* ■!»• wssfm ■^ %^ ^4 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES r. t>^*.-^ ■*■ ■i %;^--^%.'^K%'* "^ ^•^.^v'^ m--?-ii I ^ sc V Popular Traditions of Glasgow : Historical, Legeiidmy and Biographical. Edited by Andrew Wallace, Author of ^' A Popular History of Glasgozv,'''' dfc. 1^ "Ana such is human life, so gliding on, It glimmers like a meteor and is gone ! Yet is the tale, brief though it be, as strange. As full, methinks, of wild and wondrous change As any that the wandering tribes require. Stretched in the desert round their evening fire ; As any sung of old, in hall or bower. To minstrel-harps at midnight's witching hour ! " — Rogers. GLASGOW: THOMAS D. MORISON. LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO. 1889. GLASGOW : PRIKTED BY ALEX. MACDOUGALL. PREFACE. The City of Glasgow has a history which is not only intensely interesting and instructive to its own citizens, but which ought to be almost equally interesting and instructive to many others in the kingdom of which the city forms an important factor. From a small and insignificant hamlet situated on the banks of a petty rivulet — the Molindinar Burn — it has grown to be one of the largest and most powerful cities in the world, and the history of that growth must carry with it such lessons of truest wisdom, and display such vivid pictures of the lights and shadows of human life, as should not only arrest the attention and rivet the interest of the merely casual reader, but also convey solid instruction to the thoughtful and earnest student. Having for its early founders a holy and renowned minister of God, and an earnest religious and ecclesiastical com- munity, who have given a tone to its whole subsequent career, and having for its earliest motto, " Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word," it may safely be said that the foundations of Glasgow were established in Righteousness, and we might venture to add that never since its foundation has Righteousness departed from its gates. True, the city has been to some extent favoured by its situation beside the banks of a noble river, and by its contiguity to rich fields of mineral wealth. But it was not more favourably situated in those respects than other towns and villages which were at one time larger and more impor- tant than itself, though these have remained practically but towns and villages to this day : and the conclusion is forced 7G4931 is- PREFACE. upon us that the wonderful growth and importance of Glasgow, are due more to the character and enterprise of its founders and citizens . tlian to any mere external advantage of situation or circumstance. In the following pages we have endeavoured to collate from almost every source available to us, a few of the more graphic and striking sketches of life and character from the History of Glasgow, at its different stages, partly with the view of stimulating our readers to a more systematic and consecutive study of that History, and partly with the view of exhibiting some of the essential principles and underlying forces of the city's progress and prosperity, so that our young readers especially may not become bewildered with the multitudinous and ever increasing details of our city's life and interests, but come into living contact with its heart and spirit, and thus become partakers of its inner life, and conduct their own lives in harmony with its best and noblest traditions. We make no pretence to originality of research. The only merit we claim is that of careful selec- tion and combination ; and of having kept steadily in view, the elucidation of what we consider to be the leading and guid- ing principles that have gone to make Glasgow what it now undoubtedly is, the Second City in the United Kingdom. Like the Pojndar History of Glasgov;, published seven years ago, the present work is chiefly intended for the rising generation of our citizens, and to those others who have not had the opportunity of perusing the larger and costlier works that have been written ; and to these classes we trust the book will aflbrd some pleasure and instruction. Glasgow, March, 1SS9. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE STORY OF SAINT MUNGO. PAGES Saint Mmigo and King Morken — The Queen of Cadzow — Other Legends — Tlie Long Interreguni, . . . 9-20 CHAPTER II. THE CATHEDRAL AMD ITS BISHOPS. The Erection of the Cathedral — Sketches of its more Cele- brated Prelates— The Old Bridge of Glasgow, . . 20-35 CHAPTER III. THE bishop's castle AND MANOR HOUSES. Earlier and Later Conditions of the Castle — Manor Houses at Anderston, Partick, Lochwood, Carstairs, &c., . 35-40 CHAPTER IV. THE UNIVERSITY AND SOME NOTABLE PROFESSORS. Foundation of the University — Sketches of Zachary Boyd — David Dickson — Robert Baillie — Robert Wodrow — Robert Simson — Adam Smith — Thomas Reid — Modern Professors — Anecdotes, ...... 41-65 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. DISTINGUISHED STUDENTS OF GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. PAGES Sketches of Sir William Alexander — George Buchanan — Sir William Hamilton— John Wilson — Francis Jeffrey — James Smith — Archibald Smith — Tobias Smollett, 65-77 CHAPTER VI. SKETCHES OF NOTABLE POETS AND LITERARY MEN. Mrs. Grant — Michael Scott — Dougal Graham — Rev. .James Grahame — Thomas Campbell — Robert Macnish — Wm. Motherwell —John Strang — William Glen — John D. Carrick — Diigald Moore — John Gibson Lockhart — Hugh Macdonald — Sir Arch. Alison — Henry Glassford Bell — James Hedderwick — William Black — -James H. Stoddart — William Freeland — Minor Poets — Anec- dotes of Authors, 77-123 CHAPTER VII. COACHING AND THE PO.ST OFFICE IX OLDEN TIMES. Express Postal Despatches — A Ship Insurance Anecdote — - Mail Coach Adventures — Newspapers at the Tontine —A Love Story, . . ." 123-133 CHAPTER VIII. TOBACCO LORDS AND EARLY MERCHANTS. Early Traders — Glasgow Privateering — Anecdotes of Bailie Mitchell — Rise of the Tobacco Trade — Cunninghame of Lainshaw — Speirs of Ehlerslie — Glassford of Dugald- stone — Ritchie of Craigton and Busliie— Campbells of Blytliswood — James Finlay & Co. — Alonteitiis of Anderston — Anecdotes of David Dale — Tonnants of St. Rollox — Prosperity of Modern Merchants — Anec- dotes, .......... 133167 CHAPTER IX. ON THE MANNERS AND HABITS OF OCR FOREFATUEES. Dinner Parties in Olden Times — The Fashions and Local Manufactures — Police Establishment — " Jaikey " Brown and the " Eerish " — John Douglas of Barloch — Religious Orthodoxy and Bigcjtry — Anecdotes of Rev. Mr. Thorn, &c., 168-179 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER X. A MEDICAL CHAPTER. I'AOKS Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons — The Andersonian University — University Faculty of Medicine — Short Sketches of Glasgow Medical Men — Peter Low — Robert Hamilton — William Hunter — Matthew Baillie — Joseph Black — William Hamilton — Allan Burns — John Moore — Colin Douglas — Alexander Stevenston — Dr. Drumgold — William Mackenzie — Geo. C. Mon- teath — Andrew Buchanan— Medical and " What you Please" Clubs— The Resurrectionists— A Doctor and his Fee, 179-19S CHAPTER XL MODERN RELIGIOUS LIFE IN GLASGOW. Sketches of Thomas Chalmers — Edward Irving — Robert Gillan — Norman Macleod of Barony — William Ander- son — David Stow — Mary Ann Clough — The Foundry Boys' Society — Anecdotes, 199-242 CHAPTER XIL SKETCHES OF SOME ODD CHARACTERS OF GLASGOW. Samuel Hunter of the //erct/r/— Robert M'.Nair, Jean Holmes & Co. — Stirling of Keir — Anecdotes of "Hawkie" — William Dunn of Duntocher, . . 242-255 CHAPTER XIII. MISCELLANEOUS STORIES AND ANECDOTES. Romantic Story of Governor Macrae — Jenny Geddes out- done — Another Shawfield Riot — A Deputation to London in the Olden Time — Two Remarkable Coal- pit Adventures— The Wail of the Old Canal, . . 256-272 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Pp. 196. PRICE 3s. 6d. A Popular Sketch of the History of Glasgow, FROM THE EARLIEST TO THE PRESENT TIME. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. Ghtsrjow Herald ;— " A bit of fair historical work is worth a ton of poor novels; and in that light, Mr. "Wallace's Hkctch oj the History of (•tlasfjov} is of very considerable value. . . . We very heartily commend it to all lovers of their native city. It is cheap and good." North British Daily Mail .—"'Mr. Wallace merits unstinted praise for the satisfactory style in which he has performed a seasonable bit of work, and supplied a long felt want. If the reception of his book corresponds with its deserts, it wiU find its way into thousands of Glasgow homes." Evenimj Citizen :—" Orion," in "Tangled Talk," says— " I cordially recommend Mr. Wallace's most readable and racy, yet accurate and valuable SMch of the History of Glasgow, to the inhabitants of, the second city in the Empire." Glasfjow News: — "We can cordially commend the book as a clear, well arranged, comprehensive, and enjoyable account of our city's histoiy. Embodying all tliat is generally interesting about its past career, its historical associations and its individual celebrities, with the part which the citizens have taken in public movements, in commercial enterprise and scientific discovery." Paisley and Benfreicshire Gazette :—" I\Ir. Wallace takes his readers along very pleasantly, beguiling the way by the narration of many curious events, so judiciously intermingled as to give one a good deal of insight into not only the political but the social life of the centuries. This compact little history vnll be found very useful and most interesting." Hamilton Advertiser :—"^ye have enjoyed the book thorouglily, and advise all who are interested in Glasgow to make its immediate ac(iuain- tance." PUBLISHED BY THOMAS D. MORISOX, 225 INGRAM STREET, GLASGOW. POPULAR TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. CHAPTER I. THE STORY OF SAIXT MUNGO — THE LOXG IXTERREGNUM. " But if some pilgrim through the glade Thy hallowed bowers explore, O guard from harm his hoary head And listen to his lore ; For he of joys divine shall tell, That wean from earthly wo, And triumph o'er the mighty spell That chains his heart below. " — Bcattie. No book relating to Ancient Glasgow would be considered at all satisfactory that did not contain some I'eference to its worthy and holy Founder, Saint Kentigern or Saint Mungo ; and although it may be to most of our readers a thrice-told tale, we cannot refrain from relating briefly the half mythical story of his life and the wonderful legends attached thereto. There are two ditFerent accounts of the date of this holy man's birth. One gives it in the year 514, the other in 527. The latter is the more probable. He is said to have l>een born at Culross on the Firth of Forth, and to have been the illegitimate son of a British prince variously named Owen ab Urien Rheged and Eugenius or Ewan Eufurien, king of Cumbria, and of a British princess named Dwynwen or Thenew. He was educated under the kindly and judicious care of Servanus or St. Serf who presided over a monastery on the banks of the Eastern Firth, and is reported to have been greatly beloved of that holy father. Hence his name B 10 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W. of ^lungo or Mungu — dear friend.* He found his way to Cathures — an ancient name for a place at or near Glasgow — about the year 550 when he was about 23 years of age, and it is supposed that he was consecrated as Bishop of that See about two years thereafter. A halo of sanctity appears to have surrounded the youthful priest from an early period of his life, for there is a legend attaching to his appearance on the banks of the Clyde which bears some faint resemblance to the story of the aged Simeon who waited for the coming of our Lord. The legend is to the effect that on the same night on which Kentigern left Servanus, he lodged in the house or cell of a holy man named Fergus, who lived in a place called Kearnach to whom it had been revealed that he should not die till he had seen the holy Kentigern. He expired immediately after the Saint entered his house, and Kentigern having placed the body on a car to which were yoked two wild bulls, he commanded his friends to carry it to the place ordained by the Lord. This order they meekly obeyed, and followed by the Saint and a great multitude, carried the body to Cathures, where they Ijuried it beneath some ancient trees, near a forsaken cemetery that had been consecrated by Saint Ninian, a famous man of God in those early times. On that very spot it is said was afterwards reared the transept of our noble Cathedral, and the aisle 'or crypt of which was dedicated to Fergus. On a stone in the roof over the entrance to this aisle there is carved a rude inscription of the dead monk extended on the car with the inscription " Tliis is the He of Car Fergus.^' The people of Scotland at that time appear to have been only partially converted and they were — in Clydesdale — under the reign of a wicked king named Morken who con- ceived a great dislike to the holy Kentigern, and at last succeeded in dri\'ing him from his See and compelling liim to take refuge in Wales where he founded a Monastery afterwards named after one of his disciples, St. Asaph. * While the above is the popular tradition regarding tlie birthplace jind training of Kentigern, it is proper to state that the present Mar'iuis of Bute — who lias given a good deal of attention to ancient Ecclesiastical histoiy — throws doubt upon tiie assertion that Kentigern was born in Culross ; while according to several other authorities of note, among whom may be mentioned Mr. Skene and Mr. A. Macgeorge, it would appear that .Servanus livelays it may be mentioned liere, that so early as 1170 Ingleram, Bishop of (Jlasgow, leased to Richard Moreville, the constable, the whole tenitory of (Jillcnioriston for fifteen years, and received from him beforehand the sum of three hundrcl marks as a iine ttr f/nixinn. THE FIRST CATHEDRALS. 23 His successor in the See of Glasgow was the excellent Joceline, Abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of Melrose. He was consecrated at Clairvaux on 1st June, 1175, by Esceline, the Pope's Legate. He also resisted the encroach- ment of York ; and contended that the successors of St. Kehtigern were subject to no primate, but were vicars of the apostolic See itself, and took precedence and had power even above kings, so long as Cumbria was a kingdom. When Joceline came to the See he enlarged the Cathedral, and rebuilt it in a more substantial manner than formerly. The work was begun about the year 1181, and finished in 1197. This latter event is recorded by Winton, the old prior of Lochleven, in the following lines : — " When Joacline the Bishop of Glasgow. He hallowed the Kirk of St. Mungo. Tliat was a thousand one hundred year And seven and ninety to that clear. That was done most solemnly, That year the fourth day of July." The Cathedral erected by Bishop Joceline however, seems also to have been of a temporary character, and with the ■exception of a pillar and part of the vaulting in the south- west corner of the Crypt, was superseded by the pi-esent magnificent structure, which was begun during the episco- pate of Bishop Bondington in 1233. It was during the time of Joceline that Glasgow was made a Burgh of Barony in the holding of the bishops ; and he procured many other privileges to the inhabitants to encourage the trade and commerce of the town. After an honoured episcopate of twenty-four years, the good Bishop departed this life on the 17th March, 1199. In turn he was succeeded by William Malvoisin the chancellor, who was elected in the same year 1199, and ■consecrated in France by the Archbishop of Lyons in 1200; but before he sat two full years, he was translated to the Episcopal See of St. Andrews. (According to Cleland, a Society of Fishers was formed in Glasgow in the year 1201. These men lived in a row of houses fronting the river which was called the Fisher's gate, till the bridge was built when it was called Bridgeyate. Salt for curing the Society's fish having been sold in the vicinity of the Fisher's gate, gave name to the Saltmarket.) 24 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. Walter, cliaplain to the king, was elected bishop towai'ds the close of 1207, and was consecrated by licence of the Pope, at Glasgow, on the 2nd November, 1208. He died in 1232. During the reign of the last three prelates, the Church of Glasgow steadily increased in wealth and power. It acquired the patronage of many churches round about ; and fruitful lands were added to its already broad domains, and the most powerful nobles in the country trembled at the frown of the Church dignitaries. The proud families of Carrick and Lennox paid tribute to the Bishop of Glasgow, and the son of the Earl of Carrick, in token of repentance for injuries he had formerly inflicted on the Church, gave a church and some land to the parish of Straiten within the diocese. The next bishop was William dc Bondington, Arch- deacon of Lothian, who was the descendent of a Roxburgh- shire family, and was consecrated at Glasgow, on the Sunday after the Nativity of the Virgin, 1233, by j\ndrew, Bishop of Moray. This prelate introduced the ritual of Sarum, composed by Bishop Osmund about 1076, into his diocese, which form of divine service continued till the Reformation. He also established the liberties and customs of Salisbury as the future constitution of the Cathedral of Glasgow. It is further said of this bishop that he made great additions to the building of the cathedral, to which very little had been done since the days of Joceline. In- deed, it is supposed by Mr. Honeyman, architect, and others that Bishop Bondington was the founder of the present cathedral, as very little of the former cathedral was retaine'd when he began his building operations. He built the beautiful choir, which, the late Mr. James Pagan says, " is the most sacred part of the edifice, in which the prin- cipal altars weic erected and high mass was performed, and is an exquisite specimen of the early English style. In length from the centre of the piers of the great tower to those whicli support its eastern gable, and separate it from the Lady Clia[)el, the choir is ninety-seven feet ; the width is thirty ; and tlie side aisles sixteen feet three inches each; the height of the main storey, triforium and clarestories, are the same as the nave -viz., thirty-one, tliirteen and eighteen feet six inclies respectively. The main arches of the choir are on each side, five in number, resting upon majestic BISHOP ROBERT WISH ART. 25 columns, having rich and beautifully cut foliaged capitals all diflferent in design, but harmonizing in their general appearance. On the vaulting are seen numerous coats of arms of the different bishops and prebends ; amongst these, on the left of the high altar are the royal arms of Scotland, placed there in the time of James IV, who was himself a canon and member of the chapter." This bishop also founded about 1246, the Blackfriars Monastery, the site of which is now occupied by the Black- friars Parish Church. Bishop Bondington in his later years resided much in his native border land, and died at his house at Ancrum on 12th November, 1258, and was buried at Melrose Abbey, near the high altar. Robert Wishart, Archdeacon of Lothian, was consecrated at Aberdeen in 1272, by the Bishops of Aberdeen, Moray, and Dunblane. This warlike prelate, who was a descendant of the ancient family of the Wisharts of Pitarrow of the shire of Kincardine, affords a singular example of inex- tinguishable patriotism under the tyranny of circumstances, while the rapidity with which he changed sides, and the ease with which he took oaths and violated them, give a strange insight into the morality of the times. At the competition for the throne between Bruce and Baliol, the bishop took the oath of fealty to Edward, but was the first to break it by instigating Baliol to ravage the English territories. The fate of Baliol being sealed, he hastened to swear homage to the English king ; but scarcely had Edward reached the Continent, than he stimulated Wallace and Bruce to arms, and joined them clad in mail at the head of his retainers. Again fortune frowned on his country, and again he took the oath of fealty, only to break it ere a month had passed, by instigating a new rebellion. A fourth time he solemnly submitted, but only to march against the Prince of Wales, at that time acting in Galloway against Wallace and Bruce. Again he vowed and repeated his oath, at St. Andrews, in presence of the assembled barons of both countries. But on the rise of Bruce he hastened to give him plenary absolution for the murder of Comyn, robed him at his coronation, and preached a holy crusade against the oppressors of his country. The very timber which Edward had given him to build the steeple at Glasgow, he converted into engines with which he stormed the Castle of Kii-kin- c 26 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. tilloch. He shared in all the changes of his country, and spent his last years in furnishing Fordun with materials for his chronicle of the times. He died on the 26th November, 1316, and was interred in the Cathedral Church between the altars of St. Peter and St. Andrew. Afterwards John Lindsay, a younger brother of the Lindsays of Crawford, was preferred to the See in 1322. There are two different accounts regarding the fate of this prelate. One that he died and was buried in the cathedral in 1335. The other account is a more tragic and romantic one, which is given on the authority of the Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, and which runs as follows : — " About the Feast of the Assumption, 1337, two ships com- ing from France to Scotland were encountered and taken after a stout resistance by John de Ros, the English ad- miral. On board were John de Lindsay, Bishop of Glasgow, and with him many noble ladies of Scotland, and men-at- arms, and much armour, and £30,000 of money, and the instruments of agreement and treaty between France and Scotland. The men-at-arms were all slain or drowned in the sea. The Lord-Bishop and part of these noble ladies, for very grief refused to eat or drink, and died before the fleet made the land. Their bodies are buried at Wystande in England." The famous William Rae was the next Bishop of Glasgow, who appears to have reigned from 1337 till 1367. To this prelate is assigned the honour of having built the stone bridge o\er the Clyde, called the old (xlasgow Bridge, and more recently the Stockwell Bridge, which is said to have been built in 1345 or 1350, and stood through storm and tide till the year 1850. Regarding this bridge ^Ir. Andrew MacGeorge says : — "The foundations of this old bridge had been laid in what was then the bed of the river, by Bishop Rae in the year 1350 ; and when the bridge was taken down in 1850, the remarkable fact became apparent that the original foundations had stood no less than tivo feet dbove the modern bed. It was also found that means had been taken from time to time to compensate the lowering process by artificially raising the portion of the channel immediately adjoining the piers, partly by compact masses of stone, and partly by strong ranges of piles. The old foundations had been laid on beams of oak, and it is interesting to know that THE OLD GLASGOW BRIDGE. 27 when they were taken out after the lapse of 500 years, they were found to be as fresh as when first put in. This, however, is not so surprising when we know that the older Canoes found under the Trongate were comparatively fresh when found, although they had been made from oaks which must have been growing where Glasgow now is, at least 4,000 years ago." According to M'Ure, it would appear that Bishop Rae was assisted in his good work of erecting the bridge by the Lady Lochow, who is said to have contribiited the third arch at the north end. There were eight arches in all, and they continued entire till the year 1671, when the south- most arch fell, but was quickly replaced at the cost of the community. Bishop Rae governed the See till his death on 27th January, 1367. His successor was Walter Wardlaw, Archdeacon of Lothian, who held the office from 1368 to 1387. He was of the Wardlaws of Torry, in Fife, and was so much employed in embassies and negotiations with foreign powers that he was created a cardinal by Pope Urban VI in the year 1381. He was uncle to an even more famous prelate — viz.. Bishop Henry Wardlaw, of St. Andrews, who held that office for the long period of thirty-six years. Bishop Walter's coat-of-arms is placed near the middle of the choir of our cathedral, on the right side of the high altar, and over it his name — Wcdterus Carditialus — was inscriljed in gilded Saxon letters. After the death of Cardinal Wardlaw the Pope tried to intrude a friar minor named John Framisden into the See, and craved the assistance of Richard II for his settlement by force, but the attempt proved a failure ; and the next Bishop was Matthew Glendinning, a Galloway man, of a notable family. He had formerly been a Prebendary or Canon of Glasgow. He was a man of parts, and was much employed in the public transactions that were in agitation between Scotland and England. During his reign the steeple of the cathedral, which had been built of wood fi'om Lochlomond by one of his predecessors, was struck by light- ning, and burned down. Glendinning collected materials for building it of stone, but the work was not commenced when he died in 1108. 