Scott's Commentary on The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel
Johnson
by
Ann Bowden and William B. Todd
To celebrate the completion of David Fleeman's
bibliography of Samuel Johnson, this essay offers,
as an epilogue to that grand enterprise, a complete
reprint of Sir Walter Scott's annotations on
Boswell's Tour with Johnson
in 1773. As it was once observed for Johnson, so it
now appears for Scott: early notes since disregarded
are occasionally more informative than later
discourse.[1] Whether some or all of
those now under review are also remarkable instances
of Scott's "table-talk," as Lockhart suggested,[2] is a question our readers may decide
on the evidence of this reprinting. Any assessment,
however, should take into account the occasion for
Scott's contributions, their reception by his
immediate contemporaries, and finally their sporadic
recurrence in certain subsequent editions.
The initial impetus was provided by John Wilson Croker
who, after negotiating conditions with the publisher
John Murray, asked his old friend Scott, as a final
authority, for assistance particularly in
elucidating the Scottish Tour. This work, along with other chronicles,
he intended to incorporate in the Life itself: a radical innovation which was
allowed to remain through three successive
editions.[3] To Croker's enquiry
Scott immediately assented 30 January 1829 in a
highly evocative letter, itself providing the
material for several notes and followed by numerous
other communications, most of which, in one form or
another, also found their way below the text.[4] Altogether, as The
Athenaeum reported 21 August 1830, Croker
eventually "obtained half
a volume
of curious original matter from Sir Walter Scott and
others of the Northern literati, respecting the
visit which the Sage paid to Scotland. . . ." More
precisely, Scott contributed for the
Tour alone seventy-seven notes,
all of which, though considerably less numerically
than those early supplied by Boswell (116), or later
by Croker (268), were generally regarded as of
greater interest, both for their novelty and for the
sense of immediacy they conveyed. Not contributed by
Scott but relating to his own work are two other
notes, first where Croker refers to "Old Mortality"
(ii.300), secondly where he expresses the wish that
Scott might write a history of the Pretender
(iii.88).
So annotated, Croker's augmented Life
of Samuel Johnson appeared 22 June 1831[5] and three days later was reviewed,
unexceptionally, in The
Athenaeum. In the two following weekly
issues, however, this journal implicitly recognized
the importance of the edition by offering its
readers certain "flowers and pearls" newly
discovered among the notes for the Tour, citing in full one comment by Cradock,
fourteen by Croker, and twenty-four by Scott.[6] Thus at first Scott's commentary was
widely publicized as the principal feature of the
1831 edition.
Compared to this equable, tripartite account the next
survey, by T. B. Macaulay in the September Edinburgh Review, can only be
regarded as a sustained assault, politically
motivated, by a Whiggish commentator on a Tory
editor. So intense and unremitting is this attack
that Scott, as an innocent bystander, though praised
by Macaulay on other occasions, is here totally
ignored. Any allusion, however brief, would only
distract the reviewer from his avowed purpose, that
of "smashing" Croker. After this diatribe, the
anonymous writer in the October Westminster Review may certainly be viewed
as rather temperate, first observing that "Of the
original part of the annotations the most amusing is
sir[!] Walter Scott's commentary on the Scotch Tour"
(page 392) and then quoting two of the notes (74,
76) already commended in The
Athenaeum.
The last substantive and most favorable account is to be
found, not surprisingly, in the November Quarterly Review, a Tory
journal edited by Scott's son-in-law, J. G.
Lockhart, the reviewer, and a journal which in years
past had often accommodated contributions from both
Croker and Scott. Of Scott's Boswellian annotations
Lockhart is persuaded that, in future editions, they
"will never be divorced from the text which they so
admirably illustrate, and indeed, invest with a new
interest throughout" (page 39). As memorable
examples he then cites eight, three of them (34, 65,
78) not quoted
in the previous
reviews, four selected earlier in
The Athenaeum (12, 44, 58, 71), and one
reprinted both there and in the
Westminster Review (74). Concerning that
common choice, however, relating a heated argument
between Johnson and Adam Smith over David Hume,
Lockhart demurs: "We must take leave to express our
strongest suspicion of this story" (page 44).
Doubtless the occasion for this remark, not divulged
by the reviewer, arises from an anachronism hidden
in this splendid anecdote.
[7]
In general, later editors of Boswell's Tour were concerned, not to extract some of
Scott's annotations as so many "pearls," nor to
treasure them all (as Lockhart would recommend) as
essential adjuncts, but to retain or modify them
according to whatever textual apparatus they then
considered appropriate. With reference to the
seventy-seven Tour notes only
(5-81) it soon appears, from our own schematic
apparatus defining these entries, that the two
subsequent "Crokerian" editions faithfully transmit
Scott's contributions. Discounting the innumerable
minor adjustments or corrections here recorded, John
Wright's ten-volume 1835 edition (W) reprints all of
the notes in the 1831 issue (S) excepting only item
10, where a humorous qualification is silently
suppressed, and item 40, where Scott's conjectural
identification is superseded by one which Wright
received from Croker. These same two amendments are
accepted in Croker's own compressed single-volume
1848 edition (C), which now also provides two other
notes by "Walter Scott" (22, 73), these sixteen
years after the author's death!
Subsequent editions again present the Tour in its original form as a text separate
from the Life and thus, with
few exceptions, tend to disregard the Scott material
embedded in the earlier Crokerian arrangement. The
first of these, Robert Carruthers' [1852] edition
(RC), also reflects the further passage of time,
with notes now emphasizing what is different rather
than what remains the same. Consequently, among the
seventy-seven occasions eliciting some comment from
Scott, Carruthers indirectly reprints only two notes
(24, 76), substitutes his own remarks for twenty-two
others, and omits any reference whatever for the
fifty-three remaining. Nonetheless, at the very time
Carruthers is excluding Scott from the commentary,
he is embellishing his own notes with at least
sixteen allusions to that author's other work,[8] none of which was ever intended as a
documentary for the Tour.
In sharp contrast to Carruther's studied avoidance of any
relevant Scott notes, the Alexander Napier 1884
edition (AN), issued apart in a fifth volume so
numbered,[9] reprints from the 1848
Croker version (C) practically all of the
commentary there entered, including
the two posthumous "Scott" notes (22, 73). The only
significant variations are (for note 18) the
adoption of Lockhart's postscript in preference to
earlier comment by Croker and Scott and (for note
74) the removal of this long Johnson-Smith anecdote
to an appendix for an extensive 53-line rebuttal.
Both for his four-volume
Life of
Johnson and the separate
Tour to the Hebrides, the Reverend Mr.
Napier took his notes from the final Croker edition
because that convenient one-volume issue —a
19th century best seller
[10]—was
very probably in his manse library at Holkham.
The last account to be considered is the encyclopedic
edition first issued by Birkbeck Hill in 1887 and
revised by L. F. Powell first in 1950, then in 1964
(H-P). Again as with the Napier issue the Tour appears apart in the fifth
volume, and there carries Dr. Powell's assurance
(page vii) that Hill had made "judicious and
extensive use" of Scott's notes, as well as other
references. Though this scholarly judgment should
remain unchallenged, we may yet regret that among
Scott's seventy-seven entries only twenty-seven are
now accepted without abridgment or
qualification.[11] Coincidentally the
earliest reviews altogether also quote only
twenty-seven notes as especially interesting, but
these two selections early (1831) and late
(1887-1964) report in common only fourteen
commentaries as enduring the test of time (8, 24,
33, 34, 36, 37, 55, 62, 65, 70, 71, 74, 76, 78).
Such a limited consensus, it will be agreed, falls
quite short of Lockhart's original estimate that all
of Scott was indispensable and ever inseparable from
the Tour it elucidates.
Given this present review, our readers may now assess the
significance of Scott's annotations, here all
unencumbered (beyond a minimal reference) by any
Boswellian text or other commentary. In the
following reprint each entry is assigned a number,
followed by a brief textual quotation together with
its footnote indicator as given in the 1831 edition.
Then after a vertical bar is represented the note to
the text, this unenclosed if by Scott, enclosed in
brackets if first by some other commentator.
<Other necessary comment by the present writers
is given in angular brackets.> Below each entry
is a starred footnote collation giving volume and
page references first to the three Croker editions,
each signified by a single letter:
S Scott notation in 1831
W Wright, 1835
C Croker, 1848
then to the three later editions also
discussed, each denoted by a double letter:
RC Robert Carruthers [1852]
AN Alexander Napier, 1884
H-P Hill-Powell, 1887-1964.
