thus writes:—“He did more service to the county of Ayr in general, as
well as to individuals in it, than any man we have ever had.... The
tenderness of his heart was proved in 1745-6, when he had an important
command in the Highlands, and behaved with a generous humanity to the
unfortunate. I cannot figure a more honest politician; for though his
interest in our country was great and generally successful, he not only
did not deceive by fallacious promises, but was anxious that people
should not deceive themselves by too sanguine expectations. His kind
and dutiful attention to his mother was unremittent. At his house was
true hospitality, a plain but a plentiful table; and every guest being
left at perfect freedom, felt himself quite easy and happy. While I
live I shall honour the memory of this amiable man.” Boswell relates
that, having sent a message that he and Dr. Johnson purposed to dine
with him, the messenger reported that the earl “jumped for joy.” John,
fourth earl of Loudoun, was born in 1705, and died in 1782.
[176] John, fifth earl of Stair, born 1720, died 1789. Joining the
army, he attained the rank of captain. He composed several pamphlets on
political topics.
[177] General Philip Honywood was a cadet of the House of Honywood,
Evington, baronet; he died in 1785.
[178] John Clerk, a cadet of the house of Clerk, of Pennycuik, was
born in 1689, and having studied medicine, became the first physician
in Scotland. In 1740 he was elected President of the Royal College of
Physicians. He died in 1757.
[179] Sir John Clerk, second baronet of Pennycuik, was appointed a
Baron of Exchequer in 1707. He was a patron of Allan Ramsay, and an
ingenious antiquary. From his pen proceeded the song commencing, “O
merry may the maid be that marries the miller.” He died 4th October,
1755.
[180] The Campbells of Succoth are descended from a branch of the ducal
house of Argyll, their ancestors possessing Lochow, in Argyleshire
(Nisbet’s Heraldry). John Campbell of Succoth, mentioned in the text,
was progenitor of Archibald Campbell of Succoth, Principal Clerk of
Session, and of Sir Islay Campbell, Lord President of the Court of
Session.
[181] Anne, third wife of James fifth Duke of Hamilton, was daughter
and co-heiress of Edmund Spencer, Esq., of Rendlesham, in the county of
Suffolk.
[182] Sir William Gordon of Park, Bart., was grandson on the mother’s
side of the celebrated Archbishop Sharp. He joined Prince Charles
Edward in 1745, and was attainted, but the attainder was afterwards
reversed. He died at Douay, 5th June, 1751.
[183] Charles Cochrane, of Ochiltree, grandson of the first Earl of
Dundonald, succeeded his mother in the estate of Culross. He died in
1752.
[184] Charles Erskine, of Tinwald, third son of Sir Charles Erskine,
Bart., of Alva, was admitted advocate in 1711. He was elected M.P.
for the county of Dumfries in 1722, and nominated Solicitor-General
in 1725. Raised to the bench in 1744 by the judicial title of Lord
Tinwald, he was in 1748 promoted as Lord Justice Clerk. He died at
Edinburgh, on the 5th April, 1763. Lord Tinwald combined a dignified
deportment with much suavity of manner.
[185] Sir Walter Pringle, of Newhall, was called to the Bar in 1687.
After enjoying a high reputation as a pleader, he was raised to the
bench, as Lord Newhall, in June, 1718. He died 14th December, 1736,
and the judges in their robes attended his funeral. The Faculty of
Advocates commended him in their records, and the poet Hamilton, of
Bangor, composed his epitaph.
[186] Sir Alexander Ogilvy of Forglen, Bart., second son of George
Ogilvy, second Lord Banff, was Commissioner for the Burgh of Banff from
1702 to 1707. Admitted advocate, he was in 1706 appointed a Lord of
Session, when he assumed the title of Lord Forglen. He died 30th March,
1727.
[187] The first wife of William, fourth earl of Dumfries, was the Lady
Anne Gordon, only daughter of William, second Earl of Aberdeen. She
died in 1755.