28 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. The next Bishop was William Lauder, of the ancient family of the Lauders of Hatton-in-the-Merse, who was presented to the Bishopric by Pope Benedict XIII of his own authority, without the election of the Chapter ; but his appointment was not disputed. It is believed that Lauder carried on and completed the building of the exist- ing spire of the cathedral. He also built the beautiful crypt below the Chapter-house, and carried up a part of the west storey, but death prevented him finishing his design. In 1423-4 he was made Chancellor of the Kingdom, and at the same time he was honoured by being appointed Pleni- potentiary from Scotland to negotiate with the Court of England for the relief and ransom of James I, who had been virtually a prisoner there for eighteen years. Bishop Lauder died on 14th June, 1425. His arms are carved a short way up on the outside of the western wall of the cathedral. The successor to Lauder in the Bishopric of Glasgow was the notable John Cameron, of the family of Lochiel, and commonly called the "magnificent." He had formerly been Provost of Lincluden Abbey, near Dumfries, and Secretary of State, and occupied the See of Glasgow from 1426 to 1446. He was also promoted to the Chancellorship, which he held till 1440; and filled during his lifetime a good many other public offices. He resumed the building of the chapter-house of the cathedral. His arms are carved upon the central pillar which supports its groined roof, and they are also placed on the western wall outside, a little above those of Bishop Laudei-. He is also credited with the com- pletion of the Lady Chapel ; and, as we will see further on, he built the Great Tower of the Bishop's Castle. Cameron was a man of great state and ambition. The See of Glasgow during his reigii reached the height of its temporal prosperity. But it does not appear that he was greatly noted for sanctity of character. Old M'Ure says of him — " But for all the good things Bishop Cameron did, and which is strange, he is as little l)eholden to the charity of our historians as any man in his time.'' Buchanan and Spottiswoode, the histori- ans, characterised him as a very worldly kind of man, and a great oppressor, especially of his vassals within the Bishopric. Moreover, both of these authors declare that he made a fearful and tragical exit at his country seat of Lochwood, TRAGIC DEATH OF BISHOP CAMERON. 29 five or six miles north-east of the city of Glasgow, on Christmas Eve, 1446. The legend regarding his death is thus given by Spottiswoode : — "In the year 1446, the night before Christmas day, as he lay asleep in his house of Lochwood, some seven miles from the city of Glasgow, he seemed to hear a voice summoning him before the Tribunal of Christ, and give an account of his doings Thereupon he awaked, and being greatly terrified, did call his servants to bring lights and sit by him. He himself took a book in his hand, and began to read; but the voice being again heard, struck all the servants with amazement. The same voice calling a third time, far louder and more fearfully, the Bishop, after a heavy groali, was found dead in the bed, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.'" The worthy William TurnbuU, to whom is ascribed the honour of founding our noble University, became Bishop in the year 1450. Bishop Turnbull belonged to the family of Turnbull of Minto, in Roxburghshire, and was formerly Archdeacon of Lothian and Keeper of the Privy Seal. During his occupation of the See he obtained from James II a charter erecting the town and patrimonies of the Bishopric into a regality ; and after he did many acts highly beneficial to the age in which he lived, and worthy to be remembered by posterity, died at Rome, on the 3rd September, 1454. He was succeeded by Andrew Muirhead, a Canon of the See, who belonged to a Lanarkshire family, and who was consecrated in 1455. He founded and endowed the St. Nicholas Hospital, one of the earliest of our charitable institutions, situated near the Bishop's Castle. He also repaired the north aisle of the Cathedral, and, according to M'Ure, "founded the clerical vicars, and built apartments for them to the north of the Cathedral in that place where there are only gardens now (1736), and are called the vicar alleys." Muirhead was much employed in the public service, having been a member of the Regency during the minority of James III ; several times a commissioner to treat with England ; and one of the ambassadors to negotiate the marriage of James with Margaret, "the maiden of Norway," in 1468. He died 20th November, 1473. Robert Blackadder, Bishop of Aberdeen, was elevated to the See of St. Mungo in 1484. He belonged to the Black- 30 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. adders of Berwickshire. He stood high in the estimation of his countrymen, for we are told that on the very day of the Battle of Sauchie, in which James III was slain, he repaired to the Castle of Edinburgh, and secured and took an inventory of the jewels, plate, and apparel, which belonged to the late king at the time of his decease, although it would appear this duty had been loosely per- formed, as part of the treasures were stolen. Shortly after this, Whitelaw, sub-dean of Glasgow, was made secretary to the young king, James IV. Blackadder was also honoured by being appointed commissioner, along with the Earl of Bothwell and Andrew Forman, Apostolical Protho- notary, to arrange the preliminaries of the marriage of James lY to the Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry YII of England. The treaty for this marriage was finally signed in the Palace of Richmond on the 24th January, 1502. When the proposition was made before the English pri\-y council, one of the lords present objected that '"the Princess Margaret being next heir to her brother Henry, England might chance to become a province of Scotland." " No," replied king Henry, " the smaller will ever follow the larger kingdom." And so the wisdom of the king was commended, and the Lady Margaret granted to the king of Scotland. It was during Blackadder's occupancy that the See of Glasgow was erected into an archbishopric. INI 'lire says this was in 1473, but that is an error, for Blackadder did not succeed to the See till 1484 ; and it would appear that the real date was 1491. The See of St. Andrew's had been erected into an archbishopric about the same time ; and it would appear that the two prelates were for some time engaged in a violent litigation before the pope, respecting their jurisdiction, the expense of which, it was declared, had been attended with "inestimable damage to the realm." The king, at the request of his parliament, interfered and threatened, if they did not witlidraw their suit, thoir tenants would be interdicted from paying their rents ! Towards the close of his career, Archljishop Blackadder undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, but being novv far advanced in life, liis strength proved insuthcient for the fatigues of the journey and voyage, and lie died on 28th July, 1508, when almost ii\ sight of the Arabian shore. ARCHBISHOP JAMES BEATON. 31 James Bethune, or Beaton, was the second Archbishop of the See. He was of the house of Balfour in Fife, and was uncle to the famous Cardinal Beaton. After taking Holy Orders, he was made, in 1503, Provost of the Collegiate Church of Bothwell ; and next year was chosen Abbot of Dunfermline. In 1505 he became Lord High Treasurer for Scotland, and about three years afterwards, was promoted to the Bishopric of Galloway. But before he had filled that office a year he was elevated to the Archbishopric of Glasgow, being appointed to the See on 9th November, 1508, and consecrated at Stirling on 15th April, 1509. He held other great benefices, such as the Abbacies of Arbroath and Kilwinning. Beaton enclosed his palace at Glasgow with a noble stone wall of ashlar work, with a bastian on the one angle, and a stately tower, with an embattled wall on the other — fronting the High Street — where were fixed, in different places, his coat of arms. He also increased the altars in the choir of the Cathedral, and did good work in building and repairing bridges within the regality. In 1515 he was made Chancellor of the Kingdom by the Regent Albany, and was translated to the See of St. Andrew's in 1523. Like most of the eminent clerics of those times, Archbishop Beaton took a prominent part in the party struggles of his day, and in the quarrel between the houses of Angus and Hamilton he espoused the cause of the latter. On the 29th April, 1520, a convention was held in Edinburgh to compose the differences of the two parties. The Hamiltons appeared in military guise, and Beaton, their chief counsellor, sat in his house at the bottom of Blackfriars Wynd (or lane) with armour under his robes, ready to join the forces of the Hamiltons in the event of a quarrel. Gavin Douglas was deputed by his nephew, the Earl of Angus, to remon- strate with the Archbishop against the hostile preparations of his party. In trying to gloss over the matter, Beaton struck his hand upon his breast, and swore by his conscience that he knew nought of it, and in doing so the mail vinder his gown rattled. Douglas replied with double meaning, " Methinks, my lord, your conscience clatters." In the conflict that ensued in the streets, the Hamiltons were worsted, and Beaton had to take refuge in the Blackfriars Church. Being found there by the Douglases, he had his rochet torn from his back, and would have been slain on the 32 TRADITIOXS OF GLASGOW. spot, but was saved through the interposition of the Bishop of Dunkekl. He had to retire into obscurity for a time, but was brought back into public life by the Duke of Albany, and promoted to the See of St. Andrew's as stated above. It is further said that the insurrection of the Earl of Lennox, in 1525, which ended in the triumph of the Douglases and the death of the Earl at Linlithgow Bridge, was stirred up by the xVrchbishop as a means of emancipating the king. After this unhappy event, the Douglases persecuted him with such keenness that to save his life he assumed the guise of a shepherd, and tended an actual flock upon Bagrian Knowe in Fife, until he made his peace with Angus by great gifts, both in money and in church lands. Beaton died in 1539. His successor in the See of Glasgow was Gavin Dunbar, of Mochrum, in Wigtonshire, who was consecrated at Edinburgh on 5th Feljruary, 1525. He was educated at our University, and being a man of learning he became tutor to James V, holding at the same time the office of Prior of Whithorn. His qualifications soon attracted the notice of the Lords of the Regency, who elevated him to the Arehliishopric, and in 1526 he was further promoted to the Chancellorship of the Kingdom. About the year 1544, he built the noble gate-house at the Arch-Episcopal Palace. Dunbar was a man of amiable and gentle manners, and was opposed to the violent and cruel measures that were being adopted for extirpating the doctrines of the early reformers. He was, however, somewhat bigoted and narrow-minded, and when a Bill was brought into Parliament in 1542, to allow the reading of the Bible in the common tongue, he protested against allowing " that the Holy Write be writ in our vulgar tongue." The Bill passed notwithstanding. He held the office of Archbishop for the long period of 23 years, and died on 30th April, 1547. He was buried in a stately tomb in the Cathedral, which was, however, entirely swept away by the over-heated zeal of the reformers in after years. James Bethune or Beaton, nephew to the celebrated cardinal, and at that time Abbot of Arbroath, was preferred to the See, and consecrated at Rome in 1552. He now became one of the most important per.sonages of the king- dom ; he enjoyed the confidence of the Governor, the Earl QUEEN MARY AND THE ARCHBISHOP. 33 of Arran; his niece, Mary Beaton, oiie of the " Four Maries," was the favourite of the young Queen Mary, then residing in France ; and he was esteemed very highly by the Queen- Dowager, Mary of Lorraine, who was aspiring to the Hegency. During the subsequent sway of the Queen- Regent, the Archl)ishop enjoyed her highest contidence. It was to him that she handed the celebrated letter ■addressed to lier hy John Knox, saying, with a careless air, "Please you, my lord, to read a pasquil." In 1557, when the marriage of the youthful ]Mary to the Dauphin of France was about to take place, James Beaton stood the first of the Parliamentary Commissioners appointed to be present at the ceremony. After his return in 1558 he acted as Privy Councillor to the Queen Regent, till she was unable any longer to contend witla the advtu.cing tide of the Reformation. In November, 1559, his former friend, the Earl of Arran, who had now become a leading Reformer, came Avith a powerful retinue to Glasgow, and cleared the ■cathedral of all tlie images, placing a garrison at the same time in the Archliishop's Palace. Beaton soon after recov- ered his Palace by means of a few French soldiers ; but he speedily found that neither he nor his religion could main- tain a permanent footing in the country. In June, 1560, the Queen-Regent expired, almost at tlie very moment when her authority became extinct. Her French troops sailed next month for tlieir native country ; and in the same ship was the Archlnshop of Glasgow, along with all the plate and records of the Cathedral, which he said he would never return till the Catholic faith would again be triumpliant in Scotland. ■Some of these articles were of great value. There was a gold image of Christ, and silver images of the twelve apostles. There were also two chartularies, one of which had been written in the reign of Robert III, and was called the Red Book of Glasgoio. All these objects were deposited in the Scots College at Paris, where the MSS. continued to be of use to Scottish antiquarians up to the period of tlie French Revolution, when it is Ijelieved they were destroyed or 'tlispersed. Beaton was received by Queen Mary at Paris with the distinction due to the trusted councillor to her late mother. On her departure next year to assume the reins of government in Scotland, she left him in cliarge of 34 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. her affairs in France. He spent the rest of his life as. ambassador from the Scottish Court to the French Kinsr. During this period Mary addressed him frequently in her own hand, and a letter in which she details to him the circumstances of her husband's death is a well known historical document. In 1587 James YI restored Beaton his title and estates, as Archbishop of Glasgow, a proceeding quite anomalous, as the Presbyterian religion was now established in Scotland. The Archbishop died on 24th April, 1603, in the 86th year of his age. He had been ambassador to three generations of the Scottish Royal family, and had seen in France a succession of six kings. He had also the satisfaction of seeing his sovereign accede to the English throne. James, learned the intelligence of his death while on his journey to London, and innnediately appointed the historian, Spottis- woode, as his successor in the Cathedral Chair of Glasgow. Spottiswoode speaks of him as "a man honourably disposed, faithful to the Queen while she lived, and to the King, her son. A lover of his country, and liberal according to his means to all his counti-ymen." He died in possession of a fortune of £80,000, all of which he left to the Scots College, for the benefit of poor scholars in Scotland — a gift sa munificent that he was afterwards considered as the second founder of the institution, the first being the Bishop of Moray in 132.5. Archbishop Beaton was the last of the long line of lloman Catholic prelates of the See of Glasgow, and from the brief sketches gi\en above, it will be seen that many of them were men of great influence and power not only in the city, but in the kingdom. Mr. Cosmo Innes, in closing his valuable preface to the Eegistrum Episcopahis Glasguensi» beautifully remarks : — " It is impossible for a student of ecclesiastical anticjuitics not to look back with fond regret to the lordly and I'uincil cliurch which we have traced from its cradle to its grave, not stopping to question its doctrines,, and throwing into a friendly shade its errors of practice. And yet, if we consider it more deeply, we may be satisfied that the gorgeous fabric fell not till it had completed its work, and was no longer useful. Institutions, like mortal bodies, die and are reproducctl. Nations pass away, and the worthy live again in their colonies. Our own proud THE BISHOPS CASTLE. 35- and free England may be destined to sink, and to leave only a memory, and those offshoots of her vigorous youth which have spread civilization over half the world. In this, view it was not unworthy of that splendid hierarchy, which arose out of the humble family of St. Kentigern, to have- given life and vigour to such a city as Glasgow, and a school of learning like her University." CHAPTER III. THE bishop's castle AND MANOR HOUSES. " Many have told of the monks of old, What a saintly race they were ; But 'tis more true that a merrier crew You could not find elsewhere : For they sang and tliey laughed, And the rich wine quaffed, And they lived on the daintiest cheer." — Old Song. The large and stately editice called the Bishop's Castle,, stood on a prominent site a little to the west of the cathe- dral, and after lying in a ruinous condition for many years it was entirely demolished and its ruins removed in 1789-90, when the present Royal Intirmary was erected. Of its earliest history there does not appear to be any record. It is mentioned in an old charter as early as TJOO. At first a mere fortress or place of strength, its extension and improvement was the work of successive prelates, and this work was done according to their varied tastes and the circumstances of the times. It is said to have been occu- pied for the space of three days by Edward I of England in 1301. The "great tower" and some other pai-ts of the structure were built by the " magnificent " prelate, John Cameron, of the Lochiel family, between 1430 and 1450. A smaller tower was built by Archbishop Beaton a short time before the battle of Flodden in 1513, and he alsa surrounded the castle with a protecting wall. A very handsome gateway was erected by Archbishop Dunbar, tlie last but one of the Roman Catholic prelates who died in 1547 ; and this was in all likelihood, the last kindly hand 36 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. lent to the extension and embellishment of the ecclesias- tical palace of Glasgow. The Protestant prelates partially repaired and occasionally resided in the castle ; but the insecure character of their own tenure, and the disjointed times in which they lived, confined their attention merely to keeping the place habitable. Morer, who wrote his short account of Scotland about 1689, says that " at the upper end of the great street stands the Archbishop's palace, formerly, without doubt, a very magnificent structure, but now in ruins." In 1690, however, when Captain Slezer drew his j^icture of Glasgow, the building was evidently quite entire externally ; for all its turrets are sharply defined, and Bishop Dunbar's handsome gateway occupies a prominent position in the foreground. Within this castle the bishops, in the palmy days of the See, kept a splendid court, and entertaining as they did, princes and other visitors of rank, their expenditure must have been considerable. Behind the castle were the bishop's stables, and immediately to the north of these was what was called the Stable Green Port, so named because of its proximity to the episcopal mews. Attached to the castle were beautiful gardens and spacious courts ; and we are told that it was in the "inner flower garden" that the Archbishop in 1553, received the Provost and Council of the city, when they waited upon him for the purpose of his nominating the Bailies for the year. But after the Reformation the fortunes of the castle began to decline. Yet although the building was becoming ruinous, and the Archbishops were poor, they still exercised a limited hospi- tality, but it was little they could afford to do in that way. We give two interesting glimpses of the castle ; one in its palmiest days, when Cameron the " magnificent " occupied it ; the other in the post-Reformation days. Regarding the former of these periods we are told that, " the proudest days of the Episcopal Palace were probably those when Bishop Cameron was its occupant. While pro- vidinof for the renovation and enlargement of his own peculiar residence, he at the same time compelled the thirty-one members of his chapter to build suitable houses for themselves in its immediate neighbourhood (viz., in the Rottenrow and its vicinity), and thus did much to add to the size and appearance of the town. The ancient castle THE BISHOP'S CASTLE. 37 was then surrounded with many new, and for the period, handsome erections, and itself adorned with sundry impos- ing additions." It is also recorded that " Cameron worthily earned the title of the ' magnificent prelate,' and that the great resort of dignified ecclesiastics, and of noblemen of the first consideration rendered the court of tliis spiritual prince not much second to that of royalty itself. He was fond of celebrating the great Festivals of the Church ; and on these occasions he entered the choir of the cathedral through the nave, by the great western door, preceded by many high officials, one of whom bore his silver crozier or pastoral stafi", and the others carried costly maces and other emblems. These were follov.'ed by the members of the chapter, and the procession moved on amidst the ringing of bells, the pealing of the great organ, and the vocal swell of the choristers, who were gorgeously arrayed in vestments of high price; the Te Deum was then sung, and high mass cele- brated." [Macgregor^s History of Glasgow.) Regarding the condition of the Bishop's Castle towards, the middle of the seventeenth century Sir William Brereton says, " going into the hall of the castle, which is a poor and mean place, the Archbishoj^'s daughter a handsome and well bred proper gentlewoman, entertained me with much civil respect, and would not suffer me to depart until I had drunk Scotch ale, which was the best I had tasted in Scotland." This, says Mr. Macgeorge, was in 1634. The Archbishop was Patrick Lindsay, a descendant of an old branch of the Earl of Crawford, a quiet gentlemanly man by all accounts. In 1638, when matters came to a crisis he was deposed and excommunicated with the other bishops by the General Assembly, when he left the castle and with- drew into England, where he died in poverty. But it is pleasant to know that his handsome and hospitable daughter was well married. Before the Reformation, the meetings of the Town Council appear to have been held in the Castle, but after the flight of Beaton they were removed to the Old Tolbooth at the Cross. Under date, 28th September, 1576, there is an entry in the Burgh Accounts of a payment "for bringing down of the Counsal hous burds furth of the Castell," and another for the bringing of " furmes, coilles, and peittis^ fra the Castell." 38 TRADITIOXS OF GLASGOW. The Bishop's Castle was twice besieged. In the course of the troubles during the minority of Mary Queen of Scots, the Earl of Lennox placed a garrison in it, which was ■assailed by the troops of the Regent Arran, who battered the walls with engines, which were then regarded as of immense power — viz., brass guns, carrying balls from ten to twelve pounds weight. For nine days the garrison made a heroic defence, but on the tenth day it surrendered, on con- dition of being allowed to retire unharmed and unmolested. To the foul disgrace of Arran, however, the brave defenders were almost all butchered so soon as they opened the Castle gates. It also sustained a brief siege in 1570, while it was held in the name of the infant king, James VI. In the spring of that year, the Regent ]Murray had been shot at Linlithgow — an event which instantly called the Hamilton party to arms, with the avowed object of restoring Queen Mary to the throne. After marching to Edinburgh to lilierate the Duke of Chatelherault, their chief, and many other friends to their cause, who had been there kept in confinement, the Hamiltons laid siege to the Castle of Glasgow. It is said the governor was then absent, and that the garrison consisted of only 24 men, who, however, successfully defended their post, until the besiegers were obliged to retire on the approach of an English army, by which Queen Elizabeth, under the disguise of pretended friendship towards the young king, sought to bring mischief and ruin upon the Scottish nation. Sometime after 1576 the building fell into disrepair. It was partially restored in 1611 by Archliishop Spottiswoode, who made it his residence. Ray, writing in 1681, speaks of it as a "goodly building," and still in good preservation. "We have already seen what Morer and Slezer said about it in 1689 and 1690, and we leai'n further that after their day it was occasionally used as a prison. So late, com- paratively, as 1715, the Castle was still so entire as to Vje hastily fitted up as a place of confinement for about 300 of the Highlanders who were engaged in the first Jacobite Rebellion. But after this period it would seem that no one cared for it, and it underwent a process of silent but rapid demolition. Many of its stones, timbers, and *'• sklates " were carried off and used in the erection of dwel]ing-hou.ses in the town, and it is said that there are THE MANOR HOUSES OF THE BISHOPS. 