J. G. Lockhart: Life of Walter Scott

Early on the 23d of September Sir Walter left Abbotsford, attended by his daughter Anne, and myself, and we reached London by easy stages on the 28th, having spent one day at Rokeby. I have nothing to mention of this journey except that, notwithstanding all his infirmities, he would not pass any object to which he had ever attached special interest, without getting out of the carriage to revisit it. His anxiety (for example) about the gigantic British or Danish effigy in the churchyard at Penrith, which we had all seen dozens of times before, seemed as great as if not a year had fled since 1797. It may be supposed that his parting with Mr Morritt was a grave one. Finding that he had left the ring he then usually wore behind him at one of the inns on the road, he wrote to his friend to make enquiries after it, as it had been dug out of the ruins of Hermitage Castle, and probably belonged of yore to one of the “Dark Knights of Liddesdale,” and if recovered, to keep it until he should come back to reclaim it, but, in the mean time, to wear it for his sake. The ring, which is a broad belt of silver, with an angel holding the Heart of Douglas, was found, and is now worn by Mr Morritt.

Sir Walter arrived in London in the midst of the Lords’ debates on the second Reform bill, and the ferocious demonstrations of the populace on its rejection were in part witnessed by him. He saw the houses of several of the chief Tories, and above all, that of the Duke of Wellington, shattered and almost sacked. He heard of violence offered to the persons of some of his own noble friends; and having been invited to attend the christening of the infant heir of Buccleuch, whose godfather the King had proposed to be, on a day appointed by his Majesty, he had the pain to understand that the ceremony must be adjourned, because it was not considered safe for his Majesty to visit, for such a purpose, the palace of one of his most amiable, as well as illustrious peers.

Dr Robert Ferguson, one of the family with which Sir Walter had lived all his days in such brother-like affection, saw him constantly while he remained in the Regent’s Park; and though neither the invalid nor his children could fancy any other medical advice necessary, it was only due to Ferguson that some of his seniors should be called in occasionally with him. Sir Henry Halford (whom Scott reverenced as the friend of Baillie) and Dr Holland (an esteemed friend of his own), came accordingly; and all the three concurred in recognising certain evidence that there was incipient disease in the brain. There were still, however, such symptoms of remaining vigour, that they flattered themselves, if their patient would submit to a total intermission of all literary labour during some considerable space of time, the malady might yet be arrested. When they left him after the first inspection, they withdrew into an adjoining room, and on soon rejoining him found, that in the interim he had wheeled his chair into a dark corner, so that he might see their faces without their being able to read his. When he was informed of the comparatively favourable views they entertained, he expressed great thankfulness; promised to obey all their directions as

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to diet and repose most scrupulously; and he did not conceal from them, that “he had feared insanity and feared them.”

“Oct. 12.—Lord Mahon, a very amiable as well as clever young man, comes to dinner with Mr Croker, Lady Louisa Stuart, and Sir John Malcolm. Sir John told us a story about Garrick and his wife. The lady admired her husband greatly, but blamed him for a taste for low life, and insisted that he loved better to play Scrub to a low-lifed audience than one of his superior characters before an audience of taste. On one particular occasion she was at her box in the theatre. Richard III. was the performance, and Garrick’s acting, particularly in the night-scene, drew down universal applause. After the play was over, Mrs G. proposed going home, which Garrick declined, alleging he had some business in the green-room which must detain him. In short the lady was obliged to acquiesce, and wait the beginning of a new entertainment, in which was introduced a farmer giving his neighbours an account of the wonders seen in a visit to London. This character was received with such peals of applause that Mrs Garrick began to think it exceeded those which had been so lately lavished on Richard the Third. At last she observed her little spaniel dog was making efforts to get towards the balcony which separated him from the facetious farmer and then she became aware of the truth. ‘How strange,’ he said, ‘that a dog should know his master, and a woman, in the same circumstances, should not recognise her husband?’

