Abbotsford

'Thou, who with tireless hand didst sweep
Away the damps of ages deep
And fire with wild, baronial strain
The harp of chivalry again,
And bid its long-forgotten swell
Thrill through the soul, farewell! farewell!'

Other objects of interest may be briefly noted:

Sir Walter's chair.

Of green morocco; in the Empire style, which prevailed early in the last century.

The Wallace chair.

Presented by Joseph Train in 1822. Made of wood from Robroyston, near Kirkintilloch, the scene of Wallace's betrayal. A MS. volume in Train's handwriting, contained in a drawer under the seat, tells the story of the chair (see Lockhart, vol. vii., p. 223; note inscription).

Lockhart's chair.

Of plain horse-hair.

Scott's card-plate.

Carries the simple address: 'Sir Walter Scott, Castle Street.'

A small folding box-writing-desk.

Made from wood of the Spanish Armada, and inscribed: 'Afflavit Deus et dissipantur.'

Print of Stothard's 'Canterbury Pilgrims' (over the mantelpiece).

The best-known of Stothard's paintings. Engraved in 1817. 'Sir Walter made the characteristic criticism upon it that, if the procession were to move, the young squire who is prancing in the foreground would in another minute be off his horse's head' (Adolphus's 'Memoranda').

Portrait of Claverhouse.

Painter unknown.

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth.

Painter unknown.

Portrait of Rob Roy.

Painter unknown.

'The eagle, he was lord above,
And Rob was lord below.'

Bust of Lord Chief Commissioner Adam.

Sculptor probably Samuel Joseph, R.S.A. Founder of the Blair-Adam Club (see Lockhart, vol. viii., p. 200). 'I have lived much with him, and taken kindly to him as one of the most pleasant, kind-hearted, benevolent men I have ever known.'

Scott's walking-sticks, pipes, etc.

In cabinet to the right.

A small turret-room off the study is of peculiar interest. Sir Walter styled it his 'Speak-a-bit.' Here he enjoyed many a happy tête-à-tête. It is said to be panelled with the oak of the bedstead on which Queen Mary slept at Jedburgh in 1566. Scott's death-mask is the only article the room contains. The dead face is so tired that nobody can look upon it without a gush of pity, and a feeling of thankfulness that at last the man is in his grave. We are not moved by the grandeur of its modelling; the appeal it makes is to a larger humanity than that. It is the face of a brother man, stretched out too long upon the rack of this tough world. The majesty of the forehead, and the dour earnestness of the features, tell of Walter Scott, the genius; but it is in the corners of the mouth that all the pathos lies. In them there is the droop of an infinite weariness, and it makes the heart ache (see Temple Bar, 1904).

Library.

Adjoining is the Library, the largest and finest apartment in the house—40 feet long by 18 feet broad and 16 feet high—with an immense bay-window, commanding a lovely view of the Tweed. The book-presses, wired and locked, rise to a height of 11 feet, leaving a space of 5 feet accordingly between the top of the shelves and the magnificent cedar ceiling, whose rich Gothic ornamentation (of plaster, however) is modelled from Melrose and Rosslyn. Notice the familiar 'curly green' of the Melrose Abbots. Close on 20,000 volumes line the walls.[34] Many are presentation copies, and not a few contain MS. criticisms and jottings by Scott. The furniture of this room is very valuable. Two very richly-carved chairs, said to have come from the Borghese Palace, in Rome, were presented by Constable (see letter to Terry in Lockhart, vol. vii., p. 104). An ebony writing-cabinet, gorgeously figured, and once the property of George III., was presented by his successor. Note should be taken of Sir Walter's four-sloped reading-desk, movable at the will of the writer, thus enabling him to consult a number of works at one time. This was in constant use when 'Napoleon' was on the stocks. The great centre-table was the work of Joseph Shillinglaw, Darnick, 'the Sheriff planning and studying every turn as zealously as ever an old lady pondered the development of an embroidered cushion.' The hangings and curtains (not in use) were chiefly the work of a little hunch-backed tailor, William Goodfellow, who occupied a cottage on Scott's farm of the Broomielees. 'Not long after he had completed his work at Abbotsford,' says Lockhart, 'little Goodfellow fell sick, and as his cabin was near Chiefswood, I had many opportunities of observing the Sheriff's kind attention to him in his affliction. I can never forget the evening on which the poor tailor died. When Scott entered he found everyone silent, and inferred from the looks of the good women in attendance that their patient had fallen asleep, and that they feared his sleep was the final one. He murmured some syllables of kind regret. At the sound of his voice the dying tailor unclosed his eyes, and eagerly and wistfully sat up, clasping his hands with an expression of rapturous gratefulness and devotion that, in the midst of deformity, disease, pain and wretchedness, was at once beautiful and sublime. He cried with a loud voice, "The Lord bless and reward you!" and expired with the effort.' One painting only has place in the Library—a full-length of the second Sir Walter, by Sir William Allan (1822), in the uniform of the 15th Hussars, his horse by his side. 'A handsomer fellow never put foot into stirrup,' said Scott. The celebrated Chantrey Bust, of which Lockhart said that it 'alone preserved for posterity the cast of expression most fondly remembered by all who mingled in his domestic circle,' was placed in its present niche (at the end of the room) by young Sir Walter the day after his father's funeral. Scott sat to Sir Francis Chantrey in 1820, and it is this original bust which is at Abbotsford. Only one duplicate was made (for Apsley House). Chantrey sculptured a second bust in 1828 (acquired by Sir Robert Peel), having in the meantime presented Scott with the bust of 1820, which bears an inscription to that effect on the back.