39 buildings still extant which were raised from stones taken ■or stolen from its dismantled walls. Some of the orna- mental stones of Bishop Dunbar's famous gateway were recently presented by Ex-Bailie Millar, the proprietor of a tenement into which they had been built, to Sir William Dunbar, the lineal descendant of the Bishop's family, for the purpose of being built into his new mansion in Wigton- shire ; and there is, we understand, an oak panel in the possession of the Archieological Society of Glasgow. There is a tradition that the Bishops of Glasgow had, not very far from the Castle, a rural manor in a locality which was then a part of the old Bishop's Forest, but is now almost in the heart of Glasgow, and which is traversed by Bishop Street, Anderston. But positive confirmation of this tradition has not been obtained. An elderly woman who had all her life resided in Bishop Street, informed ]Mr. Macgeorge recently that when she was a child she was told by a person, then a very old woman, that the Bishop's house was situated in the midst of gardens on the west side of the street : and she described a narrow lane existing in her day, and running northwards from the Main Street of Anderston, on the east of Bishop Street as what had been the Bishop's entry to the house. It was called the Bishop's Walk. The name of the present street, and the name of the corn mills on the west side of it — Bishop's Garden Mills — give countenance to this tradition. It is certain, however, adds Mr. Macgeorge, that the Bishops had, from very early times, a manor at Partick. Mention is made of it as early as the twelfth century in a charter by King David (1136), giving lauds in "Perdeyc" to the Chux-ch of Kentigern in Glasgow. In 1277, the grant by Maurice, Lord of Luss, of wood for the repair of the church is dated at Partick, where he was, no doubt, on a visit to the Bishop ; and a notarial instrument executed in 1362 bears to be dated "apud manerium dicti domini Olasguensis Ejaiscopi de Perthik." There was another castle at Partick which stood in a ruinous condition till within a comparatively recent date, near to the confluence of the Clyde and the Kelvin, which was sometimes called the '' Bishop's Castle," and Chalmers, in his elaborate work, Caledonia, states that Archbishop Spottiswoode, who greatly repaired our Cathedral and the 40 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. Archiepiscopal Palace, "also built in 1611, a castle at Partick, to serve as a country seat for the Archbishops." And again the same author mentions Partick Castle as built by the Bishops " on an elevated site on the west bank of the Kelvin, nearly three miles westward of the Cathedral Church of Glasgow," and he adds that it was used by the Bishops as a rural habitation, and that when in ruins it was called the Bishop's Castle. This statement, however, has been ascertained to be erroneous. From authentic papers it has been discovered that Partick Castle was indeed built in the year ascribed to it by Chalmers, but it was erected as a dwelling-place for himself by Mr. George Hutcheson, one of the founders of the well known " Hutche- son's Hospital." It is not improbable, however, that Mr. Hutcheson built his mansion on the site of the Bishop's residence, and may indeed have used some of the old stones for his new house. Besides these residences the Bishops possessed, from the beginning of the fourteenth century, another mansion at Lochwood, about six miles eastward from Glasgow, in the parish of Old Monkland. Here Cameron the "magnificent" died on Christmas Eve, 14-46. The Castle was, in March 1572-3, committed to Robert Boyd of Badinheath, and by this keeper was demolished. The estate of Lochwood now belongs to the family of the Bairds of Gartsherrie. Another rural residence of the Bishops of Glasgow, at a very early period, was situated in the Barony of Ancrum. Of this manor and barony they were the earliest possessors, on record, and the lands are mentioned as lielonging to the See as early as the year 1116. Here the Bishops often resided, and from here they dated many of their charters. Its remains now form part of the present mansion of the Scotts of Ancrum. The Bishops of Glasgow had still another residence — " Castel Tarras " or " Castel Staris," a locality now known as Carstairs, where Bishop Wyschard — of whom it is said, " no Scotsman defended more strenuously the honour and independence of his country against the encroachments of the King of England than himself did " — built a castle. He was called to account by Edward I for building this castle without his (the king's) permission, but was afterwards allowed to complete it (Macgeorge). FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY. 41 CHAPTER lY. THE UNIVERSITY AND SOME NOTABLE PROFESSOltS. " Teach me, like thee, in various nature wise, To fall ^vith dignity, vath temper rise ; Form'd by thy converse, happily to steer From grave to gay, from lively to severe ; Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease, Intent to reason, or polite to please. " — Pope. Although we may not, perhaps, claim for the University of Glasgow that distinguished position, as regards the superior excellence of its educational influence, or the eminence of its professors and students, occupied by those of Oxford and Cambridge, and although in some of these respects it may be considered as a little less notable than that of Edinburgh, yet, considering that its seat was in a Scottish provincial city, deeply engrossed in the pursuit of trade and commerce, in wliich literature, the fine arts, and mental cultivation, may be supposed to have been of secondary consideration, the record of our University is a most V)rilliant one, and one which the citizens may regard with pride and congratulation. We have all along had amongst us teachers of the very highest qualifications, whose fame has extended over the civilized world ; and a large number of our students have risen to high eminence, and exerted a powerful influence in every department of human affairs. In this, and the following chapter, we can only hope to refer to a very few of these men ; and to be in keeping with the character of this Work, our references will be of an incidental and anecdotal description. The College of Glasgow was founded by Bishop Turnbull in 1450-1. A bull was procured through King James II from Pope Nicholas V constituting a University, to continue in all time to come in the City of Glasgow, " it being ane notable place, with gude air, and plenty of provisions for human life." The bull is dated at Rome, 7th January, 1450. By the care of the Bishop and his Chapter, a body of Statutes was prepared, and a University established the following year. King James bestowed considerable revenues and endowments upon the new institution. The first D 42 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W. building, called the schools, was a house which had belonged to the parson of Luss, and was afterwards called the " Auld Pedagogy." It was situated in the Rottenrow, and is supposed by Professor Innes to have been in existence and used as a Chapter-house before the papal foundation. It included a dwelling-place for students of arts, which was named CoUer/iiim, in which they had chambers and a common hall. This old l)uilding remained till the middle of the present century. The first rector of the new College was David Cadzow, who was re-elected in 1452. During the first two years, upwards of a hundred members were incorporated, most of them secular, or regular clergy, canons, rectors, abbots, priors, and monks. The whole incorporated members, students, as well as doctors and masters, were divided into four parts, called the Quatuor JVationes, according to the place of their nativity. A meeting of the whole was annually called the day after St. Crispin's day ; and being divided into four nations, each nation by itself chose a procurator and intrant, and the intrants, meeting by themselves, made choice of a rector and a deputation of each nation, who were assistants and assessors to the rector. The students themselves now elect their Lord Rector, except when the " Nations " are equally divided, when the Lord-Chancellor gives the casting vote. The "nations" are constituted as follows: — (1) The Natio Glottiano consists of all matriculated students born within the County of Lanark. (2) The Katio Transfortlnana, of those born within the counties of Orkney and Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Cromarty, Inverness, Nairn, Moray, Banff, Aberdeen, Perth, Forfar, Kincardine, Clack- mannan, Fife, Kinross, Argyll, Stirling, and Dumliarton. (3) The Xatio Iiothesia7ia consists of all students born within the counties of Bute, Renfrew, and Ayr. (4) The Natio Loudoniana consists of students not included in any of the other nations. In the year 1459, only eights years after its foundation, James, Lord Hamilton, bequeathed to Mr. Duncan Burch (or Bunch), Principal-Regent of the College of Arts, and his successors, for the use of the College, a tenement, with the pertinents lying on the north side of the church and convent of the Dominicans, together with four acres of land in the Dovehill, contiguous to the Molindinar Burn, BENEFACTORS OF THE UXIVERSITY. 43 *' on condition that the re.o-ents and students every day- after dinner and supper, should stand up and pray for the souls of him, Lord James, of Euphemia, his spouse. Countess of Douglas and Lady of Bothwell, of his ancestors and successors, and of all from whom he had received any benefit, for which he had not made a proper return ; and that if a chapel or oratory should be built in the College, the regents and students should also there assemble, and on their bended knees sing an ave to the Virgin, with a collect and remembrance to himself and his wife." These four acres of land became part of the College Garden ; and from this time the College continued to receive grants of land and property, and to add to their accommodation. In 1475 another tenement, with lands adjoining the College, was bequeathed by Sir Thomas Arthurlie. These lauds were about two acres in extent, and stretched from the Molindinar Burn to the High Street, and on them the professors' houses appear to have been afterwards built. About L563, Queen Mary became the benefactress of the College, by granting the " manse and kirkroom of the Friars' preachers, with thirteen acres of land in the Dove- hill, and certain rents from tenements in the city and elsewhere." And in 1577, her son, James VI, made further grants which more completely endowed the University. The king established twelve persons — viz., a principal, three professors of philosophy, four bursars (students), and one provisor (who supplied the table with provisions), the principal's servant, a janitor and cook. A goodly number of other benefactors from time to time gave contributions to the Institution, and in course of time, the College authorities commenced the erection of that famous old University in High Street, which, till recently, was the great seat of learning in the West of Scotland. The building was begun in 1632 and completed in 1656, with the exception of that portion in which were the professors' residences, which were not erected till afterwards. It would appear that many of the students resided within the walls of the College, and wei^e placed under very strict discipline. The gates were shut at nine in winter and ten in summer, and woe betide the luckless youth who stayed out beyond these hours. The governors of the College appear to have assumed legal functions to themselves, 4i TRADITWXS OF GLASGOW. independent of the magistrates of the Burgh, and fines and imprisonment for various offences were quite common. One student was fined for cutting the gown of another ; one was dealt with for challenging a fellow-student to fight a duel ; another was publicly reprimanded for being "found drinking in an ale-house, with some town's people at eleven o'clock at night." On another occasion, a student named John Satcher, was confined in the College steeple for sending an insolent letter to the Principal. But in this case his fellow-students came to his rescue, broke open the prison door and set him at liberty. Satcher then " threw off his gown and withdrew himself from the College till next morning, when he was seized and put into his former place of confinement " ; and he was only released when he made humble confession of his guilt and promised amendment. To show the extent to which the University Court asserted their legal prerogative, it may be stated that in the year 1670, they actually ti'ied a student named Robert Bartoune on the charge of murder. The Rector, Sir William Fleming, of Farme, presided, and the Procurator Fiscal of the University, one "John Cummyng, wryter, in Glasgow," along with " Andrew "Wright, cordoner, in Glasgow, neirest of kine to umquhill Jonnet Wright" — the murdered woman -^gave in the charge or indictment. They demanded a penalty of death. A jury was empannelled, and the case went to trial. But this was carrying the jurisdiction of the College authorities to an extreme, and fears began to be entertained as to the legality of their proceedings, and the jury demanded security for their own safety, in the event of their bringing in a verdict of guilty. After some demur the guarantee was given. But after all, the jury seem to have liad doubts on the subject, for a verdict of " not guilty " was returned. That the University of Glasgow bore a higli reputation in olden, as well as in modern times, has been amply testified on all hands. James Melville, the historian, in his diary says, "I daresay there was no place in Europe coinparaljle to Glasgow for guid letters during these yeirs, for a plentiful and guid chepe mercat of all kynds of langages, artes, and sciences." There liave been many men of remarkable talent and force of character connected with the University of Glasgow ANECDOTES OF ZACHARY BOYD. 45 from first to last, either in the capacity of rectors, prin- cipals, professors, or students, and an entire volume of most interesting story and racy anecdote might be written concerning them. But our space will only admit of a few random selections. Amongst the earlier of these " men of mark," may be mentioned the Rev. Zachary Boyd, who was Rector of the Univei'sity during the years 1634-5 and '45. Zachary was born in Carrick, Ayrshire, in 1585. He was descended from the Boyds of Pinkell in that district, and was cousin to Andrew Boyd, Bishop of Argyll, and to Rev. Robert Boyd of Trochrig, another eminent divine of the 17th century, and a native of Glasgow. Zachary Boyd received his elementary education in Kilmarnock, after which hewent to the University of Glasgow. He finished his education at the College of Samur in France, under his relative, Robert Boyd. In 1621 he returned to his native country. He relates the following anecdote in one of his sermons, which we give as showing his strong opposition to the papacy, and at the same time his bold, outspoken manner. "In the time of the French persecution," he says, " I came by sea to Flanders, and as I was sailing from Flanders to Scotland, a fearful tempest arose which made our mariners reele to and fro, and stagger like drunken men. In the meantime there was a Scots Papist who lay near mee, while the ship gave a great shake : I observed the man, and after the Lord had sent a calm, I said to him, ' Sir, now ye see the weaknesse of your religion ; as long as yee are in prosperitie yee cry to this sainct and that sainct ; in our great danger I heard yee ciy often, Lord ! Lord ! but not a word yee spake of our Lady.'" In 1623 Boyd was appointed minister of the Barony Parish, for which the crypts beneath the Cathedral Church then served as a place of worship — a scene well fitted, )jy its sepulchral gloom, to add to the impressiveness of his Calvinistic eloquence. As another illustration of his fearlessness as a pulpit orator, we may remind our readers that, when on one occasion he preached before the great Protector, Oliver Cromwell, on one of his two visits to Glasgow, he did not mince his words. The incident is thus related by Baillie : — " Cromwell, with the whole body of his army, comes peace- 46 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. ably to Glasgow. The magistrates and ministers all fled away ; I got to the Isle of Cumray with my Lady Mont- gomery, but left all my family and goods to Cromwell's courtesy, which, indeed, was great, for he took such measures with the soldiers that they did less displeasure at Glasgow than if they had been at London, though. Mr. Zachary Boijd railed on them all to their very face in the High Church." This was on the 13th of October, 1650, and it has been found, from a manuscript note upon the preacher's own Bible, that the chapter he expounded on the occasion was Dan. viii. In this is detailed the vision of the ram with two horns, which is at first powerful, but at length overcome and trampled on by a he-goat ; being an allegory of the destruction of Medea and Persia by Alexander of Macedon. It is evident Mr. Zachary endeavoured to extend the parable to existing circumstances, and of course made out Cromwell to be the lie-goat. Besides being a fearless and eloquent preacher, Mr. Boyd was a voluminous author, and his writings display, even more fully, his quaint, vigorous, and original habit of mind, His language was often more vigorous than elegant. He wrote a metrical version of the Psalms, and tried hard to get it adopted by tlie Presbyteries and Assembly, but in this he was disappointed, as on 23rd November, 1649, Rous's version, revised and improved, was sanctioned by the Commission, with authority of the General Assembly, and any other discharged from being used in the churches, or in their families. He also wrote two volumes of poetry, under the title of Zion's Floioers, or Christian Foemsfor Spiritual Edif cation. The following extract from these Flov:ers of Zion is a specimen of his rough, coarse, uncon- scious humour, although he generally Avrote in a finer strain : — JONAH IN THE WHALE'S BELLY. " Here apprehended, I in j/iismi ly ; What goods will r;uisoiu my wqjtivity ? Wliat house is this, wlit'ru 's noitlier coal nor (.•ainllc, Wliere I nothing but guts of fi.shes handle 'i I and my table are bf>tli here within. Where day neere dawned, wlii^re snnne did never shine ; The like of this on earth man never saw, A living man within a monster's maw — ANECDOTES OF ZACHARY BOYD. 47 Buried inider mountains which are high and steej), Phinged under waters hundreth fathoms deep. Not so was Noah in his house of tree, For th]-ough a window lie the hght did see ; Hee sailed above the highest waves — a wonder, I and my boat are all the waters under ; He ill his ark might goe and also come, But I sit still in such a straitened roome As is most uncouth, head and feet together, Among such grease as would a thousand smother. I tiiid no way now for my shrinking hence. But here to lye and die for mine oft'ence. Eight prisoners were in Noah's hulk together, Comfortable they were, each one to other ; In all the earth like unto mee is none, Far from all living, I heere lye alone. Where I, entombed in melancholy, sink Choakt, sutibcat, with excremental stink ; This grieves mee most, that I for grievous sinne, Incarcer'd lye within this floating inn." Mr. Boyd was twice married : first to Elizabeth Fleming, of whom no memorial is preserved ; and secondly to Margaret Mure, third daughter of William Mure of Glau- derston (near Neilston, Renfrewshire). By neither of his wives liad he any offspring. The second wife, surviving him, married for her second husband the celebrated Durham, author of the Co^nmentary on the Revelation, to whom, it would appear, she had betrayed some partiality, even in her first husband's lifetime. There is a traditional anecdote, that, when Mr. Zachary was dictating his last will, his wife made one modest request — viz., that he would bequeath something to Mr. Durham. He answered, sarcastically, "Na, na, Margaret. I'll lea' him what I canna keep frae him ; I'll lea' him thy bonnie sel'." He divided his e.state, which amounted to £4,527, between his relict and the College of Glasgow. About £20,000 Scots was realized by the College, besides his library and manuscript com- positions. We understand the latter are in course of preparation for the press. Mr. Boyd died in the spring of 1653. He had just completed an extensive MS. work, entitled. The Notable places of Scriptvre Exj^oimded, at the end of which he adds, in a tremulous and indistinct hand-writing, " Heere the author was near his end, and was able to do no more, March .3i-d, 1653." The famous 48 TRADITIOXS OF GLASfWW. Donald Cargill Avas appointed his successor as minister of Barony. Robert Baillie, one of the most eminent and moderate of all the Scottish Presbyterian clergy during the time of the Civil War, was not only a pupil, but also a regent and professor of the College of Glasgow, and was besides a native of the city, having been born in the Salttnercat in the year 1599. His father, Thomas Baillie, a Glasgow citizen, was descended from the Baillies of Lamington ; his mother, Helen Gibson, was of the family of Gibson of Durie, in Fife, both of which families were distinguished Presbyterians. Baillie was very intimate with the Eglin- ton family, and was for some time tutor to tlie Earl's son, and was appointed by the Earl to the parish of Kilwinning, he being then an Episcopalian, and had imbibed from Principal Cameron, of Glasgow, the doctrine of passive resistance. He appears, however, to have been brought over to opposite views between 1630 and 1636. In the latter year, being desired by Archbishop Law to preach at Edinbui'gh in favour of the Canon and Service Jjooks, he positively refused, writing, however, a respectful apology to his lordship. Endeared to the resisting party by this con- duct, he was chosen to represent the Presbytery of Irvine in the General Assembly held at Glasgow in 1638, by which the royal power was braved in the name of the whole nation and Episcopacy formally dissolved. In the ensuing year, when it was found necessary to vindicate the proceedings of the Glasgow Assembly with the sword, Baillie entered heartily into the views of his countrymen, and took the field. In one of his letters, he says, " I furnished to half a dozen good fellows muskets and pikes, and to my boy a broadsword. I carried myself, as the fashion was, a sword, and a couple of Dutcli pistols at my saddle ; but I promise, for the ofience of no man, e.xcept a robber in the way ; for it was our part alone to pray and preach for the encourage- ment of our countrymen, which I did to my power most cheerfully." Again, he writes, "For myself, T never found my mind in better temper than it was all the time since I came from home, till my head was again homeward ; for I was as a man who had taken my leave from the world, and was resolved to die in that service without return." These incidents will give the reader an idea of his mild, yet brave, ROBERT BAILLIE AND DA VID DICKSOX. 49 ■character. He was a man of great learning, as well as piety, being well versed in no fewer than thirteen languages. In 1642 he was appointed joint-professor of divinity at Glasgow, along with Mr. David Dickson, an equally dis- tinguished, but less moderate, divine. Baillie, besides his Letters and Jouryials, and a variety of controversial pamph- lets, was the author of a learned work, entitled Opus Historicum et Chronologiciim, which was published in folio, at Amsterdam. He died in July, 1662, in the sixty-third year of his age. When he was in declining health, he was visited by the new made archbishop (Andrew Fairfowl), to whom he thus freely expressed himself — "Mr. xA.ndrew," said he, " I will not now call you my lord. King Charles would have made me one of these lords ; but I do not find in the New Testament that Christ has any lords in his house." He left a large family ; one of his daughters becoming the wife of Walkinshaw of Barrowfield, was, by a strange chance, tlie ancestress of Miss Clementina Walk- inshaw, well known from her connection with the history of Prince Charles Stuart ; and also grandmother to the celebrated Henry Home, better known under the judicial designation of Lord Kames. Of equal ability, and with even greater force of character than Baillie, was David Dicksox, his colleague in the pro- fessorship of divinity in the college. Dickson was also a native of Glasgow, having been born in the Trongate in 1583. His father, John Dick or Dickson, was a merchant in the city. The latter was possessed of considerable wealth, and the proprietor of the lands of Kirk o' Muir, in the parish of St. Ninians, in Stirlingshire. He and his wife, both persons of eminent piety, had been several years married without children, when they entered into a solemn vow, that, if the Lord would give them a son, they would devote him to the service of His church. A day was ■appointed, and their Christian townsmen were requested to join with them in fasting and prayer. But when their son was born the vow was so far forgot, that he was educated for mercantile pursuits, in which he was eminently unsuccessful, and the cause of much pecuniary loss to his parents. This circumstance added to a severe illness of their son, led them to remember their vow, and Mr. David was then " put to his studyes, and what eminent service 50 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W. he did in his generation is knowen." Soon after taking the degree of M.A., Mr. Dickson was appointed one of the regents or professors of philosophy in the University of Glasgow. In this situation he remained for several years, when, in 1618, he was ordained minister of Irvine. In that year the General Assembly had agreed to the five ceremonies now known as the Perth Articles, and a close examination convinced Dickson that they were unscripturaL Soon after, when a severe illness brought him near death, he openly declared against them ; and Archbishop Law of Glasgow summoned him before the Court of High Commis- sion. He appeared, V)ut declined the jurisdiction of the Court, and sentence of deprivation and confinement was passed upon him. His friends prevailed upon the Arch- bishop to restore him, on condition that he withdrew his declinature ; a condition with which he would not comply. Soon after, Law yielded so far as to allow him to return to- his parish, if he would come to his castle and withdraw the paper from the hall table without seeing him ; terms which Mr. Dickson spurned, as being " but juggling in such a weighty matter." At length he was permitted in July, 1623, to I'eturn unconditionally. When tlie General Assembly of 1638 was convoked, David Dickson, Robert Baillie, and William Russell minis- ter- of Kilbirnie, were appointed to represent the Presbytery of Irvine, " to propone, reason, vote, and conclude, according to the Word of God, and confession approved by sundry General Assemblies." He went out in the short campaign of 1639, as chaplain of the regiment of which the Earl of Loudoun was colonel, and which consisted of 1,200 men. He became Moderator of the General Assembly that same year, and in the following year he was appointed professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow, to which othce a competent lodging and a salary of £800 Scots (£66, 13s. 4d. sterling), was attached. While he held this office he preached every Sunday forenoon in the High Church. His religious zeal in the presbyterian cause was so great, that when three noted i-oyalists were executed in Glasgow — viz.. Sir William Rollock, Sir Philip Nisbet, and Alexander Ogilvy, Dickson was much elated, and as the gibbet did its work he is reported to have exclaimed, " the wark gangs, bonnilv on." DAVID DICKSON' AND HIS WORKS. 