Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Walter Scott to Joanna Baillie, 30 January 1810
“Jan. 30th, 1810.
“You have only to imagine all that you could wish to
give success to a play, and your conceptions will still fall short of the
complete and decided triumph of the Family Legend. The house was crowded to a most extraordinary
degree; many people had come from your native capital of the west; every thing
that pretended to distinction, whether from rank or literature, was in the
boxes, and in the pit such an aggregate mass of humanity as I have seldom if
ever witnessed in the same space. It was quite obvious from the beginning, that
the cause was to be very fairly tried before the public, and that if any thing
went wrong, no effort, even of your numerous and zealous friends, could have
had much influence in guiding or restraining the general feeling. Some
good-natured persons had been kind enough to propagate reports of a strong
opposition, which, though I considered them as totally groundless, did not by
any means lessen the extreme anxiety with which I waited the rise of the
curtain. But in a short time I saw there ![]()
| THE FAMILY LEGEND—1810. | 271 |
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was no ground whatever for apprehension, and
yet I sat the whole time shaking for fear a scene-shifter, or a carpenter, or
some of the subaltern actors should make some blunder, and interrupt the
feeling of deep and general interest which soon seized on the whole pit, box,
and gallery, as Mr Bayes has it. The scene
on the rock struck the utmost possible effect into the audience, and you heard
nothing but sobs on all sides. The banquet-scene was equally impressive, and so
was the combat. Of the greater scenes, that between Lorn and Helen in the
castle of Maclean, that between Helen and her lover, and the examination of
Maclean himself in Argyle’s castle, were applauded to the very
echo. Siddons announced the play
‘for the rest of the week,’ which was
received not only with a thunder of applause, but with cheering and throwing up
of hats and handkerchiefs. Mrs Siddons
supported her part incomparably, although just recovered from the indisposition
mentioned in my last. Siddons himself played Lorn very well indeed, and moved and looked with
great spirit. A Mr Terry, who promises
to be a fine performer, went through the part of the Old Earl with great taste
and effect. For the rest I cannot say much, excepting that from highest to
lowest they were most accurately perfect in their parts, and did their very
best. Malcolm de Grey was tolerable but stickish—Maclean
came off decently—but the conspirators were sad hounds. You are, my dear
Miss Baillie, too much of a democrat in your writings;
you allow life, soul, and spirit to these inferior creatures of the drama, and
expect they will be the better of it. Now it was obvious to me, that the poor
monsters, whose mouths are only of use to spout the vapid blank verse which
your modern playwright puts into the part of the confidant and subaltern
villain of his piece, did not know what to make of the energetic and poetical
diction which ![]()
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even these subordinate departments abound
with in the Legend. As the play greatly exceeded the usual length (lasting till
half-past ten), we intend, when it is repeated to-night, to omit some of the
passages where the weight necessarily fell on the weakest of our host, although
we may hereby injure the detail of the plot. The scenery was very good, and the
rock, without appearance of pantomime, was so contrived as to place
Mrs Siddons in a very precarious situation to all
appearance. The dresses were more tawdry than I should have judged proper, but
expensive and showy. I got my brother
John’s Highland recruiting party to reinforce the garrison
of Inverary, and as they mustered beneath the porch of the castle, and seemed
to fill the court-yard behind, the combat scene had really the appearance of
reality. Siddons has been most attentive, anxious,
assiduous, and docile, and had drilled his troops so well that the
prompter’s aid was unnecessary, and I do not believe he gave a single
hint the whole night; nor were there any false or ridiculous accents or
gestures even among the underlings, though God knows they fell often far short
of the true spirit. Mrs Siddons spoke the epilogue*
extremely well: the prologue,† which I will send you in its revised
state, was also very well received. Mrs
Scott sends her kindest compliments of congratulation; she had a
party of thirty friends in one small box, which she was obliged to watch like a
clucking hen till she had gathered her whole flock, for the crowd was
insufferable. I am going to see the Legend to-night,
when I shall enjoy it quietly, for last night I was so much interested in its
reception that I cannot say I was at leisure to attend to the feelings arising
from the representation itself. People are dying to read it. If you think of
suffering a single edition to be ![]()
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printed to gratify their curiosity, I
will take care of it. But I do not advise this, because until printed no other
theatres can have it before you give leave. My kind respects attend Miss Agnes Baillie, and believe me ever your
obliged and faithful servant,
“P.S. A friend of
mine writes dramatic criticism now and then. I have begged
him to send me a copy of the Edinburgh paper in which he inserts his
lucubrations, and I will transmit it to you: he is a play-going man, and
more in the habit of expressing himself on such subjects than most
people.—In case you have not got a playbill, I enclose one, because I think
in my own case I should like to see it.”
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.
James Ballantyne (1772-1833)
Edinburgh printer in partnership with his younger brother John; the company failed in the
financial collapse of 1826.
Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831)
Scottish man of letters, author of
The Man of Feeling (1770) and
editor of
The Mirror (1779-80) and
The
Lounger (1785-87).
John Scott (1769-1816)
Walter Scott's elder brother who served in the 73rd Regiment before retiring to Edinburgh
in 1810.
Henry Siddons (1774-1815)
English actor and playwright, the son of the actress Sarah Siddons; with the assistance
of Walter Scott he obtained patent of the Edinburgh Theatre Royal in 1809.
Sarah Siddons [née Kemble] (1755-1831)
English tragic actress, sister of John Philip Kemble, famous roles as Desdemona, Lady
Macbeth, and Ophelia. She retired from the stage in 1812.
Daniel Terry (1789-1829)
English actor; after a career in provincial theater made his London debut in 1812. A
close friend of Walter Scott, he performed in theatrical adaptations of Scott's
novels.