A large octagonal glass table in the fine bay contains the following gabions:

Napoleon's blotter and gold bee-clasps.

Found in his carriage after Waterloo. The blotter contains a small packet of Napoleon's hair.

Napoleon's pen-case and sealing-wax.

Left on the writing-table at the Palace of the Elysée Bourbon, in his flight from Paris, 1815 Presented by Lady Hampden, 1829.

A tricoloured cockade.

Brought from France in 1815.

Soldier's Memorandum-book.

Found at Waterloo. See 'Paul's Letters,' p. 199.

Piece of oat-cake.

Found in a dead Highlander's pocket on the field of Culloden the day of the battle. Given to Scott by Robert Chambers.

Queen Mary's seal.

Base engraved with a crowned shield, bearing the Scottish lion and initials 'M.R.'

A piece of Queen Mary's dress.

Prince Charlie's quaigh.

With mirror bottom, 'that he who quaffed might keep his eye on the dirk hand of his companion.' Often used by Scott. Presented, in 1825, by Mrs. Stewart of Stenton.

Lock of Prince Charlie's hair.

Rob Roy's purse.

Of brown leather; much worn. Presented by Joseph Train, 1818, a few days after the publication of 'Rob Roy.'

Helen MacGregor's brooch.

A six-pointed star, with a thistle and two leaves between. 'I confess, for my own part,' says Scott, 'that I looked long and curiously upon the brooch that belonged to Rob Roy's wife. I was thinking more of the wife than of the dauntless outlaw; of the woman who reproached her husband upon his deathbed for exhibiting some signs of contrition for his past misdeeds, exhorting him to die as he had lived, "like a man."'

Flora MacDonald's pocket-book.

Presented by Alexander Campbell, Leith, 1825. Flora, it would appear, had intended this as a present to the Rev. Martin Martin, a minister in the Isle of Skye, but he having died, it never reached its destination. The initials 'M. M.' have been wrought on the outside.

Lock of Nelson's hair.

Lock of Wellington's hair.

'As to the Duke of Wellington, my faith is constant that there is no other man living who can work out the salvation of this country. He is such a man as Europe has not seen since Julius Caesar,'—Scott to Lockhart.

Robert Burns's tumbler.

With some verses scratched thereon. Scott and Burns met only once, in 1786.

Toadstone amulet.

'It was sovereign for protecting new-born children and their mothers from the power of the fairies,' says Scott.

Joanna Baillie's purse.

Netted in thick red silk by the poetess, and presented to Scott in 1812 (see Lockhart, vol. iii., p. 387).

Box made of the pulley of the 'Maiden.'

An instrument of execution, of the guillotine order, introduced into Scotland by the Regent Morton, who himself suffered death by its means.

Balfour of Burley's snuff-box.

Immortalized in 'Old Mortality.'

Gold snuff-box set in brilliants.

Presented, in 1815, by George IV., then Prince Regent, Scott's friend and patron.

Bog-oak snuff-box.

Presented by Maria Edgeworth.

Silver snuff-box.

Presented by City of Cork, 1825.

Robert Scott's (of Sandyknowe) snuff-box.

Tom Purdie's snuff-box.

Peter Mathieson's snuff-box.

Tom Purdie's wood-knife.

Sir Walter's knife.

