THE TREASURES OF ABBOTSFORD
Towards the close of his life, at the suggestion of Cadell (to
keep him from more serious tasks), Scott commenced the writing
of a descriptive catalogue of the most curious articles in his
library and museum--his 'gabions' he called them. This, which
he entitled 'Reliquiæ Trottcosianæ--or the Gabions of the late
Jonathan Oldbuck, Esq.,'--thus assuming to himself some claim
to be the original of the inimitable Laird of Monkbarns--was,
unfortunately, never finished. The MS. is at Abbotsford, and has
been partly printed in _Harper's Magazine_ for April, 1889. As
the writing shows, it is first in Scott's own hand, sadly cramped
and shaky; then Laidlaw takes up the pen, but the work was soon
abandoned for 'Count Robert,' the romance that was simmering in his
brain. It is a thousand pities that Scott preferred 'Count Robert'
to the gabions history. His mind, impaired by repeated shocks of
paralysis, was quite unfitted for serious imaginative composition.
Even the 'Reliquiæ' fragment is not without proof of waning
power. Still, 'Count Robert' could well have been spared for the
completion of the latter project, and none but the Wizard himself,
with his rare wealth of anecdote and story, could have done it
justice.
Of the many haunts of genius in this and other countries,
Abbotsford is unique in that it was the first (and likely to be the
last) great estate won by the pen of an author. Created practically
within a dozen years--a marvellously brief period--it remains
(the Hope Scott extension excepted) very much as in Sir Walter's
lifetime. His own house has undergone no change beyond slight and
necessary rearrangement of the furnishings. The visitor of to-day
may rest assured that he sees the place almost identically as Scott
saw it. The apartments open to the public were planned by him to
the minutest particular. His eyes fell on these same pictures,
with very few exceptions. And of its antiquarian treasures--the
most remarkable private collection in existence--almost all have
personal association with Scott.
There are two methods of reaching Abbotsford--by rail to
Galashiels, thence to Abbotsford Ferry Station on the Selkirk
line, alighting at which and crossing the Tweed, a delightful
tree-shaded walk of about a mile brings us to the house. But the
more popular method is to make the journey from Melrose, three
miles distant. The way lies between delicious green fields and
bits of woodland--a pleasant country road, exposed somewhat,
despite smiling hedgerows on either side. Seldom in summer is it
without being dust-blown. For in a more than local sense, this is
one of the world's highways, with a constant stream of pilgrims
from every land passing to and fro. No better proof, surely, of
Scott's abiding popularity. The road teems with reminiscences
of the Romancist. Out from the grey town, with its orchards and
picturesque gardens, the Waverley Hydropathic is passed on the
right. In the grounds a handsome seated statue of Scott may be
noticed. Further on, to the left, tree-ensconced, lie Chiefswood
and Huntlyburn on the Abbotsford estate. Then comes Darnick, with
its fine peel, now open to the public, and well worth a visit.
At the fork of the roads (that to the right leading by Melrose
Bridge to Gattonside and Galashiels) we turn leftwards, and are
soon at the visitors' entrance (a modest wicket-gate) to the great
Scottish Mecca. But nothing is to be seen yet. Mr. Hope Scott's
plantations and 'ingenious tourist arrangement' screen the pile
with wonderful completeness. And it is only when within a few paces
of the building, at a turn in the lane leading from the highway,
that all at once one emerges upon it. The public waiting-room is in
the basement, whence parties of ten or twelve are conducted through
the house.
In point of picturesqueness, Abbotsford is, of course, best
seen from the Tweed--the north bank--or the hillside, whereon
the Galashiels manufacturers have reared their own princely
residences--unknown to Scott's day. But we are then looking,
let us remember, at the _back_ of the edifice. Nearly all the
photographs present this view, however, for the sake of the river.
The situation is low--poor, indeed, except for the Tweed. At first
not unfrequently is there a sense of disappointment, especially
if one's ideas have been founded on Turner's somewhat fanciful
sketches. These, it need scarcely be said, though beautiful, and
art at its highest, are yet far removed (like his Sandyknowe and
Chiefswood) from the real Abbotsford.