Unless noted otherwise an edition follows the
one listed before: thus AN, ordinarily dependent
upon C, usually precedes RC in the listing. Edition
RC itself, representing only the
Tour, is not cited for the
Life entries before or after that work (1-4,
82-84). In our own explanation
indirect means a partial quotation and
variant a note entirely
different from Scott's.
Annotations before the
Tour (1-4)
- 1] Mr. Dempster2 |
[George Dempster, of Dunnichen, secretary to the
Order of the Thistle. He was a man of talents and
very agreeable manners. Burns mentions him more
than once with eulogy: As Mr. Dempster lived a
good deal in Johnson's society, the reader may be
glad to see the following slip-shod but
characteristic epitaph (communicated to me by Sir
Walter Scott), which he made on himself when
eighty-five, though (affecting, even at that age,
to look forward to a still greater longevity) he
supposes himself to have lived to 93. "Pray for
the soul / Of deceased George Dempster. / In his
youth a great fool, / In his old age a gamester*.
<Croker> *Gamester,
Scotticè, may rhyme with Dempster. He,
however, only played for trifles; indeed the whole
is a mere badinage. W.
Scott. * Si.417, Wii.184; C139 (omits all after
"eulogy", thus excluding the Scott reference and
postscript), AN i.324, variant H-P i.408-409.
- 2] "Very well, sir. Lord Monboddo2 still maintains the
superiority of the savage life." | [James Burnet,
born in 1714, called to the Scottish bar in 1738,
and advanced to be a lord of session, by the title
of Lord Monboddo, in 1767, was, in private life,
as well as in his literary career, a humorist; the
learning and acuteness of his various works are
obscured by his love of singularity and paradox.
He died in 1799.—ed.] He was a devout
believer in the virtues of the heroic ages and the
deterioration of civilized mankind; a great
contemner of luxuries, insomuch that he never used
a wheel-carriage. It should be added that he was a
gentleman of the most amiable disposition, and the
strictest honour and integrity. Walter Scott. * S
ii.138, W iii.172, C 227, AN ii.145, H-P ii.147,
74(Scott second sentence only, edition not stated,
but false reference to "i.138" [1831]).
- 3] He said, he never had it properly
ascertained that the Scotch Highlanders and the
Irish understood each other1. | [In Mr. Anderson's Historical Sketches
. . . <22 lines>. Sir Walter Scott also
informs me, that "there is no doubt the languages
are the same, and the difference in pronunciation
and construction not very considerable. The Erse or Earish is the Irish;
and the race called Scots
came originally from Ulster."—ed.] * S ii.
149; W iii.184 (omits Croker's note and begins
"There is . . ."), C 231 (reinserts Croker note),
AN ii.153-154; variant H-P
ii.156.
- 4] I was desirous to see as much of Dr.
Johnson as I could. But I first called on
Goldsmith to take leave of him. The jealousy and
envy, which, though possessed of many most amiable
qualities, he frankly avowed, broke out violently
at this interview1. | I
wonder why Boswell so often displays a malevolent
feeling towards Goldsmith? Rivalry for Johnson's
good graces, perhaps. Walter Scott.
* S ii.244, W iii.304, C 264 (adds
5-line postscript signed "Croker, 1846"), AN
ii.242 (Scott note only); omitted H-P ii.260.
Annotations for the
Tour (5-81)
- 5] On Saturday the 14th of August, 1773, late
in the evening, I received a note from him, that
he was arrived at Boyd's inn1, at the head of the Canon-gate. | The sign
of the White Horse. It continued a place from
which coaches used to start
till the end of the eighteenth century; some
twelve or fifteen years ago it was a carrier's
inn, and has since been held unworthy even of that
occupation, and the sign is taken down. It was a
base hovel. Walter Scott. * S ii.259, W iv.12
(adds 4-line note from Chambers), C 270, AN v.9;
variant RC 9-10, variant H-P v.21.
- 6] I presented to him Mr. Robert Arbuthnot3 | Robert Arbuthnot, Esq. was
secretary to the board of trustees for the
encouragement of the arts and manufactures of
Scotland; in this office he was succeeded by his
son William, lord provost of Edinburgh when King
George the Fourth visited Scotland, who was made a
baronet on that occasion, and has lately died much
lamented. Both father and son were accomplished
gentlemen, and elegant scholars. Walter Scott. * S
ii.265, W iv.19, C 272, AN v.16; omitted RC 13, variant H-P v.29 (notes Arbuthnot's position
but not the office; Scott not mentioned).
- 7] he presented Foote to a club in the
following singular manner: "This is the nephew of
the gentleman who was lately hung in chains for
murdering his brother1." |
[Mr. Foote's mother was the sister or Sir J.
Dinely Gooddere, bart., and of Capt. Gooddere, who
commanded H.M.S. Ruby, on board which, when lying
in King's-road, Bristol, in January, 1741, the
latter caused his brother to be forcibly carried,
and there barbarously murdered. Capt Gooddere was,
with two accomplices, executed for this offence in
the April following. The circumstances of the
case, and some other facts connected with this
family, led to an opinion that Capt. Gooddere was
insane; and some unhappy circumstances in Foote's
life render it probable that he had not wholly escaped this hereditary
irregularity of mind.—Ed.] Foote's first
publication was a pamphlet in defence of his
uncle's memory. Walter Scott. * S ii.273, W iv.27,
C 274-275 (first, Croker note revised), AN v.23;
variant RC 19, variant H-P v.37.
- 8] We went to the parliament-house2 | It was on this visit to the
parliament-house that Mr. Henry Erskine (brother
of Lord Buchan and Lord Erskine), after being
presented to Dr. Johnson by Mr. Boswell, and
having made his bow, slipped a shilling into
Boswell's hand, whispering that it was for the
sight of his bear. Walter
Scott. * S ii.274, W iv.31 (adds "This was the
subject of a caricature"), C 275 (reads ". . .
cotemporary caricature"), AN v.24-25, H-P v.39
(Scott text only, "1831"); omitted RC 21.
- 9] Mr. Maclaurin's1
learning and talents | Mr. Maclaurin, advocate,
son of the great mathematician, and afterwards a
judge of session by the title of Lord Dreghorn. He
wrote some indifferent English poems; but was a
good Latin scholar, and a man of wit and
accomplishment. His quotations from the classics
were particularly apposite. In the famous case of
Knight, which determined
the right of a slave to freedom if he landed in
Scotland, Maclaurin pleaded the cause of the
negro. The counsel opposite was the celebrated
Wight, an excellent lawyer, but of a very homely
appearance, with heavy features, a blind eye,
which projected from the socket, a swag belly, and
a limp. To him Maclaurin applied the lines of
Virgil, "Quamvis ille nigher, quamvis tu candidus
esses. / O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori."
Mr. Maclaurin wrote an essay against the Homerick
tale of "Troy divine," I believe, for the sole
purpose of introducing a happy motto, "Non anni
domuere decem, non mille carinae." Walter Scott. *
S ii.285, W iv.43, C 279, AN v.33-34; omitted RC 31, variant H-P v.49,
471-472.
- 10] At supper we had Dr. Alexander Webster1 | Dr. Alexander Webster was
remarkable for the talent with which he at once
supported his place in convivial society, and a
high character as a leader of the strict and rigid
presbyterian party in the church of Scotland,
which certainly seemed to require very different
qualifications. He was ever gay amid the gayest;
when it once occurred to some one present to ask,
what one of his Elders would think, should he see
his pastor in such a merry mood.—"Think!"
replied the doctor, "why he would not believe his
own eyes." Walter Scott. * S ii.286, W iv.44
(deletes "Alexander" and "which certainly . . .
qualifications"), C 279, AN v.35; variant RC 32, variant H-P v.50, 472.
- 11] we were attended only by my man, Joseph
Ritter2 | See ante, vol. i. p. 49. Joseph
Ritter afterwards undertook the management of the
large inn at Paisley, called the Abercorn Arms,
but did not succeed in that concern. Walter Scott.
* S ii.288, W iv.47, C 280, AN v.37, indirect H-P
v. 53, 475 ("1831"); omitted RC 33.
- 12] Mr. Nairne1,
advocate | Mr. William Nairne, afterwards Sir
William, and a judge of the court of session, by
the title, made classical by Shakspeare, of Lord
Dunsinnan. He was a man of scrupulous integrity.
When sheriff depute of Perthshire, he found, upon
reflection, that he had decided a poor man's case
erroneously; and as the only remedy, supplied the
litigant privately with money to carry the suit to
the supreme court, where his judgment was
reversed. Sir William was of the old school of
manners, somewhat formal, but punctilliously well
bred. Walter Scott. * S ii.289, W iv.48, C 280, AN
v.37, H-P v.53-54 (omits "made classical by
Shakspeare", "1831"); variant RC 34.