Small knife and fork used by Scott as a child.

'Beardie's' quaigh.

Wallace-oak quaigh.

Presented by Joseph Train.

Quaigh made from Queen Mary's yew at Craigmillar.

Quaigh made from Duke of Wellington's tree at Waterloo.

'Such a multifarious collection of ancient quaighs (little cups of curiously dove-tailed wood inlaid with silver) as no Lowland sideboard but his was ever equipped with' (see Lockhart, vol. v., p. 339).

Cardinal Mezzofanti's skull-cap.

Brought from Rome by Scott. The Cardinal was one of the greatest linguists of his day.

A Russian icon.

Silver medal of Charles I.

Miniature of Charles II.

Miniature of James VIII., the Chevalier de St. George.

Medallion of George IV.

Bronze medallion of Scott.

Miniature of Scott at the age of six.

Painted at Bath in 1777; painter unknown. A copy from the original in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. A second copy is in the possession of Mr. John Murray, London.

Miniature of Scott, 1797.

As an officer in the Edinburgh Light Dragoons. According to the fashion of the day, his hair is powdered. A lock of light brown hair is fastened, under glass, at the back of the frame. This is the second authentic likeness of Scott.

Miniature of Lady Scott, 1797.

When Miss Carpenter—'a brunette as dark as a blackberry, but her person and face very engaging.'

Miniature of M. Jean Carpenter.

Father of Lady Scott.

Drawing-room.

Next we pass to the drawing-room, a deeply interesting apartment, 24 feet by 18 feet, and in height the same as the others. The walls are hung with Chinese paper (wonderfully fresh still), evidence of that Chinese fashion which the skill of Sir William Chambers succeeded in foisting upon fashionable people during the reign of George IV. The windows, doors, and other woodwork, are of Jamaica cedar, and have a rich and beautiful appearance, and the furnishings are of great value. Notice some very pretty china specimens. The paintings, both numerous and valuable, include:

Full-length portrait of Scott, by Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.

Painted in 1809. A replica, with variations, of the picture done for Constable the year before (now at Bowhill). In the Abbotsford copy the background gives the valley of the Yarrow instead of Liddesdale. Camp is the dog at Scott's feet, and Douglas the greyhound.

Lady Scott, by James Saxon, 1805.

A companion portrait to that of Sir Walter, painted in 1805.

Scott's mother, by Sir John Watson Gordon, P.R.S.A., R.A.

Anne Scott, by William Nicholson, R.S.A.

In fancy dress; a water-colour sketch. 'An honest, downright good Scots lass, in whom I would only wish to correct a spirit of satire.'

Anne Scott, by John Graham.

In Spanish dress.

Sophia Scott (Mrs. Lockhart), by William Nicholson, R.S.A.

In Norwegian peasant dress.

The Hon. Mrs. Maxwell Scott, by Miller.

Presented by Mr. Maxwell Scott's cricketing friends, 1887.

James VI. of Scotland.

Painter unknown.

Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth.

Painter unknown. To her the 'Lay' was chanted:

'In pride of power, in beauty's bloom,
She wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb.'

Henrietta, Queen of Charles I.

Painter unknown.

Sir Thomas Hervey, Knight Marshal to Queen Mary.

Painter unknown.

Nell Gwynne, by Sir Peter Lely.

John Dryden, by Sir Peter Lely.

William Hogarth, by himself.

Oliver Cromwell.

Painter unknown.

Head of Mary Queen of Scots, by Amyas Cawood (not Camwood, or Canwood, as the guidebooks say).

Presented by a Prussian nobleman. This picture represents the head of the Queen after decapitation, and bears the signature of the painter, with the inscription and date, 'Maria Scotiæ Regina, Feb. 9, 1587,' the day after the execution. 'It is known that leave was granted for such a picture, and in the painter's name we may probably recognize a brother of Mary's faithful attendant, Margaret Cawood,' Cawood, or, as now, Carwood, near Biggar, was the seat of this family.

Fast Castle.

By Thomson of Duddingston. Presented by the artist. Fast Castle, Berwickshire, is the supposed 'Wolf's Crag' of the 'Bride of Lammermoor.'

Jedburgh Abbey.

A water-colour drawing by Bennet. Presented by the artist.

Bust of Shakespeare.

Somewhat youthful-looking. Presented by George Bullock, along with the finely-carved oak cabinet on which it stands (see Lockhart, vol. v., p. 167).

Armoury.