Sir Walter seemed to enjoy having one or two friends to meet him at dinner and a few more in the evenings. Those named in the last entries, came all of them frequently—and so did Lord Melville, the Bishop of Exeter, Lord Ashley, Sir David Wilkie, Mr Thomas Moore, Mr Milman, and Mr Washington Irving. At this time the Reform Bill for Scotland was in discussion in the House of Commons. Mr Croker made a very brilliant speech in opposition to it, and was not sorry to have it said, that he had owed his inspiration, in no small degree, to having risen from the table at which Scott sat by his side. But the most regular of the evening visiters was, I think, Sir James Mackintosh. He was himself in very feeble health, and whatever might have been the auguries of others, it struck me that there was uppermost with him at every parting the anticipation that they might never meet again. Sir James’s kind assiduity was the more welcome, that his appearance banished the politics of the hour, on which his old friend’s thoughts were too apt to brood. Their conversation, wherever it might begin, was sure to fasten ere long on Lochaber.

When last in Edinburgh Scott had given his friend William Burn, architect, directions to prepare at his expense a modest monument, for the grave of Helen Walker, the original of Jeanie Deans, in the churchyard of Irongrey. Mr Burn now informed him that the little pillar was in readiness, and on the 18th October Sir Walter sent him this beautiful inscription for it;—

Next morning the Honourable Captain Henry Duncan, R.N., who was at this time store-keeper of the Ordnance, and who had taken a great deal of trouble in arranging matters for the voyage, called on Sir Walter to introduce to him Captain, now Sir Hugh Pigot, the commanding-officer of the Barham. The Diary says:—

“October 19.—Captain H. Duncan called with Captain Pigot, a smart-looking gentlemanlike man, who announces his purpose of sailing on Monday. I have made my preparations for being on board on Sunday, which is the day appointed.

“Captain Duncan told me jocularly never to take a naval captain’s word on shore, and quoted Sir William Scott, who used to say waggishly, that there was nothing so accommodating on shore, but when on board, he became a peremptory lion. Henry Duncan has behaved very kindly, and says he only discharges the wishes of his service in making me as easy as possible, which is very handsome—too high a compliment for me. No danger of feud, except about politics, which would be impolitic on my part, and though it bars out one great subject of discussion, it leaves enough besides. Walter arrives ready to sail. So what little remains must be done without loss of time.

After breakfast, Sir Walter, accompanied by his son and both his daughters, set off for Portsmouth; and Captain Basil Hall had the kindness to precede them by an early coach, and prepare every thing for their reception at the hotel. They expected that the embarkation would take place next day, and the Captain had considered that his professional tact and experience might be serviceable, which they were eminently. In changing horses at Guilford, Sir Walter got out of his carriage, and very narrowly escaped being run over by a stagecoach. Of all “the habits of a life,” none clung longer

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to him than his extreme repugnance to being helped in any thing. It was late before he came to lean, as a matter of course, when walking, upon any one but Tom Purdie; and the reader will see, in the sequel, that this proud feeling, coupled with increasing tendency to abstraction of mind, often exposed him to imminent hazard.

The Barham could not sail for a week. During this interval, Sir Walter scarcely stirred from his hotel, being unwilling to display his infirmities to the crowd of gazers who besieged him whenever he appeared. He received, however, deputations of the literary and scientific societies of the town, and all other visiters, with his usual ease and courtesy: and he might well be gratified with the extraordinary marks of deference paid him by the official persons who could in any way contribute to his ease and comfort. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir James Graham, and the Secretary, Sir John Barrow, both appeared in person, to ascertain that nothing had been neglected for his accommodation on board the frigate. The Admiral, Sir Thomas Foley, placed his barge at his disposal; the Governor, Sir Colin Campbell, and all the chief officers, naval and military, seemed to compete with each other in attention to him and his companions. In Captain Hall’s Third Series of Fragments of Voyages and Travels (vol. iii. p. 280), some interesting details have long since been made public. But it may be sufficient to say here, that had Captain Pigot and his gallant shipmates been appointed to convey a Prince of the Blood and his suite, more generous, anxious, and delicate exertions could not have been made, either in altering the interior of the vessel, so as to meet the wants of the passengers, or afterwards, throughout the voyage, in rendering it easy, comfortable, and as far as might be, interesting and amusing.

At Malta Sir Walter found several friends of former days, besides young Skene. Mr John Hookham Frere had been resident there for several years, as he still continues, the captive of the enchanting climate, and the romantic monuments of the old chivalry.* Sir John Stoddart, the Chief Judge of the island, had known the Poet ever since the early days of Lasswade and Glenfinlas; and the Lieutenant-governor, Colonel Seymour Bathurst, had often met him under the roof of his father, the late Earl Bathurst. Mrs Bathurst’s distinguished uncle, Sir William Alexander, some time Lord Chief-Baron of England, happened also to be then visiting her. Captain Dawson, husband to Lord Kinnedder’s eldest daughter, was of the garrison, and Sir Walter felt as if he were about to meet a daughter of his own in the Euphemia Erskine who had so often sat upon his knee.

