J. G. Lockhart: Life of Walter Scott

On the 4th of June, Scott being then on one of his short Sessional visits to Abbotsford, received the painful intelligence that his friend John Ballantyne’s maladies had begun to assume an aspect of serious and even immediate danger. The elder brother made the communication in these terms:

As we walked homewards, Scott told me, among other favourable traits of his friend, one little story which I must not omit. He remarked one day to a poor student of divinity attending his auction, that he looked as if he were in bad health. The young man assented with a sigh. “Come,” said Ballantyne, “I think I ken the secret of a sort of draft that would relieve you particularly,” he added, handing him a cheque for L.5 or L.10—“particularly, my dear, if taken upon an empty stomach.”

John died in his elder brother’s house in St John Street; a circumstance which it gives me pleasure to record, as it confirms the impression of their affectionate feelings towards each other at this time, which the reader must have derived from James’s letter to Scott last quoted. Their confidence and cordiality had undergone considerable interruption in the latter part of John’s life; but the close was in all respects fraternal.

In communicating John’s death to the Cornet, Sir Walter says, “I have had a very great loss in poor John Ballantyne, who is gone, after a long illness. He persisted to the very last in endeavouring to take exercise, in which he was often imprudent, and was up and dressed the very morning before his death. In his will the grateful creature has left me a legacy of L.2000, life-rented, however, by his wife; and the rest of his little fortune goes betwixt his two brothers. I shall miss him very much, both in business, and as an easy and lively companion, who was eternally active and obliging in whatever I had to do.”

I am sorry to take leave of John Ballantyne with the remark, that his last will was a document of the same class with too many of his states and calendars. So far from having L.2000 to bequeath to Sir Walter, he died as he had lived, ignorant of the situation of his affairs, and deep in debt.

“The immediate motive of my writing to you, my dearest friend, is to make Mrs Agnes and you aware that a Scots performer, called Mackay, is going up to London to play Bailie Nicol Jarvie for a single night at Covent Garden, and to beg you of all dear loves to go and see him; for, taking him in that single character, I am not sure I ever saw any thing in my life possessing so much truth and comic effect at the same time: he is completely the personage of the drama, the purse-proud consequential magistrate, humane and irritable in the same moment, and the true Scotsman in every turn of thought and action: his variety of feelings towards Rob Roy, whom he likes, and fears, and despises, and admires, and pities all at once, is exceedingly well expressed. In short, I never saw a part better sustained, certainly; I pray you to collect a party of Scotch friends to see it. I have written to Sotheby to the same purpose, but I doubt whether the exhibition will prove as satisfactory to those who do not know the original from which the resemblance is taken. I observe the English demand (as is natural), broad caricature in the depicting of national peculiarities: they did so as to the Irish till Jack Johnstone taught them better, and at first I should fear Mackay’s reality will seem less ludicrous than Liston’s humorous extravagances. So let it not be said that a dramatic genius of Scotland wanted the countenance and protection of Joanna Baillie: the Doctor
80 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
and Mrs Baillie will be much diverted if they go also, but somebody said to me that they were out of town. The man, I am told, is perfectly respectable in his life and habits, and consequently deserves encouragement every way. There is a great difference betwixt his bailie and all his other performances: one would think the part made for him, and him for the part—and yet I may do the poor fellow injustice, and what we here consider as a falling off may arise from our identifying Mackay so completely with the worthy Glasgow magistrate, that recollections of Nicol Jarvie intrude upon us at every corner, and mar the personification of any other part which he may represent for the time.