51 Mr. Dickson was made Professor of Divinity in tlie University of Edinburgh in 1650, where he dictated to his students in Latin what has since been published in English under the title of Tncth's Victory over Error. The greater numl:)er of the ministers in the west, south, and east of Scotland, were educated under him. He continued in his professorship in Edinburgh till the Restoration in 1660^ when he was ejected for refusing to take the oath of supremacy. He died in January, 1663. On his death-bed, his life-long friend, Mr. John Livingstone, visited him and asked him how he found himself ; his answer was : "I have taken all my good deeds and all my bad deeds, and cast them through each other in a heap before the Lord and fled from both, and l)etaken myself to the Lord Jesus Christy and in Him I have sweet peace ! " Mr. Dickson was a voluminous author in Theology and Divinity. He wrote Commentaries on the Psalms, on th& Gospel of Matthew, on the Epistles ; a Treatise on the Promises ; also a work entitled Tlierapeutica Sacra, and Truths Victory over Error already referred to. This last woi'k was translated into English by the eccentric George Sinclair, and published as his own in 1684 ; but Sinclair's trick was soon and easily detected. One of INIr. Dickson's students had copied his professor's dictates, and when he read the translation he inserted in the running title, the following couplet : — " No errors in this book I see, But G. S. where D. D. should be." Of David Dickson, Wodrow the historian remarks : " If ever a Scots biography and the lives of our eminent ministers, and Christians be published, he will shine there as a star of the first magnitude." Fleming in his work on the FulJiUiny of the Scriptures, says of Dickson's pulpit ministrations i " that for a considerable time few Sabbaths did pass with- out some e\'idently converted, or some convincing proof of the power of God accompanying his Word." His works were long popular in Scotland, and in many homes of the better class of working people, some volume of Dickson's Theological Treatises or Commentaries may even yet be seen. Although nothing of very striking interest occurred in -52 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. the life of Robert Wodrow the celebrated ecclesiastical historian of Scotland in the beginning of tlie eighteenth century, yet it would be an unpardonable omission to leave him out of these sketches of old Glasgow worthies ; for his writings have proved a perfect storehouse of valuable materials to students of Scottish history during the past century and a half. Wodrow was born in Glasgow in 1679, probably in the old college. High Street, for his father ■James Wodrow was professor of divinity in that college, and was a man of singular piety and learning. His mother was Margaret Hair, daughter of William Hair, proprietor of a small estate in the pai'ish of Kilbarchan. In this parent he was equally fortunate. To all the piety of her husband she added a degree of strength of mind, not often associated with her sex. InU691 Wodrow was entered a student in the University of his native city, and passed through the usual course of education there. He studied divinity under his father, and while engaged in this pursuit he was appointed librarian to the college. This office he held four years, and it was during this time that ho acquired the greater pai't of that knowledge of the ecclesiastical and literary history of his country, which he applied to such .good purpose in his after lif(\ On completing his studies Mr. Wodrow went to reside with Sir John Maxwell of Nether Pollok, a distant relative of his family ; and while here he offered himself for trial to the Presbytery of Paisley, •and was licensed to preach the Gospel in March, 1703. On 28th October, following, he was ordained minister of the parish of Eastwood, and continued in that office during the remainder of his life ; though frequently invited to accept charges in Glasgow, Stirling, and elsewhere. The quietness and ease of that small rural parish, as it then was, suited his studious habits admirably. His great work, the Ilisturij of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, was begun in 1707, although he had contemplated it from an early period of his life, and it was not completed and published till 1721-22. It was published in three large folio volumes, and on its appearance the author was attacked with the vilest scurrility and al)use by those whom his fiilclity as a historian had offended. Anonymous and threatening letters were sent to him, and every description ROBERT WODROW THE HISTORIAN. 5^ of indignity was thrown on both his person and his work. The faithful, liberal, and impartial character of the history nevertheless procured its author many and powerful friends. Copies of the work were presented to their Majesties, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, and were received with so much ai)proval, that by a warrant dated 26th April, 1725, he was awarded from the Scottish Exchequer a grant of 100 guineas as a testimony to its merits. Wodrow afterwards planned and executed the scheme of a complete history of the Church of Scotland, in a series of Biographical Memoirs of all the eminent men who appeared from the beginning of the Reformation down to the period at which he wrote. This work still lies in MS. in the libraiy of the University of Glasgow, although a selection from the Memoirs was published in 1834, for the members of the Maitland Club. He also wrote six small but closely written volumes of traditionary and other memoranda regarding the lives and labours of remarkable ministers from 1705 to 1732. This curious and interesting Ajudecta as it is called, is preserved in the original MS. in the Advo- cates' Library in Edinburgh, where it is often consulted by students and others. Twenty-four volumes of his Corre- spondence are also preserved in the Advocates' Library. In 1842 the Earl of Glasgow presented the first two volumes of the Analficta to the members of the Maitland Club, of which the Earl was president, and in the same year a portion of his MSS. was purchased by order of the General Assembly, and now remains its property. The " Wodrow Society " was established at Edinburgh in May, 1841, for the purpose of printing from the most authentic sources the best works of the original reformers, fathers, and early writers of the Kirk of Scotland. Mr. Wodrow died on the 21st March, 1734, in the 55th year of his age, after a long and painful illness extending over a period of eight years. He had married in 1708, Margaret Warner, grand-daughter of William Guthrie of Eenwick, and daughter of the Rev. Patrick Warner of Ardeer, in Ayrshire, and minister of Irvine. He had a family of sixteen children, of whom four sons and five dauoliters survived their father. His eldest son succeeded him in the parish of Eastwood, but was compelled to retire from it by an infirm state of health. M TRADITIOXS OF GLASGOW. The celebrated matheaiatician, Dr. Robert Si-XSOX, though not a native of the city — having been born at Kirton-Hall, Ayrshire, on 14th October, 1687 — may yet justly be claimed as a Glasgow citizen. He entered as a student iu our University in 1701 at the early age of 11, and ten years afterwards he became professor of mathe- matics in his alma mater. For nearly half a century he occupied that important position, teaching mathematics to two separate classes at different hours for five days in the week during a continued session of seven months. His lectures were given with such perspicuity of method and language, and his demonstrations were so clear and success- ful, that among his scholars several i^ose to distinction as mathematicians ; among whom may be mentioned the celebrated names of Colin M'Laurin, Dr. Matthew Stewart, professor of mathematics, Edinburgh ; the two Rev. Drs. Williamson, one of v/hom succeeded Dr. Simson at Glasgow; ■the Rev. Dr. Traill, professor of mathematics, Aberdeen ; Dr. James Moor, Greek professor at Glasgow ; aiwl Prof. Robinson, of Edinburgh, and many others of great merit. Dr. Simson never was married ; he devoted his life purely to scientific pursuits. His hours of study, of exei'cise and amusement, were all regulated with the most unerring precision. The very walks in the squares or gardens of the College were all measured by his steps ; and he took liis e.vercises by the hundred of paces, according to his time or inclination. His disposition was by no means gloomy ; when in company of friends his con\'ersation was animated, enriclied witli much anecdote, and by a degree of natural humour. " Every Saturday for years he sallied forth from liis comfortable bachelor-menage," says a writer in the JVorth British Daily Mail, November, 1870, "in the University as the College clock struck one, and turned his face in the direction of Anderston. . . . One Saturday, while proceeding towards Anderston, counting his steps as lie was wont, the Professor was accosted by a person wlio, we may suppose, was unacquainted with liis singular peculiarity. At tliis moment, the wortliy geometrician knew that he was just r)73 paces from the College, towards the snug parlour which was anon to prove the rallying point of the Hen-Broth Amateurs ; and when arrested in his career, kept repeating the mystic number at stated ANECDOTES OF FEOFESSOR SIM SOX. 55 intervals, as the only species of mnemonics then known. * I beg your pardon,' said the personage accosting the Professor, ' one word with you, if you please.' ' Most happy — 573,' was the response. ' Nay.' rejoined the gentle- man, ' merely one question ! ' ' Well,' added the Professor ■ — '573!' 'You are really too polite,' interrupted the stranger, ' but from your acquaintance with the late Dr. B , and for the purpose of deciding a bet, I have taken the liberty of inquiring whether I am right in saying that that individual left £500 to each of his nieces?' 'Precisely,' replied tlie Professor — '573.' 'And there were only four nieces, were there not ? ' rejoined the querist. ' Exactly,' said the Mathematician — ' 573.' The stranger, at the last repetition of the mystic sound, stared at the Professor, as if he were mad, and muttering sarcastically, ' 573 ! ' made a hasty obeisance and passed on. The Professor, seeing the stranger's mistake, hastily advanced another step, and cried after him, 'No, ^\y, four to be sure — 574!' The gentleman was still further convinced of the mathematician's madness, and hurried forward, while the Professor paced on leisurely towards the west, and at length, happy in not being baulked in his calculation, sat down delighted amid the circle of The Anclerston Club." Dr. Simson was exceedingly absent-minded. As a proof of this. Lord Brougham mentions that '• one of the College porters, being dressed up for the purpose, came to ask charity, and in answer to the Professor's questions, gave an account of himself closely resembling his own history. When he found so great a resemblance, he cried out, ' What's your name?' and on the answer being given, 'Robert Simson,' he exclaimed, with great animation, ' Why it must be myself,' when he awoke from his trance." — {Glasyoio and its Clubs, by Dr. Strang, pp. 18-21.) Francis Hutcheson, a distinguished philosopher of last century, was the son of a presbyterian minister in the North of Ireland, where he was born in 1694. He studied for the Church at the University of Glasgow, but shortly after the completion of his theological course, he was induced to open a private academy in Dublin, which proved highly success- ful. In 1720 he published his Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue, '.vhich was the means of introducing him to many influential pei'sonages such as 56 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. Lord Granville, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Archbishop King, Primate Boulter, and others. This work was followed in 1728 by his Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions ; and in the year after, he was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. Here he died in 1747. His largest and most important work, A System of Moral PJiilosopliy, was published at Glasgow in 1755 by his son Francis Hutcheson, M.D., with a Preface on the life, writings, and character of the Author, by Dr. Leechman, Professor of Divinity in the same University. As a metaphysician Hutcheson may be considered the pioneer of the " Scotch School." From the period of his lectures, according to Dugald Stewart, may be dated the metaphysical philosophy of Scotland, and, indeed, the literary taste in general, which marked that country during the last century. But it is as a moral philosopher rather than as a metaphys- ician that he shines best. His system is, to a large extent, that of Shaftesbury, but it is more complete, coherent, and clearly illustrated. Hutcheson was a strong opponent of the doctrine that benevolence has a selfish origin, and termed that faculty by which moral distinctions are recognised, the moral sense. 'Adam Smith, LL.D. and F.R.S.L. and E., author of The Wealth of Nations, and one of the brightest ornaments of the literature of Scotland, was a professor in the Univer- sity of Glasgowfor a period of thirteen years — viz., from 1751 to 1763. Elected in 1751 to the chair of Logic, he was in the following year transferred to that of Moral Philosophy, which he continued to occupy till the end of 1763, when he resigned to accompany the then young Duke of Buccleuch during liis tour on the Continent. He used to consider the period of his residence in Glasgow as the happiest of his life. He resided, of course, within the walls of the old College in High Street. Smitli was born in Kirkcaldy, on the 5th June, 1723, and entered the University of Glasgow in 1737. Chosen an e.xhibitor on Snell's Foundation, he was sent to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1740, whence he returned to Kirkcaldy in 1747. In the year 1748, he removed to Edin- l>urgli, where he delivered lectures during three years on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. These establi.shed liis literary reputation, and secured his appointment in Glasgow as above. IXC IDE NTS IX THE LIFE OF ADAM SMITH. 57 He was the only child of Adam Smith, Comptroller of the Customs at Kirkcaldy and Margaret Douglas, daughter of Mr. Douglas, of Strathendry, near the village of Leslie in Fifeshire. His father having died some months before his birth, the duty of superintending his early education devolved entirely upon his mother. A singular accident happened to him when he was about three years of age. As he was amusing himself one day at the door of his uncle, Mr. Douglas's house at Strathendry, he was carried off by a party of gipsies. The vagrants, however, being pursued by Mr. Douglas were overtaken in Leslie Wood, and his uncle "was thus the happy instrument of preserving to the world a genius which was destined not only to extend the boundaries of science, but to enlighten and reform the commercial policy of Europe." The constitution of Dr. Smith during infancy was infirm and sickly, and i-equired all the delicate care and attention of his surviving parent. Though she treated him with the utmost indulgence, this did not produce any unfavourable effect either on his dis- position or temper, and he repaid her affectionate solicitude by every attention that filial gratitude could dictate during the long period of sixty years. He received the first rudiments of his education at the Grammar School of Kirkcaldy, which was then taught by Mr. David Miller, a teacher in his day of considerable reputation. He soon attracted notice by his passion for books, and the extra- ordinary powers of his memory. Even at this early period, too, he seems to have contracted those habits of speaking to himself, and of absence in company, for which through life he was so remarkable. Although not able from bodily weakness to take a great share in the sports and pastimes of youth, yet he was much beloved by his companions on account of his friendly and generous disposition. His favourite pursuits at our Glasgow University, as a student, were mathematics and natural philosophy. He also attended the lectures of Dr. Hutcheson on moral philosophy, and it is probable that they had a considerable effect in afterwards directing his attention to those branches of science in which he was to become so distinguished. At Oxford he devoted himself to the study of ancient and modern languages. He also studied the philosophy and logic of Aristotle, which still maintained their ascendancy in both the English uni- E 58 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. versities. But he did not confine himself to that system, as the following incident shows : — The suspicions of his superiors having been excited as to the nature of his studies in private, the head of his college one day entered his apartment without notice, and unluckily found the young philosopher deep in the study of Hume's Treatise of Hitman Nature. The offender was, of course, severely reprimanded, and the objectionable work seized and carried oft". Having found that the clerical profession was not suited to his tastes, he returned to Kirkcaldy without any fixed plan of life, and resided there nearly two years with his mother. During his subsequent residence in Edinburgh, he formed the acquaintance of David Hume, which lasted till Hume's death in 1776. It was a friendship on both sides founded on the admiration of genius and love of simplicity. For although Hume was a man of sceptical opinions, there can be no doubt about his great genius, learning, and high moral character. During his professorship in Glasgow, Dr. Smith delivered those lectures which were afterwards published under the titles of the Theory of Moral Sentiments and An enquiry into the Nature and Source of Tlie Wealth of Nations. So that the students in our Glasgow College had the first benefit of these able and instructive works. Both of these works were of the highest excellence and importance, and, the latter especially, has ever since served as the foundation of most of our schemes and systems of commercial policy, and has been acknowledged by the leaders among all classes of men as the source of their parliamentary or commercial inspiration. His reputation as a professor was raised by these lectures very high, and a multitude of students from great distances resorted to the University merely on his account. Those branches of science which he taught became fashionable, and his opinions were the chief topics of dis- cussion in clubs and literary societies. Even the small peculiarities in his pronunciation or manner of speaking were imitated. Dr. Strang tells us that while in Glasgow, Dr. Smith was a member of the Anderston Club, along with the absent- minded Professor Simson, Dr. James ^Nloore (father of the Hero of Corunna), Dr. Cullen, and Mr. Thomas Hamilton, the great promoters of medical science ; Professor Ross, a SKETCH OF DR. TH02IAS RE ID. 59 very Cicero of Roman literature ; and the brothers Foulis, the never-to-be-forgotten Elzivers of the Scottish Press. This celebrated Club met in the excellent hostelry of " ane God-fearing host," yclept John Sharpe, in the then weaving village of Anderston, situated in those days a full mile from the city of Glasgow, with green fields and produce gardens intervening. And here, over a savoury dish of hen-broth, and other more substantial edibles, washed down with the contents of a "goodly sized punch-bowl," these learned men, unbent from their abstruse studies, and engaged in the fun, frolic, and eccentricities of social fellovvship. No special anecdotes have been recorded regarding Dr. Smith, but if not consciously witty or humorous, he would doubtless give occasion to a good deal of merriment by his absent-minded blunders and peculiarities. In 1787 he was appointed Lord Rector of Glasgow University, and on that occasion he addressed a letter to the Principal, in which he pays the University a high compliment. " Ko preferment," he writes, " could have given me so much real satisfaction. No man can owe greater obligations to a society than I do to the University of Glasgow. They educated me ; they sent me to Oxford. Soon after my return to Scotland, they elected me one of their own members; and afterwards preferred me to another office, to which the abilities and virtues of the never-to-be- forgotten Dr. Hutcheson had given a superior degree of illustration. The period of thirteen years which I spent as a member of that Society I remember as by far the most useful, and, therefore, as by far the happiest and most honourable period of my life ; and now, after three and twenty years' absence, to be remembered in so very agreeable a manner by my old friends and protectors, gives me a heartfelt joy which I cannot easily express to you." Dr. Smith died in Edinburgh in July, 1790, at the age of 67, after a lingering and painful illness. Dr. Thomas Reid, an eminent metaphysician and moral philosopher, who, in 1763, was chosen as the successor of Adam Smith as professor of moral philosophy in the University of Glasgow, and held that office for the period of eighteen years, may he regarded as one of those notable men who gave to our college its high character and great renown. Born at Strachan, in Kincardineshire, on 26th 60 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW April, 1710, he was educated for the ministry at the Grammar School of Kincardine O'Neil and the Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in 1737 was presented, greatly against the minds of the parishioners, to the Parish Church of IS'ew Machar, in Aberdeenshire. But by his unwearied attention to the duties of his office, the mildness and foi'- bearance of his temper, and the active spirit of his humanity^ he soon overcame all their prejudices, and gained their highest esteem and affection. On his departure from the parish, some of the old men are said to have remarked, " We fought against Dr. Reid when he came, and would have fought for him when he v/ent away." At an early period of his life he evinced a great love for mathematical and physical studies, and gave much thought to the organs of sense and their operations on the external world, which formed the broad basis of his philosophy. In 1752 the professors of King's College, Alierdeen, elected Reid pro- fessor of philosophy. This office he held till he came to Glasgow in 1763. In the following year, 1764, he published his great work. An Inquiry into the Human Mind tcpon the Principles of Common Sense, which may 1)6 said to have proved the chief basis of the modern Scotch School of Philosophy, and his system was afterwards taken up and expounded by his friend and biographer, Dugald Stewart, in his ridlosophy of the Human Mind. In 1785 he pul)- lished his Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, and in 1788 those on the Active Potvers. " These treatises," it has been said, " must always be looked upon as constituting the first complete and systematic work on the science of tlie human mind." For many years they were regarded as the standard works on mental philosophy in the universities and learned circles of Scotland. We cainiot find that Dr. Reid was ever a member of that convivial coterie of learned men, the Anderston Chob. The foundei' of that club was Dr. Robert Simson, the eminent mathematician, who died in 1768, five years after Reid came to our city, and the club appears to have come to an end when Dr. Simson died. In 1781 Dr. Reid retired from the chair of moral philo- sophy, and devoted his remaining strength to tlie publication of his works on the mind. He appears to have spent the last years of his life in Glasgow. In the summer of 1796 lie spent a few weeks in Edinburgh, and Dugald Stewart,, REMARKABLE DREAMS. 