J. G. Lockhart: Life of Walter Scott

He had again intended, as soon as he should have finished Ivanhoe, to proceed to London and receive his baronetcy; but as that affair had been crossed at Easter by his own illness, so at Christmas it was again obliged to be put off in consequence of a heavy series of domestic afflictions. Within one week Scott lost his excellent mother, his uncle Dr Daniel Rutherford, Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh—and their sister, Christian Rutherford, already often mentioned as one of the dearest and most esteemed of all his friends and connexions.

“Edinburgh, 13th Nov. 1819.

“Dear Walter,

“I am much surprised and rather hurt at not hear-
LETTER TO CORNET SCOTT. 321
ing from you for so long a while. You ought to remember that, however pleasantly the time may be passing with you, we at home have some right to expect that a part of it (a very small part will serve the turn) should be dedicated, were it but for the sake of propriety, to let us know what you are about. I cannot say I shall be flattered by finding myself under the necessity of again complaining of neglect. To write once a week to one or other of us is no great sacrifice, and it is what I earnestly pray you to do.

“We are to have great doings in Edinburgh this winter. No less than Prince Gustavus of Sweden is to pass the season here, and do what Princes call studying. He is but half a Prince either, for this Northern Star is somewhat shorn of his beams. His father was, you know, dethroned by Buonaparte, at least by the influence of his arms, and one of his generals, Bernadotte, made heir of the Swedish throne in his stead. But this youngster, I suppose, has his own dreams of royalty, for he is nephew to the Emperor of Russia (by the mother’s side), and that is a likely connexion to be of use to him, should the Swedish nobles get rid of Bernadotte, as it is said they wish to do. Lord Melville has recommended the said Prince particularly to my attention, though I do not see how I can do much for him.

“I have just achieved my grand remove from Abbotsford to Edinburgh—a motion which you know I do not make with great satisfaction. We had the Abbotsford hunt last week. The company was small, as the newspapers say, but select, and we had excellent sport, killing eight hares. We coursed on Gala’s ground, and he was with us. The dinner went off with its usual alacrity, but we wanted you and Sally to ride and mark for us.

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LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.

“I enclose another letter from Mrs Dundas of Arniston. I am afraid you have been careless in not delivering those I formerly forwarded, because in one of them, which Mrs Dundas got from a friend, there was enclosed a draught for some money. I beg you will be particular in delivering any letters intrusted to you, because though the good-nature of the writers may induce them to write to be of service to you, yet it is possible that they may, as in this instance, add things which are otherwise of importance to their correspondents. It is probable that you may have picked up among your military friends the idea that the mess of a regiment is all in all sufficient to itself; but when you see a little of the world you will be satisfied that none but pedants—for there is pedantry in all professions—herd exclusively together, and that those who do so are laughed at in real good company. This you may take on the authority of one who has seen more of life and society, in all its various gradations, from the highest to the lowest, than a whole hussar regimental mess, and who would be much pleased by knowing that you reap the benefit of an experience which has raised him from being a person of small consideration, to the honour of being father of an officer of hussars. I therefore enclose another letter from the same kind friend, of which I pray you to avail yourself. In fact, those officers who associate entirely among themselves see and know no more of the world than their messman, and get conceited and disagreeable by neglecting the opportunities offered for enlarging their understanding. Every distinguished soldier whom I have known, and I have known many, was a man of the world, and accustomed to general society.

“To sweeten my lecture, I have to inform you that, this being quarter day, I have a remittance of L.50 to send you whenever you are pleased to let me know it
DECEMBER—1819. 323
will be acceptable—for, like a ghost, I will not speak again till I am spoken to.

“I wish you not to avail yourself of your leave of absence this winter, because, if my health continues good, I shall endeavour to go on the Continent next summer, and should be very desirous to have you with me; therefore, I beg you to look after your French and German. We had a visit from a very fine fellow indeed at Abbotsford, Sir Thomas Brisbane, who long commanded a brigade in the peninsula. He is very scientific, but bores no one with it, being at the same time a well informed man on all subjects, and particularly alert in his own profession, and willing to talk about what he has seen. Sir Harry Hay Macdougal, whose eldest daughter he is to marry, brought him to Abbotsford on a sort of wedding visit, as we are cousins according to the old fashion of country kin; Beardie, of whom Sir Harry has a beautiful picture, being a son of an Isabel Macdougal, who was, I fancy, grand-aunt to Sir Harry.

“Once more, my dear Walter, write more frequently, and do not allow yourself to think that the first neglect in correspondence I have ever had to complain of has been on your part. I hope you have received the Meerschaum pipe.—I remain your affectionate father,

Walter Scott.”