- 13] There are three wells in the island, but
we could not find one in the fort. There must
probably have been one, though now filled up, as a
garrison could not subsist without it1. | The remains of the fort
have been removed, to assist in constructing a
very useful lighthouse upon the island. Walter
Scott. * S ii.291, W iv.51, C 281, AN v.39, H-P
v.55 ("1831"); omitted RC
35.
- 14] It is not improbable that it was the poem
which Prior has so elegantly translated2. | More likely the fine
epitaph on John Viscount of Dundee, translated by
Dryden, and beginning Ultime
Scotarem, &c. Walter Scott. * S ii.293, W
iv.54, C 282, AN v.41, indirect H-P v.58; variant RC 37.
- 15] Since the publication of Dr. Johnson's
book, I find that he has been censured for not
seeing here the ancient chapel of St. Rule1 | It is very singular how they
could miss seeing St. Rule's chapel, an
ecclesiastical building, the most ancient,
perhaps, in Great Britain. It is a square tower,
which stands close by the ruins of the old
cathedral. Martin's Antiquitates
Divi Andrei are now published. Walter Scott.
* S ii.296, W iv.57 (adds 3-line note); C 283
(deletes the additional note), AN v.44; variant RC 39, variant H-P v.61.
- 16] One of the steeples, which he was told was
in danger, he wished not to be taken down; "for,"
said he, "it may fall on some of the posterity of
John Knox; and no great matter2!" | These towers have been repaired by the
government, with a proper attention to the
antiquities of the country. Walter Scott. * S
ii.298, W iv.60, C 283, AN v.46; variant RC 41, omitted H-P v.63.
- 17] We went and saw the church, in which is
Archbishop Sharp's monument2. | The monument is of Italian marble. The
brother of the archbishop left a sum for
preserving it, which, in one unhappy year, was
expended in painting it in resemblance of reality.
The daubing is now removed. Walter Scott. * S
ii.300, W iv.62, C 285, AN v.47; variant RC 43, variant H-P v.65.
- 18] I have also written six sheets in a day of
translation from the French1." | [This must have been the translation
of Lobo . . . <4 lines>. But, as Sir W.
Scott observes,
"a pool is
usually succeeded in a river by a current, and he
may have written fast to make up lee
way."—Ed.] * S ii.302, W iv.65 (adds
five-line note initialled "J.G.L."), C 285, AN
v.49 (reprints Lockhart postscript only); omitted RC 45, variant H-P v.67.
- 19] Miss Sharp, great grandchild of Archbishop
Sharp1 | It is very singular
that Dr. Johnson, with all his episcopal
partiality, should have visited Archbishop Sharp's
monument, and been in company with his descendant,
without making any observation on his character
and melancholy death, or on the general subject of
Scottish episcopacy. Walter Scott. * S ii.303, W
iv.65, C 285, AN v.49; omitted RC 45, omitted H-P v.68.
- 20] Unluckily the colonel said there was but
this and another large tree in the county2. | Johnson has been unjustly
abused for dwelling on the barrenness of Fife.
There are good trees in many parts of that county,
but the east coast along which lay Johnson's route
is certainly destitute of wood, excepting young
plantations. The other tree
mentioned by Colonel Nairne is probably the Prior
Letham plane, measuring in circumference at the
surface nearly twenty feet, and at the setting on
of the branches nineteen feet. This giant of the
forest stands in a cold exposed situation, apart
from every other tree. Walter Scott. * S ii.304, W
iv.67, C 285-286, AN v.51; omitted RC 46, variant H-P v.69.
- 21] We were not satisfied as to this colony1. | The Danish colony at
Leuchars is a vain imagination concerning a
certain fleet of Danes wrecked on Sheughy Dikes.
Walter Scott. * S ii.305, W iv.69 (adds 3-line
note initialled "J.G.L."), C 286 (omits "Danish"
and signs additional note "Lockhart"), AN v.52,
H-P v.70-71 (reprints W text, signing it "LOCKHART
(in Croker 1835)"); omitted
RC 47.
- 22] harvest sport, nay stealings2." | [My note of this is much
too short. Brevis esse laboro,
obscurus fio. Yet as I have resolved, that
the very Journal which Dr.
Johnson read shall be presented to the
public, I will not expand the text in any
considerable degree, though I may occasionally
supply a word to complete the sense, as I fill up
the blanks of abbreviation in the writing, neither
of which can be said to change the genuine
Journal. One of the best critics of our age
conjectures that the imperfect passage above has
probably been as follows:— "In his book we
have an accurate display of a nation in war, and a
nation in peace; the peasant is delineated as
truly as the general; nay, even harvest sport and
the modes of ancient theft, are described."—
Boswell]. * S ii.312-313, W iv.77-78, C 289 (adds
"The critic was probably
Dr. Hugh Blair —Walter Scott"), AN v.58; omitted RC 53 (Boswell note
only), omitted H-P v.78-79
(after note identifies "critic" as Malone).
- 23] Mr. Boyd told us that it is customary for
the company at Peterhead-well to make parties, and
come and dine in one of the caves here1. | They were also used by
smugglers. The path round the Buller is about three feet broad; so that
there is little danger, though very often much
fear. Walter Scott. * S ii.334, W iv.102, C 296,
AN v.76; omitted RC 69, omitted H-P v.100-101.
- 24] They set down dried haddocks broiled,
along with our tea. I ate one; but Dr. Johnson was
disgusted by the sight of them, so they were
removed1. | A protest may be
entered on the part of most Scotsmen against the
doctor's taste in this particular. A Finnon
haddock dried over the smoke of the sea-weed, and
sprinkled with salt water during the process,
acquires a relish of a very peculiar and delicate
flavour, inimitable on any other coast than that
of Aberdeenshire. Some of our Edinburgh
philosophers tried to produce their equal in vain.
I was one of a party at a dinner, where the
philosophical haddocks were placed in competition
with the genuine Finnon-fish.
These were served without distinction whence they
came; but only one gentleman, out of twelve
present, espoused the cause of philosophy. Walter
Scott. * S ii.343, W iv.113, C 299, AN v.84, H-P
v.110 ("1831"), indirect RC
77 (second sentence).
- 25] King Duncan's monument2. | Duncan's monument; a huge column on the
roadside near Fores, more than twenty feet high,
erected in commemoration of the final retreat of
the Danes from Scotland, and properly called
Swene's Stone. Walter Scott. * S ii.348, W iv.120,
C 301, AN v.90, H-P v.116 ("1831", adds a further
reference); variant RC
82-83.
- 26] all indicate the rude times in which this
castle was erected. There were here some large
venerable trees1. | Cawder
Castle, here described, has been since much
damaged by fire. Walter Scott. * S ii.351, W
iv.123, C 302, AN v.92; variant C 85-86, variant
H-P v.119-120, 508.
- 27] He said he was shown it in the Herald's
office, spelt fourteen different ways2. | Bruce, the Abyssinian
traveller, found in the annals of that region a
king names Brus, which he
chooses to consider the genuine orthography of the
name. This circumstance occasioned some mirth at
the court of Gondar. Walter Scott. * S ii.354, W
iv.129, C 303, AN v.95, H-P v.123-124 ("1831",
adds a further reference); omitted RC 89.
- 28] We dined at a publick-house called the General's Hut
1 | It is very odd that when these roads
were made there was no care taken for Inns. The King's House and the General's Hut are miserable places; but the
project and plans were purely military. Walter
Scott. * S ii.365, W iv.141, C 307, AN v.104; variant RC 99, variant H-P v.134.
- 29] We passed through Glensheal1 | In 1719, Spain projected an
invasion of Scotland in behalf of the Chevalier, and destined a great
force for that purpose, under the command of the
Duke of Ormond. But owing to storms, only three
frigates, with three hundred or four hundred
Spaniards on board, arrived in Scotland. They had
with them the banished Earl of Seaforth, chief of
the Mackenzies, a man of great power, exiled for
his share in the rebellion in 1715. He raised a
considerable body of Highlanders of his own and
friendly clans, and disembarking the Spaniards,
came as far as the great valley called Glensheal,
in the West Highlands. General Wightman marched
against them from Inverness with a few regular
forces, and several of the Grants, Rosses, Munros,
and other clans friendly to government. He found
the insurgents in possession of a very strong pass
called Strachel, from which, after a few days'
skirmishing, they retired, Seaforth's party not
losing a man, and the others having several slain.