61 his biof'rapher, who was his almost constant companion, mentions that, with the exception of his memory, his mental faculties appeared almost unimpaired, while his physical powers were progressively sinking. On his return to Glas- gow, apparently in his usual health and spirits, a ^•iolent disorder attacked him about the end of September, and after repeated strokes of palsy, he died on the 7th October fol- lowing. His affectionate biographer, in summing up the character of this eminent and excellent man, says : " Its most prominent features were — intrepid and inflexible recti- tude, a pure and devoted attachment to truth, and an entire command (acquired by the unwearied exertion of a long life) over all his passions." Dr. Reid was under the middle size, but had great muscular strength, and was addicted to exercise in the open air. The following curious incident of his boyhood, communi- cated in a letter to a frieiid, written late in life, appears to have been recollected by him in connection with the com- mencement of some of his philosophical speculations : — " About the age of fourteen," he wrote, " I was almost every night unhappy in my sleep from frightful dreams, sometimes hanging over a dreadful precipice, and just ready to drop down ; sometimes pursued for my life, and stopped by a wall, or by a sudden loss of all strength ; sometimes ready to be devoured by a wild beast. How long I was plagued with such dreams I do not i-ecollect. I believe it was for a year or two at least, and I think they had quite left me before I was sixteen. In those days I was much given to what Mr. Addison, in one of his Spectators^ calls " castle building," and in my evening solitary walks my thoughts would huriy me into some active scene, where I generally acquitted myself much to my own satisfaction, and in these scenes of imagination I performed many a gallant exploit. At the same time, in my dreams I found myself the most arrant coward. Not only my courage but my strength failed me in every danger, and I often rose from my bed in the morning in such a panic that it took some time to get the better of it. I wished very much to get free of these uneasy dreams, which not only made me unhappy in sleep, but often left a disagreeable impression in my mind for some part of the following day. I thought it was worth trying whether it was possible to recollect that it was all a dream, 62 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W. and that I was in no real danger, and that every fright I had was a dream. After many fruitless attempts to recol- lect this when the danger ajjpeared, I effected it at last, and have often, when I was sliding over a precipice into the abyss, recollected that it was all a dream, and boldly jumped down. The effect of this commonly was, that I immediately awoke. But I awoke calm and intrepid, which I thought a great acquisition. After this my dreams were never uneasy, and in a short time I dreamed not at all." Our space forbids anything like a sketch, however short, of all the professors who have adorned — or otherwise — the University of Glasgow. From the selection ^\e have already made, it will be seen that men of the highest talent and influence, whose fame extended far beyond our city, have been engaged in the training of our youth ; and have given a standing and a name to our University that place it in the first rank of the educational institutions of the world. That there have been professors among us who were only men of mediocre ability ; and some whose influence rather detracted from than aclded to the reputation of the Uni- versity, goes without saying. But, on the whole, the record has been a noble one ; and if the youth of Glasgow, and of Scotland at large, have not been thoroughly educated in the arts, sciences, philosophies, and literature of their times, it has not been for the want of competent teachers. Even in more modern days, the Professors of Glasgow College have mostly Ijeen men of supei'ior ability, and, in some instances, equal to the most learned of their predecessors. We regret that we can only name a few of the more prominent of these. As, for example, Professor Thomas Thomson, one of the most eminent chemists and mineralogists of this country ; the able and learned Professor Ramsay, who for a long series of years presided over the Humanity Classes witli the liighest credit to himself and Ijencfit to his students, and whose erudite work on Roman Antiquities was for a long period a standard book both in College and Academy. The eloquent and accomplished Greek Professor, Dr. Lushington, the friend of Tennyson, and a man who was greatly beloved and esteemed by all who knew him, and wlio happily still lives in dignified retirement, and who recently had conferreil upon him the honour of being cho.seu Lord Rector for the University which he served so long RECENT AND LIVING PROFESSORS. 63 and so honourably. The famous Professor R. Buchanan (" Logic Bob," as he was affectionately but somewhat irreverently called), who taught the difficult art of reasoning to his hard-headed Scotch students, with great acceptance ; and who was not more renowned as a logician than beloved as a friend by his pupils. The worthy Professor Fleming, of the Moral Philosophy Chair, who also served faithfully for many years, and whose " Vocabulary of Philosophy '' is a most valuable and useful book. The able Professor Mac- quorn Rankine, who, for the period of seventeen years, presided over the classes of civil engineering and mechanics in a most satisfactory manner, and did good service to the city by his advocacy of the Loch Katrine Water Scheme, and who was the author of many valuable works connected with his own particular branch of knowledge. Sir William Thomson, who has earned a world-wide reputation as an electrician and natural philosopher. The noble Principal Caird, who is not surpassed for eloquence as a preacher by any other divine of the present generation ; who has given a tone to the entire Scottish pulpit, which is of the greatest possible influence ; and who is, moreover, the author of several rare, beautiful, and profound works on philosophy and other cognate subjects. The dashing and brilliant, yet massive and original Professor Edward Caird, who grapples ably and well with the deepest problems of philosophy, and who is yet in the zenith of his power, and who is acquiring for himself a name that will not speedily pass away. The polished, devoted, and estimable Professor John Pringle Nichol, whose astronomical researches and disquisitions gave an impetus to the starry science in Glasgow, which was of the greatest benefit not only to the students but to the entire community. His son. Professor John Nichol, who ably fills the Chair of English Literature in our University, and who has done, and is doing, good service to that hitherto greatly neglected subject, both in the College classes and amongst the general public. The genial and poetical Professor Veitch, presently professor of logic ; the co-editor, with Mansel, of Sir William Hamilton's works ; and a man of great culture and taste, as well as a keen lover of Scottish rural scenery and of Scottish poetry and romance. We close this sketch — somewhat lengthy, yet painfully incomplete — of the University and its pro- 64 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. fessors, with one or two anecdotes related of Professor Ramsay. The custom with the professors of humanity in the old Glasgow College had been to call upon some indi- vidual student to stand up and translate part of the passage which happened to be the subject of study. Ramsay called on one occasion upon a great stalwart Highlandman, who knew more about ewes, and wethers, and stirks, and Gaelic than of Horace. He had evidently, however, tried to pre- pare his task, and in the broadest West country brogue read out the first lines of Ode xxx, B iii. So far, with the exception of pronouncing '• impotens " "impotens," and "dirugre" " diruere " (Professor Ramsay detested nothing so much as a false quantity) Donald got on indifferently well. The translation was another matter. The first line runs — Exegi monumentum cere perennius — " I have erected a monument more lasting than brass," which the unfor- tunate Donald, led astray by confoundmg " exegi " with " edi," translated, " I have eaten a monument more harder than brass." It was too much for Ramsay, who could only in his astonishment gasp out, "Then for heaven's sake man, sit down and digest it." Donald sat down, amid the con- vulsions of the class, and if he didn't swallow the monument, did his l:)est to swallow the joke. Another story equally good is also told. It was in the good old days, when the professors and students mixed more with each other than they do now, and certain of the latter who had gained prizes for essays were entertained to supper by their hospitable teacher. As it drew near to "toddy time," a discussion arose as to what kind of drink a writer should take to strengthen him for the throes of composition. After some talk, the professor turned to one of his young guests of rather jovial repute, and said : — " And what drink do you take before writing your essay ? " " Whisky, sir," was the frank reply. "Aye, aye, James," was the quick retort, "and T have nae doot, Usse takes the same case after it that it does before ' it" An equally good story is told of one of Ramsay's prede- decessors in the same chair. A youth happening to come into the class-room after prayers one day, and neglecting in his confusion to shut the door, a student called out (they BISHOP WILLIAM ELPHIXSTON. 65 spoke in Latin in those clays) — Claude ostium puer ! — " Shut the door, V)oy ! " The professor wittily rebuked the officiousness of the speaker by parodying his words, — Claihde OS ttctim puer ! — " Shut your mouth, boy ! " (Strang's Glasgorv and its Clubs). But the laugh was not always on the side of the pro- fessor, if the following anecdote be a veritable one. One of the professors, who was certainly not famed for courtesy, was on one occasion much irritated at the stolidity and incapacity of one of the students, an apparently raw youth from the rural districts. After questioning him on some matter, and receiving very unintelligent replies, the pro- fessor touched his forehead, and asked, ' Ts there not some- thing wanting here?" The student v, ithout a moment's hesitation replied, "There may be something wanting there, sir, but (touching his own forehead) I can assure you there's nothing wanting here," and this retort set the whole class in a roar at the expense of the professor, who took good care to let that youth alone afterwards. CHAPTER V. DISTINGUISHED STUDENTS OF GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. " Joys ineli'able they finil, "Who seek the prouder pleasure of the mind ; The soul, collected in those happy ho\xrs, Then makes her efforts, then enjoys her powers ; And in those seasons feels herself repaid, For laboiirs past and honours long delayed. " — Crabbc. One of the earliest students of our University after its com- mencement liy Bishop Turn bull was a man who rose to very high eminence in after years, and was a credit to his Alma Mater, as well as to the city of which he was a native. We refer to William Elpiiinston, who became Bishop of Aber- deen and founder of the university of that city. He was born in Glasgow in 1431. His father, William Elphinston, was a younger member of the noble family of Elphinston, who took up his residence in Glasgow during the reign of James I, and was the first of its citizens who became 66 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. eminent and acquired a fortune as a general merchant. His mother was Mai'garet Douglas of the house of Mains in Dumbartonshire, which, at a later date, became allied to the Campbells of Blythswood. Indeed, it was Mr. Elphin- ston himself who acquired the estate of Blythswood along with that of Gorbals on the south side of the Clyde. Young Elphinston was educated first at the Grammar School, and then at the university of his native city. He took his degree of M.A. in 1457, and after studying divinity, he took holy orders, and was thereafter made rector of Kirk- michael, with a residence in the vicinity of the Cathedral. After holding that office for four years, he went over to France, where lie applied himself to the study of the Civil and Canon Law, and was afterwai'ds chosen professor of laws first at Paris, and then at Orleans. He attained a high reputation in France. After spending about nine years there, he returned to Glasgow, and became parson in the cathedral church there, and, at the same time, was made Rector of the University. But he was destined to higher honours still. He became Ofiicial of Lothian ; an office which he discharged so much to the satisfaction of all con- cerned that James III sent for him to Parliament, and appointed him one of the lords of his Privy Council. It may be noticed here, as a curious fact, that at this period men of ^■arious degrees sat and deliberated and voted in Parliament without any other authority than being sum- moned by His Majesty as wise and good men, whose advice might be useful in the management of public affairs. About this time a difference arose between the French and Scottish Courts, and the latter being alarmed for the stability of the ancient alliance of the two countries, sent out an embassy for its preservation. This embassy consisted of Earl Buchan, Lord Chamberlain Livingston, Bishop of Dunkeld and Elphinston ; and the last named so managed matters as to have the success of the embassy wholly attributed to him. As a reward for his services, he was made Archdeacon of Argyll in 1479, and shortly afterwards in 1482 Bishop of Ross, while in the following year he was promoted to the Bishopric of Aberdeen. In the following year, he, along with two or three other eminent men, was .sent to the court of Richard III of England to settle all disputes between the two countries. In subsequent disputes with tlie Scotch SIB WILLIAM ALEXANDER OF 2IENSTRIE. 67 nobles, Bishop Elphinston adhered stedfastly to his king,, and James was so well pleased with his conduct, that he- constituted him Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, the principal state office in tlie country. Of all our Scottish bishops, no one has been by our historians more highly com- mended than Elphinston He has been celebrated as a great statesman, a learned and pious churchman, and one who gained the reverence and love of all good men. He lived to a good old age, having died on his way to Edin- burgh, to which he had been summoned at a time of great ti'ouble in the Kingdom, on 25th October, 1514, in the- 83rd year of his age. It is said that he was so grieved at the disastrous r,ews of the battle of Flodden in 1513, that he was never seen to smile afterwards. The respect and veneration that he was held in will appear from what is related to have happened at the time of his burial by the historians who lived near his time : — On the day his corpse was brought forth to be interred, the pastoral staff, which was all of silver, and carried by Alexander Lauder, a priest, broke in two pieces, one part falling into the grave, where the corpse was to be laid, and a voice was heard to cry, Tecum, Gulielme, Mitra sepelienda — " With thee the mitre and glory thereof is buried." Among other eminent students of our University in these olden times, we can only refer to the following : — Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, an eminent noble- man, statesman, and poet of the reign of James VI and Charles I. The original rank of this personage was that of a small landlord or laird, but he was elevated, by dint of his various accomplishments, and through the favour of these two sovereigns, to the rank of Earl of Stirling. When only in his fifteenth year, he was smitten with the charms of some country beauty, " the cynosure of neighbouring eyes," and he wrote no fewer than a hundred sonnets as a ventilation to his feelings, but all his poetiy was in vain, so far as the lady was concerned. She thought of matrimony, while he thought of love, and accordingly, on being solicited by a more aged suitor, in other respects eligible, she did not scruple to accept his hand. But he consoled himself by afterwards marrying the daughter and heiress of Sir William Erskine. His century of sonnets was published in London in 1604, under the title of Aurora, containing the First ■68 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. Fancies of tlie Author s Youth, by W. Alexander of Menstrie." Kins: James is said to have been a warm admirer of the poems of Alexander, to have honoured him with his conver- sation, and called him " my philosophical poet." In 1626 he was, by the favour of Charles I, made Secretary of State for Scotland, and in 1630 was raised to the peerage iinder the title of Yiscount Stirling, and in 1633, at the coronation of Charles in Holyrood Chapel, he was promoted to the rank of an earl. In his latter years he was employed in revising the version of the Psalms prepared by King James, which duty was imposed upon him by the king himself. He died in 1640, leaving three sons and three daughters, whose posterity was supposed to have been completely ■extinct, till a claimant appeared in 1830, as descended from one of the younger branches of the family, and who assumed the titles of Stirling and Devon. The celebrated George Buchanan, one of the most dis- tinguished reformers, political and religious, of the sixteenth century, and the best Latin poet which modern Europe has produced, received a part of his early education in Glasgow University. He was born in the parish of Killearn, Stir- lingshire, in February, 1506, "of a family," to use his own v.-ords, " more ancient than wealthy." His father inherited the farm of Moss, on the western bank of the water of Blane, where the liouse, though it has been several times reliuiit, still, in honour of the illustrious George, preserves its original shape and dimensions, with a considerable portion of the original materials. At the age of fifteen Buchauan was sent Ity his maternal uncle, James Heriot, to complete his education at Paris. Here he studied with great diligence for a period of two years, when, in conse- cjuence of his uncle's death, he was cast upon his own resources, exposed to all the miseries of poverty and bodily aflliction. Ileturning to Scotland, he served as a private soldier in one campaign against the English. Shortly after- wai'ds he studied logic in St. Andrew's University, and in ir)24: retui-ncd to Paris, where he became a student in the Scots' College, and attained the degi-ee of M.A. in 1528, He imbibed the doctrines of the Reformation, and on account of his great learning was made tutor to the youthful king, James VI, who, it is said, owed to his tutor all the erudition ■of which in later life he was so vain. Buchanan ruled the AXEC DOTES OF GEORGE BUCHAN'AX. 69 youiig prince with much severity and strict discipline, and many apocryphal stories are told of the manner in which he snubbed and rebuked him. The following may, however, be regarded as authentic. The Master of Erskine, who was the prince's playmate, had a tame sparrow, the possession of which was coveted by James, but was denied by its ownei-. James had recourse to violence in order to obtain the bird, and the one boy pulled and the other held till the poor sparrow was killed in the struggle. The Master of Erskine then burst into tears and made a great outcry over his loss. This brought the matter to the knowledge of Buchanan, who gave the king a box on the ear, and told hiin " that what he had done was like a true bird of the bloody nest out of which he had come." A more pleasing anecdote is thus related : — One of the earliest propensities of the young king was an excessive attachment to favourites, and this weakness continued to retain its ascendency during every stage of his life. Buch- anan used a ludicrous expedient to try and correct this fault in his pupil's character. He presented the king with two papers, which he requested him to sign, which James, after some slight inquiry, readily signed without even iilancinti over their contents. One of them was a formal transference of the regal authority for the term of fifteen days. Having quitted the royal presence, one of the courtiers accosted him with the usual salutation, but to this astonished nobleman he announced himself in the new- character of a sovereign ; and with that happy urbanity of manner for which he was so distinguished, he began to assume the high demeanour of royalty. He afterwards, acted in the same manner towards the king himself, and when James expressed his amazement at such extraordinary conduct, Buchanan admonished him of his having resigned the crown. The king's surprise was not lessened by this reply, and he began to think that his tutor's mind had become deranged. Buchanan then pi'oduced the instrument by which he was formally invested, and v.^ith the authority of a tutor, proceeded to lecture his pupil on the absurdity of assenting to petitions in so rash a manner. In the latter years of his life Buchanan wrote and pub- lished an elaljorate history of Scotland in Latin. It was printed by Alexander Arbuthnot at Edinburgh, in 1582,. 70 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W. and there have been no fewer than seventeen editions of the ■vvork, some of these being translated into the Scotch and others into the English language. A few months before it was published, and when INIr. Buchanan was in his 76th year, and an invalid confined to the house, he was visited (in September, 1581) by Andrew Melville, James Melville, and his cousin, Thomas Buchanan. The following interesting account of this visit has been left by James Melville :— "That September, in tyme of vacans, my uncle, Mr. Andro, Mr. Thomas Buchanan, and I, heiring yt Mr. Oeorge Buchanan was weak, and his historie under ye press, past ower to Edinbro annes errand to visit him and sie ye wark. When we cam to his chalmer, we fand him sitting in his charre teatching his young man that servit him in his chalmer to spell a, V), ab ; e, b, eb, etc. After salutation, Mr. Andro says, 'I sie, sir, ye are not ydle.' 'Better,' quoth he, ' than stelling sheep or sitting ydle, which is als ill.' Yrefter he shew us the Epistle dedicative to the king, the whilk when Mr. Andro had read, he told him that it was obscure in some places, and wanted certain wordis to perfyt the sentence. Sayes he, ' I may do na mair for thinking on another mattei'.' 'What is that?' says Mr. Andro. ' To die,' quoth he, ' but I leave that an' mony ma things to you to help.' We went from him to the printer's wark hous, whom we fand at the end of the 17 bulk of his Chronicle, at a place qhuilk we thought verie hard for the tyme, qhuilk might be an occasion of steying the hail wark, anent the burial of Davie (David Rizzio). Therefore, steying the printer from proceeding, we cam to 3Ir. George again, and fand him bedfast by (contrary to) his custome, and asking him how he did, ' Even going the way of weilfare,' sayes he. Mr. Thomas, his cousin, shaws him of the hardness of that part of his story, yt the king wald be offendit with it, and it might stey all the wark. ' Tell me, man,' sayes he, ' if I have tald the truth.' ' Yes,' says Mr. Thomas, ' I think so.' ' I will byd his feide and all his kins, then,' quoth he, ' Pray, pray to God for me, and let Him direct all.' Sa be the printing of his Chronicle was endit, that maist learned, wyse, and godlic man endit this mortal lyff." Mr. Buchanan died on Friday, the 28th September, 1582. SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON OF FRESTOX. 71 He died in much peace, expressing his full reliance on his Saviour. He was buried in the Greyfriars Churchyard-, a great multitude attending his funeral. An obelisk has, by the gratitude of posterity, been reared to his memory in his native village, Killearn, and is in a state of good preservation. Amongst the eminent men who, in more modern days, received their education in our University — and their name is leo-ion — not one occupies a higher position than the late Sir William Hamilton, of Preston, Bart., of whom it has been said by a competent authority that he was " incom- parably the most scholarly of all Scottish philosophers, and incomparably the most philosophic of all Scottish scholars." He was born in Glasgow on the 8th March, 1788, and was not only the son, but also the grandson of professors in our University, the former. Dr. William, and the latter, Dr. Thomas, having held in succession the chairs of anatomy and botany. It was at our University that Sir William was educated, and there he disthiguished himself, especially in the philosophical classes, and laid the foundation of those intellectual habits and acquirements which afterwards obtained for him a European reputation ; although it was in Balliol College, Oxford, that the superstructure was reared. Hamilton was trained for the law, and was admitted a member of the Scottish Bar in 1813. But the law — except Roman law — had no charms for him. The study of mental philosophy occupied him so exclusively that he had neither time nor inclination for the study of statutes and precedents. On the death of Dr. Thomas Brown, in 1820, by which the professorship of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh became vacant, he contested with John Wilson (Christopher North) for the vacant chair, but without success. He was, however, subsequently appointed professor of logic and metaphysics for that [Jniversity. And this was his true sphere for which his tastes and talents best suited him. The same authoi'ity we have already quoted, says — " In the science of logic he towered, not only above all his Scottish pre- decessors and compeers, but above both Kant and Leibnitz; and he must probably take his place in all time coming next to Aristotle himself." As a professor, his metaphysical lectures excited a keen interest in philosophy among all his 72 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W students, who vv-ere qualitied for severe abstract thinking, while they guided the thinking of not a few into channels in which it long or always continued to flow ; while liis examinations of the students were of the most thorough, searching, and educative character. He was a voluminous contriljutor on philosophy to the EdhiburgJt Reviev: ; and, of his tirst contribution, M. Victor Cousin, the great French philosopher, said there were probably not fifty persons in the countiy who would be able to appreciate its value, or even to understand its meaning. For, when Sir William took the Chair of Logic and Metaphysics in Edinburgh, philosophy was at the lowest ebb in Britain. But through his efforts the Scottish intellect returned to those legiti- mate pursuits for which, in former times, it had shown such a peculiar aptitude, and upon which its best distinc- tions were founded. Sir William also edited the complete works of Thomas Reid, with notes and supplementary dis- sertations ; and, before his death, he had all but completed an edition of the collected works of Dugald Stewart. His own lectures were carefully revised and edited by Professors Mansel and Veitch, and were published in four volumes in 18-59. Sir William died in Edinburgh, on 6th May, 1856 ; and the following eulogium has been passed upon him l)y another Glasgow wiiter : — "His name will assuredly, liereafter, be reckoned among the greatest \\\ the history of British philosophy — ' His grave is all too young as yet To have outgrown the sorrow that consigned Its chavcce to it.' But the place of his birth and early education may be allowed at least a passing tribute to his memory ; and if ever the time shall come when the philoso})hy of the con- ditioned shall occupy its fitting place as the handmaid and auxiliary of Christian truth, voyaging through the seas of thought with the laws of the human mind for its chart and the Word of God for its polestar, among the fathers and teaciiei's of that philosophy, most consulted and most revered, will stand the name of Sir William Hamilton." The famous John Wilson himself, though a native of Paisley, and a profe.'