In his lifetime Scott's friends had no end of praise and flattery
for the place: 'A perfect picture of the wonderful owner's mind';
'a romance in stone and lime'; 'a poem in stone'; 'a mosaic of
Scottish history'; 'like places that we dream about'; 'exactly
what one ought to have had wit enough to dream,' etc. It is
surprising, therefore, to have the more modern descriptions of such
men as Dr. John Brown, who actually calls it the 'ugly Abbotsford';
Ruskin, albeit a true Scott-lover, who describes it as 'perhaps the
most incongruous pile that gentlemanly modernism ever designed';
Hugh Miller, who characterizes it as a 'supremely melancholy
place'; Dean Stanley, who (curiously) speaks of it as 'a place to
see once _but never again_'; George Gilfillan, who compares it to
a 'Castle Folly'; Robert Chambers, to whom it was chiefly a 'sad
piece of patchwork'; and Carlyle (never friendly to Scott), who
simply refers to it as 'a stone house in Selkirkshire.' [It is
not in Selkirkshire, however.] Granting it to be in many respects
bewildering, heterogeneous, irregular, fantastic, odd, a revelry
of false Gothic, reared on no set plan, and so forth, the general
effect does not seem to be at all displeasing. Ruskin and the
others saw Abbotsford perhaps only once at the most. But it is not
a place to be exhausted in an hour, or a day, and hundreds (among
modern trippers) in their hurry can hardly carry away a correct
impression. Abbotsford is a place to be seen often, and the oftener
it is seen and studied, the more fascinating will it become, and
the less prominent will its defects appear.
[Illustration: SIR WALTER'S DIAL, ABBOTSFORD]
'Thou gav'st him solemn thoughts at twilight dim,
And now to us dost bear remembrance sweet of him.'
Abbotsford proper is enclosed by an embattled wall and a fine
castellated gateway, surmounted by a sculptured portcullis with
Scott's motto, 'CLAUSUS TUTUS ERO,' an anagram of his name in
Latin. The 'jougs' (stocks for the neck) of Threave Castle dangle
to the left of the handsome iron-clenched door. Entering, we are
in the courtyard, half an acre or so in extent, nicely turfed
and parterred. It is walled on two sides, and on the third,
facing the entrance, an elegant stone screen of sixteen elliptic
arches, set with iron lattice-work, separates from the gardens.
The fourth side is the house-front, 150 feet in length. All the
grounds are kept in the pink of perfection. The antiquarian
character of the place is at once apparent. Medallions, tablets,
altars, etc., from the Roman station at Petreia (Penrith) and
elsewhere, fill numerous niches in the courtyard wall, against
which runs a trellised arbour covered with creepers. The centre
of the courtyard is occupied by a fountain, which is said to have
stood in former days at the foot of the Cross of Edinburgh (see
Lockhart, vol. v., p. 261). The dial-stone in the flower-garden,
inscribed (like Johnson's watch) with the motto 'ΓΑΡ ΝΥΞ
ΕΡΧΕΤΑΙ' ('For the night cometh'), is an object of suggestive
interest. 'Turn-Again' is in the corner, recalling Scott's first
introduction to Abbotsford. Across the archway leading into the
fruit-garden there is the appropriate text:
'_Et audiverunt Vocem Domini deambulantis in horto._'
Within, and guarded with jealous care, is the last survivor of the
fruit-trees planted by Sir Walter himself.
The exterior of Abbotsford abounds in relics and inscriptions,
woven here and there throughout the masonry. At the western side of
the main entrance, and high up in the wall, is the door of the old
'Heart of Midlothian' (see p. 37), with the words:
'THE LORD OF ARMIS IS MY PROTECTOR: BLISSIT AR THAY THAT TRUST
IN THE LORD, 1575.'
The arched entrance-porch was copied from Linlithgow Palace. The
arms of the family with the legends--
'REPARABIT CORNUA PHŒBE; WATCH WEEL'
are conspicuous above it. Near by are the grave and stone effigy
(cut by Smith of Darnick) of Maida, Scott's favourite deerhound,
with Lockhart's famous 'false-quantity' lines:
'Maidæ Marmoreâ dormis sub imagine Maida
ad januam domini sit tibi terra levis,'
thus Englished by Sir Walter:
'Beneath the sculptured form which late you wore,
Sleep soundly, Maida, at your master's door."
(See Lockhart, vol. vii., pp. 275-281.)
There is apparently only one date, 1822, on the south front, on
a stone below the staircase window. Eastward is the Study, with
Scott's bedroom above, and the tower from which he looked out on
the Eildons. A long stone near the visitors' entrance carries the
inscription:
'By Night by Day Remember ay the goodness of ye Lord:
And thank His name whos glorious fam is spred Throughout ye world';
whilst another, showing a rudely-carved sword, has the words:
'Up with ye Sutors of Selkyrke.'
Over the great bay-window of the Library, the first of the
principal rooms facing the Tweed, is a lintel from the Common Hall
of the old Edinburgh College, with a quotation from Seneca:
'Virtus Rectorem Ducemque Desiderat; Vitia--sine--Magistro
Discuntur.' Anno 1616.
Next the Library is the Drawing-Room, then the Armoury, and
Dining-Room, with the motto:
'SO
LI DEO
GLORIA.'
And, lastly, the Breakfast Parlour, once Scott's sanctum, in which
Lockhart died.