[188] John Lord Hope succeeded his father in 1742 as second Earl of
Hopetown. A nobleman of considerable parts, he was appointed one of
the lords of police in Scotland, and in 1754 was nominated Lord High
Commissioner to the Church of Scotland. He died 12th February, 1781,
aged seventy-seven.
[189] Robert Cullen, advocate, was eldest son of William Cullen,
M.D., the celebrated physician. He was called to the Scottish bar in
1764, and was early noted for his forensic talents. Contrary to the
estimate formed of him by Boswell, he was held in general esteem for
his courteous manners, while his powers of mimicry were of a first
order. He was appointed a Lord of Session in 1796, by the title of Lord
Cullen. He died at Edinburgh on the 28th November, 1810.
[190] Boswell’s allusion to Frederick the Great is evidently founded
on a remark of Dr. Johnson’s. Conversing with Dr. Robertson, the
historian, in 1778, Johnson remarked, “The true strong and sound mind
is the mind that can embrace equally great things and small. Now I am
told the King of Prussia will say to a servant, ‘Bring me a bottle of
such a wine, which came in such a year; it lies in such a corner of
the cellar.’ I would have a man great in great things, and elegant in
little things.”
[191] The Rev. John Pettigrew, A.M., was minister of Govan,
Lanarkshire, from 1688 to 1712; he died in March, 1715, in his
seventy-eighth year. He was remarkably facetious; a number of his witty
sayings have been preserved. (Dr. Scott’s “_Fasti_,” vol. ii., p. 69.)
[192] The Rev. William Love, A.M., ministered at Cathcart,
Renfrewshire, from 1710 to 1738, when he died at the age of
fifty-seven. He made a monetary bequest to the poor of Paisley. (Dr.
Scott’s “_Fasti_,” vol. ii., p. 61.)
[193] A portrait of Cullen in “Kay’s Portraits” (vol. ii., p. 331) does
not warrant Boswell’s assertion as to his extreme ugliness. He was
plain-looking, as was his father before him, but his aspect was not
repulsive.
[194] Son of George Lockhart, of Carnwath, and Lady Euphemia
Montgomery, daughter of the Earl of Eglinton, Alexander Lockhart passed
advocate in 1722. He distinguished himself in defending the unfortunate
persons who were taken at Carlisle and subjected to trial for taking
part in the rebellion of 1745. Elected Dean of Faculty in 1764, he was
raised to the bench in 1775 by the title of Lord Covington. He died
10th November, 1782, aged eighty-two.
[195] John, third Earl of Bute, the favourite minister of George III.,
a munificent patron of literature, and himself an accomplished scholar
and man of science. Lord Bute died 10th March, 1792.
[196] In his “Scottish Tour” Boswell thus refers to the Lord Chief
Baron Orde:—“This respectable English judge will be long remembered
in Scotland, where he built an elegant house and lived in it
magnificently. His own ample fortune, with the addition of his salary
enabled him to be splendidly hospitable.... Lord Chief Baron Orde was
on good terms with us all, in a narrow country, filled with jarring
interests and keen parties.”
[197] A native of Ayrshire, Matthew Henderson long resided in
Edinburgh, where his society was much cherished. Allan Cunningham
relates on the authority of Sir Thomas Wallace, who knew him
personally, “that he dined regularly at Fortune’s Tavern, and was a
member of the Capillaire Club, which was composed of all who inclined
to be witty and joyous.” When Robert Burns visited Edinburgh in 1787,
Matthew Henderson was one of his chief associates; he subscribed for
four copies of the second edition of his poems, and by his pleasing and
beneficent manner gained a deep place in his affections. Henderson died
in the summer of 1790, and his memory was celebrated by the Ayrshire
bard in an elegiac poem, of which the following stanzas are familiar:—
“O Henderson! the man—the brother! And art thou gone, and gone for
ever? And hast thou crossed that unknown river, Life’s dreary bound?