^s(lr and citizen of Edinburgh, was also a student of our l^niversity; where from his fourteenth FRANCIS JEFFREY AND JAMES SMITH. 73 to his seventeenth year he studied Greek and Logic under Professors Young and Jardine ; and regarding these Pro- fessors it has been said — -" Few literary minds could pass under the training of such teachers, and especially the last, without finding it constitute a most important epoch in their intellectual history. And it was to Jardine that Wilson's great rival in critical literature — Jeffrey — acknow- ledged those first mental impulses which he afterwards prosecuted so successfully." It is rather a remarkable fact, and forms an indication of the high reputation of our University, that the eminent lawyer and litterateur, Francis Jeffrey, though born and reared in Edinburgh, received his first College education not at the Edinburgh, but the Glasgow University. Born in the year 1773, he was sent to our College when in his fourteenth year. His first year was devoted to the study of Greek under Professor John Young, the second to Logic under Professor Jardine. Of this latter Professor Jeffrey said — " It is to him and his most judicious instructions that I owe my taste for letters, and any little literary distinction I may since have been enabled to attain." Such was his declaration when he had attained the very highest literary distinction ; and the tears rolled down the cheeks of the good old professor when he found himself thus gratefully and unexpectedly requited. Jeffrey, during his third session, attended the course of Moral Philosophy under Professor Arthur, the successor of Reid, a man whose promise of high distinction was closed by an early death. Another distinguished pupil of the University, and this time a native of the city, was James Smith of Jordanhill, whose father, Archibald Smith, was a merchant in Glasgow, and whose mother, Isabella Ewing, a remarkable woman, who died so recently as 1855 in her 101st year, was the friend and correspondent of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, and to whom many of the Letters from the Mouyitains were addressed. James Smith was born in August, 1782, and at the University he was the friend and contemporary of John Wilson, Dr. Alexander Blair, and John Richardson. In 1809 he married Mary Wilson, grand-daughter of Dr. Alex. Wilson, Professor of Astronomy in the University of Glasgow, whose reputation as an original thinker was in recent times revived, from the now very general P 74 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. acquiesence in his speculations on the nature of the molar spots. Mr. Smith was "an ardent cultivator of geographical science and discovery, besides being an accomplished linguist, a theoretical and practical architect, a zealous student of family and historical antiquities, and a geologist." From 1839 to 184:7 he resided successively at Madeira, Gibraltar, Lisbon, and Malta, and published interesting papers on the geology of each of these localities. His residence at Malta was the occasion and commencement of a remarkable series of researches connected with the writings of the earliest Christian writers, by which he is now best known, through his great work, "27te Voyage and Shijnvreck of St. Paul, with Dissertations on the Life and Writings of St. Luke, and the Ships and Navigation of the Ancients," published in 1848. Mr. Smith died at Jordanhill, on the 17th January, 1867. Not less eminent though in a different walk, was James Smith's son, Archibald Smith, LL.D., F.R.S., who, though a barrister-at-law and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 3'et devoted the greater portion of his lifetime to the study of iron ship construction ; and his researches into compass deviations were regarded as specially valuable. He was a member of many learned societies, and was well known in most of the scientific circles throughout Europe. He was a native of Glasgow, having been born there in 1814, and received his first collegiate education in our University. In 1853 he was married to Susan Emma, youngest daughter of the late Vice-Chancellor Parker, and he died on the 26th December, 1872, Prior to these notables in point of time, and perhaps in common popularity, was the famous Tobias Smollett the novelist, author of Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, and other works of a similar kind, and who also continued the History of England l)egun by David Hume. Born in the old family house of Dalquhurn, near the modern village of Renton, in Dumbartonshire, in 1721, Tobias was sent at an early age to study at Glasgow College, with a view to some learned profession. There he was led, through his intimacy with some medical students, to embrace the profession of physic, which he studied along with anatomy, at tlie same time serving an apprenticeship in town to a sui'geou named Gordon, whom he is supposed to have afterwards caricatured in Roderick Random under the title of Potion. He was THE AUTHOR OF RODERICK RANDOM. lo rather a wild youth, addicted to satire and practical joking. One winter evening when the streets were covered with snow, he was engaged in a snowball fight with some boys of his own age, among whom was the apprentice of a surgeon, whom he is supposed to have delineated under the name of Crah in his famous novel. The master of this apprentice having entered his shop while the youth was in the heat of the engagement, rebuked him very severely, for having quitted the shop. The boy excused himself by saying that, while engaged in making up a prescription, a fellow had hit him witii a snowball, and he had gone in pursuit of the delinquent. " A mighty probable story truly," said the master in an ironical tone; " I wonder how long I should stand here before it would enter into any mortal's head to throw a snowball at tne?" Just as he pronounced these words, Smollett, who had heard them at the door, gave him a most unexpected answer by throwing a snowball, which hit him a severe blow on the face and extricated his companion. But the early years of Smollett were devoted to better pursuits than these. While still studying medicine at College, he composed a tragedy on the death of James I of Scotland, entitled the Regicide, and which, though not fitted for the stage, displayed considerable ability. At the age of 18, he had the misfortune to lose his grandfather, wdio died without making any provision for him or any of his father's family, and the young man shortly afterwards went to London to push his fortune, where, after a vain attempt to get into practice as a physician, he assumed the character of an author. Previous to this, however, he had made a voyage to Carthagena as a surgeon's mate, in a ship of the line under Admiral Vernon. He left the ship at Jamaica, where he resided for some time, during which residence he formed an attachment to a Miss Lascelles, an elegant and accomplished young lady who had the expecta- tion of a fortune of £3,000, and he afterwards married her, though shewas disappointed of her fortune through a lawsuit. His career as an author was of a chequered description. He was a most voluminous writer, and for his works he procured large sums of money, but from his satirical disposi- tion, he was continually getting himself into trouble, and latterly he laboured under a constant state of ill-humour, the 76 TRADITION'S OF GLASGOW. result of morVjid feelings and a distempered bodily system. He travelled on the Continent for two years, but this failed to restore his health. On his return he revisited Scotland, spending some time in Glasgow, and also at Bonhill. Once more, however, he was recommended to try a change of air, and he set out for Italy in 1770, taking up his abode in a cottage near Leghorn, where he published in 1771, the Adventures of Humphrey Clinker, in which his own char- acter as it appeared in later life under the pressure of bodily disease, is delineated in the person of Matthew Bramble. During the summer of 1774, he declined very rapidly, and at length on the 21st October, death put an end to liis suffer- ings. His widow — the JVarcissa of Roderick Random — was left jDOor in a foreign land. Had her husband only lived a few years longer he would have succeeded his cousin of Bonhill as heir of entail in the possession of an estate of £1,000 a year, besides other private means, all of which descended to his sister Mrs. Telfer. But the widow was assisted by Mr. Smollett, her husband's cousin before his death ; and among others, by Mr. Graham of Gartmore, who with his other intimate friend Mr. Bontine, was trustee to the ill-fated novelist. On the 3rd March, 1784, a benefit was procured for her in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, on which occasion, the play of Venice Preserved was acted, with a prologue written by Mr. Graham. The money, amounting to £3G6, with private donations, was remitted to Italy, and this was all that Scotland ever sacrificed for the sake of one of the most illustrious of her sons (Eminent Scotsmen). To enumerate all the eminent men who have been trained in our ancient and honourable University would require a whole volume ; and so, with the foregoing brief sketches as samples, we must conclude this chapter, except to state that the sons of a large number of our Scottish nobility, till a comparatively recent date were educated here. These young noblemen were generally attended by tlieir own servants, and they were not always famed for good behaviour, but were on the contrary among the wildest and most unruly of all. Could the ancient tenements in tlie Higli Street toll of all the scenes of fun, frolic, riot, and disorder, that have taken place in their presence amongst these scions of nobility and their compeers, they could unfold many a strange and startling tale. But GLSAGOW AS A LITERARY CENTRE. 77 with our statelier building in Gilmorehill, and with a more advanced and perfected system of education, we must con- fess that the social status of our students has declined. Our sprigs of nobility have deserted our learned halls and fled to the milder regions of Oxford and Cambridge, there to carry on their pranks, and too often neglect their studies. Yet we verily believe that the mental and moral calibre of those who now frequent our seat of learning has in no wise diminished since the days of old, and after all, as Burns says — " The rank is but the guinea stamp, Tlie man's the gowd for a' that." CHAPTER VI. SKETCHES OF NOTABLE POETS AND LITERARY MEN OP GLASGOW. " The outward shows of sky and earth, Of hill and valley he has view'd ; And impulses of deeper birth Have come to him in solitude. " In common things that round us lie Some random truths he can impart, — The harvest of a quiet eye That broods and sleeps on his ovm heart." — A Poet's Epitaph — Wordsworth. In spite of its keen trading instincts, its somewhat rough and boisterous manners, and its unromantic and unsavoury physical conditions, our good city has had considerable leanings towards the finer arts, and has produced a few good poets, a great many minor cultivators of the muse, and not a few men of high culture, and general literary, and classical attainments. It has been, moreover, a generous patron of poetry, literature, and art, and has ever been quick to recognize the work of true genius wherever found. Many of those who have in after-life shone as bright stars in the intellectual and imaginative spheres, have had their light kindled or fanned into a flame, amidst the smoke and din and bustle of Glasgow. A large volume could be 78 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. written full of interesting and instructive narrative relating to the poets and literary men of the city ; but our space will only permit us to glean a few representative sketches, as samples of the whole galaxy. It is interesting to know that one of the earliest literary men of Glasgow was the excellent Bishop Joceline, who towards the close of the 12th century wrote and published a Vr'ork on the Life and 2Iiracles of St. Keydigern, with the proceeds of which he laid the foundation of our noble Cathedral. His successors in the sacred office were not as a rule famous for authorship ; their duties generally being of a more active, and even political and military character. Yet not a few of them were men of learning and culture, amongst whom may be ranked Bishop Gavin Dunbar, who became tutor to James V ; and Spottiswoode the great historian, and others. Then in connection with our Uni- versity, we tind that even in early times it bore a high reputation for learning and culture, as was amply testified by the Reformer James Melville, and other high authorities. Amongst the early professors and rectors of our college, we have Zachary Boyd, who was both a poet and prose writer of no mean order, and although his writings would scarcely be called elegant in these modern days, yet considering the times in which he lived, they were remarkable productions. The literary works of Baillie, Dickson, Wodrow, are still to be found in our public libraries, and although they are now only consulted by antiquarians, historians, and students, yet in their day they had a wide circulation and exerted a powerful influence. In more modern days among the professors of Glasgow University, as will be seen from the sketches we have already presented to our readers, were some of the most eminent writers of their day, and their disquisitions in science, philosophy, theology, and other weighty subjects, held a high place in the literary world both at home and abroad. But it will be more in keeping with the character of this book, and more generally interesting, if, in this chapter, we deal with a more varied and popular school of literature. The most eminent name in this connection is, undoubtedly, that of Thomas Campbell, " the poet of hope " ; l)ut there were a few prior to his day Avho are worthy of honourable mention. Among these may be ranked MRS. GRANT OF LAGGAK. 79 Mrs. Grant of Laggan, who was born in Glasgow on 21st February, 1755. Her father, Duncan M 'Vicar, was an officer in the British army ; her mother was a descendant of the ancient family of Stewart of Invernahyle, in Argyllshire. Shortly after the birth of their daughter, the father accompanied his regiment to America, and was afterwards joined by his wife and child. The girl was chiefly educated by her mother, and the home teaching of Scotland was transplanted to the back settlements of New York State. From the sergeant of a Scottish regiment she learned the art of penmanship, and this worthy man presented her with the poem of Wallace^ by Blind Harry. He also taught her to under- stand the meaning of that quaint and difficult work. From this source she mainly derived that enthusiastic love of her native country which was a prominent feature in her character. Another notable book fell into her hands at this period — Milton's Paradise Lost — which she studied with eagerness and delight. Her father did not succeed in America, and returned to Scotland with his family in 1768. A few years after he was appointed barrack-master at Fort Augustus. Here Miss M'Vicar formed an acquaint- ance with the military chaplain, Rev. James Grant, an accomplished scholar, and of amiable manners, to whom she was married, and some years after this event her husband was appointed in 1779 to the parish of Laggan, in Inverness-shire. On becoming the wife of a parish minister, Mrs. Grant set herself to become useful among the people of the parish, and to enable her to do so, she studied and mastered the Gaelic language. No idea of authorship had then entered her mind. But a literary life was to be her iveird, and stern necessity was to be the instrument of its accomplishment. After four successive deatlis in her family, her husband died, and she was left a helpless widow, with eight children dependent upon her exertions, while the manse, so long her happy home, had to be vacated. After unsuccessfully attempting to maintain herself and family by taking charge of a farm, she removed to Stirling in 1803, and at the suggestion of her friends, she tried the experiment of authorship. She had written many verses, which had been greatly admired, in MS., and these 80 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. were collected into a volume and published. About 3,000 subscribers were secured, and the volume was well received. With the proceeds of this venture she discharged the debts she had contracted at Laggan ; and, encouraged by success, she published her famous Letters from the 2Ioimtains in 1806. These letters had been written in the manse at Laggan to her friends, and were so full of descriptions of Highland scenery, character and legends, expressed in the happiest style, that they were thoroughly appreciated, and went through many editions. Their publication also pro- cured her the friendship of many eminent persons. The only other works which she subsequently published were Memoirs of an American Lady and Essays on the Supersti- tions of the llighlayiders of Scotland ; and it is enough to say that they did not detract from the reputation she had already won. Her productions are thus characterized by Sir Walter Scott—" Her literai-y works, although composed amidst misfortune and privation, are written at once with simplicity and force, and uniformly bear the stamp of a virtuous and courageous mind, recommending to the reader that patience and fortitude which the writer herself practised in such an eminent degree. Her writings, so popular in her own country, derive their success from the happy manner in which they breathe a spirit at once of patriotism, and of that candour which renders patriotism unselfish and liberal. We have no hesitation in attestins: our belief that ]\Irs. Grant's writings have produced a strong and salutary effect upon her countrymen, who not only found recorded in them much of national history and antiquities, which would otherwise have been forgotten, but found them combined with the soundest and the best lessons of virtue and morality." In 1810 Mrs. Grant removed to Edinburgli, where she resided during the rest of her life. But still her domestic calamities pursued her, and all hor children died succes- sively, except her youngest son, who survived her. She Avas aided during her later years by a pension from the literary fund, first of .£50, but afterwards of .£100 per annum. Tlie application made on hor bolialf in 1S2;") was subscribed by Sir AV'alter Scott, Francis J ctlVey, Mackenzie (the Man of Feeling), Sir William Arbuthnot, Sir Robert Liston, and Principal Baird, and was cordially granted by THE AUTHOR OF ''TOM GRIFGLE'S LOG." 81 George IV. Mrs. Grant was long an invalid. Seven years before she obtained her pension, she had a fall in descending a stair, from the effects of which she was confined almost wholly to her house during the rest of her life. But still she was resigned, and even happy ; and her frequent study of the Bible, as well as her conversation, betokened the sure foundation upon which her comfort was established. Thus she lived, honoured and beloved, till the 84tli year of her age, when a cold, that increased into influenza, ended her days on 7th November, 1838. Her chief talent lay in con- versation, in which she was unrivalled, and hence the high fame she acquired among the literary circles of her day. " That voice has passed away, of which her works are but an echo, and thus the works themselves are now rated beneath their merits. Still, however, the Letters from the Mountains will continue to attest the high talent of their writer, and will be perused with pleasure and profit." * Michael Scott. A somewhat remarkable Glasgow man of letters was Michael Scott, the author of that racy and brilliant series of articles originally contributed to Blackwood's Magazine under the name of Tom Cringle, and afterwards published in two volumes, entitled Tom Cringle's Log. This talented writer was born in Glasgow on 30th October, 1789. He received his education first at the High School, and after- wards at the University of his native city. As he was destined for business, his stay at the College was a brief one; and, in October, 1806, he sailed for Jamaica, and was there employed in the management of several estates till 1810, when he joined a mercantile house in Kingston, Jamaica. In these situations he acquired an intimate knowledge of West India character and scenery, which he afterwards so powerfully delineated. He returned to Scot- land in 1817, and was married in the following year, after which he went back to Jamaica ; but after remaining there till 1822, he finally bade adieu to the West Indies, and returned to his native country. He subsequently wrote * We have been partly indebted for this and several other sketches in this work to Blackie's Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. 82 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. and published his celebrated work, which, in graphic style^ detailed " the voyage of a strange life through calm and hurricane, through battle and tempest," as they successively occurred to his fancy. The Quarterly Bevieiv characterized the papers as the most brilliant series of magazine articles of the time ; while Coleridge, in his Table Talk, proclaimed them "most excellent." The public were of the same opinion, and the question was asked on all hands, " Who is the author of Tovi Cringle's Log ? " But no one could answer, not even Blackwood himself, so well had the author preserved his incognito ; and that eminent publisher descended to his grave without knowing assuredly by whom the most popular series in his far-famed Magazine had been written. Afterwards the chapters were published as an entire work in two volumes ; and so highly was it prized, that it was generally read on the Continent ; while, in Germany, it has been repeatedly translated. After INIichael Scott had thus led a life almost as mythical as that of his wondrous namesake, the necromancer of the thirteenth century, he died in Glasgow on the 7th November, 1835 ; and it was only through that sad event that the full fact of his authorship was ascertained by the son of Mr. Blackwood. Mr. Scott was also the author of that well known work, The Cruise of the Midge, and many other miscellaneous contributions. It would be unpardonable in a review of the literary characters of Glasgow, however brief and summary, to over- look the claims of DOUGAL GrAII.VM, the " Skellat " bellman of our good city. It is not known exactly whether he was a native-Vjorn Glaswegian, but it is certain he lived here from his early youth. He left Glasgow to follow the contending armies during the Rebellion of '45, not however as a warrior, but as a pedlar or packman, and on his return he wrote and published a long and inter- esting metrical history of that movement. The book had an immense popularity among the common people. So racy indeed was the work, that Sir Walter Scott even entertained the idea of printing a correct copy of the original edition, with the view of presenting it to the Maitland Club, as he DOUGAL GRAHAM, CHAPMAN-POET. S3 thought " it really contained some traits and circumstances of manners worth preserving." In addition to this, Dougal was the author of a large number of " chap books," contain- ing stories illustrating Scottish life and character, which were largely circulated all over the country by himself and other pedlars. Among these may be mentioned " Geordie Buchanan," " Paddy from Cork," "John Cheap the Chap- man," " Jocky and Maggie's Courtship," " John Falkirk the Merry Piper," " The Creelman's Courtship," ifec, &c. Two other well known productions of our chapman poet were "John Highlandman's Remarks on Glasgow" and " Tur- namspike Man," Dougal Graham was elected Bellman of the city about the year 1770, out of a host of competitors. The candidates were put to a practical test of their skill by the magistrates, and when Dougal's turn came round, he seized the bell and giving it a loud and sonorous ring, he called, out with stentorian voice — " Caller herring at the Broomielaw, Three a penny — three a penny." And then calling his ready wit and power of versification into play, he added with a grin — " Indeed my friends But it's a' a blellum. For the herrin's no catched An' the boat's no come." This display of humour seems to have captivated our civic rulers, and Dougal received the much coveted post. For nine or ten years after that, he instructed and amused the lieges by alternate announcements and jocular extemporized verses, until he heard his own last summons on the iOth July, 1779. Rev. James Grahame author of The Sabbath, a poem of great excellence, was born in Glasgow, on the 22nd April, 1765. He was the son of Mr. Thomas Grahame, a writer in the city, a gentleman who stood at the head of the legal pi'ofession there, and held in high esteem for his many amiable quali- ties. His mother was a woman of uncommon understanding, Si TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. and left a deep and beneficial impress upon the mind of her son. He was educated at the Grammar School and University of Glasgow. At this time his father possessed a beautiful villa on the then romantic banks of the Cart, near Glasgow, to which the family removed during the summer months ; and it is pleasing to remark the delight with which Grahame, in after years, looked back upon the youth- ful days spent there. In the Birds of Scotland we have the following pleasing lines, which show that these days were still green in his memory — " I love thee pretty bird I for 'twas thy nest "Wliich first, unlielped by older eyes, I found ; The very spot I think I now behold ! Forth from my low-roofed home I wandered blythe, Down to thy side sweet Cart, where 'cross the stream A range of stones, below a shallow ford. Stood in the place of the now spanning arch ; Up from that ford a little bank there was, With alder copse and willow overgrown. Now worn away by mining winter floods ; There at a bramble root, sunk in the grass, The hidden prize of withered field straws formed, "Well lined with many a coil of hair and moss, And in it laid five red-veined spheres, I found." Grahame greatly distinguished himself both at school and <;ollege, and he was also noted for the activity of his habits, and the gaiety of his disposition. His character, however, seems to have changed, and his constitution to have received a shock fi'om a blow he received on the back of his head, which ever afterwards entailed upon him occasional attacks of headache and stupor ; and there seems little doubt tliat this blow was ultimately the cause of his death. He was designed by his father for the law, and he commenced to study under his cousin, Mr. Laurence Hill, W.S. After finishing his apprenticeship, he was admitted a member of the Society of Writers to the Signet in 1791. But he had no taste for the profession, and after the death of his father towards the close of that year, he resumed his original desire of entering the Church. But he continued at his profession for several years after that ; varying the dry details of his work with poetical compositions, which he contributed to the Kelso Mail and other publications, and REV. JAMES GRAHAME. 