“Edinburgh, 3d December, 1819.

“My dear Walter,

“I hope your servant proves careful and trusty. Pray let me know this. At any rate, do not trust him a bit further than you can help it, for in buying any thing you will get it much cheaper yourself than he will. We are now settled for the winter; that is, all of them excepting myself, who must soon look southwards. On
324 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
Saturday we had a grand visiter, i. e., the Crown Prince of Sweden, under the name of Count Itterburg. His travelling companion or tutor is Baron de Polier, a Swiss of eminence in literature and rank. They took a long look at King Charles XII., who, you cannot have forgotten, keeps his post over the diningroom chimney; and we were all struck with the resemblance betwixt old Iron-head, as the janissaries called him, and his descendant. The said descendant is a very fine lad, with very soft and mild manners, and we passed the day very pleasantly. They were much diverted with Captain Adam, who outdid his usual outdoings, and, like the barber of Bagdad, danced the dance and sung the song of every person he spoke of.

“I am concerned I cannot give a very pleasant account of things here. Glasgow is in a terrible state. The Radicals had a plan to seize on 1000 stand of arms, as well as a depot of ammunition which had been sent from Edinburgh Castle for the use of the volunteers. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Thomas Bradford, went to Glasgow in person, and the whole city was occupied with patroles of horse and foot, to deter them from the meditated attack on the barracks. The arms were then delivered to the volunteers, who are said to be 4000 on paper; how many effective and trustworthy, I know not. But it war new sight in Scotland on a Sunday to see all the inhabitants in arms, soldiers patroling the streets, and the utmost precaution of military service exacted and observed in an apparently peaceful city.

“The Old Blue Regiment of volunteers was again summoned together yesterday. They did not muster very numerous, and looked most of them a little ancient. However, they are getting recruits fast, and then the veterans may fall out of the ranks. The Commander-in-Chief has told the President that he may soon be obli-
DECEMBER, 1819. 325
ged to leave the charge of the castle to these armed citizens. This looks serious. The President* made one of the most eloquent addresses that ever was heard, to the Old Blues. The Highland chiefs have offered to raise their clans, and march them to any point in Scotland where their services shall be required. To be sure, the Glasgow folks would be a little surprised at the arrival of Dugald Dhu, ‘brogues an’ brochan an’ a’.’ I shall, I think, bid Ballantyne send you a copy of his weekly paper, which often contains things you would like to see, and will keep you in mind of Old Scotland.

“They are embodying a troop of cavalry in Edinburgh—nice young men and good horses. They have paid me the compliment to make me an honorary member of the corps, as my days of active service have been long over. Pray take care, however, of my sabre, in case the time comes which must turn out all.

“I have almost settled that, if things look moderately tranquil in Britain in spring or summer, I will go abroad, and take Charles, with the purpose of leaving him, for two or three years, at the famous institution of Fellenborg, near Berne, of which I hear very highly. Two of Fraser Tytler’s sons are there, and he makes a very favourable report of the whole establishment. I think that such a residence abroad will not only make him well acquainted with French and German, as indeed he will hear nothing else, but also prevent his becoming an Edinburgh petit-maitre of fourteen or fifteen, which he could otherwise scarce avoid. I mentioned to you that I should be particularly glad to get you leave of absence, providing it does not interfere with your duty, in order that you may go with us. If I have cash
* The Right Honourable Charles Hope, Lord President of the Court of Session, was Colonel-commandant of the Old Blues, or First Regiment of Edinburgh Volunteers.

326 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
enough I will also take your sister and mamma, and you might return home with them by Paris, in case I went on to Italy. All this is doubtful, but I think it is almost certain that Charles and I go, and hope to have you with us. This will be probably about July next, and I wish you particularly to keep it in view. If these dark prospects become darker, which God forbid! neither you nor I will have it in our power to leave the post to which duty calls us.

“Mamma and the girls are quite well, and so is Master Charles, who is of course more magnificent, as being the only specimen of youthhead at home. He has got an old broadsword hanging up at his bedhead, which, to be the more ready for service, hath no sheath. To this I understand we are to trust for our defence against the Radicals. Anne (notwithstanding the assurance) is so much afraid of the disaffected, that last night, returning with Sophia from Portobello, where they had been dancing with the Scotts of Harden, she saw a Radical in every man that the carriage passed. Sophia is of course wise and philosophical, and mamma has not yet been able to conceive why we do not catch and hang the whole of them, untried and unconvicted. Amidst all their various emotions, they join in best love to you; and I always am very truly yours,

W. Scott.

“P.S I shall set off for London on the 25th.”