“I am here for a couple of days with our Chief Commissioner, late Willie Adam, and we had yesterday a delightful stroll to Castle Campbell, the Rumbling Brig, Cauldron Linns, &c: the scenes are most romantic, and I know not by what fatality it has been, that living within a step of them, I never visited any of them before. We had Sir Samuel Shepherd with us, a most delightful person, but with too much English fidgetiness about him for crags and precipices,—perpetually afraid that rocks would give way under his weight which had over-brow’d the torrent for ages, and that good well-rooted trees, moored so as to resist ten thousand tempests, would fall because he grasped one of their branches: he must certainly be a firm believer in the simile of the lover of your native land, who complains—
‘I leant my back unto an aik,
I thought it was a trusty tree,
But first it bow’d and then it brake,’ &c. &c. &c.
Certes these Southrons lack much the habits of the wood and wilderness, for here is a man of taste and genius, a fine scholar and a most interesting companion, haunted with fears that would be entertained by no shop-
LETTER TO JOANNA BAILLIE. 81
keeper from the Luckenbooths or the Saut Market. A sort of Cockneyism of one kind or another pervades their men of professional habits, whereas every Scotchman, with very few exceptions, holds country exercises of all kinds to be part of his nature, and is ready to become a traveller or even a soldier on the slightest possible notice. The habits of the moorfowl shooting, salmon-fishing, and so forth, may keep this much up among the gentry, a name which our pride and pedigree extend so much wider than in England; and it is worth notice that these amusements being cheap and tolerably easy come at by all the petty dunnywassels, have a more general influence on the national character than fox-hunting, which is confined to those who can mount and keep a horse worth at least 100 guineas. But still this hardly explains the general and wide difference betwixt the countries in this particular. Happen how it will, the advantage is much in favour of Scotland: it is true that it contributes to prevent our producing such very accomplished lawyers, divines, or artisans* as when the whole mind is bent with undivided attention upon attaining one branch of knowledge,—but it gives a strong and muscular character to the people in general, and saves men from all sorts of causeless fears and flutterings of the heart, which give quite as much misery as if there were real cause for en-
* The great engineer, James Watt of Birmingham in whose talk Scott took much delight—told him, that though hundreds probably of his northern countrymen had sought employment at his establishment, he never could get one of them to become a first rate artisan. “Many of them,” said he, “were too good for that, and rose to be valuable clerks and book-keepers; but those incapable of this sort of advancement had always the same insuperable aversion to toiling so long at any one point of mechanism as to gain the highest wages among the workmen.” I have no doubt Sir Walter was thinking of Mr Watt’s remark when he wrote the sentence in the text.

82 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
tertaining apprehension. This is not furiously to the purpose of my letter, which, after recommending Monsieur Mackay, was to tell you that we are all well and happy. Sophia is getting stout and pretty, and is one of the wisest and most important little mammas that can be seen any where. Her bower is bigged in gude green wood, and we went last Saturday in a body to enjoy it, and to consult about furniture, and we have got the road stopt which led up the hill, so it is now quite solitary, and approached through a grove of trees, actual well grown trees, not Lilliputian forests like those of Abbotsford. The season is dreadfully backward. Our ashes and oaks are not yet in leaf, and will not be, I think, in any thing like full foliage this year, such is the rigour of the east winds. Always, my dear and much respected friend, most affectionately yours,

W. Scott.

Blair-Adam, 11 June, 1821,
In full sight of Lochleven.

“P. S.—Pray read, or have read to you by Mrs Agnes, the Annals of the Parish. Mr Galt wrote the worst tragedies ever seen, and has now written a most excellent novel, if it can be called so.”