* See the charming “Epistle in Rhyme, from William Stewart Rose at Brighton, to John Hookham Frere at Malta,” published with some other pieces in 1835.

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She immediately joined him, and insisted on being allowed to partake his quarantine. Lastly, Dr John Davy, the brother of his illustrious friend, was at the head of the medical staff; and this gentleman’s presence was welcome indeed to the Major and Miss Scott, as well as to their father, for he had already begun to be more negligent as to his diet, and they dreaded his removal from the skilful watch of Dr Liddell. Various letters, and Sir Walter’s Diary, (though hardly legible), show that he inspected with curiosity the knightly antiquities of La Valetta, the church and monuments of St John, the deserted palaces and libraries of the heroic brotherhood; and the reader will find that, when he imprudently resumed the pen of romance, the subject he selected was from their annals. He enjoyed also the society of the accomplished persons I have been naming, and the marks of honour lavished on him by the inhabitants, both native and English.

“On account of cholera then prevailing in England, a quarantine was at this time enforced here on all who came from thence; but instead of driving Sir Walter to the ordinary lazaretto, some good apartments were prepared at Fort Manuel for him and his family to occupy for the appointed time, I believe nine days. He there held a daily levee to receive the numerous visiters who waited on him; and I well remember, on accompanying Colonel and Mrs Bathurst and Sir William Alexander to pay their first visit, how the sombre landing-place of the Marsa Muscet (the quarantine harbour), under the heavy bastion that shelters it on the Valetta side, gave even then tokens of an illustrious arrival, in the unusual number of boats and bustle of parties setting forth to, or returning from Fort Manuel, on the great business of the day. But even in the case of one whom all ‘delighted to honour,’ a quarantine visit is a notably uncomfortable thing; and when our little procession had marched up several broad flights of steps, and we found ourselves on a landing-place ha-

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ving a wide door-way opposite to us, in which sat Sir Walter—his daughter, Major Scott, and Mrs Dawson standing behind and a stout bar placed across some feet in front of them, to keep us at the legal distance—I could not but repent having gone to take part in a ceremony so formal and wearisome to all concerned. Sir Walter rose, but seemed to do it with difficulty, and the paralytic fixed look of his face was most distressing. We all walked up to the bar, but there stood very like culprits, and no one seemed to know who was to speak first. Sir W. Alexander, however, accustomed of old to discourse from the bar, or charge from the bench, was beyond question the proper person,—so, after a very little hesitation, he began and made a neat speech, expressing our hopes that Sir Walter would sojourn at Malta as long as possible. Sir Walter replied very simply and courteously in his natural manner, but his articulation was manifestly affected, though not I think quite so much so as his expression of face. He wore trousers of the Lowland small-checked plaid, and sitting with his hands crossed over the top of a shepherd’s-looking staff, he was very like the picture painted by Leslie, and engraved for one of the Annuals,—but when he spoke, the varied expression, that used quite to redeem all heaviness of features, was no longer to be seen. Our visit was short, and we left Mr Frere with him at the bar on our departure. He came daily to see his friend, and passed more of his quarantine-time with him than any one else. We were told that between Mr Frere’s habitual absence of mind, and Sir Walter’s natural Scotch desire to shake hands with him at every meeting, it required all the vigilance of the attendant genii of the place, to prevent Mr F. from being put into quarantine along with him.

