Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Vol I Preface
![]()
TO
JOHN BACON SAUREY MORRITT,
OF ROKEBY PARK, ESQ.
THESE MEMOIRS OF HIS FRIEND
ARE RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED.
![]()
PREFACE.
In obedience to the instructions of Sir
Walter Scott’s last will, I had made some progress in a narrative of his
personal history, before there was discovered, in an old cabinet at Abbotsford, an
autobiographical fragment, composed by him in 1808 shortly after the publication of his Marmion.
This fortunate accident rendered it necessary that I should altogether
remodel the work which I had commenced. The first Chapter of the following Memoirs consists of
the Ashestiel fragment; which gives a clear
outline of his early life down to the period of his call to the bar—July, 1792. All the notes
appended to this Chapter are also by himself. They are in a handwriting very different from the
text, and seem, from various circumstances, to have been added in 1826.
It appeared to me, however, that the author’s modesty had prevented him
from telling the story of his ![]()
| ii | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
![]()
youth with that fulness of
detail which would now satisfy the public. I have therefore recast my own collections as to the
period in question, and presented the substance of them, in five succeeding chapters, as illustrations of his too brief autobiography. This procedure has been
attended with many obvious disadvantages; but I greatly preferred it to printing the precious
fragment in an Appendix.
I foresee that some readers may be apt to accuse me of trenching upon
delicacy in certain details of the sixth and seventh chapters in this volume. Though the
circumstances there treated of had no trivial influence on Sir Walter
Scott’s history and character, I should have been inclined, for many
reasons, to omit them; but the choice was, in fact, not left to me,—for they had been
mentioned, and misrepresented, in various preceding sketches of the Life which I had undertaken
to illustrate. Such being the case, I considered it as my duty to tell the story truly and
intelligibly: but I trust I have avoided any unnecessary disclosures: and, after all, there was
nothing to disclose that could have attached any sort of blame to any of the parties concerned.
For the copious materials which the friends of Sir Walter have placed at my
disposal, I feel just gratitude. ![]()
![]()
Several of them are named in
the course of the present volume; but I must take this opportunity of expressing my sense of
the deep obligations under which I have been laid by the frank communications, in particular,
of William Clerk, Esq., of Eldin,—John Irving, Esq., W.S.,—Sir Adam
Ferguson,—James Skene, Esq., of
Rubislaw,—Patrick Murray, Esq., of
Simprim,—J. B. S. Morritt, Esq., of
Rokeby,—William Wordsworth, Esq.,—Robert Southey, Esq., Poet Laureate,—Samuel Rogers, Esq.,—William
Stewart Rose, Esq.,—Sir Alexander
Wood,—the Right Hon. the Lord Chief Commissioner
Adam,—the Right Hon. Sir William Rae,
Bart.,—the late Right Hon. Sir William Knighton,
Bart.,—the Right Hon. J. W.
Croker,—Lord Jeffrey,—Sir Henry Halford, Bart., G. C. H.,—the late Major-General Sir John Malcolm, G.C.B.,—Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A.,—Sir
David Wilkie, R.A.,—Thomas Thomson,
Esq., P.C.S.,—Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe,
Esq.,—William Scott, of Raeburn,
Esq.,—John Scott, of Gala,
Esq.,—Alexander Pringle, of Whytbank,
Esq., M.P.,—John Swinton, of Inverleith-place,
Esq.,—John Richardson, Esq., of Fludyer
Street,—John Murray, Esq., of Albemarle
Street,—Robert Bruce, Esq., Sheriff of
Argyle,—Robert Ferguson, Esq., M.D.,—G. P. R. James, Esq.,—William
Laidlaw, Esq., Robert Cadell, Esq.,
John Elliot Shortreed, Esq., Allan Cunningham, Esq., Claud
Russell, Esq.,—James Clark-![]()
| iv | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
![]()
son, Esq., of Melrose,—the late James Ballantyne, Esq.,—Joseph Train,
Esq.,—Adolphus Ross, Esq., M.D.,—William Allan, Esq., R.A.,—Charles
Dumergue, Esq.,—Stephen Nicholson Barber,
Esq.,—James Slade, Esq.,—Mrs
Joanna Baillie,—Mrs George
Ellis,—Mrs Thomas Scott,—Mrs Charles Carpenter,—Miss Russell of
Ashestiel,—Mrs Sarah
Nicholson,—Mrs Duncan, Mertoun-Manse,—the Right Hon. the
Lady Polwarth,—and her sons, Henry, Master of Polwarth, the Hon. and Rev.
William, and the Hon. Francis Scott.