“Edinburgh, 22d December, 1819.

“My dear Tom,

“I wrote you about ten days since, stating that we were all well here. In that very short space a change so sudden and so universal has taken place among your friends here, that I have to communicate to you a most miserable catalogue of losses. Our dear mother was on Sunday the 12th December in all her usual strength and alertness of mind. I had seen and conversed with her on the Saturday preceding, and never saw her better in my life of late years. My two daughters drank tea with her on Sunday, when she was uncommonly lively, telling them a number of stories, and being in rather unusual spirits, probably from the degree of excitation which sometimes is remarked to precede a paralytic affection. In the course of Monday she re-
DECEMBER, 1819. 333
ceived that fatal summons, which at first seemed slight; but in the night betwixt Monday and Tuesday our mother lost the use both of speech and of one side. Since that time she has lain in bed constantly, yet so sensible as to see me and express her earnest blessing on all of us. The power of speech is totally lost; nor is there any hope at her advanced age, that the scene can last long. Probably a few hours will terminate it. At any rate, life is not to be wished, even for our nearest and dearest, in those circumstances. But this heavy calamity was only the commencement of our family losses. Dr Rutherford, who had seemed perfectly well, and had visited my mother upon Tuesday the 14th, was suddenly affected with gout in his stomach, or some disease equally rapid, on Wednesday the 15th, and without a moment’s warning or complaint, fell down a dead man, almost without a single groan. You are aware of his fondness for animals; he was just stroking his cat after eating his breakfast, as usual, when, without more warning than a half-uttered exclamation, he sunk on the ground, and died in the arms of his daughter Anne. Though the Doctor had no formed complaint, yet I have thought him looking poorly for some months; and though there was no failure whatever in intellect, or any thing which approached it, yet his memory was not so good, and I thought he paused during the last time he attended me, and had difficulty in recollecting the precise terms of his recipe. Certainly there was a great decay of outward strength. We were very anxious about the effect this fatal news was likely to produce on the mind and decayed health of our aunt, Miss C. Rutherford, and resolved, as her health had been gradually falling off ever since she returned from Abbotsford, that she should never learn any thing of it until it was impossible to conceal it longer. But God had so ordered
334 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
it that she was never to know the loss she had sustained, and which she would have felt so deeply. On Friday the 17th December, the second day after her brother’s death, she expired, without a groan and without suffering, about six in the morning. And so we lost an excellent and warm-hearted relation, one of the few women I ever knew whose strength of mental faculties enabled her, at a mature period of life, to supply the defects of an imperfect education. It is a most uncommon and afflicting circumstance, that a brother and two sisters should be taken ill the same day—that two of them should die without any rational possibility of the survivance of the third—and that no one of the three could be affected by learning the loss of the other. The Doctor was buried on Monday 20th, and Miss Rutherford this day (Wednesday 22d), in the burial place adjoining to and surrounding one of the new Episcopal chapels,* where Robert Rutherford† had purchased a burial ground of some extent, and parted with one half to the Russells. It is surrounded with a very high wall, and all the separate burial grounds, five I think in number, are separated by party walls going down to the depth of twelve feet, so as to prevent the possibility either of encroachment, or of disturbing the relics of the dead. I have purchased one half of Miss Russell’s interest in this sad spot, moved by its extreme seclusion, privacy, and security. When poor Jack was buried in the Greyfriars’ churchyard, where my father and Anne lie, if I thought their graves more encroached upon than I
* St John’s Chapel.
† Robert Rutherford, Esq., W.S., son to the Professor of Botany.
‡ “Our family heretofore buried in the Grey Friar’s Churchyard, close by the entrance to Heriot’s Hospital, and on the southern or left-hand side as you pass from the churchyard.”—MS. Memorandum.

LETTER TO THOMAS SCOTT. 335
liked to witness; and in this new place I intend to lay our poor mother when the scene shall close; so that the brother and the two sisters, whose fate has been so very closely entwined in death may not be divided in the grave,—and this I hope you will approve of.