Like thee where shall I find another The world around?
“Go to your sculptured tombs, ye great, In a’ the tinsel trash o’
state! But by thy honest turf I’ll wait, Thou man o’ worth! And weep
the ae best fellow’s fate E’er lay in earth.”
In transmitting the poem to Mr. McMurdo, Burns writes from Ellisland,
2nd August, 1790, “You knew Henderson? I have not flattered his
memory.” In a tract by the Lord Chief Commissioner Adam, entitled “Two
Short Essays on the Study of History—the gift of a grandfather,”
and printed at the Blair-Adam press in 1836, the author concludes
a list of eminent Scotsmen, his contemporaries, with the following
note:—“Besides these here enumerated, there were many others who made
a respectable figure in the society of Edinburgh during the period here
referred to (between 1750 and 1766), and there were some who stand more
prominently forward, whose rank, whose wit, and whose taste and talent
for conversation adorned the society when they joined it, such as
Thomas, Earl of Kelly; Thomas, Earl of Haddington; Nisbet, of Dirleton;
_Matthew Henderson, at a future period distinguished by Burns_; Sir
Robert Murray, of Hillhead; George Brown, of Elliestoun, and others.”
[198] The Hon. Alexander Gordon was third son of William, second Earl
of Aberdeen. Born in 1739, he was admitted advocate in his twenty-first
year. In 1764 he was appointed Steward Depute of Kirkcudbright, and in
1788 was raised to the bench as Lord Rockville. He died 13th March,
1792. He was much esteemed for his urbanity.
[199] John Armstrong, M.D., physician and poet, was son of the minister
of Castleton, Roxburghshire. Having studied medicine at the University
of Edinburgh, he became physician in 1732, and commenced practice in
the metropolis. His “Art of Preserving Health,” an ingenious poem,
appeared in 1744. He was appointed physician to a military hospital
in London, and afterwards to the army in Germany. He subsequently
resumed medical practice in the metropolis. He became notorious for
his indolence; spending his time lounging in a coffee-house, where he
received his letters. He died on the 7th September, 1779, about his
seventieth year.
[200] Son of the poet of the same name, Allan Ramsay the painter
was born at Edinburgh in 1713. Having studied his art in Italy, he
became portrait-painter first at Edinburgh and afterwards in London.
Introduced by the Earl of Bute to George III., he was appointed
principal painter to the king. He was an associate of Dr. Johnson, who
thus spoke of him:—“I love Ramsay. You will not find a man in whose
conversation there is more instruction, more information, and more
elegance than in Ramsay’s.” He died on the 10th August, 1784.
[201] Robert Dundas, of Arniston, was born 9th December, 1685, and
admitted advocate in July, 1709. He was appointed Solicitor-General in
1717, and soon afterwards Lord Advocate. In 1721 he was chosen Dean
of Faculty. In 1722 he was elected M.P. for the county of Edinburgh.
He was raised to the bench in 1737, and in 1748 succeeded Duncan
Forbes, of Culloden, as Lord President. An ingenious pleader and
powerful reasoner, he was also distinguished for his sound judgment and
inflexible integrity. He died on the 26th August, 1753.
[202] Sir John Dalrymple, first Earl of Stair, son of Lord President
Stair, was born about 1648, and passed advocate in 1672. With his
father he experienced much persecution under the rule of the House
of Stewart; he afterwards made his peace at court, and in 1687 was
appointed Lord Advocate. In 1688 he was raised to the bench as Lord
Justice Clerk. He became Lord Advocate, and one of the principal
Secretaries of State. His connection with the massacre of Glencoe
brought him into odium, and compelled him to seek temporary retirement.
In 1703 he was created Earl of Stair. He was a chief promoter of the
Treaty of Union. He died on the 8th January, 1707.