The coronation of George IV., preparations for which were (as has been seen) in active progress by March, 1820, had been deferred, in consequence of the unhappy affair of the Queen’s Trial. The 19th of July, 1821, was now announced for this solemnity, and Sir Walter resolved to be among the spectators. It occurred to him that if the Ettrick Shepherd were to accompany him, and produce some memorial of the scene likely to catch the popular ear in Scotland, good service might thus be done to the cause of loyalty; but this was not his only consideration. Hogg had married a handsome and most estimable young woman, a good deal above his own original rank in life, the year before; and expecting with her a dowry of L.1000, he had forthwith revived the grand ambition of an earlier day, and become a candidate for an extensive farm on the Buccleuch estate, at a short distance from Altrive Lake. Various friends, supposing his worldly circumstances to be much improved, had supported his application, and Lord Montagu had received it in a manner for which the Shepherd’s letters to Scott express much gratitude. Misfortune pursued the Shepherd—the unforeseen bankruptcy of his wife’s father interrupted the stocking of the sheep walk; and the arable part of the new possession was sadly mismanaged by himself. Scott hoped that a visit to London, and a coronation poem, or pamphlet, might end in some pension or post that would relieve these difficulties, and he wrote to Hogg, urging him to come to Edinburgh, and

JAMES HOGG—JULY, 1821.

embark with him for the great city. Not doubting that this proposal would be eagerly accepted, he, when writing to Lord Sidmouth, to ask a place for himself in the Hall and Abbey of Westminster, mentioned that Hogg was to be his companion, and begged suitable accommodation for him also. Lord Sidmouth, being overwhelmed with business connected with the approaching pageant, answered by the pen of the Under-Secretary of State, Mr Hobhouse, that Sir Walter’s wishes, both as to himself and the Shepherd, should be gratified, provided they would both dine with him the day after the coronation, in Richmond park, “where,” says the letter before me, “his Lordship will invite the Duke of York and a few other Jacobites to meet you.” All this being made known to the tenant of Mount-Benger, he wrote to Scott, as he says, ‘with the tear in his eye,’ to signify, that if he went to London, he must miss attending the great annual Border fair, held on St Boswell’s Green, in Roxburghshire, on the 18th of every July; and that his absence from that meeting so soon after entering upon business as a store-farmer, would be considered by his new compeers as highly imprudent and discreditable. “In short,” James concludes, “the thing is impossible. But as there is no man in his Majesty’s dominions admires his great talents for government, and the energy and dignity of his administration so much as I do, I will write something at home, and endeavour to give it you before you start.” The Shepherd probably expected that these pretty compliments would reach the royal ear; but however that may have been, his own Muse turned a deaf ear to him—at least I never heard of any thing that he wrote on this occasion.

From London, on the day after the coronation, Sir Walter addressed a letter, descriptive of the ceremonial, to his friend James Ballantyne, who published it in his newspaper. It has been since reprinted but not in any collection of Scott’s own writings; and I therefore insert it here. It will probably possess considerable interest for the student of English history and manners in future times; for the coronation of George the Fourth’s successor was conducted on a vastly inferior scale of splendour and expense and the precedent of curtailment in any such matters is now seldom neglected.

“‘Well, Allan,’ he said, when he saw me at this last sitting, ‘were you at the coronation? it was a splendid sight.’ ‘No, Sir Walter,’ I answered,—‘places were dear and ill to get: I am told it was a magnificent scene: but having seen the procession of King Crispin at Dumfries, I was satisfied.’ I said this with a smile; Scott took it as I meant it, and laughed heartily. ‘That’s not a bit better than Hogg,’ he said. ‘He stood balancing the matter whether to go to the coronation or the fair of Saint Boswell—and the fair carried it.’

“During this conversation, Mr Bolton the engineer came in. Something like a cold acknowledgment passed between the poet and him. On his passing into an inner room, Scott said, ‘I am afraid Mr Bolton has not forgot a little passage that once took place between us. We met in a public company, and in reply to the remark of some one, he said, “that’s like the old saying,—in every corner of the world you will find a Scot, a rat, and a Newcastle grindstone.” This touched my Scotch spirit, and I said, “Mr Bolton, you ought to have added, and a Birmingham button.” There was a laugh at this, and Mr Bolton replied, “we make something better in Birmingham than buttons—we make steam-engines, sir.”’

