University of Virginia Library

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:

then to the three later editions also discussed, each denoted by a double letter: 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.

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  * 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.

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• 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,

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  "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.

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  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,

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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,

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  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.

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• 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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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