8& they were afterwards published in a volume under the title- of the Rural Calendar. In the year 1801 he published a dramatic poem, entitled Mary Queen of Scotland ; but his talents were by no means dramatic, and this poem never became popular. In 1802 Mr. Grahame was married to Miss Grahame, eldest daughter of Richard Grahame, Esq., Annan, a woman of masculine understanding and elegant accomplishments. She at first discouraged her husband's poetical propensities from the idea that they interfered with his professional duties ; but on discovering that he was the author of The Sabbath, she no longer attempted to oppose the bias of his mind. The Sabbath was published anonymously ; the poet even con- cealed its existence from his relations. The mode which he took to communicate it to his wife presents a pleasing picture of his diffident disposition. " On its publication he brought the book home with him, and left it on the parlour table. Returning soon after he found Mrs. Grahame engaged in its perusal ; but without venturing to ask her opinion he continued to walk up and down the room in breathless anxiety, till she burst out in the warmest eulogium on the performance ; adding — ' Ah, James, if you could but produce a poem like this.' The acknowledgment of the authorship and the pleasure of making the disclosure under such circumstances may be easily imagined." About the year 1806 Grahame published a well written pamphlet, entitled Thoughts on Trial by Jury, and shortly afterwards a poem in blank verse, entitled The Birds of Scotland. In 1808 he wrote the British Georgics, also in blank verse. At length, yielding to his long cherished wish, he entered holy orders as a clergyman of the Church of England, and after some difficulty, was ordained on 28th May, 1809. But he did not long survive the realization of his desire. He obtained the curacy of Shefton, in Gloucester- shire, in July, 1809, and held that office till the March following, when he was called to Scotland on family aftairs. Here he became candidate for St. George's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh, but without success. In August, 1810, he was appointed interim curate to the chapelry of St. Margaret, Durham, where his eloquence quickly collected a crowded congi'egation ; and after having officiated there for a few- months, he obtained the curacy of Sedgefield, in the same ■86 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. diocese. But being afflicted with oppressive asthma and violent headaches, he was induced to try the effect of a change to his native air ; and he, along with his wife, pro- ceeded to Glasgow, where he died two days after, on 14th •Sept., 1811, at Whitehill, the residence of his eldest brother, Mr. Robert Grahame, of Whitehill, a well known merchant ■citizen of Glaso:ow. It is said of James Grahame that *' there is no author, excepting Burns, whom an intelligent Scotsman residing abroad would read with more delight." In addition to the above works, Grahame wrote — Sabbath Walks, and Biblical Pictures, both in blank verse like the others. Incidents in the Life of Thomas Campbell. This poet, so justly entitled " the bard of hope," was born in the High Street of Glasgow, on 27th July, 1777. He was the son of Alexander Campbell, merchant, and one of ■a family of eleven. His father was an intimate friend of Thomas Reid, author of an Inquiry into the Human Mind, while his mother appears to have been a lover of literature, and a woman of strong sense and refined taste. At the early age of ten young Campbell gave evidence of poetic talent, and in his twelfth year he composed his Poem on Description, which gained for him a prize in the Logic class four years afterwards. He entered our University in 1791, and was even then a ripe scholar in Latin and Greek. He was famed among his fellow-students, not only for his poetical ability and learning, but also for his wit and humour. It is said of him that, being a slender, delicate lad, he was fond of a place near the College hall tire in the cold winter mornings, before the professor made his appearance ; but as he often found the fireside crowded by other students, amongst whom some Irisli youths were conspicuous, he used to resort to a trick to draw them away. This consisted in liis writing some original witty effusion on the wall, at a distance from the fireplace, and their curiosity soon led his fellow-students away from their place at the fire in order to peruse his latest squib. On one occasion it was reported that he had written something derogatory of the Irish character, and the Irish students rushed in a body over to see it, and vowing vengeance upon ANECDOTES OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. 87 the author of the libel. But their anger turned to merri- ment when they read the following couplet : — " Vos, Hibenii CoUocatis Summum bonum in — ijotatoes ! " It will thus be seen that in his youth Campbell was of a gay and lively disposition, but the tone of his after life was greatly changed by a remarkable incident. Like many other young men of studious habits, his whole soul was engrossed with the literature of Greece and Rome — with Brutus and Cassius and ideas of liberty. But while with others this was a mere passing fancy, with Campbell these sentiments were, by an event which happened at that time, indelibly stamped upon his mind and heart, and became a life-long passion. It was in the height of tlie French revol- ution, which movement affected even the minds of "cannv" Scotsmen among others, leading them into dangerous and semi-treasonable courses of action. Some of these men — viz., Muir, Palmer, Gerald, and others — were tried at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, and young Campbell became possessed with a great desire to witness and hear these trials. He got five shillings from his mother, set out on foot to Edinburgh, and directed his way to Parlia- ment House, where the trial of Gerald was going on ; and this man was at the moment addressing the jury in an eloquent and passionate manner : — "Gentlemen of the jury," he said, in his closing appeal, " now that I have to take leave of you for ever, let me remind you that mercy is no small part of the duty of jurymen ; that the man who shuts his heart on the claims of the unfortunate, on him the gates of mercy will be shut, and for him the Saviour of the world shall have died in vain." Campbell was deeply impressed with these words and the deep silence of the multitude of listeners, and he gave vent to his emotion by exclaiming, "By heavens, sir, that is a great man." "Ay, sir," replied the man beside him, appar-ently a decent tradesman, "he is not only a great man himself, but he makes every other man great who listens to him." Campbell returned to Glasgow, a sadder if not a wiser man, and, to the astonishment of his companions, his jokes and flashes of merriment were now laid aside. He was ever after to be the poet of liberty. The Pleasures of Ilo'pe 88 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. was written when he was little over twenty years of age. During its composition he was a teacher of Latin and Greek in Edinburgh. "In this vocation," he says himself, " I made a comfortable livelihood as long as I was indus- trious ; but the Pleasures of Hope came over me. I took long walks about Arthur's Seat, conning over my own (as I thought them) magnihcent lines ; and as my Pleasures of Hope got on, my pupils fell off." A lady thus describes the personal appearance of the poet at this period. "Mr. Campbell's appearance bespoke instant favour ; his counte- nance was beautiful, and as the expression of his face varied with his various feelings, it became quite a study for a painter to catch the fleeting graces as they rapidly succeeded each other. The pensive air wdiich hung so gracefully over his youthful features, gave a melancholy interest to his manner which was extremely touching. But when he indulged in any lively sallies of humour, he was exceedingly amusing ; every now and then, however, he seemed to check himself, as if the effort to be gay was too much for his sadder thoughts, which evidently pre- vailed." The appearance of his great poem took the public mind by storm. The learned Dr. Gregory, stepping into the shop of Mr. Mundell, the publisher, saw the volume fresh from the press, lying upon the counter. " Ah ! what have we here?" he said, taking it up — "the Pleasures of Hope." He looked between the uncut leaves, and was so struck with the beauty of a single passage that he could not desist until he had read half the work. This is poetry," he enthusiastically exclaimed ; and added " Where is the author to be found ? I will call upon him immediately." The promise of the professor was quickly fulfilled, and from that period he became one of Campbell's warmest friends and admirers. After the publication of his poem, Campbell travelled upon the Continent and witnessed some of the horrors of war at Ratisbon, which made a deep impression upon his sensitive mind. Returning home by London, the fame of his poem was a passport to him to the best society in the metropolis. After a short stay there, he directed his course homeward. " Returning to Edinburgh by sea," he writes in his memoranda of 1801, "a lady passenger by the same ship who liad read my poems, but was personally uiaacquainted ANECDOTES OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. 89 with me, told me to my utter astonishment that I had been arrested in London for high treason, and committed to the Tower, and expected to be executed. I was equally uncon- scious of having either deserved or incurred such a sentence." He however found, on reaching Edinburgh that it was no joke. The report had spread there also, and greatly alarmed his mother. He had messed with French officers at Ratisbon during an armistice, and, in that period of rumour and suspicion, this simple fact had been amplified into a plot concerted between himself, Moreau, and the Irish at Hamburg, to land a French army in Ireland. He waited upon Mr. Clerk, the sheriff of Edinburgh to refute the report and testify his loyalty; but here, to his astonishment, he found that the sheriff believed iu his guilt and had a warrant out for his apprehension. This was intolerable and Campbell could not help exclaiming " Do I live to hear a sensible man like you talking about a boy like me conspiring against the British Empire ? " He offered himself for strict examination before being sent to prison, and the inquisition was held amidst an array of clerks ready to take down his answers. A box of his letters and papers which had been seized at Leith was brought forward, and carefully examined. But the contents put all suspicion to the rout. Nothing- could be found more treasonable than Ye Mariners of England, which was already prepared for the press, with a few other poems of distinguished merit. The whole inquest ended in a hearty laugh and a bottle of wine. Shortly after this he composed Lochiel's Warniyig and the Battle of Hohenlinden. It is said that that striking line in the former poem, " Coming events cast their shadows before," cost him a whole week of study and anxiety ; but it was worthy all the pains. Telford, the celebrated engineer, asked in a letter to a friend, "Have you seen his Lochiel? He will surpass everything ancient and modern — your Pindars, your Drydens, and your Grays." A similar feeling, but in a more poetical fashion was expressed of its merits by Mrs. Dugald Stewart, wife of the distinguished philosopher. When the poet read it to her in MS. she listened in deep silence and when it was finished, she gravely rose, laid her hand upon his head and G 90 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. said, " This will bear another wreath of laurel yet," after which she retired to her seat without uttering another word. "This," said Campbell, " made a stronger impression on my mind than if she had spoken in a strain of the loftiest pane- gyric. It was one of the principal incidents of my life that gave me contidence in my own powers." This poem being also read in MS. to Sir Walter Scott, he requested a perusal of it himself, and then repeated the whole from memory — a striking instance of the great minstrel's power of recollection. A humorous anecdote relating to the well known poem on Hohenlinden may be told here as illustrating the jovial wit of the literary men of the last generation when met together in social fellowship. One evening a si/iiiposium of the poets and litterateurs of Modern Athens was held at the lodgings of one of their nundjer in one of those tall tene- ments in the High Street or Lawnmarket, where the stairs wex-e numerous and the lights few. The company embraced Campbell, CJiristoplier Nortli, the Ettrick Shepherd, and other notabilities, and when the long sederunt was over and the parties were about to return to their respective homes, the burly " Kit " had the misfortune to slip a foot and fall down the stair. Campbell, who was in front, hearing the noise and commotion, cried out, " Who's there 1 What's the matter ?" The inimitable professor, though somewhat bruised by his fall, could not resist the opportunity of cracking his joke, and he roared in reply — " 'Tis I, Sir, rolling rapidly ; " and a loud burst of laughter followed the bon mot at the expense of our poet. On the 10th September, 1803, the poet was married to Miss Matilda Sinclair, who had been the object of his youth- ful admiration nine years before. She was the daughter of his mother's cousin, a gentleman who had been a wealthy merchant and provost in Greenock, and was now a trader in London. The poet's whole fortune at this time did not exceed ,£50, and, to add to his cares, the support of his aged mother devolved upon him. But he was strong in hope, and besides the production of his poems he worked on the staff of the Star newspaper for four guineas a week. His incessant labour and anxiety told upon his hoaltli, and he was on the point of bi'caking down, when, through the influence of an AXEC DOTES OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. 91 unknown but influential friend, he was awarded a pension of £200 per annum from his majesty's bounty. He was then living at Sydenham. Our space forbids further details of Campbell's interesting life. He was three times successively elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University — his Alma Mater — viz., in 1826-7-8. He had two sons born to him by his beloved wife. One of these, the eldest became a lunatic and was confined to an asylum. The other died in infancy. In 1(S26, his affectionate wife, Matilda, died, and he found himself alone in the world. He was editor of the Neio Monthly Magazine and it had prospered greatly under his supervision, but it passed out of his hands by an unlucky incident. A paper was inserted by mistake in its pages without having been subjected to his editorial examination, and, as the article was ofiensive in the highest degree, Campbell in 1830 abandoned the maga- zine and a salary of £600 a year which he derived from it. In connection with Campbell's election as Lord Rector of our University, the following story is told of him in a recent number of Temple Bar : — "When he reached the College Green on his way to deliver his address the snow lay on the ground, and he found the youths pelting each other with snowballs. That he was just going to deliver a solemn address to the same youths never for a moment crossed his mind. The feelings of his youth came upon him, the spirit of past years animated him. He rushed into the melee and joined in the frolic in his fiftieth year, as if he had been but fifteen. Then, when the moment for delivering the address was come, the students being summoned, and he proceeding in the van, they entered the hall together. There could not be a better picture of the temperament and character of the man than such an incident — so impulsive and lively at a moment when gravity was on every other adult visage." He had all along taken a deep interest in the cause of Poland, and the fall of Warsaw with the subsequent miseries with which the devoted country was afterwards visited, sank deep into his soul Still he struggled nobly, and spoke, and wrote, both in prose and poetry on her behalf. And his labours were not in vain. He awoke a deep sympathy in her favour wherever his influence extended, and succeeded by means of the Polish Committee in London in relieving thousands of the expatriated refugees. Thomas Campbell 92 TRADITIONS OF GLASGO W. died at Boulogne, on the loth June, 1844, in the 67th year of his age ; solaced by all the consolations of the Word of God, and attended to in his last moments by his niece and by his faithful physician and biographer, Dr. Beattie, who had crossed over from London to soothe the departing hours of his affectionate patient. " This spirit shall returii to him That gave its heavenly spark ; Yet think not, sun, it shall be dim. When thou thyself art dark ! No, it shall live again, and shine In bliss unknown to beams of thine, By him recalled to breath. Who captive led ca^jtivity, Who robbed the grave of victory. And took the sting from death ! " A somewhat notable literary character belonging to our good city in the past generation was Robert Macnish, LL.D., the author of The Anatomy of Drunkenness, The Philosophy of Sleep, and a considerable number of essays and tales contributed to Blackwood, Fraser, and other magazines. He was born at Glasgow on 15th February, 1802. His father and grandfather were both eminent surgeons of this city, and he himself was trained for the same calling at the High School and University. At an early age he became deeply attached to literature, and at 17 he ventured to send his first literaiy effort to a periodical then published in Glasgow, and conducted by a divinity student. To his great joy the contribution was accepted, and he was thus encouraged to cultivate his talent for composition with renewed ardour. He furnished poetical pieces as well as prose tales and essays, some of them possessing merit of no mean order. He had, indeed, some difficulty in convincing the editor that they were his own productions. Like most other Glasgow periodicals, this one soon died a premature death. At the age of 18 he received his degree of Magister Chirurgice, and soon after proceeded to Caitluiess as an assistaiit to Dr. Henderson, of Clyth. The wild scenery of that county made a deep impression upon a niiud already tinged with a love of the mysterious and ROBERT MACXISH, LL.D. 93 sublime, and gave a tone to his subsequent literary produc- tions. During his stay there he contriljuted some articles to the Inverness Courier. His health giving way he returned to Glasgow, visiting on his way home the grand, gloomy, and rugged scenery of Glencoe, which left an impression on his mind that was never effaced. After recruiting his health in some measure, he went to Paris for the purpose of completing his medical studies, and here, among other things, he heard a course of lectures by Gall, the eminent phrenologist. Gall, on one occasion, while treating of the organ of comparison, pointed out Maciiish as an instance of its remarkable development. After a stay of about six months in Paris, he returned to Glasgow in 1825, when he received his diploma from the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. Tlie Anatomy of Drunkenness was presented as his inaugural essay, and was received with much commendation. It was afterwards published by the late Mr. M'Phun. It passed through many editions, and was highly praised by the first critics of the day, and was subsequently greatly enlarged. He at this time began to contribulje to Blackwood^s Magazine. His first story was entitled "Metempsychosis," which evinced some of the weird and mystical characteristics of his mind, and created quite a sensation. He continued for several years a regular contributor to Blackwood under the nom de plume of "Modern Pythagorean." Among his other contributions there successively appeared — "The Man with the jSTose," " The Man with the Mouth," " The Barber of Gottingen," "Colonel O'Shaughnessy," "The Man Mountain," and a variety of others. Some of these quaint, humoi'ous, and sometimes grotesque stories were afterwards published in Tales from Blackwood. He dashed off "The Barber of Gottingen " in one night after returning from an evening- party. The idea occurred to him on his way home ; he sat up all night, and did not stop till he brought it to a conclusion. He was immediately after attacked with a fever which brought him to the brink of the grave. All his stories bear the mark of original genius. His connection with Blackwood soon brought him into contact with Pro- fessor Wilson, " Delta " (D. M. Moir), De Quincey, Aird, Hogg, and other famous literary men connected with " Old Ebony," and he occasionally joined their carousals at 9i TRADITIOXS OF GLASGOW. Ambrose's, and now and then figured in the " Noctes Ambrosiana?." He became particularly intimate with Moir, towards whom he cherished to the last the warmest friendship. His grandfather having died, he went into partnership with his fathei-, and relaxing somewhat his literary efforts, he devoted himself to his profession with much success. But subsequently he resumed his literary work, and contributed several tales and poems to the Forget Me Kot and Friendship's Offering. Of these we may mention " The Vision of Robert the Bruce " and " The Covenanters," both displaying great versatility and power. " The Cove- nanters " was dramatised, and performed at the English Opera House, London, where it had a long and successful run. He also wrote his great work, 77ie Philosophy of Sleep, which was published by Mr. M'Phun in 1830. It is a most remarkable work, full of acute, subtle reasoning, and strange, mysterious illustration. His glowing fancy and eloquent diction lent a charm to subjects generally uninvit- ing, and dull,, dry details were invested with life and interest by the touch of his genius. To Fraser^s Magazine he contributed one of his best stories — " Singular Passage in my own Life," and a clever burlesque, which he called " The Philosophy of Burking." He also sent to Fraser a great variety of humorous poems, many of them extremely good. Of his other fugitive pieces may be mentioned— "The Victims of Sensibility," "Terence O'Flagherty," "The Red Man," " Death and the Fisherman," and "The Psychological Curiosity." In 1834 he published his "Book of Aphorisms," and in the same and following year he travelled through a part of Scotland and over a considerable portion of the Continent of Europe. His health, however, gave way some time afterwards, and he was cut off with typhoid fever, after a short illness, on the IGth January, 1837, greatly regretted by all who knew him. In person Mr. Macnish was about 5 feet 8 inches high, and although rather slightly formed, he possessed extra- ordinary muscular strength and activity. He excelled \\\ gymnastics and pugilism. His head was uncommonly large, and not remarkably symmetrical. His Vn'ow was high and expansive, his complexion dark, and his large expressive eye indicated shrewdness and benevolence. His temper TWO RE2IARKABLE DREAMS. 