“Sir Walter did not accept the house provided for him

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by the Governor’s order, nor any of the various private houses which, to Miss Scott’s great amusement, were urgently proffered for his use by their owners—but established himself, during his stay, at Beverley’s Hotel, in Strada Fonente. Our house was immediately opposite to this one, divided by a very narrow street; and I well remember, when watching his arrival on the day he took Pratique, hearing the sound of his voice as he chatted sociably to Mr Greig (the inspector of quarantine), on whose arm he leaned while walking from the carriage to the door of his hotel—it seemed to me that I had hardly heard so home-like a sound in this strange land, or one that so took me back to Edinburgh and our own North Castle Street, where, in passing him as he walked up or down with a friend, I had heard it before so often. Nobody was at hand at the moment for me to show him to but an English maid, who not having my Scotch interest in the matter, only said, when I tried to enlighten her as to the event of his arrival—‘Poor old gentleman, how ill he looks.’ It showed how sadly a little while must have changed him, for when I had seen him last in Edinburgh, perhaps five or six years before, no one would have thought of calling him ‘an old gentleman.’ At one or two dinner-parties, at which we saw him within the week of his arrival, he did not seem at all animated in conversation, and retired soon; for he seemed resolutely prudent as to keeping early hours; though he was unfortunately careless as to what he ate or drank, especially the latter—and, I fear, obstinate when his daughter attempted to regulate his diet.

“A day or two afterwards, we gladly accepted an invitation brought to us by Miss Scott, to dine quietly with him and two or three officers of the Barham at his hotel; and I thought the day of this dining so white a one as to mark it especially in a little note-book the same evening. I see it stands dated December the 4th, and the little book says. ‘Dined and spent the evening of this day with Sir Walter Scott. We had only met him before at large dinner-parties. At home he was very much more happy, and more inclined to talk. Even now his conversation has many characteristics of his writings. There is the same rich felicitous quotation from favourite writers—the same happy introduction of old traditionary stories,—Scotch ones especially,—in a manner as easy, and evidently quite unprepared. The coming in of a young midshipman, cousin of his (Scott by name), to join the party, gave occasion to his telling the story of ‘Muckle Mouthed Meg,’* and to his describing the tragicomical picture drawn from that story by Mr C. K. Sharpe, which I remem-

* See ante, vol. I. p. 350.

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bered to have seen at Abbotsford. At dinner he spoke a good deal of Tom Sheridan, after telling a bon mot of his in illustration of something that was said; and seemed amused at a saying of Mr Smyth (of Cambridge), respecting that witty and volatile pupil of his, ‘that it was impossible to put knowledge into him, try it as you might.’ ‘Just,’ said Sir Walter, ‘like a trunk that you are trying to over-pack, but it won’t do, the things start out in your face.’ On joining us in the drawing-room after dinner Sir Walter was very animated, spoke much of Mr Frere, and of his remarkable success, when quite a boy, in the translation of a Saxon ballad.* This led him to ballads in general, and he gravely lamented his friend Mr Frere’s heresy in not esteeming highly enough that of ‘Hardyknute.’ He admitted that it was not a veritable old ballad, but ‘just old enough,’ and a noble imitation of the best style. In speaking of Mr Frere’s translations, he repeated a pretty long passage from his version of one of the Romances of the Cid (published in the Appendix to Southey’s quarto), and seemed to enjoy a spirited charge of the knights therein described as much as he could have done in his best days, placing his walking-stick in rest like a lance, to ‘suit the action to the word.’ Miss Scott says, she has not seen him so animated, so like himself, since he came to Malta, as on this evening.

“Sunday Morning, December 5, (as my said little note book proceeds to record)—Sir Walter spent chiefly in St John’s Church, the beautiful temple and burying-place of the knights, and there he was much pleased and interested. On Monday the 6th he dined at the

* See ante, vol. ii. p. 21.

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Chief-Justice, Sir John Stoddart’s, when I believe he partook too freely of porter and champagne for one in his invalid state. On Tuesday morning (the 7th), on looking from one of our windows across the street, I observed him sitting in an easy-chair in the parlour of his hotel, a book in his hand, and apparently reading attentively: his window was wide open, and I remember wishing much for the power of making a picture of him just as he sat. But about 11 o’clock Miss Scott came over to me, looking much frightened, and saying that she feared he was about to have another paralytic attack. He had, she said, been rather confused in mind the day before, and the dinner-party had been too much for him. She had observed that on trying to answer a note from the Admiral that morning, he had not been able to form a letter on the paper, and she thought he was now sitting in a sort of stupor. She begged that Dr Davy would visit him as soon as possible, and that I would accompany him, so that he might not suppose it a medical visit, for to all such he had an utter objection. I sent for Dr D. instantly, and the moment he returned we went together to the hotel. We found Sir Walter sitting near a fire, dressed, as I had seen him just before, in a large silk dressing-gown, his face a good deal flushed, and his eyes heavy. He rose, however, as I went up to him, and, addressing me by my mother’s name, “Mrs Fletcher,” asked kindly whether I was quite recovered from a little illness I had complained of the day before, and then walked to a table on the other side of the room, to look at some views of the new Volcano in the Mediterranean, which, by way of apology for our early visit, we had carried with us. With these he seemed pleased; but there was great indistinctness in his manner of speaking. He soon after sat down, and began, of his own accord, to converse