[203] Sir Gilbert Elliot originally practised as a writer in Edinburgh,
and was a vigorous supporter of the Presbyterian Church. From his
adhering to the Marquess of Argyll he was found guilty of treason,
and forfeited. Obtaining a remission of his sentence, he applied to
be taken on trials as advocate, but was, on his first examination,
rejected. He was admitted in November, 1688, and soon attained
important practice. In 1700 he was created a baronet, and in 1705 was
raised to the bench. He died 1st May, 1718.
[204] Sir William Anstruther, Bart., was M.P. for Fifeshire during the
administration of the Duke of York in 1681, and stoutly opposed the
measures of the Court. In 1689 he was appointed an ordinary Lord of
Session; he afterwards obtained other offices and honours. He died 24th
January, 1711.
[205] The Rev. John M’Claren was, in 1690, doctor in the Grammar
School, Glasgow. He was in 1692 ordained minister of Kippen, and was
translated to Carstairs in 1699. In 1711 he was preferred to the
Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh. He declined the oath of abjuration in 1712,
and was one of six who protested against the Seceders being loosed
from their parochial charges, November, 1733. As a preacher he was
most acceptable, delighting his hearers by his fertile and striking
illustrations. He died 11th July, 1734.
[206] An ancient Scottish ballad, entitled “The Bonnie Earl of Murray,”
is founded on the murder of James Stewart, Earl of Murray, son-in-law
and successor of the celebrated regent. He was slain at his own
residence at Donibristle, Fifeshire, on the 9th February, 1592, by the
hereditary enemy of his house, George, sixth Earl of Huntly. According
to the story, the Earl of Murray, who was young and extremely handsome,
attracted the admiration of Queen Anne of Denmark, who in the king’s
hearing described him as “a proper and gallant man.” This emphatic
commendation offended the king, who requested the Earl of Huntly to
bring him into his presence. Huntly forthwith set fire to Donibristle
Castle, and the earl in attempting to escape was slain. Lord Huntly
was thrown into prison, but being released at the king’s command was
created a marquess. According to Boswell, James, seventh Earl of Moray,
who died in 1767 was also styled “The Bonnie Earl.”
[207] Charles, eighth Lord Cathcart.
[208] Mr. Richmond of Bardarrock, an Ayrshire landowner in the vicinity
of Auchinleck, remarkable for his humorous sallies.
[209] Lord George Sackville, third son of the first Duke of Dorset,
entered the army in 1737, and served at Dettingen, Fontenoy, and
Culloden. In 1759 he was present at the battle of Minden, serving
as lieutenant-general under Prince Ferdinand. Accused of disobeying
orders, he was tried by court-martial, and being found guilty, was
dismissed from the army. George II. caused his name to be removed from
the roll of Privy Councillors. During the reign of George III. his good
fortune was restored. As Secretary of State for the colonies under Lord
North, he conducted the American War. In 1782 he was created Viscount
Sackville. He died in 1784, aged sixty-nine. Some have ascribed to him
the Letters of Junius.
[210] The Rev. William Auld, designated _Daddy_ Auld by the poet Burns,
was ordained minister of Mauchline, Ayrshire, in 1742, and died 12th
December, 1791, in his eighty-third year. He was a pious exemplary
clergyman.
[211] Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Kinloch, of Gilmerton, married
Andrew Fletcher, a judge in the Court of Session by the title of Lord
Milton.
[212] Sir Francis Grant, Bart., passed advocate in 1691, and was raised
to the bench as Lord Cullen in 1709. A zealous loyalist and profound
lawyer, he was, according to Wodrow, a man of exemplary piety. He died
on the 26th March, 1726. Sir Alexander Ogilvy, Lord Forglen, died 30th
March, 1727.
[213] A respectable tavern-keeper near Edinburgh.
[214] The heroine of this anecdote, whose name Boswell omits, was his
relative, Mary Erskine, daughter of Colonel Erskine of Carnock, and
aunt of the celebrated Dr. John Erskine of Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh.
[215] Brother of Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord President of the Court
of Session.