“‘That is quite a romance in robbing,’ I said, and I had nearly said more, for the cavern scene and death of Meg Merrilees rose in my mind,—perhaps the mind of Sir Walter was taking the direction of the Solway too, for he said, ‘How long have you been from Nithsdale?’ ‘A dozen years.’ ‘Then you will remember it well. I was a visiter there in my youth; my brother was at Closeburn school, and there I found Creehope Linn, a scene ever present to my fancy. It is at once fearful and beautiful. The stream jumps down from the moorlands, saws its way into the free-stone rock of a hundred feet deep, and, in escaping to the plain, performs a thousand vagaries. In one part it has actually shaped out a little chapel, the peasants call it the Sutors’ Chair. There are sculptures on the sides of the linn too, not such as Mr Chantrey casts, but etchings scraped in with a knife perhaps, or a harrow-tooth.—Did you ever hear,’ said Sir Walter, ‘of Patrick Maxwell, who, taken prisoner by the king’s troops, escaped from them on his way to Edinburgh, by flinging himself into that dreadful

CUNNINGHAM’S MEMORANDA.

101

linn on Moffat water, called the Douglasses Beef-tub?’ ‘Frequently,’ I answered; ‘the country abounds with anecdotes of those days; the popular feeling sympathizes with the poor Jacobites, and has recorded its sentiments in many a tale and many a verse.’ ‘The Ettrick Shepherd has collected not a few of those things,’ said Scott, ‘and I suppose many snatches of song may yet be found.’ C. ‘I have gathered many such things myself, Sir Walter, and as I still propose to make a collection of all Scottish songs of poetic merit, I shall work up many of my stray verses and curious anecdotes in the notes.’ S. ‘I am glad that you are about such a thing; any help which I can give you, you may command; ask me any questions, no matter how many, I shall answer them if I can. Don’t be timid in your selection; our ancestors fought boldly, spoke boldly, and sang boldly too. I can help you to an old characteristic ditty not yet in print:

I ought not to close this extract, without observing that Sir F. Chantrey presented the original bust, of which Mr Cunningham speaks, to Sir Walter himself; by whose remotest descendants it will undoubtedly be held in additional honour on that account. The poet had the further gratification of learning that three copies were executed in marble before the original quitted the studio: One for Windsor Castle—a second for Apsley House—and a third for the friendly sculptor’s own private collection. The legitimate casts of this bust have since been multiplied beyond perhaps any example what ever. Mr Cunningham remembers not fewer than fifteen hundred of them (price four guineas each) being ordered for exportation—chiefly to the United States of America—within one year. Of the myriads, or rather millions, of inferior copies manufactured and distributed by unauthorized persons, it would be in vain to attempt any calculation.

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William Adam (1751-1839) Scottish barrister, Whig MP (1784-1812) and ally of Charles James Fox (whom he once wounded in a duel); he was privy councillor (1815) and a friend of Sir Walter Scott.

Henry Addington, first viscount Sidmouth [The Doctor] (1757-1844) A political disciple of William Pitt, he was Speaker of the House of Commons, 1789-1801, and prime minister, 1801-1804.

Agnes Baillie (1760-1861) The daughter of the Scottish cleric James Baillie and elder sister of the poet Joanna Baillie with whom she lived in Hampstead for many decades.

Joanna Baillie (1762-1851) Scottish poet and dramatist whose Plays on the Passions (1798-1812) were much admired, especially the gothic De Montfort, produced at Drury Lane in 1800.

Matthew Baillie (1761-1823) Physician and brother of Joanna Baillie; as successor to the anatomist William Hunter he treated the pedal deformities of both Walter Scott and Lord Byron.

Sophia Baillie [née Denman] (1771-1845) The daughter of the obstetrician Thomas Denman and sister of Lord Denman; in 1791 she married the physician Matthew Baillie, brother of Joanna Baillie.

James Ballantyne (1772-1833) Edinburgh printer in partnership with his younger brother John; the company failed in the financial collapse of 1826.

John Ballantyne (1774-1821) Edinburgh publisher and literary agent for Walter Scott; he was the younger brother of the printer James Ballantyne.