But the Earl of Seaforth was dangerously wounded
in the shoulder, and obliged to be carried back to
the ships. His clan deserted or dispersed, and the
Spaniards surrendered themselves prisoners of war
to General Wightman. Walter Scott. * S ii.372, W
iv.149, C 309, AN v.110; omitted RC 106, variant H-P v.140, 516.
- 30] It is indeed pointed at the top; but one
side of it is larger than the other2 | This was hypercritical; the
hill is indeed not a cone, but it is like one. Walter Scott. * S
ii.372, W iv.150, C 309, AN v.111; omitted RC 106, omitted H-P v.141.
- 31] We had a considerable circle about us,
men, women, and children, all M'Craas1, Lord Seaforth's people. | The
Mac Raes are an example of what sometimes occurred
in the Highlands, a clan who had no chief or
banner of their own, but mustered under that of
another tribe. They were originally attached to
the Frasers, but on occasion of an intermarriage,
they were transferred to the Mackenzies, and have
since mustered under Seaforth's standard. They
were always, and are still, a set of bold hardy
men,
as much attached to the Caberfae (or stag's head) as
the Mackenzies, to whom the standard properly
belongs. Walter Scott. * S ii.373, W iv.151, C
309, AN v.111; variant RC
107, variant H-P
v.142.
- 32] the learned Sir James Foulis2 | Sir James Foulis, of
Collinton, Bart. was a man of an ancient family, a
good scholar, and a hard student; duly imbued with
a large share both of Scottish shrewdness and
Scottish prejudice. His property, his income at
least, was very moderate. Others might have
increased it in a voyage to India, which he made
in the character of a commissioner; but Sir James
returned as poor as he went there. Sir James
Foulis was one of the Lowlanders whom Highlanders
allowed to be well skilled in the Gaelick, an
acquaintance which he made late in life. Walter
Scott. * S ii.382, W iv.162, C 313, AN v.119, indirect H-P v.150, 518
("1831", cites first part of last sentence only);
omitted RC 114.
- 33] JOHNSON. "Let there be men to keep them
clean. Your ancestors did not use to let their
arms rust1." | Dr. Johnson
seems to have forgotten that a Highlander going
armed at this period incurred the penalty of
serving as a common soldier for the first, and of
transportation beyond sea for a second offence.
And as "for calling out his clan," twelve
Highlanders and a bagpipe made a rebellion. Walter
Scott. * S ii.383, W iv.163 (adds "See Johnson's
letter to Mrs. Thrale of the 23d.Sept."), C 313
(deletes additional line and adds 7-line note
signed "Croker, 1846"), AN v.120, H-P v.151 (Scott
text only, "1831"); omitted
RC 115.
- 34] he composed the following Ode, addressed
to Mrs. Thrale1 | About
fourteen years since, I landed in Sky, with a
party of friends, and had the curiosity to ask
what was the first idea on every one's mind at
landing. All answered separately that it was this
Ode. Walter Scott. * S ii.388, W iv.168 (adds date
[1829.]), C 314 (adds 17-line note), AN v. 126,
H-P v.157 (Scott text only, "1831"); omitted RC 120.
- 35] a purple camblet kilt1 | A purple camlet
kilt.—To evade the law against the
tartan dress, the Highlands used to dye their
variegated plaids and kilts into blue, green, or
any single colour. Walter Scott. * S ii.393, W
iv.174 (this and later entries omit redundant
italic phrase), C 316, AN v.131, H-P v.162
("1831"); omitted RC
125.
- 36] Malcolm said he would come to it1 | The Highlanders were all
well inclined to the episcopalian form, proviso that the right king was prayed for. I suppose
Malcolm meant to say, "I will come to your church
because you are honest
folk;" viz. Jacobites.
Walter Scott. * S ii.393-394, W iv.175, C 316, AN
v.131, H-P v.162 ("1831"); omitted RC 126.
- 37] every woman in the parish was welcome to
take the milk from his cows, provided she did not
touch them1. | Such spells
are still believed in. A lady of property in Mull,
a friend of mine, had a few years since much
difficulty in rescuing from the superstitious fury
of the people an old woman, who used a charm to injure her neighbour's
cattle. It is now in my possession, and consists
of feathers, parings of nails, hair, and such like
trash, wrapt in a lump of clay. Walter Scott. * S
ii.395, W iv.177, C 317, AN v.132, H-P v.164
("1831"); variant RC
127.
- 38] he could not affirm that Ossian composed
all that poem as it is now published. This came
pretty much to what Dr. Johnson had maintained2 | This seems the common sense
of this once furious controversy. Walter Scott. *
S ii.395, W iv.178, C 317, AN v.132; omitted RC 127, variant H-P v.164.
- 39] Sandie Macleod, who has at times an
excessive flow of spirits, and had it now, was, in
his days of absconding, known by the name of M'Cruslick
3 | Alexander Macleod, of Muiravenside,
advocate, became extremely obnoxious to government
by his
zealous personal efforts
to engage his chief, Macleod, and Macdonald of
Sky, in the Chevalier's attempt of 1745. Had he
succeeded, it would have added one-third at least
to the jacobite army. Boswell has oddly described
M'Cruslick, the being whose
name was conferred upon this gentleman, as
something betwixt Proteus and Don Quixote. It is
the name of a species of satyr, or esprit follet, a sort of
mountain Puck or hobgoblin, seen among the wilds
and mountains, as the old Highlanders believed,
sometimes mirthful, sometimes mischievous.
Alexander Macleod's precarious mode of life, and
variable spirits, occasioned the soubriquet. Walter Scott. * S ii.397-398, W
iv.180, C 318, AN v.134, H-P v.166 ("1831"); omitted RC 129.
- 40] One of our company2,
I was told, had hurt himself by too much study,
particularly of infidel metaphysicians, of which
he gave a proof, on second sight being mentioned.
| Probably Talisker, who had been a good deal
abroad. Walter Scott. * S ii.399, variant W iv.182 ("Mr William
Macpherson informs me, that the gentleman alluded
to was The Laird of
MacKinnon.—c<roker>. 1835."), C 318 (W
note slightly revised), AN v.135; omitted RC 130, variant H-P v.168, 525 (full
account of Mackinnon, without reference to
Croker).
- 41] it was formerly much the custom, in these
isles, to have human bones lying above ground,
especially in the windows of churches2. | It is perhaps a Celtic
custom; for I observed it in Ireland occasionally,
expecially at the celebrated promontory of
Mucruss, at Killarney. Walter Scott. * S ii.401, W
iv.185, C 319 (after "at" inserts "[the ruined
abbey church on]"), AN v.137; omitted RC 131, omitted H-P v.169.
- 42] Miss Flora Macdonald1 | [It is stated in the account of the
rebellion, published under the title of "Ascanius," that she was the
daughter of Mr. Macdonald, a tacksman or
gentleman-farmer, of Melton, in South Uist, and
was, in 1746, about twenty-four years old. It is
also said, that her portrait was painted in London
in 1747, for Commodore Smith, in whose ship she
had been brought prisoner from Scotland; but the
editor has not been able to trace it. Dr. Johnson
says of her to Mrs. Thrale, "She must then have
been a very young lady; she is now not old; of a
pleasing person, and elegant behaviour. She told
me that she thought herself honoured by my visit;
and I am sure that whatever regard she bestowed on
me was liberally repaid. 'If thou likest her
opinions, thou wilt praise her virtue.' She was
carried to London, but dismissed without a trial,
and came down with Malcolm Macleod, against whom
sufficient evidence could not be procured. She and
her husband are poor, and are going to try their
fortune in America. Sic rerum volvitur
orbis."—Letters, i.
153. They did emigrate to America; but returned to
Sky, where she died on the 4th March, 1790,
leaving a son, Colonel John Macdonald, now, as the
Editor is informed, residing at Exeter, and a
daughter, still alive in Sky, married to a
Macleod, a distant relation of the Macleod.—Ed.] It is
remarkable that this distinguished lady signed her
name Flory, instead of the more classical
orthography. Her marriage contract, which is in my
possession, bears the name spelled Flory. Walter Scott. * S
ii.416-417, W iv.204 (reads 'I' for 'the Editor'),
C 324 (adds "We shall see presently that she
sometimes signed Flora.—Croker."), AN v.150; variant RC 143-144, variant H-P v.184, 529-531
(quotes directly a portion of Johnson's letter and
adds considerable biographical data).