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with Dr Davy on the work he was then engaged in—the Life of Sir Humphry—saying that he was truly glad he was thus engaged, as he did not think justice had been done to the character of his friend by Dr Paris. In speaking of the scientific distinction attained by Sir Humphry, he said, ‘I hope, Dr Davy, your mother lived to see it. There must have been such great pleasure in that to her.’ We both remember with much interest this kindly little observation; and it was but one of many that dropt from him as naturally at the different times we met, showing that, ‘fallen’ as ‘the mighty’ was, and ‘his weapons of war perished,’ the springs of fancy dried up, and memory on most subjects much impaired, his sense of the value of home-bred worth and affection was in full force. His way of mentioning ‘my son Charles, poor fellow,’ whom he was longing to meet at Naples or ‘my own Tweed-side,’ which in truth he seemed to lament ever having quitted was often really affecting. Our visit together on this morning was of course short, but Dr Davy saw him repeatedly in the course of the same day. Leeches were applied to his head, and though they did not give immediate relief to his uncomfortable sensations, he was evidently much better next morning, and disposed to try a drive into the country. Some lameness having befallen one of the horses provided for his use, I, at his request, ordered a little open carriage of ours to the door about 12 o’clock, and prepared to accompany him to St Antonio, a garden residence of the Governor’s, about two miles from Valetta, then occupied by Mr Frere, whose own house at the Pieta was under repair. It was not without fear and trembling I undertook this little drive—not on account of the greatness of my companion, for assuredly he was the most humane of lions, but I feared he might have some new seizure of illness, and that I should be very

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helpless to him in such a case. I proposed that Dr D. should go instead; but, like most men when they are ill or unhappy, he preferred having womankind about him,—said he would ‘like Mrs Davy better;’ so I went. The notices of his ‘carriage talk,’ I give exactly as I find them noted down the day after—omitting only the story of Sir H. Davy and the Tyrolese rifle, which I put on record separately for my husband, for insertion in his book.*

“There was no possibility of admiring the face of the country as we drove along after getting clear of the city gates; but I was pleased to see how refreshing the air seemed to Sir Walter—and perhaps this made him go back, as he did, to his days of long walks, over moss and moor, which he told me he had often traversed at the rate of five-and-twenty miles a-day, with a gun on his shoulder. He snuffed with great delight the perfume of the new oranges, which hung thickly on each side as we drove up the long avenue to the court-yard, or stableyard rather, of St Antonio—and was amused at the Maltese untidiness of two or three pigs running at large under the trees. ‘That’s just like my friend Frere,’ he said, ‘quite content to let pigs run about in his orange-groves.’ We did not find Mr Frere at home, and therefore drove back without waiting. Among some other talk, in returning, he spoke with praise of Miss Ferrier as a novelist, and then with still higher praise of Miss Austen. Of the latter he said, ‘I find myself every now and then with one of her books in my hand. There’s a finishing-off in some of her scenes that is really quite above every body else. And there’s that Irish lady, too—but I forget every body’s name now’—‘Miss Edgeworth,’ I said—‘Ay, Miss Edgeworth, she’s very clever, and best in the little touches, too. I’m sure, in that children’s story’—(he meant ‘Simple Susan,’) ‘where the little girl parts with her lamb, and the little boy brings it back to her again, there’s nothing for it but just to put down the book, and cry.’ A little afterwards, he said, ‘Do you know Moore?—he’s a

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charming fellow—a perfect gentleman in society;—to use a sporting phrase, there’s no kick in his gallop.’