'Stepping westwards,' we enter the Armoury, a long, narrow apartment, running right across the house, with emblazoned windows at either end (heads of the Scottish Kings), and forming a sort of ante-room to the drawing-room on one side and the dining-room on the other. It consists of two parts, that to the south being 10 feet in length, the other 25 feet. Both portions communicate by a Gothic archway, with carved oaken wicket. Scarcely a nation on earth, savage or civilized, but has contributed something in the shape of a warlike weapon to the stores of the Abbotsford armoury. Of its many remarkable and valuable objects—the mere enumeration of which would, of themselves, form a goodly catalogue—the following may be specially noted:

Sword of Montrose.

'I have a relic of a more heroic character; it is a sword which was given to the great Marquis of Montrose by Charles I., and appears to have belonged to his father, our gentle King Jamie. It had been preserved for a long time at Gartmore, but the present proprietor was selling his library, and John Ballantyne, the purchaser, wishing to oblige me, would not conclude a bargain till he flung the sword into the scale' (letter to Joanna Baillie, Lockhart, vol. iii., p. 390). The sword bears on both sides the royal arms of Great Britain, with the following inscription on the blade:

'Jacobe alumne pacis atk pallæ
Serene cultor et decus Britannici
Clarrissimum regni tuis regalib
Sceptris subest de stirpe quond martia.'

Scott had the sheath remounted in 1822.

Rob Roy's gun.

An immensely long-barrelled weapon of Spanish manufacture, bearing the initials of the freebooter, 'R. M. C.'—Robert Macgregor Campbell (see Introduction to 'Rob Roy,' p. 87). 'A dialogue between Montrose's sword and Rob Roy's gun might be composed with good effect' (Scott to Joanna Baillie).

Rob Roy's sword.

'A fine old Highland broadsword with Andrea Ferrara blade and basket hilt.'

Rob Roy's dirk.

Of Andrea Ferrara make.

Rob Roy's sporran.

Presented by Joseph Train, 1817. A plain leather spleuchan likely to have been used by 'Rob' in his honest drover days.

Claverhouse's pistol.

A fine old Highland flint-lock. Not known how it came into Scott's possession.

Napoleon's pistols.

Taken from his carriage after Waterloo, and presented by the Duke of Wellington.

Andreas Hofer's rifle.

The patriot leader of the Tyrolese in 1809. Presented by Sir Humphry Davy, who obtained it from Hofer's lieutenant in reward for having cured him of a fever.

James VI.'s hunting-bottle.

In an old tooled and gilt leathern case. Presented by George Huntly Gordon.

Prince Charlie's hunting-knives.

Of French make, time of Louis XIV.

Canadian cow-horn.

With a map of Canada and its lakes most ingeniously and not incorrectly carved upon it by a native Indian.

Keys of Loch Leven Castle.

Three in number, on an old iron padlock.

The 'thumbikins' or thumbscrews.

An instrument of torture used in Covenant times. Presented by Gabriel Alexander.

Small iron box.

Found in the Chapel of Mary of Guise at Edinburgh Castle.

Model of Bruce's candlestick.

Mary Queen of Scots' crucifix.

Of mother-of-pearl.

Russian Prayer-Book.

Russian cross (brass).

Tamul Book.

Necklaces of human hair and bones.

From the Sandwich Islands.

Celtic mask.

Found at Torrs, Kelton parish, Galloway. Presented by Joseph Train, 1820.

White tail-duster.

Used by Scott for dusting his books.

Highland broadsword.

Presented to Scott by the Celtic Society; a gorgeous article, with a sheath of elaborately-chased silver (see Diary, January, 1826).

Scott's blunderbuss.

Round the muzzle are the words: 'When rogues appear, my voice you'll hear.'

Scott's pistols and sabre.

Used when Quarter—Master of the Edinburgh Light Dragoons.

Scott's sword.

'A Highland broadsword, with engraved basket hilt and Andrea Ferrara blade.'

Scott's own gun.

An old Spanish double-barrelled flint-lock.

Officer's sword.

Worn by the second Sir Walter when in the 15th Hussars.

Pair of gilt dress spurs.

Worn by the second Sir Walter when in the 15th Hussars.

The Armoury paintings consist chiefly of Scott's servants and friends:

John Swanston.

Gamekeeper. 'A fine fellow, who did all he could to replace Tom Purdie.' Painter uncertain; initialled 'G. D.'; date 1851.

Peter Mathieson, with 'Donald,' the pony.