- 43] She still returned to her pretty
farm—rich ground—fine garden. "Madam,"
said Dr. Johnson, "were they in Asia, I would not
leave the rock1." | Dunvegan
well deserves the stand which was made by Dr.
Johnson in its defence. Its greatest inconvenience
was that of access. This had been originally
obtained from the sea, by a subterranean
staircase, partly arched, partly cut in the rock,
which, winding up through the cliff, opened into
the court of the castle. This passage, at all
times very inconvenient, had been abandoned, and
was ruinous. A very indifferent substitute had
been made by a road, which, rising from the
harbour, reached the bottom of the moat, and then
ascended to the gate by a very long stair. The
present chief, whom
I am happy
to call my friend, has made
a perfectly convenient and characteristic access,
which gives a direct approach to the further side
of the moat, in front of the castle gate, and
surmounts the chasm by a drawbridge, which would
have delighted Rorie More
himself. I may add that neither Johnson nor
Boswell were antiquaries, otherwise they must have
remarked, amongst the Cimelia of Dunvegan, the fated or fairy
banner, said to be given to the clan by a Banshee,
and a curious drinking cup (probably), said to
have belonged to the family when kings of the Isle
of Man—certainly of most venerable
antiquity. Walter Scott. * S ii.445-446, W
iv.239-240 (dated 1829), C 340 (without date), AN
v. 188; omitted RC 176, omitted H-P v.223, ii.195 (the
second, cross-reference, is false).
- 44] it has the
sea—islands—rocks—hills—a
noble cascade; and when the family is again in
opulence, something may be done by art1. | Something has indeed been,
partly in the way of accommodation and ornament,
partly in improvements yet more estimable, under
the direction of the present beneficent Lady of
Macleod. She has completely acquired the language
of her husband's clan, in order to qualify herself
to be their effectual benefacturess. She has
erected schools, which she superintends herself,
to introduce among them the benefits, knowledge,
and comforts of more civilized society; and a
young and beautiful woman has done more for the
enlarged happiness of this primitive people than
had been achieved for ages before. Walter Scott. *
S ii.446, W iv.240, C 340 (after "Macleod" adds
[Miss Stephenson]), AN v.189; variant RC 176, omitted H-P v.223.
- 45] What can the M'Craas tell about themselves
a thousand years ago1? |
"What can the M'Craas tell of themselves a
thousand years ago?" More than the Doctor would
suppose. I have a copy of their family history,
written by Mr. John Mac Ra, minister of Dingwal,
in Rosshire, in 1702. In this history, they are
averred to have come over with those Fitzgeralds
now holding the name of M'Kenzie, at the period of
the battle of Largs, in 1263. I was indulged with
a copy of the pedigree by the consent of the
principal persons of the clan in 1826, and had the
original in my possession for some time. It is
modestly drawn up, and apparently with all the
accuracy which can be expected when tradition must
be necessarily much relied upon. The name was in
Irish Mac Grath, softened in the Highlands into
Mac Ra, Mac Corow, Mac Rae, &c.; and in the
Lowlands, where the patronymic was often dropped,
by the names of Crow, Craw, &c. Walter Scott.
* S ii.447-448, W iv.242, C 340, AN v.190; omitted RC 177, omitted H-P v.225, 142.
- 46] the late M'Leod of Hamer, who wrote a
treatise on the second-sight, under the
designation of "Theophilus Insulanus2." | The work of "Theophilus
Insulanus" was written in as credulous a style as
either Dr. Johnson or his biographer could have
desired. Walter Scott. * S ii.448, W iv.243, C
341, AN v.191; omitted RC
178, variant H-P v.
225.
- 47] we talked of the extraordinary fact of
Lady Grange's being sent to St. Kilda, and
confined there for several years, without any
means of relief1. | [The
true story of this lady, which happened in this
century, is as frightfully romantic as if it had
been the fiction of a gloomy fancy. She was the
wife of one of the lords of session in Scotland, a
man of the very first blood of his country. For
some mysterious reasons, which have never been
discovered, she was seized and carried off in the
dark, she knew not by whom, and by nightly
journeys was conveyed to the Highland shores, from
whence she was transported by sea to the remote
rock of St. Kilda, where she remained, amongst its
few wild inhabitants, a forlorn prisoner, but had
a constant supply of provisions, and a woman to
wait on her. No inquiry was made after her, till
she at last found means to convey a letter to a
confidential friend, by the daughter of a
Catechist, who concealed it in a clue of yarn.
Information being thus obtained at Edinburgh, a
ship was sent to bring her off; but intelligence
of this being received, she was conveyed to
Macleod's island of Herries, where she died; [but
was buried, as
Macleod informs
the Editor <Croker>, at
Dunvegan.]—Boswell] The story of Lady Grange
is well known. I have seen her Journal. She had
become privy to some of the jacobite intrigues, in
which her husband, Lord Grange (brother of the
Earl of Mar, and a lord of session), and his
family were engaged. Being on indifferent terms
with her husband, she is said to have thrown out
hints that she knew as much as would cost him his
life. The judge probably thought of Mrs. Peachum,
that it is rather an awkward state of domestic
affairs when the wife has it in her power to hang
the husband. Lady Grange was the more to be
dreaded, as she came of a vindictive race, being
the grandchild of that Chicsley of Dalry, who
assassinated Sir George Lockhart, the lord
president. Many persons of importance in the
Highlands were concerned in removing her
testimony. The notorious Lovat, with a party of
his men, were the direct agents in carrying her
off (see ante, vol.i. p.
155); and St. Kilda, belonging then to Macleod,
was selected as the place of confinement. The name
by which she was spoken or written of was Corpach, an ominous
distinction, corresponding to what is called subject in the lecture-room of
an anatomist, or shot in
the slang of the Westport murderers. Walter Scott.
<Boswell's note
continued:> In "Carstare's State Paper,"
we find an authentick narrative of Connor, a
catholick priest, who turned protestant, being
seized by some of Lord Seaforth's people, and
detained prisoner in the island of Harris several
years: he was fed with bread and water, and lodged
in a house where he was exposed to the rains and
cold. Sir James Ogilvy writes, June 18, 1667,
"that the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Advocate, and
himself, were to meet next day, to take effectual
methods to have this redressed. Connor was then
still detained."—P.310. This shows what
private oppression might in the last century be
practised in the Hebrides. In the same collection,
the Earl of Argyle gives a picturesque account of
an embassy from the great M'Neil
of Barra, as that insular chief used to be
denominated. "I received a letter yesterday from
M'Neil of Barra, who lives very far off, sent by a
gentleman in all formality, offering his service,
which had made you laugh to see his entry. The
style of his letter runs as if he were of another
kingdom."—P. 643.—Boswell] It was said
of M'Neil of Barra, that when he dined, his
bagpipes blew a particular strain, intimating that
all the world might go to dinner. Walter Scott. *
S ii.451, W iv.246-247 (for "Editor" reads "me",
for "Chicsley" reads "Chiesley", and after first
Scott quotation adds 3-line note from Chambers), C
341-342 (omits the Croker interjection in
brackets, after "Grange" adds "(an Erskine";
thereafter reads "Chiesley" etc. as in W), AN
v.193-194, H-P v.227-228 (Boswell's and Scott's
notes each rendered as a single narrative, Scott's
("1831") with "Chiesley" spelling but no reference
to Croker or Chalmers notes); variant RC 180-181 (after Boswell the
further account dependent on Chalmers and other
sources).
- 48] at one place there is a row of false
cannon1 of stone. | Dunvegan
Castle is mounted with real cannon; not
unnecessarily, for its situation might expose it
in war to be plundered by privateers. Walter
Scott. * S ii.457, W iv.253, C 344, AN v.198; omitted RC 184, variant H-P v.233 (quotes
Scott's description of Dunvegan in 1814, Lockhart
iii.226; defines "false cannon" as
gargoyles).
- 49] the Cuillin1, a
prodigious range of mountains | These picturesque
mountains of Sky take their name from the ancient
hero, Cuchullin. The name
is pronounced Quillen. I wonder that Boswell
nowhere mentions Macleod's
Maidens—two or three immense stacks of
rock, like the Needles at the Isle of Wight; and
Macleod's
Dining-Tables—hills which derive their
name from their elevated, steep sides, and flat
tops. Walter Scott. * S ii.460, W iv.258, C 345,
AN v.200-201; omitted RC
187, omitted H-P
v.236.