I beg leave to acknowledge with equal thankfulness the courtesy of the
Rev. Dr Harwood, Thomas
White, Esq., Mrs Thomson, and the Rev. Richard Garnett, all of Lichfield, and the Rev. Thomas Henry White, of Glasgow, in forwarding to me
Sir Walter Scott’s early letters to Miss Seward: that of the Lord
Seaford, in intrusting me with those addressed to his late cousin, George Ellis, Esq.: and the kind readiness with which whatever
papers in their possession could be serviceable to my undertaking were supplied by the
Duke and Duchess of
Buccleuch, and the Lord Montagu;—the
Countess-Duchess of Sutherland, and the Lord Francis Egerton;—the Lord Viscount
Sidmouth,—the Lord Bishop of
Llandaff,—the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel,
Bart.,—the Lady Louisa Stuart,—the Hon. Mrs Warrender, and the Hon. Catharine Arden,—Lady Davy, ![]()
![]()
—Miss
Edgeworth,—Mrs Maclean Clephane, of
Torloisk,—Mrs Hughes, of Uffington,—Mrs Charles Richardson,—Mrs
Bartley;—Sir George Mackenzie of Coul,
Bart.,—the late Sir Francis Freeling,
Bart.,—Captain Sir Hugh Pigott, R.N.,—the
late Sir William Gell,—Sir
Cuthbert Sharp,—the Very Rev. Principal
Baird,—the Rev. William Steven, of
Rotterdam,—the late Rev. James Mitchell, of
Wooler,—Robert William Hay, Esq., lately Under
Secretary of State for the Colonial Department,—John Borthwick, of
Crookstone, Esq.,—John Cay, Esq., Sheriff
of Linlithgow,—Captain Basil Hall, R.N.,—Thomas Crofton Croker, Esq.,—Henry
Cheney, Esq.,—Alexander Young, Esq., of
Harburn—A. J. Valpy, Esq.,—James Maidment, Esq., Advocate,—the late Donald Gregory, Esq.,—Robert
Johnston, Esq., of Edinburgh,—J. J. Masquerier,
Esq., of Brighton,—Owen Rees, Esq., of
Paternoster Row,—William Miller, Esq., formerly of
Albemarle Street,—David Laing, Esq., of Edinburgh,—and
John Smith the Youngest, Esq., of Glasgow.
J. G. Lockhart.
London, December 20, 1836.
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.
Sir William Allan (1782-1850)
Scottish painter who traveled in Russia and exhibited at the Royal Academy to which he
was elected in 1835; he was president of the Royal Scottish Academy (1838).
Hon. Catherine Emma Arden (d. 1875)
The daughter of Sir Richard Pepper Arden, first Baron Alvanley; she was an acquaintance
of Sir Walter Scott, a close friend of her mother, Lady Alvanley.
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.
George Husband Baird (1761-1840)
Principal of Edinburgh University in succession to William Robertson (1793) and minister
of the High Church in succession to Hugh Blair (1801); he befriended his pupil Henry
Brougham.
James Ballantyne (1772-1833)
Edinburgh printer in partnership with his younger brother John; the company failed in the
financial collapse of 1826.
Stephen Nicholson Barber (1780-1848)
The son of Stephen Barber and Catherine Nicholson; he was a London banker in the firm of
Perring, Shaw, Barber & Co.
Sarah Bartley [née Williamson] (1783-1850)
English tragic actress who made her London debut at Covent Garden in 1805; in 1814 she
married the actor George Bartley (1782?-1858).
John Borthwick of Crookston (1788-1845)
The son of John Borthwick of Crookston whom he succeeded in 1830; he was a lawyer and
member of the Bannatyne Club.
Robert Bruce (1787-1851)
The second son of George Bruce, Depute Clerk of Session; he was sheriff of Argyle
(1818-51). He traveled with Walter Scott to Waterloo in 1815.
Robert Cadell (1788-1849)
Edinburgh bookseller who partnered with Archibald Constable, whose daughter Elizabeth he
married in 1817. After Constable's death and the failure of Ballantyne he joined with Scott
to purchase rights to the
Waverley Novels.
John Cay (1790-1865)
The son of Robert Hodshon Cay; he was Sheriff of Linlithgow (1822-65) and a friend of
John Gibson Lockhart.
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.
Robert Henry Cheney (1801-1866)
Of Badger Hall, eldest son of Lieutenant-General Robert Cheney of the Grenadier Guards
(d. 1820); he was educated at Winchester and Balliol College Oxford; he was a JP, poet,
amateur photographer, and friend of John Gibson Lockhart.
James Burnet Clarkson (1865 fl.)