Coachman. 'I cannot forget how his eyes sparkled when he first pointed out to me Peter Mathieson guiding the plough on the haugh. "Egad," said he, "auld Pepe" (this was the children's name for their good friend)—"auld Pepe's whistling at his darg. The honest fellow said a yoking in a deep field would do baith him and the blackies good. If things get round with me, easy shall be Pepe's cushion"' (Lockhart, vol. ix.). Painter uncertain; initialled 'G. D.'; date 1851.

Tom Purdie.

Described in 'Redgauntlet' (see Lockhart, vol. vi., p. 121). Painted by Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A.

James Ballantyne.

Painter unknown. 'James was a short, stout, well-made man, and would have been considered a handsome one but for those grotesque frowns, starts, and twistings of his features, set off by a certain mock majesty of walk and gesture, which he had perhaps contracted from his usual companions, the emperors and tyrants of the stage.'

Miniature of Claverhouse.

Painter unknown.

Charles Mackay, as 'Bailie Nicol Jarvie.'

'The man who played the Bailie made a piece of acting equal to whatever has been seen in the profession. For my own part, I was actually electrified by the truth, spirit, and humour which he threw into the part. It was the living Nicol Jarvie' (Scott to Terry, April, 1829).

Miniature of Prince Charlie.

James IV. (contemporary portrait, 1507).

Portrait of Allan Ramsay.

By Allan Ramsay, junior.

The Scotts of Raeburn.

By Sir John Watson Gordon.

Scott in his study.

By Sir William Allan.

Medallion of Scott.

Medallion of Christopher North.

By Andrew Currie.

Hinse of Hinsfeldt.

Scott's cat. See description of the Castle Street 'den.'

'Ginger.'

Scott's dog. Painted by Landseer.

Drawing of Queen Elizabeth dancing.

By Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe. 'This production of Mr. Sharpe's pencil, and the delight with which Scott used to expatiate on its merits, must be well remembered by everyone that ever visited the poet at Abbotsford.'

'The Dish of Spurs.'

By Sharpe. 'When the larders of our ancestors were bare, and fresh meat was desired, the housewife placed a pair of spurs on a dish to remind the men-folk that the moment was come for a raid on their neighbour's cattle.'

'The Reiver's Wedding.'

By Sharpe. See Lockhart, vol. ii., for unfinished ballad of 'The Reiver's Wedding'; also letter to Miss Seward, June 29, 1802, same vol.

'Gibbie wi' the Gowden Gairters.'

By Sharpe. Sir Gilbert Elliot paying his addresses to Auld Wat of Harden's daughter.

An (not The) Ettrick shepherd.

The Paschal Lamb.

From the High Altar at Dryburgh.

Dead partridge.

The above three wood-carvings are by Andrew Currie.

Statuette of Sir Walter.

From John Greenshields' seated figure, carved in freestone, now in the Advocates' Library—'Sic Sedebat.'

Entrance Hall.

In this order of going round the Entrance Hall comes last—a spacious apartment, 40 feet by 20 feet, panelled to the height of 7 feet with dark oak from Dunfermline Abbey. The roof is of stucco-work in imitation of the wainscotting, and comprehends a series of arches with dependent points, modelled from Melrose Abbey. The effect of this room is grand and impressive. A sort of rich and red twilight, even at noonday, from the emblazoned 'Bellenden'[35] windows, pervades the place, which is literally laden with relics and trophies. The cornice displays a double line of escutcheons, with the heraldic bearings of the Scotts, Kers, Elliots, Douglases, Homes, Pringles, Maxwells, Johnstones, Chisholms, and other Border families, and the inscription in black letter:

'These be the Coat Armouris of ye Clannis and men of name quha keepit the Scottish Marches in ye days of auld. They were worthie in thair tyme and in thair defens God thaim defendid.'

The arms of Scott's own ancestors occupy sixteen shields running along the centre of the roof, being the complete quarterings of a man of 'gentle blood.' On his father's side—running west—are the names of Scott, Haliburton, Campbell, M'Dougal, Murray, Scott (Dryhope), Ker, Riddel; and on his mother's side—running east—Rutherford, Swinton, Shaw, Ker, Ainslie. Three shields on this side are blanks,—Scott not being able to trace out his pedigree to the full length of his spaces,—and are painted over with blue clouds, and the motto, Alta—Nox—Premit ('Oblivion has covered them'). The floor is a mosaic of black and white Hebridean marble. Of a singularly rich assortment of curiosities in the shape of cuirasses and suits of armour, helmets, shields, swords, lances, and other arms of all sorts and ages, flags, cannonballs, and numberless other articles from apparently every country under the sun, all of them interesting in their antiquity or associations, the following are some of the more notable:

Suit of fluted armour.