- 50] Radaratoo, radarate, radara, tadara,
tandore1 | [This droll
quotation, I have since found, was from a song in
honour of the Earl of Essex, called "Queen Elizabeth's Champion,"
which is preserved in a collection of Old Ballads,
in three volumes published
in
London in different years, between 1720-1730. The
full verse is as follows: <6 lines quoted>
Boswell] The old ballad here mentioned also occurs
in Mr. Evans's collection of historical ballads,
published as a Supplement to Percy's Reliques,
under the inspection, I believe, of William Julius
Mickle, who inserted many modern imitations of the
heroick ballads of his own composing. Walter
Scott. * S ii.465, W iv.263, C 346, AN v.205-206;
omitted RC 191 (Boswell
note only), omitted H-P
v.241 (after Boswell another reference).
- 51] translation of an ancient poem2. | This account of Ossian's
Poems, as published by M'Pherson, is that at which
most sensible people have arrived, though there
may be some difference between the plus and minus
of the ancient ingredients employed by the
translator. Walter Scott. * S ii.466, W iv.264, C
347 (adds 6-line postscript), AN v.206-207; omitted RC 192, omitted H-P v.242.
- 52] There is a great scarcity of specie in
Sky4. | This scarcity of
cash still exists on the islands, in several of
which five-shilling notes are necessarily issued
to have some circulating medium. If you insist on
having change, you must purchase something at a
shop. Walter Scott. * S ii.478, W iv.280, C 351,
AN v.216-217, H-P v.254; omitted RC 200.
- 53] "Adventures of a Guinea2;" | It is strange that Johnson should not
have known that the "Adventures of a Guinea" was
written by a namesake of his own, Charles Johnson.
Being disqualified for the bar, which was his
profession, by a supervening deafness, he went to
India and made some fortune, which he enjoyed at
home. Walter Scott. <3-line Croker
postscript> * S ii.500, W iv.307 (deletes
"which he enjoyed at home" and, for the Croker
postscript, substitutes another note beginning
"See also Scott's Lives of the Novelists. . ."), C
359 (after "fortune" adds "and died there about
1800"; reinserts his own postscript with a
preliminary sentence: "He died, says the Biographical Dictionary, in
Bengal, about 1800."), AN v.235, H-P v.275
(reprints Scott only from the C 1848 revision, but
wrongly dates this "1831"; adds a postscript); variant RC 218.
- 54] He had looked at a novel, called "The Man
of the World," at Rasay, but thought there was
nothing in it1. | Though
not, perhaps, so popular as the "Man of Feeling"
of the same amiable author, the "Man of the World"
is a very pathetic tale. Walter Scott. * S ii.502,
W iv.309 (adds "[The Man of the
World was published in 1773, without the name
of the author.]"), C 359 (before Scott note
inserts "By Henry MacKenzie" and assigns the
further W line to Croker), AN v.236; variant RC 219, variant H-P v.277.
- 55] The truth is, he knew nothing of the
danger we were in1 | [He at
least made light of it, in his letters to Mrs.
Thrale. "After having been detained by storms many
days at Skie, we left it, as we thought, with a
fair wind; but a violent gust, which Boswell had a
great mind to call a tempest, forced us into Col, an obscure island; on
which—'nulla campis arbor aestivâ
recreatur aurâ.'"—Letters, vol. i. p. 167—ed.] Their
risque, in a sea full of islands, was very
considerable. Indeed the whole expedition was
highly perilous, considering the season of the
year, the precarious chance of getting sea-worthy
boats, and the ignorance of the Hebrideans, who,
notwithstanding the opportunities, I may say the
necessities of their
situation, are very careless and unskilful
sailors. Walter Scott. * S ii.509, W v.7, C 362,
AN v.242, H-P v.283 ("1831", with preliminary
note); omitted RC
224.
- 56] no intentional fasting1, but happened just in the course of a
literary life." | This was probably the same kind
of unintentional fasting,
as that which suggested to him,
at an earlier period, the affecting epithet impransus, (ante, vol. i. p. 107.) Walter Scott. * S
ii.511, W v.9, C 362, AN v.243; omitted RC 225, variant H-P v.284.
- 57] The name is certainly Norwegian1 | M'Swyne has an awkward
sound, but the name is held to be of high
antiquity, both in the Hebrides and the north of
Ireland. Walter Scott. <7-line Croker
postscript> * S ii.516, W v.15, C 364, AN
v.248; omitted RC 229, omitted H-P v.289.
- 58] verse of the song Hatyin
foam'eri2
| Hatyin foam, (see ante, p. 393). A very popular
air in the Hebrides, written to the praise and
glory of Allan of Muidartach, or Allen of Muidart,
a chief of the Clanranald family. The following is
a translation of it by a fair friend of mine:
<cites 26 lines, the first beginning "Come,
here's a pledge to young and old," Walter Scott.
<1-line Croker postscript> * S ii.516-517, W
v.15-16 (after "friend of mine" adds "[the late
Margaret Maclean Clephane, Marchioness of
Northampton]"), C 364 (with W addition and further
note on the imperfect song), AN v.248-249; omitted RC 229, variant H-P v.290 (notes a
translation in S and W editions, but Scott not
mentioned).
- 59] Dr. Johnson said, "How the devil can you do it1?" | The question which Johnson asked with
such unusual warmth might have been answered "by
sowing the bent, or couch-grass." Walter Scott. *
S ii.534, W v.37, C 371, AN v.264, H-P v.306
("1831"); variant RC
243.
- 60] Flora Macdonald waited on Lady Margaret1 | [Though her husband took
arms for the house of Hanover, she was suspected
of being an ardent jacobite; and, on that
supposition, Flora Macdonald guided the Pretender
to Mugstot.—ED.] On the subject of Lady
Margaret Macdonald, it is impossible to omit an
anecdote which does much honour to Frederick,
Prince of Wales. By some chance Lady Margaret had
been presented to the princess, who, when she
learnt what share she had taken in the Chevalier's
escape, hastened to excuse herself to the prince,
and explain to him that she was not aware that
Lady Margaret was the person who had harboured the
fugitive. The prince's answer was noble: "And
would you not have done the
same, madam, had he come to you, as to her, in
distress and danger? I hope—I am sure you
would!" Walter Scott. * S ii.561, W iv.330, C 326,
AN v.154, H-P v.188 ("1831"); omitted RC 146.
- 61] a case1, containing
a silver spoon, knife, and fork | The case with
the silver spoon, knife, and fork, given by the
Chevalier to Dr. Macleod, came into the hands of
Mary, Lady Clerk of Pennycuik, who intrusted me
with the honourable commission of presenting them,
in her ladyship's name, to his present majesty,
upon his visit to Scotland. Walter Scott. S
ii.567, W iv.337 (after last word adds "in 1822"),
C 239, AN v.161; omitted RC
152, omitted H-P
v.195.
- 62] We thought of sailing about easily from
island to island; and so we should, had we come at
a better season1 | This
observation is very just. The time for the
Hebrides was too late by a month or six weeks. I
have heard those who remembered their tour express
surprise they were not drowned. Walter Scott. * S
iii.7, W v.46, C 373, AN v.270, H-P v.313
("1831"); omitted RC
249.
- 63] a man of the world1
| M'Quarrie was hospitable to an almost romantic
degree. He lived to an extreme old age. Walter
Scott. * S iii.14, W v.54, C 375, AN v.276; omitted RC 253, variant H-P v.319, 556.
- 64] Ulva is the only place where this custom
remains2 <of presenting a
sheep to tenants upon their marriage> | This
custom still continues in Ulva. Walter Scott. * S
iii.15, W v.56, C 376, AN v.278; omitted RC 254, variant H-P v.321.
- 65] we took boat, and proceeded to
Inchkenneth1 | Inchkenneth
is a most beautiful little islet of the most
verdant green, while all the neighbouring shore of
Greban, as well as the large islands of Colinsay
and Ulva, are as black as heath and moss can make
them. But Ulva has a good anchorage, and
Inchkenneth is surrounded by shoals. It is now
uninhabited. The ruins of the huts, in which Dr.