“Thursday, December 23d.—My mother still lingers this morning, and as her constitution is so excellent, she may perhaps continue to exist some time, or till another stroke. It is a great consolation that she is perfectly easy. All her affairs of every sort have been very long arranged for this great change, and with the assistance of Donaldson and Macculloch, you may depend, when the event takes place, that your interest will be attended to most pointedly. I hope our civil tumults here are like to be ended by the measures of Parliament. I mentioned in my last that Kinloch of Kinloch was to be tried for sedition. He has forfeited his bail, and was yesterday laid under outlawry for non-appearance. Our neighbours in Northumberland are in a deplorable state; upwards of 50,000 blackguards are ready to rise between Tyne and Wear.* On the other hand, the Scottish frontiers are steady and loyal, and arming fast. Scott of Gala and I have offered 200 men, all fine strapping young fellows, and good marksmen, willing to go any where with us. We could easily double the number. So the necessity of the times has made me get on horseback once more. Our mother has at different times been perfectly conscious of her situation, and knew every one, though totally unable to speak. She seemed to take a very affectionate farewell of me the last time I saw her, which was the day before yesterday; and as she was much agitated, Dr Keith advised I should not see her again unless she seemed to desire it, which
* This was a ridiculous exaggerated report of that period of alarm.

336 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
hitherto she has not done. She sleeps constantly, and will probably be so removed. Our family sends love to yours. Yours most affectionately,

Walter Scott.”

Scott’s excellent mother died on the 24th December—the day after he closed the foregoing letter to his brother.

“Dear Lady Louisa,

“I am favoured with your letter from Ditton, and am glad you found any thing to entertain you in Ivanhoe. Novelty is what this giddy-paced time demands imperiously, and I certainly studied as much as I could to get out of the old beaten track, leaving those who like to keep the road, which I have rutted pretty well. I have had a terrible time of it this year, with the loss of dear friends and near relations; it is almost fearful to count up my losses, as they make me bankrupt in society. My brother-in-law; our never-to-be-enough regretted Duke; Lord Chief Baron,* my early, kind, and constant friend, who took me up when I was a young fellow of little mark or likelihood; the wife of my intimate friend William Erskine; the only son of my friend David Hume, a youth of great promise, and just entering into life, who had grown up under my eye from
* The Right Hon. Robert Dundas of Arniston died 17th June, 1819.

DEATH OF HIS MOTHER DECEMBER, 1819. 337
childhood; my excellent mother; and, within a few days, her surviving brother and sister. My mother was the only one of these whose death was the natural consequence of very advanced life. And our sorrows are not at an end. A sister of my mother’s, Mrs Russell of Ashestiel, long deceased, had left (besides several sons, of whom only one now survives and is in India) three daughters, who lived with her youngest sister, Miss Rutherford, and were in the closest habits of intimacy with us. The eldest of these girls, and a most excellent creature she is, was in summer so much shocked by the sudden news of the death of one of the brothers I have mentioned, that she was deprived of the use of her limbs by an affection either nervous or paralytic. She was slowly recovering from this afflicting and helpless situation when the sudden fate of her aunts and uncle, particularly of her who had acted as a mother to the family, brought on a new shock; and though perfectly possessed of her mind, she has never since been able to utter a word. Her youngest sister, a girl of one or two and twenty, was so much shocked by this scene of accumulated distress, that she was taken very ill, and having suppressed and concealed her disorder, relief came too late, and she has been taken from us also. She died in the arms of the elder sister, helpless as I have described her; and to separate the half dead from the actual corpse was the most melancholy thing possible. You can hardly conceive, dear Lady Louisa, the melancholy feeling of seeing the place of last repose belonging to the devoted family open four times within so short a space, and to meet the same group of sorrowing friends and relations on the same sorrowful occasion. Looking back on those whom I have lost, all well known to me excepting my brother-in-law, whom I could only judge of by the general report in his favour, I can scarce con-
338 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.
ceive a group possessing more real worth and amiable qualities, not to mention talents and accomplishments. I have never felt so truly what Johnson says so well—
‘Condemn’d to Hope’s delusive mine,
As on we toil from day to day,
By sudden blasts, or slow decline,
Our social comforts drop away.’*

“I am not sure whether it was your ladyship, or the poor Duchess of Buccleuch, who met my mother once, and flattered me by being so much pleased with the good old lady. She had a mind peculiarly well stored with much acquired information and natural talent, and as she was very old, and had an excellent memory, she could draw without the least exaggeration or affectation the most striking pictures of the past age. If I have been able to do any thing in the way of painting the past times, it is very much from the studies with which she presented me. She connected a long period of time with the present generation, for she remembered, and had often spoken with, a person who perfectly recollected the battle of Dunbar, and Oliver Cromwell’s subsequent entry into Edinburgh. She preserved her faculties to the very day before her final illness; for our friends Mr and Mrs Scott of Harden visited her on the Sunday; and, coming to our house after, were expressing their surprise at the alertness of her mind, and the pleasure which she had in talking over both ancient and modern events. She had told them with great accuracy, the real story of the Bride of Lammermuir, and pointed out wherein it differed from the novel. She had all the names of the parties, and detailed (for she was a great genealogist) their connexion with existing families. On the subse-
* Lines on the death of Mr Robert Levet.