“On Friday (December 10th), he went, in company with Mr Frere, to see Citta Vecchia. I drove over with a lady friend to meet them at the church there. Sir Walter seemed pleased with what was shown him, but was not animated. On Saturday the 11th he drove out twice to see various things in Valetta. On Monday morning the 13th, I saw him for the last time, when I called to take leave of Miss Scott. Dr Davy accompanied him, in the course of the following morning, to see Strada Stretta—the part of the city in which he had been told the young Knights of Malta used to fight their duels, when such affairs occurred. In quitting the street, Sir Walter looked round him earnestly, and said, ‘It will be hard if I cannot make something of this.’ On that day, Tuesday morning, December 14th, he and his party went again on board the Barham, and sailed for Naples.”

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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.

Sir Henry Holland, first baronet (1788-1873) English physician and frequenter of Holland House, the author of Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia etc. during 1812 and 1813 (1814) and Recollections of Past Life (1872). His second wife, Saba, was the daughter of Sydney Smith.

Sir Robert Harry Inglis, second baronet (1786-1855) The son of Sir Hugh Inglis, educated at Winchester, Christ Church, Oxford, and Lincoln's Inn; he was a Tory MP for Dundalk (1824-26), Ripon (1828-29), and Oxford University (1829-54), and president of the Literary Club.

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) American writer living in England in 1815, where he made his reputation with The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1820).

Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) American-born genre-painter who came to England in 1811 and studied with fellow-Americans Benjamin West and Washington Allston; he published Memoirs of the Life of John Constable (1843).

Matthew Gregory Lewis [Monk Lewis] (1775-1818) English poet and novelist; author of The Monk: a Romance (1796), Castle Spectre (1797), and Tales of Wonder (1800).

Sir John Liddell (1794-1868) Scottish medical officer educated at Edinburgh University; he was at the Battle of Navarino and served on the Barham during Sir Walter Scott's voyage to Naples; he was inspector of fleets and hospitals (1844).

John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) Editor of the Quarterly Review (1825-1853); son-in-law of Walter Scott and author of the Life of Scott 5 vols (1838).

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

Lady Fanny Maria Lushington [née Lewis] (d. 1862) The sister and heir of Mathew Gregory Lewis; in 1799 she married Sir Henry Lushington, afterwards consul-general at Naples.

Sir Henry Lushington, second baronet (1775-1863) The son of Sir Stephen Lushington, educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge; he succeeded his father in 1807 and was Consul-General at Naples (1815-32).

Colin Mackenzie of Portmore (1770-1830) Scottish advocate; he was Principal Clerk of Session (1804-08) and Deputy Keeper of the Signet (1820-28). He was a schoolmate and friend of Sir Walter Scott.

Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832) Scottish philosopher and man of letters who defended the French Revolution in Vindiciae Gallicae (1791); he was Recorder of Bombay (1803-1812) and MP for Knaresborough (1819-32).

Anne Macleod [née Stephenson] (d. 1861) The daughter of John Stephenson and spouse of John Norman MacLeod of MacLeod; she was an acquaintance of Walter Scott.

John Norman Macleod (1788-1835) The 24th Chief of Macleod; educated at Harrow and Oxford, he was MP for Sudbury (1828-30); Walter Scott visited him in his island tour of 1814.

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.

Sir Pulteney Malcolm (1768-1838) Naval officer, the elder brother of Sir John Malcolm; he was commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, 1828-31 and 1833-34.

Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868) Educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford, he was a poet, historian and dean of St Paul's (1849) who wrote for the Quarterly Review.

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.

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish poet and biographer, author of the Irish Melodies (1807-34), The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and Lalla Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.

John Bacon Sawrey Morritt of Rokeby (1771-1843) Of Rokeby, classical scholar, close friend of Sir Walter Scott, and member of the Society of Dilettanti.

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).

John Ayrton Paris (1785-1856) Writer, geologist, and president of the Royal College of Physicians (1844-56).

Henry Phillpotts, bishop of Exeter (1778-1869) High-church Tory clergyman and controversialist opposed to Catholic emancipation; he was dean of Chester (1828) and bishop of Exeter (1830).

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.

Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby (1783-1837) The second son of the third earl of Bessborough, and brother of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was MP (1806-30); after a distinguished career in the Peninsular War and being wounded at Waterloo he was governor of Malta (1826-35).

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

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).

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

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

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

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.”

William Henry Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, sixth duke of Buccleuch (1831-1914) Son of the fifth duke; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he was a Conservative MP before succeeding to the title in 1884.

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.