Early sixteenth century.

Suit of polished steel tilting armour.

Middle of the sixteenth century. Believed to have come from Bosworth Field, and, as Scott suggests, to have belonged to Sir John Cheney, the biggest man of both armies on that memorable day. An enormous two-handed sword, nearly the length of a man, is held by this figure (see also the celebrated Calendar-sword, close by, and tilting-lance, about 12 feet long).

279

Relics from Waterloo.

Pistols, cuirasses, swords, sabres, etc. (see Lockhart, vol. v.).

Relics from Culloden.

Highland back-swords.

Relics from Roxburgh Castle.

Two cannonballs.

Archbishop Sharp's grate.

See letter to Terry, January 9, 1823. The fireplace is modelled from the Abbot's Stall at Melrose.

Head of elk.

Found in Abbotsrule Moss, twelve miles from Abbotsford.

Ralph Erskine's pulpit.

The two semicircular presses between the windows, forming a sort of wine-cellar, were made from the wood of this pulpit, with the precentor's desk and King's seat of Dunfermline Abbey Church.

Keys of the old Tolbooth of Edinburgh.

Presented by the magistrates of Edinburgh, 1816.

Lock and key of Selkirk Gaol.

A Jeddart axe.

Time of James V.

Hermitage touting-horn.

'How great he was when he was made master o' that! Sir Walter carried it home all the way from Liddesdale to Jedburgh, slung about his neck like Johnny Gilpin's bottle, and muckle and sair we routed on't, and hotched and blew wi' micht and main' (Shortreed's 'Memoranda').

Burgess hat of Stow.

Model of the Scottish branks.

For scolding wives.

Model of skull of Robert the Bruce.

On the mantelpiece.

Model of skull of Shaw, the Waterloo Lifeguards-man.

On the mantelpiece (see Lockhart, vol. v., p. 71).

Marie Antoinette's clock.

On the mantelpiece.

Bronze pot from Riddell, Roxburghshire.

'The mistletoe chest where Ginevra lay.'

Sent from Italy to Scott as the identical chest in which the beautiful young bride hid herself on her marriage-day, in a frolicsome wish to baffle the search of her newly-wedded lord, and out of which chest she never came, until the lapse of many years had converted her beautiful frame into a mouldering skeleton. A spring-lock had shut her in, and all search for her proved vain. Sir Walter was led to doubt the authenticity of the relic from the fact that Italy has a box with similar claims in several of her principal cities. Besides, the chest at Abbotsford has not the spring lock.

Sir Walter's clothes.

The last suit worn by him—drab trousers, striped waistcoat, dark-green coat with white metal buttons, and light fawn beaver hat. 'When I was at Abbotsford I saw in a glass case the last clothes Scott wore. Among them an old white hat, which seemed to be tumbled and bent and broken by the uneasy, purposeless wandering hither and thither of his heavy head. It so embodied Lockhart's pathetic description of him when he tried to write and laid down his pen and cried, that it associated itself in my mind with broken power and mental weakness from that hour' (Charles Dickens, 1851).

Bust of Wordsworth.

'So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness.'

Dining-room.

The Dining-room—'his own great parlour'—is not open to the public. It was the first room of any pretensions that Scott built at Abbotsford (it is 30 feet in length, including a considerable bow, 17 feet in breadth and 12 feet high), and much care was expended on its design and decoration. He adorned the walls with portraits of his ancestors, and, says Lockhart, 'he seemed never to weary of perusing them.' It was here, too, as has been already said, that the final tragedy was played out.

Walter Scott.

Sir Walter's great-grandfather, known as 'Beardie,' from a vow which he made never to shave his beard till the Stuarts were restored.

'With amber beard and flaxen hair,
And reverend apostolic air,
Small thought was his, in after time,
E'er to be hitch'd into a rhyme.
The simple sire could only boast
That he was loyal to his cost;
The banish'd race of kings revered,
And lost his land—but kept his beard.'

Painter unknown.

Robert Scott, of Sandyknowe.

Sir Walter's grandfather.

'The thatch'd mansion's grey-hair'd sire,
Wise without learning, plain and good,
And sprung of Scotland's gentle blood.'

