or other going on
after tea, until " it draws towards supper in conclusion,'"'
and away go the two or three hours used for letter-writing.
With respect to your views of publishing, I never advise the
actual sale of copyrights. ... I don't know anything that
would please me more, except to learn you were bringing
forth another volume of plays, and 1 will always live in
hopes that you will not altogether desert that splendid
branch of literature, in which no one can hold the candle to
you, , . . The Bacchanalian song says there is no drinking
in the grave,^ and neither are there laurels to give or to be
worn, and the planting them over those whose better parte
are far beyond such vanities is but a melancholy, though a
grateful, task. The applause and honour of our contem-
poraries is like a feast, to which the author is invited as a
guest; that of our successors is like the entertainments
which the ancients spread on their tombs for the refresh-
ment of the departed spirits.
I am very glad to bear of Lady B^Ton he'mg weU
in health, and she would have httle to vex her were
she as agreeably situated as I could wish her. Should
she be a visitor of Scotland next year, I might hope to
detain her longer on Tweedside. By the way. Lord
Somerville (the only person she saw at Abbotsford, so
far as I remember) was an accidental, and in some re-
spects a self-invited, guest. We live so near each
other, that we are much in the habit of unceremonious
visits, especially on his part, as he is a single man, and
' Kifuj John, Act L ac. 1.
' Se« Nanty Ewtat'B long En RedgaiatUet, W. N., xxzvi. p. 142.
1817]
TO JOANNA BAILLEE
445
naturally disposed to seek society when the sports of the
day are over. He expressed himself so anxious to pay his
respects to Lady B., as an old friend of her family, that
there would have been a sort of affectation in not asking
him to come to his dinner; this was the history of our
having any one except our family when we had the honour
of receiving Lady B.^ . . . My wife and Sophia beg all kind
and aiFectionate remembrances to you, Mrs. A. Baillie, the
Dr. and his Lady, and aU frienda — Ever, my dear Mrs.
Baillie, most truly yours, Walter Scott.
^ On Oct. 22nd Joanna BaiUie
wrote to Scott: *'I am glad you
were so much pleased with Lady
Byron. That trait which struck
you of decidedness of character I
have often observed, but I believe
that while she lived with Lord B.
she was mo^t compliant to his will
in everything excepting when she
was required to ming^3 or become
an associate of the ^— ofligate and
debased, . . . but nothing would
satisfy him but the grovelling de-
votedness of a Gulnare. She wrote
to me a few short lines just after
she had been to Abbotsford, and in
it she told me of your kind reception
of her. There seems to have been
but one thing in the day she spent
with you which she could have
wished otherwise, viz. , your having
asked company to meet her, as she
was in hopes to have found you en
Printed by T. and A. Conbtabls, Printers to Her MB^esty,
at the Bdinburgh Univenity Press.
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