DECEMBER, 1819. 339
quent Monday she was struck with a paralytic affection, suffered little, and that with the utmost patience; and what was God’s reward, and a great one to her innocent and benevolent life, she never knew that her brother and sister, the last thirty years younger than herself, had trodden the dark path before her. She was a strict economist, which she said enabled her to be liberal; out of her little income of about L.300 a-year she bestowed at least a third in well chosen charities, and with the rest lived like a gentlewoman, and even with hospitality more general than seemed to suit her age; yet I could never prevail on her to accept of any assistance. You cannot conceive how affecting it was to me to see the little preparations of presents which she had assorted for the New Year—for she was a great observer of the old fashions of her period—and to think that the kind heart was cold which delighted in all these acts of kindly affection. I should apologize, I believe, for troubling your ladyship with these melancholy details, but you would not thank me for a letter written with constraint, and my mind is at present very full of this sad subject, though I scarce know any one to whom I would venture to say so much. I hear no good news of Lady Anne, though Lord Montagu writes cautiously. The weather is now turning milder, and may, I hope, be favourable to her complaint. After my own family, my thought most frequently turns to these orphans, whose parents I loved and respected so much.—I am always, dear Lady Lousia, your very respectful and obliged

Walter Scott.”

There is in the library at Abbotsford a fine copy of Baskerville’s folio Bible, two vols., printed at Cambridge in 1763; and there appears on the blank leaf, in the trembling handwriting of Scott’s mother, this in-

340

LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.

scription—“To my dear son, Walter Scott, from his affectionate mother, Anne Rutherford, January 1st, 1819.” Under these words her son has written as follows:—“This Bible was the gift of my grandfather Dr John Rutherford to my mother, and presented by her to me; being, alas! the last gift which I was to receive from that excellent parent, and, as I verily believe, the thing which she most loved in the world,—not only in humble veneration of the sacred contents, but as the dearest pledge of her father’s affection to her. As such she gave it to me; and as such I bequeath it to those who may represent me—charging them carefully to preserve the same, in memory of those to whom it has belonged. 1820.”

If literary success could have either filled Scott’s head or hardened his heart, we should have no such letters as those of December, 1819. Ivanhoe was received throughout England with a more clamorous delight than any of the Scotch novels had been. The volumes (three in number) were now, for the first time, of the post 8vo form, with a finer paper than hitherto, the press-work much more elegant, and the price accordingly raised from eight shillings the volume to ten; yet the copies sold in this original shape were twelve thousand.

The reader has already been told that Scott dictated the greater part of this romance. The portion of the MS. which is his own appears, however, not only as

IVANHOE.

341

well and firmly executed as that of any of the Tales of My Landlord, but distinguished by having still fewer erasures and interlineations, and also by being in a smaller hand. The fragment is beautiful to look at—many pages together without one alteration. It is, I suppose, superfluous to add, that in no instance did Scott re-write his prose before sending it to the press. Whatever may have been the case with his poetry, the world uniformly received the prima cura of the novelist.

As a work of art, Ivanhoe is perhaps the first of all Scott’s efforts, whether in prose or in verse; nor have the strength and splendour of his imagination been displayed to higher advantage than in some of the scenes of this romance. But I believe that no reader who is capable of thoroughly comprehending the author’s Scotch characters and Scotch dialogue will ever place even Ivanhoe, as a work of genius, on the same level with Waverley or the Heart of Mid-Lothian.

The introduction of the charming Jewess and her father originated, I find, in a conversation that Scott held with his friend Skene during the severest season of his bodily sufferings in the early part of this year. “Mr Skene,” says that gentleman’s wife, “sitting by his bedside, and trying to amuse him as well as he could in the intervals of pain, happened to get on the subject of the Jews, as he had observed them when he spent some time in Germany in his youth. Their situation had naturally made a strong impression; for in those days they retained their own dress and manners entire, and were treated with considerable austerity by their Christian neighbours, being still locked up at night in their own quarter by great gates; and Mr Skene, partly in seriousness, but partly from the mere wish to turn his mind at the moment upon something that might occupy and divert it, suggested that a group of Jews would be an interesting feature if he could contrive to bring them into his next novel.” Upon the appearance of Ivanhoe,

