_Sir Walter Scott, and his Quotations from himself_ (Vol. ix, p. 72.).--I
beg to submit to you the following characteristic similarity of expression,
occurring in one of the poems and one of the novels of Sir Walter Scott. I
am not aware whether attention has been drawn to it in the letters of Mr.
Adolphus and Mr. Heber, as I have not the work at hand to consult:
"His grasp, as hard as glove of mail,
Forced the red blood-drop from the nail."
_Rokeby_, Canto I. Stan. 15.
"He wrung the Earl's hand with such frantic earnestness, that his grasp
forced the blood to start under the nail."--_Legend of Montrose._