Johnson was received by Sir Allan M'Lean, were
still to be seen, and some tatters of the paper
hangings were to be seen on the walls. Sir George
Onesiphorus Paul was at Inchkenneth with the same
party of which I was a member. He seemed to me to
suspect many of the Highland tales which he heard,
but he showed most incredulity on the subject of
Johnson's having been entertained in the wretched
huts of which we saw the ruins. He took me aside,
and conjured me to tell him the truth of the
matter, "This Sir Allan," said he, "was he a regular baronet, or was his
title such a traditional one as you find in
Ireland?" I assured my excellent acquaintance
that, "for my own part, I would have paid more
respect to a knight of Kerry, or knight of Glynn;
yet Sir Allan M'Lean was a regular baronet by patent;" and, having
given him this information, I took the liberty of
asking him, in return, whether he would not in
conscience prefer the worst cell in the jail at
Gloucester (which he had been very active in
overlooking while the building was going on) to
those exposed hovels where Johnson had been
entertained by rank and beauty. He looked round
the little islet, and allowed Sir Allan had some
advantage in exercising ground; but in other
respects he thought the compulsory tenants of
Gloucester had greatly the advantage. Such was his
opinion of a place, concerning which Johnson has
recorded that "it wanted little which palaces
could afford." Walter Scott. * S iii.16-17, W
v.61-62, C 376-377 (adds 5-line note signed
Croker, 1846), AN v.279, H-P v.322 ("1831", after
"member" inserts Lockhart reference); omitted RC 256.
- 66] then I get up with him1." | This is not spoken of hare-coursing,
where the game is taken or lost before the dog
gets out of wind; but in chasing deer with the
great Highland greyhound, Col's exploit is feasible enough. Walter
Scott. * S iii.25, W v.66, C 379, AN v.286, H-P
v.330 ("1831"); omitted RC
261.
- 67] our excellent companion Col1
| Just opposite
to M'Quarrie's house the boat was swamped by the
intoxication of the sailors, who had partaken too
largely of M'Quarrie's wonted hospitality. Walter
Scott. <13-line Croker postscript> * S
iii.26, W v.68-69, C 380, AN v.287, H-P v.331
("1831", with variant postscript); omitted RC 262.
- 68] Tradition says, that a piper and twelve
men once advanced into this cave, nobody can tell
how far1 | There is little
room for supposing that any person ever went
farther into M'Kinnon's cave than any man may now
go. Johnson's admiration of it seems exaggerated.
A great number of the M'Kinnons, escaping from
some powerful enemy, hid themselves in this cave
till they could get over to the isle of Sky. It
concealed themselves and their birlings or boats,
and they show M'Kinnon's harbour, M'Kinnon's
dining-table, and other localities. M'Kinnon's
candlestick was a fine piece of spar, destroyed by
some traveller in the frantic rage for
appropriation, with which tourists are sometimes
animated. Walter Scott. * S iii.27, W v.70, C 380,
AN v.288; variant RC 263,
omitted H-P v.332.
- 69] I told Lochbuy that
he was not Johnston, but
Johnson, and that he was an
Englishman1. | Boswell
totally misapprehended Lochbuy's meaning. There are two septs of
the powerful clan of M'Donald, who are called
Mac-Ian, that is, John's-son; and as Highlanders often
translate their names when they go to the
Lowlands,—as Gregorson for Mac-Gregor,
Farquhar-son for Farquhar,—Lochbuy supposed that Dr. Johnson might be
one of the Mac-Ians of Ardnamurchan, or of
Glencro. Boswell's explanation was nothing to the
purpose. The Johnstons are
a clan distinguished in Scottish border history, and as brave as any Highland clan that ever wore
brogues; but they
lay entirely
out of Lochbuy's
knowledge—nor was he thinking of them. Walter Scott. * S iii.37,
W v.82, C 383 (adds 3-line postscript signed
Chambers, 1846), AN v.296-297, H-P v.341-342
("1831", thus no postscript); variant RC 271.
- 70] "Do you choose any cold sheep's head,
sir?" "No, madam," said he, with a tone of
surprise and anger3. |
Begging pardon of the Doctor and his conductor, I
have often seen and partaken of cold sheep's head
at as good breakfast-tables as ever they sat at.
This protest is something in the manner of the
late Culrossie, who fought a duel for the honour
of Aberdeen butter. I have passed over all the
Doctor's other reproaches upon Scotland, but the
sheep's head I will defend totis
veribus. Dr. Johnson himself must have
forgiven my zeal on this occasion; for if, as he
says, dinner be the thing
of which a man thinks oftenest
during the day, breakast must be that of
which he thinks first in the
morning. Walter Scott. * S iii.38, W v.83, C
384, AN v.297-298, H-P v.342-343 (adds 7-line
postscript); omitted RC
271.
- 71] the laird could not be persuaded that he
had lost his heritable jurisdiction1. | Sir Allan Maclean, like
many Highland chiefs, was embarrassed in his
private affairs, and exposed to unpleasant
solicitations from attorneys, called in Scotland,
writers (which, indeed, was
the chief motive of his retiring to Inchkenneth).
Upon one occasion he made a visit to a friend,
then residing at Carron lodge, on the banks of the
Carron, where the banks of that river are studded
with pretty villas; Sir Allan, admiring the
landscape, asked his friend, whom that handsome
seat belonged to. "M---, the writer to the
signet," was the reply. "Umph!" said Sir Allan,
but not with an accent of assent, "I mean that
other house." "Oh! that belongs to a very honest
fellow, Jamie---, also a writer to the signet."
"Umph!" said the Highland chief of M'Lean, with
more emphasis than before. "And yon smaller
house?" "That belongs to a Stirling man; I forget
his name, but I am sure he is a writer, too for
---." Sir Allan, who had recoiled a quarter of a
circle backward at every response, now wheeled the
circle entire, and turned his back on the
landscape, saying, "My good friend, I must own,
you have a pretty situation here; but d---n your
neighbourhood." Walter Scott. * S iii.39, W v.84,
C 384, AN v.298-299, H-P v.343-344 ("1831"); variant RC 272.
- 72] I had reason to think that the Duchess of
Argyle disliked me, on account of my zeal in the
Douglas cause1. | Elizabeth
Gunning, celebrated (like her sister, Lady
Coventry) for her personal charms, had been
previously Duchess of Hamilton, and was mother of
Douglas, Duke of Hamilton, the competitor for the
Douglas property with the late Lord Douglas: she
was, of course, prejudiced against Boswell, who
had shown all the bustling importance of his
character in the Douglas cause, and it was said, I
know not on what authority, that he headed the mob
which broke the windows of some of the judges, and
of Lord Auchinleck, his father, in particular.
Walter Scott. * S iii.48, W v.94, C 387, AN v.307,
H-P v.353 ("1831" but deletes "celebrated . . .
Hamilton, and"; omitted RC
280.
- 73] Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas1." | [For this and the other
translations to which no signature is affixed, I
am indebted to the friend whose observations are
mentioned in the notes, p. 313 and
501.—Boswell.] [Probably Dr. Hugh
Blair.—Ed] * S iii.57, W v.106 (postscript
signed C[roker]), C 390 (postscript now assigned
to "Walter Scott"), AN v.315; omitted RC 288 (Boswell note only), omitted H-P v.361 (Boswell note
and postscript "I have little doubt that it was
Malone. . . .").
- 74] Dr. Adam Smith1 |
Mr. Boswell has chosen to omit, for reasons which
will be presently obvious, that Johnson and Adam
Smith met at Glasgow; but I have been assured by
Professor John Miller that they did so, and that
Smith, leaving the party in which he had met
Johnson, happened to come to another company where
Miller
was. Knowing that Smith
had been in Johnson's society, they were anxious
to know what had passed, and the more so as Dr.
Smith's temper seemed much ruffled. At first Smith
would only answer, "He's a brute—he's a
brute;" but on closer examination, it appeared
that Johnson no sooner saw Smith than he attacked
him for some point of his famous letter on the
death of Hume (ante, v. ii.
p. 267, n.) Smith
vindicated the truth of his statement. "What did
Johnson say?" was the universal inquiry. "Why, he
said," replied Smith, with the deepest impression
of resentment, "he said, you
lie!" "And what did you reply?" "I said, you
are a son of a ---!" On such terms did these two
great moralists meet and part, and such was the
classical dialogue between two great teachers of
philosophy. Walter Scott. * S iii.65, W v.114-115,
C 393 (adds 19-line postscript denying the
encounter, signed Croker, 1835), AN v.370-371
(adds 53-line addendum also denying the
encounter), H-P v.369-370 ("1831", with Croker
note "1835-48" and further reference to Napier);
omitted RC 295.
- 75] one of the best productions of his
masterly pen1. | Boswell
himself was callous to the contacts of Dr. Johnson; and when telling
them, always reminds one of a jockey receiving a
kick from the horse which he is showing off to a
customer, and is grinning with pain while he is
trying to cry out, "pretty rogue—no
vice—all fun." To him Johnson's rudeness was
only "pretty Fanny's way."
Dr. Robertson had a sense of good-breeding which
inclined him rather to forego the benefit of
Johnson's conversation than awaken his rudeness.