Surgeon at Melrose, licensed in 1818; he was the son of Sir Walter Scott's friend
Ebenezer Clarkson.
Marianne Clephane [née MacLean] (d. 1843)
The daughter of Lachlan Maclean of Torloisk in Mull (d. 1799); in 1790 she married
Major-General William Douglas Clephane (d. 1803). She was a friend of Sir Walter
Scott.
William Clerk (1771-1847)
Edinburgh lawyer, the son of John Clerk of Eldin and brother of Lord Eldin (1757-1832);
he was Clerk of the Jury Court (1815) and a friend of Sir Walter Scott. He is said to be
the model for Darsie Latimer in
Redgauntlet.
Edward Copleston, bishop of Llandaff (1776-1849)
Educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he was a fellow of Oriel, Oxford Professor of
Poetry (1802-12), dean of St. Paul's (1827-1849), and bishop of Llandaff (1827-49); he
published
Three Replies to the Calumnies of the Edinburgh Review
(1810-11).
John Wilson Croker (1780-1857)
Secretary of the Admiralty (1810) and writer for the
Quarterly
Review; he edited an elaborate edition of Boswell's
Life of
Johnson (1831).
Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854)
Irish antiquary who published
Researches in the South of Ireland
(1824) and
Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, 3
vols (1825-28). He wrote for the
Literary Gazette.
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).
Lady Jane Davy [née Kerr] (1780-1855)
Society hostess who in 1798 married Shuckburgh Ashby Apreece (d. 1807) and Humphry Davy
in 1812.
Charles Dumergue (1768-1852)
Of York Place, Portman Square; he was surgeon-dentist to the royal family and a friend of
Sir Walter Scott, who was godfather to one of his children.
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849)
Irish novelist; author of
Castle Rackrent (1800)
Belinda (1801),
The Absentee (1812) and
Ormond (1817).
Francis Egerton, first earl of Ellesmere (1800-1857)
Poet, statesman, and Tory MP; a younger son the second marquess of Stafford, he was
educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, was chief secretary for Ireland (1828-30), and
translated Goethe and Schiller and contributed articles to the
Quarterly
Review.
Anne Ellis [née Parker] (1773 c.-1862)
The daughter of Admiral Sir Peter Parker; in 1800 she married the antiquary George Ellis
of Sunninghill.
Charles Rose Ellis, first baron Seaford (1771-1845)
English MP; he was the cousin of George Ellis and friend of George Canning, who had him
created Lord Seaford in 1826. He had been Canning's second in the 1809 duel with
Castlereagh.
George Ellis (1753-1815)
English antiquary and critic, editor of
Specimens of Early English
Poets (1790), friend of Walter Scott.
James Elliot Fair (1797-1874)
Originally Shortreed, the third son of Robert Shortreed; he assumed the name of Fair upon
succeeding to the estate of Langlee; he was elected to the Jedforest Club in 1849.
Sir Adam Ferguson (1771-1855)
Son of the philosopher and classmate and friend of Sir Walter Scott; he served in the
Peninsular Campaign under Wellington, afterwards living on his estate in
Dumfriesshire.
Robert Ferguson (1799-1865)
Scottish physician and professor of midwifery; he was physician accoucheur to Queen
Victoria and a friend of Sir Walter Scott and John Gibson Lockhart. He published on
medicine in the
Quarterly Review.
Sir Francis Freeling, first baronet (1764-1836)
Postal reformer and member of the Roxburghe Club; he was secretary to the General Post
Office. He was a friend of William Jerdan and Sir Walter Scott.
Richard Garnett (1789-1850)
The son of a Yorkshire paper-maker, he was priest-vicar of Lichfield Cathedral, assistant
keeper of printed books at the British Museum, and a contributor to the
Quarterly Review. He was the father of Richard Garnett (1835-1906).
Sir William Gell (1777-1836)
English traveler and archaeologist; author of the
Topography of
Troy (1804),
Geography and Antiquities of Ithaca (1807),
the
Itinerary of Greece, with a Commentary on Pausanias (1810),
Itinerary of the Morea (1817),
Narrative of a
Journey in the Morea (1823), and
Itinerary of Greece
(1827).
Donald Gregory (1803-1836)
The son of James Gregory, professor of medicine (1753-1821). He abandoned the law for
antiquarian studies and published
History of the Western Highlands, and
Isles of Scotland, from A.D. 1493 to A.D. 1625 (1836).
Sir Henry Halford, first baronet (1766-1844)
The second son of James Vaughan MD of Leicester; a court physician, he was created
baronet in 1814 and was president of the College of Physicians (1820-1844).
Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844)
Scottish seaman and traveler; after education at Edinburgh high school he entered the
Navy in 1802; he published
Fragments of Voyages and Travels
(1831-33) and other works.
Thomas Harwood (1767-1842)
English antiquary educated at Eton, Oxford, and Cambridge; he was headmaster at Lichfield
Grammar School (1791-1813) and published
History and Antiquities of
Lichfield 1806.
Robert William Hay (1786-1861)
After education at Christ Church, Oxford, he was private secretary to Viscount Melville,
first lord of the Admiralty (1812) and permanent under-secretary of state for the colonies
(1825).
Mary Anne Hughes [née Watts] (1770-1853)
Literary hostess, the wife of Thomas Hughes of Uffington (1756-1833); she contributed to
the
Literary Gazette and corresponded with Sir Walter Scott and
Caroline Bowles Southey. She was the grandmother of the author of
Tom
Brown's Schooldays.
John Irving (1770-1850)
The younger brother of Alexander Irving, Lord Newton; he was Writer to the Signet in
Edinburgh and a friend of Sir Walter Scott.
George Payne Rainsford James (1801-1860)
English novelist and historiographer royal to William IV; he published
Richelieu (1829) and
Philip Augustus (1831).
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (1773-1850)
Scottish barrister, Whig MP, and co-founder and editor of the
Edinburgh
Review (1802-29). As a reviewer he was the implacable foe of the Lake School of
poetry.
Robert Johnson [Juverna] (1745 c.-1833)
Irish barrister educated at the Inner Temple, he was MP for Hillsborough (1797) and
Philipstown (1800) and was justice of the common pleas until his conviction for libel after
his
Juverna attacks on the Government.
William Laidlaw (1779-1845)
The early friend of James Hogg and Sir Walter Scott's steward and amanuensis.
David Laing (1793-1878)
Scottish bookseller, collector, librarian and antiquary; he was a member of the Bannatyne
Club and the Scottish Society of Antiquaries.
Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, seventh baronet (1780-1848)
Scottish scientist, antiquary and playwright; he was educated at Edinburgh University and
published
Travels in the Island of Iceland during the Summer of 1810
(1811). His unpublished play
Helga was performed in Edinburgh in
1812.
James Maidment (1793-1879)
The son of a London barrister, he was educated at Edinburgh University and practiced law
in Edinburgh; he was an antiquary, friend of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe and Sir Walter
Scott, and member of the Bannatyne Club.
Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833)
Indian administrator and diplomat; author of
Political History of
India (1811); his life of Clive was posthumously published in 1836.
John James Masquerier (1778-1855)
He studied at the Royal Academy Schools (1792-94) and pursued a career as a
portrait-painter in London and Scotland. He was a close personal friend of Henry Crabb
Robinson.
William Richard Beckford Miller (1769-1844)
Albemarle-Street bookseller; he began publishing in 1790; shortly after he rejected
Byron's
Childe Harold in 1811 his stock and premises were purchased
by John Murray.
James Mitchell (1759-1835)
After study at St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Edinburgh Universities he was minister of the
West Chapel at Wooler, in Northumberland, from 1808; he was once private tutor to Walter
Scott.
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.
Patrick Murray of Simprim (1838 fl.)
The illegitimate son of Lord Elibank who entailed on him the estate of Simprim; he was
Captain of the Perthshine Fencibles and a classmate and friend of Sir Walter Scott.
Sarah Ann Nicolson (1750-1838)
Housekeeper to Charles Francis and Sophia Dumergue in London; she was an acquaintance of
Sir Walter Scott.
Sir Hugh Pigot (1776-1857)
The illegitimate son of George Pigot, first Baron Pigot of Patshull; after a
distinguished naval career he retired as Admiral of the White.
Alexander Pringle of Whytbank (1791-1857)
Scottish lawyer, MP for Selkirkshire (1830-33, 1835-46), and member of the Bannatyne
Club. He was a friend of Sir Walter Scott.
Sir William Rae, third baronet (1769-1842)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was Lord Advocate (1819-30, 1834-35) and MP for
Anstruther (1819-26), Harwich (1827), Buteshire (1830, 1833-42) and Portarlington
(1831-32). He was a close friend of Sir Walter Scott.
Owen Rees (1770-1837)
London bookseller; he was the partner of Thomas Norton Longman and friend of the poet
Thomas Moore.
John Richardson of Kirklands (1780-1864)
Scottish lawyer and parliamentary solicitor in London from 1806; he was Thomas Campbell's
legal advisor and a friend of Sir Walter Scott.