Matthew Robinson Boulton (1770-1842) English engineer and manufacturer, the son and heir of Matthew Boulton (1728–1809).

David Boyle, Lord Shewalton (1772-1853) Educated at St Andrews and the University of Glasgow, he was MP for Ayrshire (1807-11) and Lord Justice Clerk (1811-41).

John Campbell (1708-1775) Scottish man of letters working in London; he contributed to Biographia Britannica and wrote of The Present State of Europe (1750) and Political Survey of Britain (1774).

Queen Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1768-1821) Married the Prince of Wales in 1795 and separated in 1796; her husband instituted unsuccessful divorce proceedings in 1820 when she refused to surrender her rights as queen.

William George Spencer Cavendish, sixth duke of Devonshire (1790-1858) The only son of Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire; he was Byron's contemporary at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. “Hart,” as he was known, succeeded to the dukedom in 1811.

Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (1781-1841) English sculptor who worked as a statuary from 1804; he employed the poet Allan Cunningham in his studio from 1814. He was knighted in 1835.

George Crabbe (1754-1832) English poet renowned for his couplet verse and gloomy depictions of country persons and places; author of the The Village (1783), The Parish Register (1807), The Borough (1810), and Tales of the Hall (1819).

Allan Cunningham [Hidallan] (1784-1842) Scottish poet and man of letters who contributed to both Blackwood's and the London Magazine; he was author of Lives of the most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1829-33).

Robert Saunders Dundas, second viscount Melville (1771-1851) Son of the first viscount (d. 1811); he was keeper of the signet for Scotland, MP, president of the board of control, and first lord of the Admiralty (1812-27).

Sir Henry Dymoke, baronet (1801-1865) The son of John Dymoke (1764–1828), rector of Scrivelsby; he served as hereditary king's champion at the 1821 coronation and was created baronet in 1841 when the office was abolished.

King Edward III of England (1312-1377) King of England 1327-77.

Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) Queen of England 1558-1603.

Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, seventh baronet (1773-1828) Edinburgh banker, the son of Walter Scott's friend William Forbes, sixth baronet of Pitsligo (1739-1806). In 1797 he married Scott's early love, Williamina Belsches.

Frederick Augustus, Duke of York (1763-1827) He was commander-in-chief of the Army, 1798-1809, until his removal on account of the scandal involving his mistress Mary Anne Clarke.

John Galt (1779-1839) Scottish novelist who met Byron during the first journey to Greece and was afterwards his biographer; author of Annals of the Parish (1821).

King George IV of Great Britain (1762-1830) Prince Regent (1811-20) and King of Great Britain (1820-1830).

Henry Hobhouse (1776-1854) The son of Henry Hobhouse (1742-1792), he was educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford, and after working as a solicitor in Customs was permanent under-secretary of state for the Home department (1817-27).

James Hogg [The Ettrick Shepherd] (1770-1835) Scottish autodidact, poet, and novelist; author of The Queen's Wake (1813) and Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824).

Margaret Hogg [née Phillips] (1790-1870) The wife of the poet James Hogg, whom she married in 1820; she was the younger sister of the wife of Hogg's friend James Gray.

Kenneth Alexander Howard, first earl of Effingham (1767-1845) After distinguished service in the Peninsular War he was deputy earl marshal for the coronation of George IV, and created earl in 1837.

John Henry Johnstone (1749-1828) Irish tenor and actor who performed at Smock Alley and Covent Garden.

William Laidlaw (1779-1845) The early friend of James Hogg and Sir Walter Scott's steward and amanuensis.

Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie (1532 c.-1586 c.) His manuscript history of Scotland was first printed in 1728.

John Liston (1776 c.-1846) English comic actor who performed at the Haymarket and Covent Garden.

Sophia Lockhart [née Scott] (1799-1837) Walter Scott's eldest daughter, who married John Gibson Lockhart in 1820.