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343

he reminded Mr Skene of this conversation, and said, “You will find this book owes not a little to your German reminiscences.” Mrs Skene adds: “Dining with us one day, not long before Ivanhoe was begun, something that was mentioned led him to describe the sudden death of an advocate of his acquaintance, a Mr Elphinstone, which occurred in the Outer-house soon after he was called to the bar. It was, he said, no wonder, that it had left a vivid impression on his mind, for it was the first sudden death he ever witnessed; and he now related it so as to make us all feel as if we had the scene passing before our eyes. In the death of the Templar in Ivanhoe, I recognised the very picture I believe I may safely say, the very words.”*

By the way, before Ivanhoe made its appearance, I had myself been formally admitted to the author’s secret; but had he favoured me with no such confidence, it would have been impossible for me to doubt that I had been present some months before at the conversation which suggested, and indeed supplied all the materials of, one of its most amusing chapters. I allude to that in which our Saxon terms for animals in the field, and our Norman equivalents for them as they appear on the table, and so on, are explained and commented on. All this Scott owed to the after-dinner talk one day in Castle-street of his old friend Mr William Clerk, who, among other elegant pursuits, has cultivated the science of philology very deeply.

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

John Baskerville (1706-1775) Birmingham printer who designed the typeface that bears his name; his folio Bible was issued in 1763.

Alexander Bower (1774-1837) The son of a weaver, he was educated at Edinburgh University and employed as a cataloguer Advocates' Library and Edinburgh University Library; he published a biography of James Beattie (1804) and history of Edinburgh University (1817-30).

Sir Thomas Bradford (1777-1853) English military officer who served in the Irish Rebellion and the Peninsular War; he commanded forces in Scotland, 1819-25, after which he was commander-in-chief of the troops in Bombay.

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, baronet (1773-1860) Educated at Edinburgh, he served under Wellington in the Peninsular War and was governor of New South Wales (1821-25); he was president of the Royal Astronomical Society (1828).

John Bruce [John o’ Skye] (d. 1847) Sir Walter Scott's piper at Abbotsford, afterwards major in the 72nd Foot.

Robert I, king of Scots [Robert the Bruce] (1274-1329) The Scottish national hero who defeated Edward II at Bannockburn.

Charles Carpenter (1772-1818) The brother of Lady Scott; after service in the East India Company (1789) he was Commercial Resident at Salem in India.

King Charles I of England (1600-1649) The son of James VI and I; as king of England (1625-1649) he contended with Parliament; he was revered as a martyr after his execution.

Charles XII, King of Sweden (1682-1718) King of Sweden and a formidable military commander who invaded Poland, Russia, Denmark, and Norway.

Charles XIV John, King of Sweden and Norway (1763-1844) Napoleon's marshall, adopted as king of Sweden; he joined the allies against the Emperor of France at the Battle of Leipzig (1813).

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.

Archibald Constable (1774-1827) Edinburgh bookseller who published the Edinburgh Review and works of Sir Walter Scott; he went bankrupt in 1826.

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) English general and statesman; fought with the parliamentary forces at the battles of Edgehill (1642) and Marston Moor (1644); led expedition to Ireland (1649) and was named Lord Protector (1653).

Hay Donaldson (d. 1822) Writer to the Signet; he was the third son of Hay Donaldson (d. 1802) and Walter Scott's friend and confidential solicitor.

Hon. Elizabeth Dundas [née Dundas] (1766-1852) The daughter of Henry Dundas; in 1787 she married her first cousin, Robert Dundas of Arniston.

Robert Dundas of Arniston (1758-1819) The son of Robert Dundas (1713–1787), lord president of the court of session, and nephew of Henry Dundas, viscount Melville; he was MP for Edinburghshire (1790-1801) and chief baron of the exchequer in Scotland (1801).

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).

Euphemia Erskine [née Robison] (d. 1819) The daughter of the natural philosopher John Robison (1739-1805); in 1800 she married the barrister William Erskine, friend of Walter Scott, who wrote an epitaph for her.

William Erskine, Lord Kinneder (1768-1822) The son of an episcopal clergyman of the same name, he was a Scottish advocate and a close friend and literary advisor to Sir Walter Scott.

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.

John Macpherson Ferguson (1783-1855) Scottish naval officer, youngest son of the philosopher Adam Ferguson and the brother of Sir Walter Scott's friend Sir Adam Ferguson.

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.

King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (1778-1837) He was king of Sweden from 1800 to 1809 when he abdicated and went into exile.

Gustavus, crown prince of Sweden (1799-1877) The son of Gustav IV King of Sweden deposed in 1809; he served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Sir Henry Hay Macdougal of Mackerston, fourth baronet (1752-1825) The son of the third baronet (d. 1777); he was a neighbour of Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford.