[216] Alexander Leslie, second son of David, third Earl of Leven, was
admitted advocate in 1719. He succeeded his nephew as fifth Earl of
Leven in 1729, and was appointed a judge in 1734. From 1741 to 1753 he
held office as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly. He died
in 1754.
[217] The second wife of Alexander Leslie, fifth Earl of Leven, was
Elizabeth, daughter of David Monypenny, of Pitmilly, Fifeshire.
[218] Bryce Blair, of Blair, died 4th February, 1639.
[219] The Rev. William Blair was son of John Blair, burgess of Irvine,
and great-grandson of Blair of that ilk; his youngest brother was the
celebrated Robert Blair, minister of St. Andrews. Born in 1586, he
became a regent in the University of Glasgow, and in 1620 was ordained
minister of Dumbarton. He died in December, 1632, bequeathing a house
for a residence to his successors.
[220] Mr. Blair’s wife was Barbara Robertson, probably of the family of
Orbiston.
[221] Bishop Warburton, author of “The Divine Legation of Moses,”
published in 1739 a series of letters in defence of Pope’s “Essay on
Man,” against Mons. de Crousaz, who had accused the poet of favouring
the doctrines of Spinoza. These letters led to a close intimacy between
the poet and his vindicator. Bishop Warburton died at Gloucester on the
7th June, 1779.
[222] Afterwards Sir Joseph Banks.
[223] Sir William Meredith, M.P., published a work entitled “Historical
Remarks on the Taxation of Free States.” Lond., 1788, 8vo.
[224] See _supra_, p. 17.
[225] Sir George Colebrooke was chairman of the East India Company’s
Court of Directors. He represented Arundel in three successive
parliaments. He married Mary, only daughter and heiress of Patrick
Gaynor, Esq., of Antigua. Sir George Colebrooke died 5th August, 1809.
[226] David Charles Solander, the eminent naturalist, was born in
Sweden in 1736. He was a companion of Sir Joseph Banks in Captain
Cook’s first voyage. In 1771 he received the degree of D.C.L. from the
University of Oxford, and in 1773 became assistant librarian in the
British Museum. He died in 1782.
[227] James Hamilton of Bangour, son of the poet, William Hamilton of
Bangour.
[228] Thomas Alexander Erskine, sixth Earl of Kellie, was celebrated as
a musician. Addicted to convivial pleasures, he made sacrifice of his
genius, and expended in social humour talents which might have brought
him eminence in the literary or political world. He died at Brussels,
on the 9th October, 1781, aged forty-nine.
[229] Patrick Murray, fifth Lord Elibank, was an elegant and
accomplished scholar. He studied law and passed advocate, but
subsequently joined the army. In 1740 he accompanied Lord Cathcart in
the expedition to Carthagena. Latterly he established his residence at
Edinburgh. Dr. Johnson much enjoyed his society; in a letter addressed
to his lordship he used these words:—“I have often declared that I
never met you without going away a wiser man.” Lord Elibank employed
much of his time in classical studies. He died 3rd August, 1778, aged
seventy-six.
[230] Andrew Crosbie of Holm, an eminent advocate, the original of
“Councillor Pleydell” in “Guy Mannering.” He met Dr. Johnson at
Boswell’s residence in Edinburgh, and engaged with him in keen debate.
In his “Journey” Boswell has described him as “his truly learned and
philosophical friend.” Crosbie attained opulence in his profession, but
having made an unfortunate investment fell into poverty. He died in
1785.
[231] See _supra_, p. 74.
[232] Orangefield, an estate in the parish of Monkton, Ayrshire, now
belonging to A. Murdoch, Esq.
[233] Mr. Bennet Langton, of Langton, in Lincolnshire, was an attached
friend of Dr. Johnson. Many sayings of Dr. Johnson, which he preserved,
Boswell has included in his great work. Mr. Langton at first sought
employment as an engineer; he was an eminent Greek scholar. Possessed
of an agreeable demeanour, he excelled in conversation. He died on the
10th December, 1801, aged sixty-four.