Charles Mackay (1787-1857) Scottish actor who performed characters from Walter Scott's novels, notably Bailie Nichol Jarvie.

Henry James Scott- Montagu, second baron Montagu of Boughton (1776-1845) The son of Henry Scott, third Duke of Buccleuch; he was educated at Eton and St. John's College, Cambridge; he was Lord-Lieutenant of Selkirkshire (1823).

John Murray II (1778-1843) The second John Murray began the Quarterly Review in 1809 and published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.

Henry William Paget, first marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854) Originally Bayly, educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford; he was MP (1790-1810), commander of cavalry under Sir John Moore, lost a leg at Waterloo, and raised to the peerage 1815; he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland (1828-29, 1830-33).

Paul Anton III, Prince Esterházy (1786-1866) Hungarian diplomat who after the Congress of Vienna was appointed as ambassador to the United Kingdom (1815-42); he was foreign minister (1848).

Charles Rollin (1661-1741) Professor at the University of Paris; author of Histoire ancienne (1730-38), Histoire de Rome (1738-48), and Traité des études (1726-32).

Lord John Scott (1809-1860) The son of the fourth duke of Buccleuch; he served in the Grenadier Guards and was MP for Roxburghshire.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Scottish poet, novelist, antiquary, biographer, editor, and sheriff.

Walter Francis Montagu-Douglas- Scott, fifth duke of Buccleuch (1806-1884) Son of the fourth duke whom he succeeded in 1819; he was educated at Eton College and at St John's College and was lord privy seal in Peel's ministry (1842-46).

Sir Samuel Shepherd (1760-1840) English barrister educated at Merchant Taylors' School and the Inner Temple; he was king's serjeant (1796), solicitor-general (1813), attorney-general (1817) and a friend of Sir Walter Scott.

William Sotheby (1757-1833) English man of letters; after Harrow he joined the dragoons, married well, and published Poems (1790) and became a prolific poet and translator, prominent in literary society.

Charles William Vane, third marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854) Originally Stewart; he was the half-brother of Lord Castlereagh, and served under Sir John Moore and the Duke of Wellington, fighting at Talavera; was minister to Prussia (1813) and ambassador at the Congress of Vienna (1814) and held a variety of diplomatic and court positions.

John Charles Villiers, third earl of Clarendon (1757-1838) Younger son of the first earl of the second creation; he was envoy to the Portuguese court (1808-1810) and was MP for Old Sarum (1784-90), Dartmouth (1790-1802), Tain burghs (1802-05), and Queenborough (1807-12, 1820-24); he succeeded his brother in 1824.

James Watt (1736-1819) Scottish inventor of the steam engine patented in 1769.

Arthur Wellesley, first duke of Wellington (1769-1852) Soldier and statesman; commander in the Peninsular Campaign (1809-1813), he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo and was prime minister (1828-1830).

The Edinburgh Weekly Journal. (1798-). Published by William Brown; at one time it was edited by James Ballantyne.

John Campbell (1708-1775) Lives of the Admirals, and other eminent British Seamen. Containing their Personal Histories, and a Detail of all their Public Services. 4 vols (London: J. and H. Pemberton, 1742-44). Several times reprinted with additions, down to 1785.

John Galt (1779-1839) Annals of the Parish; or, the Chronicle of Dalmailing; during the Ministry of the Rev. Micah Balwhidder. (Edinburgh: W. Blackwood, 1821). The first edition was anonymous.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Ballantyne's Novelist's Library. 10 vols (London: Hurst, Robinson and Co., 1821-1824). A collection of classic English novels with biographical introductions by Sir Walter Scott.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Rob Roy. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1818). Published anonymously, as the rest of the Waverley novels.

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Source Description:

Author: Lockhart, J. G. (John Gibson), 1794-1854

Title: Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 7 vols (Edinburgh: Robert Cadell, 1837).

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