Painter unknown.

Professor Rutherford.

Sir Walter's maternal grandfather, Professor of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, 'one to whom the school of medicine in our northern metropolis owes its rise, and a man distinguished for professional talent, for lively wit, and for literary acquirements.' Painter unknown.

287

Walter Scott, W.S.

Sir Walter's father, 'a most just, honourable, and conscientious man. He passed from the cradle to the grave without making an enemy or losing a friend.' Painter unknown.

Mrs. Scott.

Anne Rutherford, Sir Walter's mother, 'short of stature and by no means comely.' Painter unknown.

Thomas Scott.

Sir Walter's uncle. 'The most venerable figure I had ever set my eyes on—tall and erect, with long flowing tresses of the most silvery whiteness. He sat reading his Bible without spectacles, and did not, for a moment, perceive that anyone had entered his room; but, on recognizing his nephew, he rose with cordial alacrity, kissing him on both cheeks, and exclaiming: "God bless thee, Walter, my man! thou hast risen to be great, but thou wast always good."' Painter unknown.

Thomas Scott, W.S.

Sir Walter's third brother, 'a man of infinite humour and excellent parts.' Painter unknown.

AROUND ABBOTSFORD

CHAPTER X

AROUND ABBOTSFORD

Whilst this work deals mainly with Abbotsford, it will be fitting to refer briefly to one or two places within what may be called the Abbotsford radius. At least half a dozen scenes of interest can be visited with profit by the literary pilgrim. Abbotsford is his Mecca par excellence, and it is here that homage must rise to its full height. Abbotsford is but the centre, however, of a widely historic locality, in which it may be possible to discover shrine after shrine, each demanding some show of devotion. Of course, Scott is the chief attractive force to the Scottish Border. But long before his day Tweedside and the country around Abbotsford lay in the very lap of 'glamourie.' And it was, as we have seen, largely because of the romance which haunted the whole district that Abbotsford took shape, to become by-and-by perhaps the most romantic spot in Europe.

Melrose—the Kennaquhair of the 'Monastery'—is the most convenient headquarters for studying the homes and following the footprints of Sir Walter Scott. Scott may be said to have made Melrose. It was a mere village when Abbotsford was building. It really grew with the growth of Abbotsford, and in the wake of Scott's success. The name—maol-ros, 'the open or naked headland'—is a transfer from Old Melrose, two and a half miles further down the Tweed, where flourished the first monastic settlement, fragrant with the memories of Aidan, Boisil (whence St. Lessuden and St. Boswells), and most celebrated of them all, Cuthbert, that Leaderside shepherd lad, who rose to be head of the great See of Durham. It was David, 'the Sair Sanct,' who founded the second religious house of Melrose between the years 1136 and 1146. Dedicated to the Virgin, and tenanted by a colony of Cistercians from Rievalle, in Yorkshire, the pioneers of their Order in Scotland, Melrose quickly came to the front as the most famous establishment of its kind in the kingdom. For four centuries, like the rest of the Border Abbeys, Melrose held its place, and was a power in the land. During the Edwardian Wars it suffered frequently from fire and assault, and, indeed, about 1322, it was more or less a ruin. Mainly through the munificence of Robert the Bruce, it was rebuilt in 1326, 'in the most magnificent style of the period,' at a cost of £50,000 in modern money. By 1384 it was again sacked, this time by Richard II., and again restored. In 1544 Evers and Latoun, the English generals at Ancrum Moor, desecrated and demolished the Douglas tombs at Melrose, and in the following year, on the Hertford invasion, the work of destruction was complete. At the Reformation the Abbey was finally dismantled, and for long afterwards the ruin was used as a quarry by the towns-people. Not a little of the original Abbotsford found its way from Melrose Abbey. The statues, specially numerous and costly, were 'ground to powder' in 1649, and up to 1820 the nave was used as the parish church. Scott's genius and patriotism have done more for Melrose than anything else. To him, in large measure, as the Biography shows, the place owes its preservation as the finest ecclesiastical ruin in the country. None knew Melrose Abbey better, or bore a dearer regard to it, than Scott, and its architecture is nowhere more faithfully described than in the 'Lay.' To read the 'Lay' at Melrose is one of the delights of a lifetime. The best view is from the south-east corner of the churchyard. By the high altar Bruce's heart was interred. Here also lie the bodies of the brave Earl Douglas, hero of Otterburn, and of that other Douglas, the 'dark knight of Liddesdale,' a prominent figure in Border story. There, too, is the traditional grave of 'the wondrous Wizard,' Michael Scot, from whose cold dead hand Deloraine snatched the Book of Might. And many another—monarch and monk, priest and warrior, Border laird and lady—are at rest under these time-worn canopies. How interesting and touching to follow the inscriptions around the walls, and the numerous chaste carvings on 'pillar and arch and lintel high.' Two epitaphs outside call for attention, both connected with Scott. One, which he was fond of repeating—it is surely one of the most pregnant in epitaphian literature—runs:

'The earth goeth on the earth,
Glist'ring like gold;

The earth goes to the earth
Sooner than it wold;

The earth builds on the earth
Castles and towers;

The earth says to the earth,
"All shall be ours."'

The other, his own simple and sincere words, covering the grave of honest Tom Purdie:

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
OF
THE FAITHFUL
AND ATTACHED SERVICES
OF
TWENTY-TWO YEARS,
AND IN SORROW
FOR THE LOSS OF A HUMBLE
BUT SINCERE FRIEND,
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED
BY
SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART.,
OF ABBOTSFORD.

HERE LIES THE BODY
OF
THOMAS PURDIE,
WOOD-FORESTER
AT ABBOTSFORD,
WHO DIED 29 OCTOBER,
1829,
AGED SIXTY-TWO YEARS.

'Thou hast been faithful
Over a few things,
I will make thee ruler
Over many things.'

Matthew, chap. xxv. v. 21st.

Close under the Abbey windows reposes all that is mortal of the great Christian philosopher, Sir David Brewster. 'The Lord is my Light' is a not unfitting text for one who was the acknowledged master of optics in his day. Melrose Cross, in the centre of the town, with the date of its restoration (1642), is believed to be the oldest 'mercat-cross' in the Borders. From Melrose we may climb the clefted Eildons, always in vision, the supreme landmarks and sentinels of the Borderland. Here Scott loved to linger. 'I can stand on the Eildon Hill,' he said, 'and point out forty-three places famous in war and verse.' Or the romantic green-woods of the Fairy Dean may attract us, despite the 'White Lady' and her vagaries. And we may be led to explore Elwyndale and the fine open country to the head of the glen, with the three towers of the 'Monastery,' Hillslap or Glendearg—Dame Glendinning's home—Langshaw, and Colmslie.

As a rule, the visitor to Abbotsford has also Dryburgh as an objective, and ample provision has been made for his ease and comfort in getting thither. By far the most picturesque route is to follow that of Scott's funeral-day. Past Newstead first, quaintest of old-world hamlets, the supposed Roman Trimontium (from the Eildons, at whose base it nestles). Note its wealth of sun-dials. Thence, still keeping by the serpentine Tweed, to Leaderfoot, across its old Bridge—where was Scott's last passing of the Tweed—up by Gladswood and Bemersyde Hill, pausing for a moment or two at 'Sir Walter's gate,' on the crest of the whinny road—

'Where fair Tweed flows round holy Melrose,
And Eildon slopes to the plain.'

This was Scott's favourite view, and it has few equals. Did not Elihu Burritt affirm that 'it is the most magnificent view I ever saw in Scotland, excepting, perhaps, the one from Stirling Castle'? Still pursuing our way Dryburghwards, we catch a glimpse of Sandyknowe[36] to the east, the scene of Scott's child-years, and enshrined in some of the noblest verse of 'Marmion.' Then, dipping down through the thickest and tallest of wild-woods, and the most luxuriant of bracken and broom, we reach Dryburgh, which, if it cannot boast the architectural glories of Melrose, far surpasses it for queenly situation. Surrounded on three sides by the Tweed, itself unseen from the Abbey precincts, and amidst a 'brotherhood of venerable trees,' in picturesqueness and seclusion it is perhaps the most charming monastic ruin in Great Britain. And here, in the lap of legends old, in the heart of the land he has made enchanted, and among his ancestral dust (for Dryburgh belonged to his forebears, and might have come to himself but for the stupidity of a spendthrift relative), Walter Scott waits the breaking light of morn. There are the inscriptions which we must read, and as reverent and worshipful pilgrims, heads are bared for this sacred duty. In 1847 a massive granite sarcophagus was placed over Scott's grave, where thousands upon thousands from all the winds that blow have treasured its simple words:

SIR WALTER SCOTT, BARONET,
DIED SEPTEMBER 21, A.D. 1832.

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