Thomas Sheridan (1775-1817) Actor, son of Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Elizabeth Linley; he was manager of Drury Lane when it burned in 1808; he died of consumption, the disease that killed his mother.

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

James Henry Skene (1812-1886) Son os James Skene, friend of Sir Walter Scott; after a military career he entered the diplomatic service under Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and was consul-general at Aleppo.

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.

William Smyth (1765-1849) The son of a Liverpool banker, he was educated at Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was Professor of Modern History at Cambridge (1807). He published of English Lyricks (1797) and Lectures on Modern History (1840).

Philip Henry Stanhope, fifth earl Stanhope (1805-1875) Historian and man of letters, the son of the fourth earl; he published The History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, 1713-1783, 7 vols, (1836-53).

Sir John Stoddart (1773-1856) Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he befriended Coleridge and Wordsworth and after abandoning his early republican principles became a writer for the Times, and afterwards editor of the Tory newspaper New Times in 1817 and a judge in Malta (1826-40). His sister married William Hazlitt in 1808.

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.

Helen Walker (1711-1791) The daughter of William Walker, Scott's model for Jeannie Deans in Heart of Mid-Lothian.

John William Ward, earl of Dudley (1781-1833) The son of William Ward, third Viscount Dudley (d. 1823); educated at Edinburgh and Oxford, he was an English MP, sometimes a Foxite Whig and sometimes Canningite Tory, who suffered from insanity in his latter years.

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).

George Byrom Whittaker (1793-1847) London bookseller, the London agent for Robert Cadell, who published, among other things, educational titles and works by Mary Russell Mitford.

Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841) Scottish-born artist whose genre-paintings were much admired; he was elected to the Royal Academy in 1811.

William IV, king of Great Britain (1765-1837) Son of George III, who succeeded his brother as King of England (1830-37).

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. (1666-1886).

Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) “O'Connor's Child” in Gertrude of Wyoming; and other Poems. (London: Longman, 1810). A lyric first printed in the second edition of Gertrude.

John Davy (1790-1868) Memoirs of the Life of Sir Humphry Davy, Bart.. 2 vols (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, 1836). By the younger brother of Humphry Davy.

Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) “Simple Susan” in The Parent’s Assistant; or, Stories for Children. 6 vols (London: J. Johnson, 1800). The story occupies the second volume.

John Hookham Frere (1769-1846) “An Ode on Athelstan's Victory” in Specimens of the early English Poets: to which is prefixed an Historical Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the English Poetry and Language. 3 vols (London: Edwards, 1801). An unsigned translation in the manner of Chatterton composed when Frere was a schoolboy.

Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844) Fragments of Voyages and Travels: including Anecdotes of a Naval Life: chiefly for the use of Young Persons. 3 vols (Edinburgh: R. Cadell, 1831-1833). Three volumes in nine; several times reprinted.

Matthew Gregory Lewis [Monk Lewis] (1775-1818) The Monk: a Romance. 3 vols (London: J. Bell, 1796). A tale of terror translated into French and German, 1797.

Colin Mackenzie of Portmore (1770-1830) “Ellandonnan Castle” in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, collected in the Southern Counties of Scotland, with a few of modern date, founded upon Local Tradition. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Longman and Rees, 1802-1803). One of the contemporary ballads introduced by Scott.

William Stewart Rose (1775-1843) To the Right Hon[our]able John Hookham Frere in Malta. (Brighton: Pell and Lind, 1834).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Castle Dangerous” in Tales of my Landlord. (Edinburgh: 1816-31). The fourth and last novel in the series.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Count Robert of Paris” in Tales of my Landlord. (Edinburgh: 1816-31). The third novel in the series.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, collected in the Southern Counties of Scotland, with a few of modern date, founded upon Local Tradition. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Longman and Rees, 1802-1803). A collection of border ballads collected by Walter Scott with extensive introductions and notes, modeled on Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) King Richard III. (London: 1597). First printed in a 1597 quarto.

Robert Southey (1774-1843) Chronicle of the Cid, from the Spanish. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1808). The Spanish original (from a twelfth-century work) was first published in 1544.

Elizabeth Wardlaw, Lady Wardlaw [née Halket] (1677-1727) Hardyknute, a Fragment. (Edinburgh: James Watson, 1719). The ballad relates the battle between Haco, king of Norway, and Alexander III of Scotland; the first publication was anonymous.

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