Charles Hope, Lord Granton (1763-1851) Educated at Edinburgh University, he was Tory MP for Edinburgh (1803-05) and Lord President of Court of Session (1811-41).

David Hume (1757-1838) The nephew of the philosopher; he was educated at University of Edinburgh and Glasgow University and was a member of the Speculative Society, professor of Scots law in the University of Edinburgh, and baron of the exchequer. He contributed to The Mirror and The Lounger.

Joseph Hume (d. 1819) Scottish advocate, the son of David Hume of Ninewells; he was a friend of Walter Scott and John Gibson Lockhart.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English man of letters, among many other works he edited A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and Shakespeare (1765), and wrote Lives of the Poets (1779-81).

James Keith (1783-1863) Scottish surgeon educated at Edinburgh University (MD 1804); he was physician to the Deaf and Dumb Institution, and a relation of Sir Walter Scott.

George Kinloch of Kinloch (1775-1833) The son of Captain George Oliphant Kinloch; after inheriting the family estate he adopted radical views and was charged with sedition after a speech made in connection with the Peterloo massacre. He was MP for Dundee (1833).

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

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

James Murray MacCulloch of Ardwall (1768-1857) Scottish landowner, son of David MacCulloch (d. 1794); he succeeded his brother Edward in 1796; his sister married Walter Scott's brother Thomas.

Nicol Milne of Faldonside (1756-1821) Scottish proprietor; he was Walter Scott's neighbour at Abbotsford.

Nicol Milne of Faldonside (d. 1876) The son and heir of Nichol Milne (d. 1821); he was a Scottish Advocate (1827).

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).

Jane Margaret Montagu [née Douglas] (1779-1859) The daughter of Archibald James Edward Douglas, first Baron Douglas of Douglas; in 1804 she married Henry James Montagu-Scott, second Baron Montagu, son of the third Duke of Buccleuch.

Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821) Military leader, First Consul (1799), and Emperor of the French (1804), after his abdication he was exiled to Elba (1814); after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to St. Helena (1815).

James Pringle of Torwoodlee (d. 1840) The friend and neighbor of Walter Scott; he was educated at Cambridge and Leyden, succeeded his uncle as laird in 1780, and was vice-lieutenant of Selkirkshire.

Thomas Purdie (1767-1829) Sir Walter Scott's forester; they originally met when Purdie was brought before Sheriff Scott on charges of poaching.

Elizabeth Janet Russell (1791-1820) The daughter of William Russell of Ashiestiel, and first cousin of Walter Scott; she died unmarried.

Sir James Russell of Ashiestiel (1781-1859) The son of William Russell; he was born in Madras and was Major General in the Army; he was Sir Walter Scott's cousin.

Jean Russell [née Rutherford] (1747-1793) The daughter of Professor Daniel Rutherford; she was the half-sister of Walter Scott's mother.

Christian Rutherford (1759-1819) The daughter of Professor John Rutherford by his second wife; she was the half-sister of Anne, mother of Sir Walter Scott (who referred to her as “Miss Critty”).

Daniel Rutherford (1749-1819) Scottish physician and botanist, the son of Professor John Rutherford; after study at Edinburgh University he was physician-in-ordinary to the Royal Infirmary (1791). He was Sir Walter Scott's uncle.

John Rutherford (1695-1779) Scottish physician educated at the University of Edinburgh where he was professor of physic from 1726. He was Sir Walter Scott's maternal grandfather.

Robert Rutherford (1790-1866) Son of the physician Daniel Rutherford, and Sir Walter Scott's cousin. He was Writer to the Signet (1815) and Deputy Keeper of the Abbey of Holyrood.

Anne Scott [née Rutherford] (1739 c.-1819) Walter Scott's mother, the daughter of Professor John Rutherford who married Walter Scott senior in 1755.

Anne Scott (1772-1801) Walter Scott's younger and only sister; an earlier sister of the same name had died in childhood.

Anne Scott (1803-1833) Walter Scott's younger daughter who cared for him in his old age and died unmarried.

Charles William Henry Montagu- Scott, fourth duke of Buccleuch (1772-1819) Son of the third duke and friend of Walter Scott; he was a Tory MP before succeeding to the title in 1812.

Charles Scott (1805-1841) The younger son of Sir Walter Scott; educated at Oxford, he pursued a career in diplomacy and died in Tehran.

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.