Walter Scott. * S iii. 66, W v.117, C 393-394, AN
v.323; variant RC 296, omitted H-P v.370.
- 76] the transit of Johnson over the Caledonian
hemisphere1. | Old Lord
Auchinleck was an able lawyer, a good scholar,
after the manner of Scotland, and highly valued
his own advantages as a man of good estate and
ancient family, and, moreover, he was a strict
presbyterian and whig of the old Scottish cast.
This did not prevent his being a terribly proud
aristocrat; and great was the contempt he
entertained and expressed for his son James, for
the nature of his friendships and the character of
the personages of whom he was engoué one after another. "There's
nae hope for Jamie, mon," he said to a friend.
"Jamie is gaen clean gyte.—What do you
think, mon? He's done wi' Paoli—he's off wi'
the land-louping scoundrel of a Corsican; and
whose tail to you think he has pinned himself to
now, mon?" Here the old judge summoned up a sneer
of most sovereign contempt. "A dominie, mon—an auld dominie; he
keeped a schūle, and cau'd it an acaadamy."
Probably if this had been reported to Johnson, he
would have felt it more galling, for he never much
liked to think of that period of his life: it
would have aggravated his dislike of Lord
Auchinleck's whiggery and presbyterianism. These
the old lord carried to such an unusual height,
that once when a countryman came in to state some
justice business, and being required to make his
oath, declined to do so before his lordship,
because he was not a covenanted magistrate. "Is that a' your
objection, mon?" said the judge; "come your ways
in here, and we'll baith of us tak the solemn
league and covenant together." The oath was
accordingly agreed and sworn to by both, and I
dare say it was the last time it ever received
such homage. It may be surmised how far Lord
Auchinleck, such as he is here described, was
likely to suit a high tory and episcopalian like
Johnson. As they approached Auchinleck, Boswell
conjured Johnson by all the ties of regard, and in
requital of the services he had rendered him upon
his tour, that he would spare two subjects in
tenderness to his father's prejudices; the first
related to Sir John Pringle, president of the
royal society, about whom there was then some
dispute current; the second concerned the general
question of whig and tory. Sir John Pringle, as
Boswell says, escaped, but the controversy between
tory and covenanter raged with great fury, and
ended in Johnson's pressing upon the old judge the
question, what good Cromwell, of whom he had said
something derogatory, had ever done to his
country; when, after being much tortured, Lord
Auchinleck at last spoke out, "God, doctor! he
gart kings ken that they had a lith in their neck." He taught kings they
had a joint in their necks.
Jamie then set to mediating between
his father and the philosopher, and
availing himself of the judge's sense of
hospitality, which was punctillious, reduced the
debate to more order. Walter Scott. * S iii.78-79,
W v.131, C 397-398, AN v.333, H-P v.382-383 (adds
21-line postscript and further reference to
569-570), indirect RC 305
(the conversation doubted, further extensive
commentary).
- 77] Indeed, there have been few men whose
conversation discovered more knowledge enlivened
by fancy1. | Lord Elibank
made a happy retort on Dr. Johnson's definition of
oats, as the food of horses in England and of men
in Scotland: "Yes," said he; "and where else will
you see such horses and such men?" Walter Scott. * S
iii.81, W v.136, C 399, AN v.335-336; variant RC 307, omitted H-P v.386.
- 78] "Nay, sir (said he), if you cannot talk
better as a man, I'd have you bellow like a cow2." | [As I have been
scrupulously exact in relating anecdotes
concerning other persons, I shall not withhold any
part of this story, however ludicrous. I was so
successful in this boyish frolick, that the
universal cry of the galleries was, "Encore the cow! Encore the cow!" In the pride
of my heart I attempted imitations of some other
animals, but with very inferior effect. My
reverend friend, anxious for my fame, with an air of the utmost gravity and
earnestnes, addressed me thus: "My dear sir, I
would confine myself to the
cow!"—Boswell]
Blair's advice was expressed more emphatically,
and with a peculiar burr—"Stick to the
cow, mon!" Walter Scott * S iii.92, W
v.148-149, C 402, AN v.345, H-P v.396 ("1831",
with 4-line postscript); omitted RC 314 (Boswell's note only).
- 79] Mr. Braidwood told me it remained long in
his school, but had been lost before I made my
inquiry1. | [One of the best
critics of our age "does not wish to prevent the
admirers of the incorrect and nerveless style,
which generally prevailed for a century before Dr.
Johnson's energetic writings were known, from
enjoying the laugh that this story may produce, in
which he is very ready to join them." He, however,
requests me to observe, that "my friend very
properly chose a long word
on this occasion, not, it is believed, from any
predilection for polysyllables (though he
certainly had a due respect for them), but in
order to put Mr. Braidwood's skill to the
strictest test, and to try the efficacy of his
instruction by the most difficult exertion of the
organs of his pupils." Boswell.] The critic was probably Dr. Blair.
Walter Scott. * S iii.95, W v.152, C 403, AN
v.347-348; omitted RC 316
(Boswell note only), omitted H-P v.399-400 (substitutes
postscript identifying Malone.
- 80] A young lady1 of
quality | Probably one of the Ladies Lindsay,
daughters of the Earl of Balcarres. Walter Scott.
* S iii.96, W v.154 (adds "[One of these, Lady Ann
Lindesay, wrote the beautiful ballad of Auld Robin Gray.]"), C 404
(addition signed Lockhart), AN v.348; omitted RC 317, omitted H-P v.401, 575-576
(direct identification and further
commentary).
- 81] I have suppressed1
every thing which I thought could really hurt any
one now living. | [Having found, on a revision of
the first edition of this work, that,
notwithstanding my best care, a few observations
had escaped me, which arose from the instant
impression, the publication of which might perhaps
be considered as passing the bounds of a strict
decorum, I immediately ordered that they should be
omitted in the subsequent editions. I was pleased
to find that they did not amount in the whole to a
page. If any of the same kind are yet left, it is
owing to inadvertence alone, no man being more
unwilling to give pain to others than I am. . . .
<11 lines> should have
suppressed.—Boswell] [The only passages of
this kind that the editor has observed are those
relating to Sir Alexander Macdonald, ante, v. ii. p. 380, and to Mr.
Tytler, ante, p.
83.—ED.] I believe the scribbler alluded to
was William Thompson, author of the "Man in the
Moon," and other satirical novels, half clever,
half crazy kind of works. He was once a member of
the kirk of Scotland, but being deposed by the
presbytery of Auchterarder, became an author of
all works in London, could seldom
finish a work, on whatever subject, without
giving a slap by the way to that same presbytery
with the unpronounceable name. Boswell's denial of
having retracted upon
compulsion refutes what was said by Peter
Pindar and others about "M'Donald's rage." Walter
Scott. * S iii.109, W v.170-171 (deletes the
second, Croker note), C 408-409 (reinserts
reference, now abbreviated, at the end of note),
AN v.362; variant RC
327-328 (identifies the "scribbler" as John
Wolcot), omitted H-P v.416
(after Boswell's note adds further commentary on
Wolcot).
Annotations after the
Tour (82-84)
- 82] nor was he less delighted with the
hospitality which he experienced in humbler
life1 | He was long
remembered amongst the lower orders of Hebrideans
by the title of the Sassenach
More, the big
Englishman. Walter Scott. * S iii.111, W
v.172, C 409, AN v.362; omitted RC 308, omitted H-P v.416.
- 83] order of the clans: Macdonald is first4, Maclean second | The
Macdonalds always laid claim to be placed on the
right of the whole clans, and those of that tribe
assign the breach of this order at Culloden as one
cause of the loss of the day. The Macdonalds,
placed on the left wing, refused to charge, and
positively left the field unassailed and unbroken.
Lord George Murray in vain endeavoured to urge
them on by saying that their behaviour would make
the left the right, and that he himself would take
the name of Macdonald. On this subject there are
some curious notices, in a very interesting
journal written by one of the seven men of Moidart, as they were
called—Macdonald of the Clanronald sept, who
were the first who declared for the prince at his
landing in their chief's country. It is in the
Lockhart papers, vol. ii. p. 510. Walter Scott. *
S iii.112 (this letter from Johnson to Boswell, 27
November 1773, is unnumbered), W v.174 (numbered
172), C 410 (unnumbered).
- 84] Mr. Maclean of Torloisk in Mull1 | Maclean of Torloisk was
grandfather to the present Marchioness of
Northampton. Walter Scott. * S iii.184 (this
letter from Boswell to Johnson, 18 February 1775,
is unnumbered), W v.242 (numbered 206), C 433
(unnumbered).
Notes