Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Walter Scott to Daniel Terry, [September 1812]
“I have lacked your assistance, my dear sir, for
twenty whimsicalities this autumn. Abbotsford, as you will ![]()
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readily conceive, has considerably changed its face
since the auspices of Mother Retford were exchanged for
ours. We have got up a good garden wall, complete stables in the haugh,
according to Stark’s plan, and the
old farm-yard being enclosed with a wall, with some little picturesque
additions in front, has much relieved the stupendous height of the
Doctor’s barn. The new plantations have thriven amazingly well, the
acorns are coming up fast, and Tom
Purdie is the happiest and most consequential person in the
world. My present work is building up the well with some debris from the Abbey. O for your assistance, for I am afraid we
shall make but a botched job of it, especially as our materials are of a very
miscellaneous complexion. The worst of all is, that while my trees grow and my
fountain fills, my purse, in an inverse ratio, sinks to zero. This last
circumstance will, I fear, make me a very poor guest at the literary
entertainment your researches hold out for me. I should, however, like much to
have the Treatise on Dreams,
by the author of the New Jerusalem, which, as John Cuthbertson the smith said of the
minister’s sermon, must be neat work. The Loyal Poems by N. T. are probably by
poor Nahum Tate, who associated with
Brady in versifying the Psalms, and
more honourably with Dryden in the second part of Absalom and
Achitophel. I never saw them, however, but would give a guinea or
thirty shillings for the collection. Our friend John Ballantyne has, I learn, made a sudden sally to London,
and doubtless you will crush a quart with him or a pottle pot; he will satisfy
your bookseller for ‘The Dreamer,’ or any
other little purchase you may recommend for me. You have pleased Miss Baillie very much both in public and in
society, and though not fastidious, she is not, I think, particularly lavish of
applause either way. A most valuable person is she, and as warm-![]()
| 8 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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hearted as she is brilliant. Mrs
Scott and all our little folks are well. I am relieved o the
labour of hearing Walter’s lesson
by a gallant son of the church, who with
one leg of wood, and another of oak, walks to and fro from Melrose every day
for that purpose. Pray stick to the dramatic work,* and never suppose either
that you can be intrusive, or that I can be uninterested in whatever concerns
you. Yours,
W. S.”
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.
John Ballantyne (1774-1821)
Edinburgh publisher and literary agent for Walter Scott; he was the younger brother of
the printer James Ballantyne.
Nicholas Brady (1659-1726)
High-Church Irish clergyman and poet who with Nahum Tate published a
New Version of the Psalms of David (1696).
John Dryden (1631-1700)
English poet laureate, dramatist, and critic; author of
Of Dramatick
Poesie (1667),
Absalom and Achitophel (1681),
Alexander's Feast; or the Power of Musique (1697),
The Works of Virgil translated into English Verse (1697), and
Fables (1700).
William Freke (1662-1744)
English theologian, prophet, mystical writer, and justice of the peace (1720).
Thomas Purdie (1767-1829)
Sir Walter Scott's forester; they originally met when Purdie was brought before Sheriff
Scott on charges of poaching.
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.”
William Stark (1770-1813)
Glasgow architect employed by Walter Scott for some of the original work at
Abbotsford.
Nahum Tate (1652 c.-1715)
Poet, dramatist and adapter of Shakespeare; he was made poet laureate in 1692.
George Thomson (1792-1838)
The son of George Thomson (1758-1835), clergyman at Melrose; he was the wooden-legged
tutor and chaplain in the family of Sir Walter Scott. He was the model for Dominie Sampson
in
Guy Mannering.