Harriet Katherine Scott, duchess of Buccleuch [née Townshend] (1773-1814) The daughter of Thomas Townshend, first Viscount Sydney of St. Leonards; in 1795 she married Charles William Henry Montagu-Scott, fourth Duke of Buccleuch.

Hugh Hepburne- Scott of Harden, sixth baron Polwarth (1758-1841) He inherited Harden in 1793, assumed the name of Hepburne in 1820, and became sixth baron Polwarth in 1835.

John Scott (1769-1816) Walter Scott's elder brother who served in the 73rd Regiment before retiring to Edinburgh in 1810.

John Scott of Gala (1790-1840) Scottish laird and lifelong friend of Walter Scott; they traveled together to Waterloo in 1815.

Thomas Scott (1774-1823) The younger brother of Walter Scott rumored to have written Waverley; after working in the family legal business he was an officer in the Manx Fencibles (1806-10) and Paymaster of the 70th Foot (1812-14). He died in Canada.

Walter Scott [Beardie] (1653-1729) Walter Scott's great-grandfather, son of Walter Scott, first laird of Raeburn. He was a Jacobite said to have let his beard grow in mourning for the demise of the Stuarts.

Walter Scott (1729-1799) Walter Scott's father, son of Robert Scott of Sandyknowe; he was Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh.

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

Sir Walter Scott, second baronet (1801-1847) The elder son and heir of Sir Walter Scott; he was cornet in the 18th Hussars (1816), captain (1825), lieut.-col. (1839). In the words of Maria Edgeworth, he was “excessively shy, very handsome, not at all literary.”

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).

James Skene of Rubislaw (1775-1864) A life-long friend of Sir Walter Scott, who dedicated a canto of Marmion to him.

Jane Skene (1787-1862) The daughter of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo (1739-1806); in 1806 she married James Skene. Both Skenes were friends of Sir Walter Scott.

John Somers, baron Somers (1651-1716) Whig politician, member of the Kit-Kat Club, friend of Addison, Steele, and Swift; he was lord chancellor (1697).

John Southey Somerville, fifteenth Lord Somerville (1765-1819) Educated at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, he succeeded his father in 1796 and was a courtier, Scottish representative peer, and friend of Walter Scott.

Samuel Charters Somerville (1776-1823) Of Lowood, the second son of Thomas Somerville, Minister of Jedburgh (d. 1830); he was Writer to the Signet (1802) and managed the estates of Lord Somerville.

Thomas Somerville (1741-1830) Minister of Jedburgh; he was educated at Edinburgh University and published The History of Great Britain during the Reign of Queen Anne (1798) and other works. He was a friend of Sir Walter Scott.

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 Swanston (1784-1860) Forrester at Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford.

William Fraser Tytler (1777-1853) The eldest son of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee; he was professor of history at Edinburgh University (1801-21) and Sheriff of Inverness (1818).

John Usher (1766-1847) The son of James Usher of Toftfield (d. 1816); Walter Scott purchased the estate from him in 1817.

Sir William Wallace (1272 c.-1305) Scottish hero in the conflict with Edward I, whom he defeated at the battle of Stirling in 1297; he was afterwards captured and brutally executed in London.

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

Alexander Bower (1774-1837) The History of the University of Edinburgh: chiefly compiled from Original Papers and Records. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Oliphant, Waugh and Innes, 1830).

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) “On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet” in Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. 53 (August 1783): 695. Quatrains; Robert Levet died 17 January 1782.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “The Heart of Mid-Lothian” in Tales of my Landlord, second series. 4 vols (Edinburgh: Constable, 1818). The story of Effie Deans, set in eighteenth century Edinburgh.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Ivanhoe: a Romance. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Constable, 1820). A tale of the crusades.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Tales of my Landlord. (Edinburgh: 1816-31). The four series consist of: The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality (1), The Heart of Mid-lothian (2), The Bride of Lammermoor and Legend of Montrose (3) and Count Robert and Castle Dangerous (4).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Waverley: or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Constable, 1814). Scott's first historical novel, set against the backdrop of the Jacobite rising of 1745.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Waverley Novels. 48 vols (Edinburgh: Cadell & Co., 1829-33). The Magnum Opus edition, with the author's revisions and new prefaces. Collected editions began appearing in 1820.

INFORMATION FROM TEI HEADER

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).

Electronic Edition:

Series: Lord Byron and his Times: http://lordbyron.org

Encoding Description: Any dashes occurring in line breaks have been removed. Obvious and unambiguous compositors’ errors have been silently corrected.

Markup and editing by: David Hill Radcliffe

Completed January 2011

Publication Statement:

Publisher: Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Tech

Availability: Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License