Now turn we to the interior. Be it at once said that Mrs. Maxwell
Scott's excellent little 'Catalogue of the Armour and Antiquities
at Abbotsford' is absolutely indispensable. A previous study of
its pages will enable the visitor to know exactly how he is to be
piloted, and the whereabouts of the 'gabions' he is most bent on
seeing. The attendants are always ready to point out objects of
special interest to individuals, and there need be no hesitancy to
ask questions. For the sake of convenience, we follow the order
which has been in force for years. All we plead for in the public
interest is a little more leisure, if that be possible, for seeing
what is to be seen.
Visitors are admitted first into what is surely the _sanctum
sanctorum_ of the place--
THE STUDY.
This is a fair-sized apartment, 20 feet long, 14 feet broad, and
16 feet high, lighted by a large window which looks out to the
courtyard. Everything is practically as Scott left it. Oaken
bookcases line the walls, and hardly a volume (it is chiefly a
reference library) has been altered. A light gallery, graced with
ample book-shelves, runs round three sides of the room, opening out
on a private staircase, by which the 'inhabitant of the study,' as
the 'Reliquiæ' puts it, 'if unwilling to be surprised by visitors,
may make his retreat, a facility which he has sometimes found
extremely convenient.' The Desk is, of course, the chief object of
interest. Modelled from one at Rokeby (see 'Letters,' vol. i., p.
180), it is thus described by Lockhart as he first saw it in the
'den' at Castle Street in 1818:
'The only table was a massive piece of furniture with a desk and
all its appurtenances on either side, that an amanuensis might work
opposite to him when he chose, and with small tiers of drawers
reaching all round to the floor. The top displayed a goodly array
of session papers, and on the desk below were, besides the MS.
at which he was working, sundry parcels of letters, proof-sheets,
and so forth, all neatly done up in red tape. His own writing
apparatus was a very handsome old box, richly covered, lined with
crimson velvet, and containing ink-bottles, taper-stand, etc., in
silver, the whole in such order that it might have come from the
silversmith's window half an hour before.' At the desk most of the
novels were written, we may suppose, though not all at Abbotsford,
as is not unfrequently imagined. It is, however, impossible
to collate with exactness the dates and occasions of their
composition. The fact remains, that in all probability each of the
Waverleys was penned at this desk. Hence its unreckonable value to
the literary pilgrim, and the unqualified reverence with which tens
of thousands have gazed upon it. Certainly no article of furniture
has been so intimately associated with Scott. Fourteen years from
the time that he first saw it, it fell to Lockhart himself to open
Scott's desk under the mournfullest circumstances. 'Perhaps the
most touching evidence of the lasting tenderness of Sir Walter's
early domestic feelings was exhibited to his executors when they
opened his repositories in search of his testament the evening
after his burial. On lifting up his desk we found, arranged in
careful order, a series of little objects which had obviously been
so placed there that his eye might rest on them every morning
before he began his tasks. These were the old-fashioned boxes
that had garnished his mother's toilette when he, a sickly child,
slept in her dressing-room--the silver taper-stand, which the
young advocate had bought for her with his first five-guinea fee;
a row of small packets, inscribed with her hand, and containing
the hair of those of her offspring who had died before her; his
father's snuff-box and etui case, and more things of the like sort,
recalling "the old familiar faces."'
Scott's desk is seldom seen open. The present writer counts it one
of the memories of his life to have had that pleasure, and to have
sat in Sir Walter's 'own huge elbow-chair,' and to have handled--an
act almost too sacred after all those years--relics so touching
and pathetic in their associations. The little locks of hair are
still there, with the quills used by Scott, and his spectacles,
pocket-knife, paper-knife, and a large number of account-books and
other private documents. Here, too, is Mrs. Lockhart's Bible 'From
J. G. L., 1825,' her Prayer-Book, and a host of articles with which
both Scott and Lockhart must have been long familiar.
[Illustration: SIR WALTER SCOTT'S DESK AND 'ELBOW CHAIR' IN THE
STUDY, 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).
[Illustration: THE ENTRANCE HALL, ABBOTSFORD]
'And stranger lips, unmoved and cold,
The legends of thy mansion told--
Thy lauded, glittering brand and spear,
And costly gift from prince and peer,
And broad claymore, with silver dight
And hunting-horn of Border knight,
What were such gauds to me?
More dear had been one single word
From those whose veins thy blood had stirred.'
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.
[Illustration: THE DINING-ROOM, ABBOTSFORD]
'Forth went a shadowy hand
And touched him on the brow;
Calmly he laid his wand
Aside, and shook the sand--
Death, is it thou?
Slow o'er his reverend head
The darkness crept,
While nations round his bed
Stood still, and wept!'
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