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
William Stewart Rose (1775-1843)
Second son of George Rose, treasurer of the navy (1744-1818); he introduced Byron to
Frere's
Whistlecraft poems and translated Casti's
Animale parlante (1819).
Adolphus Macdouall Ross (1790-1842)
The son of Col Andrew Ross; he was an Edinburgh physician who attended Sir Walter
Scott.
Claud Russell (1769-1846)
The son of John Russell of Roseburne; he was an Edinburgh accountant.
Hon. Francis Scott (1806-1884)
The fifth son of Hugh Scott, sixth Lord Polwarth; he was a Scottish barrister and
MP.
Harriet Scott, Lady Polwarth [née Bruhl] (1772-1853)
Daughter of Count Hans Moritz von Bruhl and Alicia Maria Carpenter; in 1795 she married
Hugh Scott of Harden, afterwards sixth baron Polwarth. She was maid-of-honour to Caroline,
Princess of Wales.
John Scott of Gala (1790-1840)
Scottish laird and lifelong friend of Walter Scott; they traveled together to Waterloo in
1815.
William Scott of Raeburn (1773-1855)
Scottish laird, son of Walter Scott of Raeburn; he was Sir Walter Scott's cousin, and
sheriff-substitute of Selkirkshire (1825).
Hon. William Hugh Scott (1801-1868)
The son of Hugh Scott, sixth Lord Polwarth (d. 1841) and Harriet Bruhl; educated at Eton
and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was Rector at Maiden Newton, Dorset, and Prebendary at
Sarum.
Anna Seward [the Swan of Lichfield] (1742-1809)
English poet, patron, and letter-writer; she was the center of a literary circle at
Lichfield. Her
Poetical Works, 3 vols (1810) were edited by Walter
Scott.
Sir Cuthbert Sharp (1781-1849)
Educated at Greenwich under Charles Burney, he was collector of customs in Sunderland and
an antiquary who corresponded with Robert Surtees and Sir Walter Scott.
Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781-1851)
Scottish poet, painter, editor, antiquary, and eccentric; he edited James Kirkton's
Secret and True History of the Church of Scotland (1817) with
elaborate notes mocking his author.
James Skene of Rubislaw (1775-1864)
A life-long friend of Sir Walter Scott, who dedicated a canto of
Marmion to him.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
William Steven (1796-1857)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was minister of the Scottish National Church,
Rotterdam; afterwards Governor of Heriot's Hospital and Trinity College Church.
Lady Louisa Stuart (1757-1851)
The youngest child of John Stuart, third earl of Bute; she corresponded with Sir Walter
Scott. Several volumes of her writings and memoirs were published after her death.
John Swinton (1777-1867)
Educated at Edinburgh High School, he was a magistrate in Berwickshire who took the
additional name of Campbell when he inherited the estate of Kimmerghame in 1850.
Elizabeth Wemyss Terry [née Nasmyth] (1793-1862)
Painter and wife of Walter Scott's friend Daniel Terry; after the death of her first
husband she married the lexicographer Charles Richardson (1775-1865) in 1835.
Thomas Thomson (1768-1852)
Scottish lawyer and man of letters; he was one of the projectors of the
Edinburgh Review and succeeded Sir Walter Scott as president of the Bannatyne
Club (1832-52).
Thomas Thomson (1773-1852)
Friend of James Mill and professor of chemistry at the University of Glasgow; he
contributed to the
Quarterly Review.
Joseph Train (1779-1852)
Scottish poet, antiquary, and exciseman patronized by Sir Walter Scott; he contributed
anecdotes to John Gibson Lockhart's biography of Robert Burns.
Abraham John Valpy (1787-1854)
Son of the Reading schoolmaster Richard Valpy, he was a London printer who specialized in
classical texts. With the poet George Dyer he published 141 volumes of Delphin classics
(1819-30).
Thomas White (1764-1838)
Of the Close, Lichfield, gentleman, proctor in the Ecclesiastical Court.
Thomas Henry White (1798 c.-1849)
The son of Thomas White of Lichfield; he was educated at University College, Oxford and
was priest Vicar Choral, Lichfield.
Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841)
Scottish-born artist whose genre-paintings were much admired; he was elected to the Royal
Academy in 1811.
Sir Alexander Wood (d. 1847)
Son of the physician of the same name; he was Commissioner of Revenue in Ceylon and Chief
Secretary to governments of Malta and the Ionian Islands. He was a friend of Walter
Scott.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
With Coleridge, author of
Lyrical Ballads (1798), Wordsworth
survived his early unpopularity to succeed Robert Southey as poet laureate in 1843.