[234] ‘History of the Life of James, Duke of Ormonde,’ by Thomas Carte.
3 vols., fol. 1735-6.
[235] Thomas, Marquess of Wharton, a vigorous supporter of William of
Orange, was on account of his peculiar manners familiarly known as Tom
Wharton. He remained in favour with William III., and held high offices
of state under Queen Anne and George I. He composed the celebrated
“Lillibullero,” and used to boast that he had sung a King out of three
kingdoms. He died 12th April, 1713.
[236] Son of Archibald Campbell, of Succoth, and Helen Wallace, of
Ellerslie, Ilay Campbell was admitted advocate in 1757. Obtaining
distinction as a lawyer, he was appointed Lord Advocate in 1784, and
was in 1799 promoted as Lord President of the Court of Session. This
office he resigned in 1808, when he was created a baronet. He died
on the 28th March, 1823, in his eighty-ninth year. The Most Reverend
Archibald Campbell Tait, D.C.L., Archbishop of Canterbury, is his
grandson.
[237] See _supra_, p. 255.
[238] Alexander Murray was admitted to the Scottish bar in 1758, and
three years afterwards succeeded his father as sheriff of Peeblesshire.
In 1775 he was appointed Solicitor-General, and was in 1780 chosen M.P.
for Peeblesshire. He was promoted to the bench in 1783, with the title
of Lord Henderland. He died 16th March, 1795.
[239] Charles Hay passed advocate in 1768, and with the title of
Lord Newton was raised to the bench in 1806. By Lord Cockburn in his
“Memorials” he is thus described:—“A man famous for law, paunch,
whist, claret, and worth. His judicial title was Newton, but in private
life he was chiefly known as ‘the Mighty.’ He was a bulky man with
short legs, twitching eyes, and a large purple visage; no speaker, but
an excellent writer and adviser; deep and accurate in his law, in which
he had extensive employment. Honest, warm-hearted and considerate, he
was always true to his principles and his friends. But these and other
good qualities were all apt to be lost sight of in people’s admiration
of his drinking. His daily and flowing cups raised him far above the
evil days of sobriety on which he had fallen, and made him worthy of
honours quaffed with the Scandinavian heroes. His delight was to sit
smiling, quiet, and listening; saying little, but that little always
sensible, for he used to hold that conversation—at least, when it was
of the sort that merits admiration—spoiled good company.” Lord Newton
died on the 19th October, 1811.
[240] John Maclaurin, son of the celebrated Professor Colin Maclaurin,
was admitted advocate in 1756. He enjoyed a high reputation as a
lawyer, and was extensively consulted by his professional brethren.
In 1788 he was raised to the bench, with the judicial title of Lord
Dreghorn. He died on the 24th December, 1796, in his sixty-second year.
His works, chiefly on judicial subjects, were published in 1798 in two
octavo volumes.
[241] David Erskine, son of the proprietor of Dun, was called to the
Bar in 1698. As parliamentary representative of the county of Forfar he
strongly opposed the Union. In 1710 he was appointed a Lord of Session,
when he took the title of Lord Dun. He died on the 26th May, 1758, in
his eighty-fifth year. Lord Dun was respected for his piety.
[242] Lord President Dundas.
[243] The Right Hon. Charles Townshend, styled by Lord Macaulay “the
most brilliant and versatile of mankind,” was second son of the third
Viscount Townshend. Entering the House of Commons in his twenty-second
year, he became in Chatham’s last administration Chancellor of the
Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. He died suddenly 4th
September, 1767, in his forty-fifth year. A considerable humorist, he
marred his reputation by a tendency to sarcasm.
[244] Henry Home, Lord Kames, author of “The Elements of Criticism” and
other works, was son of George Home of Kames, Berwickshire. He passed
advocate in 1723, and was elevated to the bench in 1752. He died 27th
December, 1782, aged eighty-seven.