95 was naturally violent, but he kept it under strict control. In general society he was silent and reserved ; with common- place men he seldom shone ; hence it was a surprise to many that he should display so much talent in his writings. But among congenial friends he was full of life, frolic, and playfulness, and in humorous desci'iption he was without a rival. He had great command of countenance, and the mock gravity and earnestness with which he detailed some ludi- crous occurrence, bringing in one laughable illustration after another, were irresistible. His remains were interred in th(^ burial ground of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Glasgow. TWO REMARKABLE DREAMS. The following illustrations, taken from The Philosoiihy of Sleej), will give a slight idea of the character of that work, and may be otherwise interesting : — "I lately dreamed," he says, " that I walked upon the banks of the Great Canal in the neighbourhood of Glasgow. On the side opposite to that on which I was, and within a few feet of the water, stood the splendid portico of the Royal Exchange. A gentleman, whom I knew, was standing upon one of the steps, and we spoke to each other. I then lifted a large stone, and poised it in my hand, when he said that he was sure I could not throw it to a certain spot which he pointed out. I made the attempt, and fell short of the mark. At this moment a well known friend came up whom I knew to excel in puttmg the stone ; but strange to say, he had lost both his legs, and walked upon wooden substitutes. This struck me as exceedingly curious, for my impression was that he had only lost one leg, and had but a single wooden one. At my desire he took up the stone, and without difficulty threw it beyond the point indicated. The absurdity of this dream," he continues, " is exceedingly glaring, and yet, on strictly analysing it, I find it to be wholly composed of ideas which passed through my mind on the previous day assuming a new and ridiculous arrangement. For instance, I had on the above day taken a walk to the canal with a friend. On returning I pointed out to him a spot where a new road was forming, and where, a few days before, one of the woi'kmen had been overwhelmed by a quantity of rubbish falling upon him, which fairly chopped off one of his legs, and so much damaged the other that it ^G ' TRADITIOXS OF GLASGOW. was feared amputation would be necessary. Xear this very spot there is a park in which, about a month previously, I practised throwing the stone. On passing the Exchange on my way home I expressed regret at the lowness of its situation, and remarked what a line eflect the portico would have were it placed upon more elevated gi'ound." By applying these facts to his dream in a ^ery interesting manner, the wTiter comes to the conclusion that if it were possible to analyse all di-eams, they would invai-iably be found to stand in relation to the waking state as the above specimen. The following story of a dream is a more remarkable one, and though it does not relate to Glasgow, may be given as a further illustration of Mr. Macnishs work : — About the year 1731, a Mr. D., of K , in the county of Cumber- land, came to Edinburgh to attend the classes, and resided with his uncle and aunt, Major and ]\[rs. Griffiths, during the winter. When spring arri\ ed, Mr. D. and three or four young gentlemen from England made parties to all the neighbouruig places about Edinburgh. Coming home one e\ening, Mr. D. said, •• We have made a party to go a-tishing to Inchkeith to-morrow, if the morning is fine, and have bespoke our boat : we shall be off at six. ' Xo objec- tion being made, they separated for the night. Mrs. Griffiths had not been long asleep, till she screamed out in the most violent and agitated manner, •• The boat is sinking: save, oh, save them : " The ^lajor awaked her, and said," Were jou uneasy about the fishing pai-ty ?'" " Oh, no," said she, " I had not once thought of it." She then composed her- self, and soon fell asleep again : in about an hour she cried in a dreadful fright, " I see the boat is goiug down." The ^lajor again awoke her, and she said, " It has been owing to the other dream I had : for I feel no uneasiness about it." After some convei-s;\tion, they both fell sound asleep, but no rest could be obtained for her : in the most extreme agony, she again screamed, " They are gone ; the l>oat is sunk I" When the Major awaked her, she said, " Xow I cannot rest : Mr. D. must not go, for I feel, should he go, I would be miserable till his return; the thought of it would almost kill me." She instantly arose, threw on her wrap- ping-gown, went to his bedside, and with gi-eat difficulty she got his promise for her sake to remain at home. WILLIAM MOTHERWELL. 97 The morning came in most beautifully, and continued so till thi'ee o'clock, when a violent storm arose, and in an instant the boat, and all that were in it, went to the bottom, and were never heard of. It is somewhat disappointing to find the author saying that the remarkaVjle coincidence here given, between the dream and the succeeding calamity, " like all other instances of the kind, must be referred to chance." It is evident that Mr. Macnish was no great believer in the supernatural. It has been customary to associate the name of that excellent poet and litterateur, "William Motiierv.ell, with the neighbouring town of Paisley ; but, in point of fact, he was a native of Glasgow, having been bom there on the 13th October, 1797. His father was an ironmonger in the city. He was, however, educated partly in Edinburgh and partly in Paisley. In the former, he had for a school com pauion Jeanie Morrison, a beautiful young girl, who sat on the same form with him, and was at once the object of his first love, and the inspirer of one of the tenderest love songs of our Scottish muse. At the age of 15, young Motherwell was placed as a clerk in the office of the Sheriff-Clerk in Paisley, and at the early age of 21 he became Sheriflf-Clerk Depute in that town. During the Radical commotions of 1818, he was furiously attacked by a mob, who were incensed against him for discharging his official duties, and he made a narrow escape of being thrown over the bridge into the I'iver Cart. Up to this time he had "dreamed his dream of liberty," like many another ardent youth ; but this inci- dent cooled his Liberalism and he became a Conservative, He was early devoted to literature, and wrote many poems and prose contributions for various magazines. He edited in 1819 the Harp of Renfreicshire, containing bio- graphical notices of the poets of that county, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, and eight years after- wards he published in Glasgow a more important work entitled. Minstrelsy : Ancient and Modern. He was also editor of two Paisley newspapers, the Paislej Maffazine and the Faisleij Advertiser. Subsequently he succeeded Mr. James M'Queen in the editorship of the Glasgoio Courier, 98 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. au excellent journal in its clay. This office he held from 1830 till his death in November, 1835. In addition to his onerous and often thankless duties as an editor of a Tory paper in a strongly Radical city, he contributed to a short- lived Glasgow magazine called The Day, edited by our late talented City Chamberlain, Dr. Strang, besides doing a great deal of other literary work. He was joined with Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, in prepar-ing an edition of Burns' Works ; he engaged in collecting a number of Norse Legends ; and composed a large number of his longest and best poems. He was employed in collecting materials for a life of Tanna- hill, when he was suddenly cut off by a lit of apoplexy at the early age of 38. He was buried in the Glasgow Necropolis, and the large numbers of persons of all classes of political opinion, who attended his funeral, gave evidence of the affectionate esteem with which he was regarded. The taste, enthusiasm, and social qualities of Motherwell rendered him very popular among his townsmen and friends. As an antiquary, he was shrewd, indefatigable, and truthful. As a poet, he was happiest in pathetic or sentimental lyrics, though his own inclinations led him to prefer the chivalrous and martial style of the old minstrels. Among his larger productions may be mentioned the Battle-flay of Sigurd, and the Sword-chant of Thorstein Raudi ; while his sono-s, My held is like to rend, Willie, the Midniyht Wind, and above all, Jeanie Morrison, will live as long as our language exists. Had he lived longer and devoted less of his time to the harassing work of journalism, he would doubtless have raised his name to the highest rank of Scottish poets. Jonx Strang, LL.D., City Chamberlain, author of the celebrated Glasyoio and its Clubs, and of several other excellent works, was a Glasgow man in every sense of the word. He was born there in the year 1795. His father, Jolin Strang, of Dowanhill, was a merchant of our city ; and his mother, Miss 3I'Gilp, was the daughter of a substantial Glasgow trader. At the age of 14 his father died, and young Strang succeeded to his business of a wine merchant; but he had no taste for it, and it dwindled away in his hands. He was more interested in JOHN STRANG, LL.D. 99 the acquisition of languages, of which he became a proficient in the French, German, and Italian. He visited France and Italy in 1817, and from that time, for many years, he took a trip to the Continent almost every summer. He translated tales and poems from the German and other foreign works, and was also a regular contributor on art and literature to the Scots Times (a Glasgow paper), the Scots- man, and other journals. Under the nom cle plume of "Geofirey Crayon, Jr.," he published a small volume entitled, A Glance at the Exliibition of the Works of Living Artists, tender the Patronage of the Glasgow Dilettanti Societg, which was greatly admired at the time for the acuteness and soundness of its art criticisms at a period when art was not so n)uch appreciated in our city as it is now. Mr. Strang was also an artist himself, and would have excelled had he devoted his attention more to its practical study. As an indication of his love for his native city, it may be stated that the subjects of his brush were the quaint buildings of the old town, which were gradually being demolished by the improving habits of the age. In 1831 Dr. Strang suggested the plan of ti-ansforming the unsightly and useless hill called the Fir Park into a city of the dead, after the style of the " Pere la Chaise "' of Paris, in a small volume entitled, Necropolis Glasguensis, and his suggestion was successfully carried into execution in the formation of our noble Necro- polis. At the close of his life his parting wish was expressed to one of his friends in the following words : — " I should like my bones to be laid in the Glasgow Necropolis, in the establishment of which, it is well known, I took so active and so zealous a part. If the Merchants' House would grant me and my wife a small last resting place, as a recognition of my labours connected with the cemetery, you will, of course, accept it; if not, you must purchase one." It is needless to say that this pathetic request was cordially granted. As we have already seen. Dr. Strang started the publication of The Day. This was in 1832, and The Day was an eight-page daily newspaper. It was the first daily newspaper published in Glasgow, but it was rather more of a literary than a news-paper. It lasted only six months. In 1834: Dr. Strang was appointed City Chamberlain, and held that important office for the long period of thirty 100 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. .years. His annual volumes on the Vital Statistics of Glasgow were perfect models of their kind, full of the most valuable information of all matters relating to the people of the city and their multifarious interests. But the most interestinc of all Dr. Strang's literary productions was Glasgoio and its Clubs, published in 1855. A more racy, quaint, and delightful series of descriptive sketches was surely never written of any city than that. The genus Glasgow citizen is there drawn to the life. The period covered by these sketches — from 1750 down to 1832 — was perhaps the most interesting in the history of our city, and the glimpses given of the manners and habits of our citizens during that period are of the most graphic and enthrall- ing character. The rough, boisterous humour, the jovial sociality, the keen trading instincts, the exuberant animal spirits, the ardent loyalty and the devotedness to the interests of their city of the merchants, lawyers, and professors, are in this volume presented in the most complete manner by one of the shrewdest, kindliest, and most genial of observers ; and all through, the work abounds in richly illustrative anecdote and antiquarian notes. The style of writing is excellent throughout, and evinces not only the literary artist, but the accomplished scholar. No book is, even yet, more popular with our Glasgow readers, and old, battered copies of Glasgoio arid its Clubs no sooner appear in our second-hand book shops than they are bought up with avidity. Three editions of it have been published. In 1842 Dr. Strang married the daughter of Dr. William Anderson, an eminent physician of Glasgow ; and soon afterwards the honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by our University. In the summer of 1863, in consequence of failing health, he revisited France and Italy, and contributed a series of letters to the Glasgow Herald giving interesting sketches of the scenes of his travel. It was thought that the efforts thus put foi'th aggravated his disease, and he returned home only to die. In the autumn of that year he received from his admiring -and attached fellow-citizens a princely testimonial in the shape of £4,600, but he did not live long to enjoy the munificent gift. He died on the 8th Decemlier, 1863, in the 69th year of his age. WILLIAM GLEK. 101 William Glen, author of that beautiful, plaintive Jacobite song, "Oh! wae 's me for Prince Charlie," was a native of Glasgow, having been born there in the year 1786. His father was an eminent merchant of the city, and William himself began his business life as a manufacturer. But he was better at weaving metres than weaving iiiuslins, and the result was that while he was looked upon as a passable poet, he had the misfortune of tasting the "bitterness of adversity," like so many more of the "jingling brotherhood." In addition to his popular Jacobite song — and its popularity has not yet diminished — Mr. Glen wrote a patriotic song entitled " The Battle of Vittoria," which was long a favourite. But he was also the author of a large number of other poetical effusions written for special occasions, the interest in which has now faded away. He was a member of the famous " Anderston Social Club," and his presence at the weekly meetings of that fraternity threw a halo of happiness around the heads which wagged chorus to his patriotic songs. The following anecdote is related in connection with the song, " Wae 's me for Prince Charlie :" — During a visit of Her Majesty to the North, this song received a mark of royal favour which would have sweetened, had he been alive, poor Glen's bitter cup of life. While at Taymouth Castle,. the Marquis of Breadalbane had engaged Mr. Wilson, the celebrated vocalist, to sing before Her Majesty. A list of the songs Mr, Wilson was in the habit of singing was submitted to the Queen that she might signify her choice. She immediately fixed upon the following: — "Lochaber no More," "The Flowers of the Forest," "The Lass o' Gowrie," "John Anderson, my Jo," " Cam' ye by Athole," and " The Laird o' Cockpen." Mr. Glen's song was not in Mr. Wilson's list, but Her Majesty hei'self asked if he could sing "Wae's me for Prince Charlie," which fortunately he was able to do. Mr. Glen died in 1824. A daughter of his lived to a good old age, and died only a few years ago. For many years she resided in or near the " Clachan of Aber- foyle," and was entrusted by the City of Glasgow Parochial Board with the care of a goodly number of their orphan chil- dren under the excellent boarding-out system ; and this duty Miss Glen discharged to the entire satisfaction of the Board. 102 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. John Donald Carrick, a somewhat famous poet in his day, was born in Glasgow in April, 1787. In his early years he was engaged for some time in the office of an architect, and he appears also to have been for a short period clerk in a counting house. But he was of a restless disposition, and so, in the year 1807, without stating his intention to any one, he left the city, and set out on foot for the great metropolis with only a few shillings in his pocket. Weary and worn he reached the town of Liverpool. On entering the town he met a party of soldiers beating up for recruits for the Peninsular war. He held a council with himself for some time, debating whether he would follow the drum or the route to London. Glory and gain strove for the mastery with such equal claims that, unable to decide the knotty point, he had recourse to a rustic form of divination ; and casting up in the air his trusty cudgel, he resolved to be guided by the direction in which it should fall. As it fell towards the road to London, he conceived the will of the gods to be that he should pursue his journey, with the hope — fully as well founded as that of Whittington — that he might yet be Lord Mayor of that famous city. He arrived in the metropolis with half-a-crown in his pocket. After many vicissitudes in search of employment, a decent tradesman from the Land of Cakes, pricking up his ear at the Doric, took compassion on the friendless lad, and engaged him in his service. He was afterwards engaged in an extensive house in the Staffordshire pottery line of business. He remained altogether about four yeai-s in the capital, when he returned to Glasgow in 1811, where he started business in Hutcheson Street for the sale of stoneware, china, ikc, and continued in this business for nearly fourteen years. Latterly he turned his attention to literature. In 182-5 he puljlished a Life of Sir Williavi Wallace, which was written for Constal)le's Miscellany, and was well received by the public. It has continued a favourite ever since. He was also engaged as sub-editor of the Scots Times, and con- tributed largely to an amusing series of local squibs which appeared in that paper. He was also a contributor to Dr. Strang's paper, The Day. In a clever little work, entitled " Whistle-Binkie," pub- JOHN D. CARRICK AND DUGALD MOORE. 103 lished in 1832 by Mr. David Robertson, and whicli was a collection of songs and other poetical pieces, chiefly humorous, there appeared several by Mr. Carrick, rich in that peculiar vein of humour in which he excelled. Among these were "The Scottish Tea Party " and "Mister Peter Paterson," which the author used to sing himself to the great delight of his audience. In 1833, he was appointed manager of the Perth. Advertiser, Ijut only remained eleven months in the Fair City, when he threw up his situation in disgust. On the recommendation of his friend, William Motherwell, he was then appointed conductor of the Kil- viarnock Journal. But here, too, his evil star was still in the ascendant His powers of keen wit and satire were too much for some of the thin-skinned people of " Auld Killie," and they withdrew their subscriptions from the paper. He was forced to retire from the editorial chair, and return to his native city. Here he contributed some excellent papers to the Scottish Monihli/ Magazine and various other periodi- cals. Several of his stories afterwards appeared in that famous book of wit and humour, "The Laird of Logan," which was published by David Robertson, and of which Carrick was the projector, editor, and principal contriljutor. But alas ! in a few years more, poor Carrick was in his grave. He died of a painful disease on 17th August, 1837, and was buried in the High Church burying-ground, followed to the grave by many friends, in whose social circle he left a blank not to be easily filled up. Of this amiable and unfortunate individual it has been said, " that whilst his genius and talents were not of the highest stamp, yet in his own peculiar walk of composition, as a delineator of the humorous phases of human life and manners, in its most minute details, and a skilful analyser of character, in combination with an overflowing humour and comic richness of expression, relieved and exalted by the fre- quent flashes of a delicate irony, and a pungent sarcasm — few writers have surpassed, and not many have equalled him." Another Glasgow poet, but of higher genius and more enduring fame, DuGALD MoORE, was born in the Stockwell, in August, 1805. His father, a private soldier, died while his son was a mere child, and so 104 TEADITIOXS OF GLASGO W. great was the poverty of the widow, that Dugald's only education was that which she imparted to him. The seed sown by that worthy woman fell however into good ground, and bare rich fruit. After engaging for a short time in the coarse and not very elevating occupation of a tobacco spinner, young Moore found a situation with Messrs. James Lumsden & Sons, publishers, Queen Street. He early evinced a taste for poetical composition, and in this he was encouraged by his employer, Provost Lumsden. Through this means he was enabled to publish, in 1829, Tlie African, a Tale, and other poems, which was received with much favour. Shortly afterwards he published Scenes from the Flood, the Tenth Plague, and other Poems. In 1831, he published The Bridal Kight, arid other Poems, a larger and more pretentious work than the others. From the profits derived from these works, Dugald, who had his aged mother to support, opened a bookseller's shop at 96 Queen Street, which became a favourite resort of literary men in the city. While prosecuting this honourable busi- ness, he continued to devote his attention to literature, and published in 1833 his famous work, Tlie Bard of the North, a series of poetical tales descriptive of Highland scenery and character, which obtained much popularity. This was followed in 1835 by the Hour of Retribution, and other Poems; and in 1839, the Devoted One, and other Poems. All these works, though written within the compass of a few years, were distinguished by great excellence, and a lofty fancy, energy of feeling, and remarkable powers of versifica- tion. But like many other sons of the muse, Mr. Moore's career, so full of intensity of emotion, and of brain energy, was cut short at an early age. He died unmarried, after a brief illness, on the ■2nd January, 1841, in the 36th year of his age, leaving his widowed mother in possession of a comfortable competency. He was buried in the Necropolis, and over his grave a massive monument surmounted by his bust was erected l)y his personal friends to perpetuate his memory. Another literary man of whom our good city has reason to be proud was JoHX Gibson Lockiiart, son-in-law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott. He was born in Glasgow in 1793. His father. Rev. Dr. John JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART. 105 Lockhart, was for nearly fifty years minister of Blackfriars Church, a worthy man, celebrated for his piety and worth, but also notable for two rather different qualities — wit and extreme absence of mind, about which many laughable stories have been told. Young Lockhart was educated at Glasgow and Oxford Universities. He was trained for the bar, but lacked one essential element of success — he was no speaker. When he rose to make a speech, his first sentence was only a plunge into the mud, while all that followed was but a struggle to get out of it. When a trial was going on in which he was supposed to be interested, instead of taking notes of the evidence, he would busy himself in sketching caricatures of the proceedings, the drollery of which would have convulsed both judge and jury with laughter. He made a happy allusion to this infirmity at a dinner gi^'en to him in Edinburgh when he was leaving to assume the charge of the Quarterly Revieir. He attempted to address the meeting, and broke down as usual, but covered his retreat with — " Gentlemen, you know that if I could speak we would not have been here." Unsuited for the law he devoted himself to literature, and here he found his true vocation. He was a regular contributor to Blackicood's Magazine. He wrote, about the year 1817, a series of eloquent, vigorous, and truthful sketches on the distinguished Scotsmen of the period. These sketches were entitled Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk, and were received with the highest commendation from all classes, although, from the keenness of their criticisms, they also provoked a good deal of angry comment. In May, 1818, he formed the acquaintanceship of Sir Walter Scott, through which he was introduced to Sir Walter's eldest daughter, Sophia, to whom he was married in April, 1820. The young couple took up their abode at the little cottage of Chiefswood, near Abbotsford, which became their summer residence. Here the great Wizard often retired, glad of a release from the worry of visitors and sight- seers, who crowded to view him and the scenes he had immortalized. In addition to his numerous contributions to Blachwood, Mr. Lockhart began to write and publish separate works with a fertility that seemed to have been inspired by that H 106 TRADITIOXS OF GLASGOW. of his father-in-law. Among these were Valerius, one of the most classical tales of ancient Rome that has ever been written in the English language. Then followed a most interesting Scotch story entitled Adam Blair; Beginald Dalton, a three-volume novel containing reminiscences of student life at Oxford; and Jfattheir Wald, another novel, which fully sustamed the high literary ability of the author. After a short interval, Lockhart came out in the new character of a poet by his Ancient Spanish Ballads, and in this field he was no less successful than in that of prose. He next turned his attention to biography, and produced an able Life of Robert Burns and a Ijife of Napoleon Bonaparte. But his greatest success in this department was his Life of Sir Walter Scott, which we have no hesita- tion in saying is one of the very best and most delightful biographies in the language. In 1825 Mr. Lockhart was appointed editor of the Quarterli/ Review, the great champion of Toryism in England, which office he filled for the long period of 28 years — viz., from 182G to 1853. He con- ducted this magazine with consummate ability ; but his trenchant criticisms, keen powers of satire, and pungent wit frequently brought him into trouble with authors whose works he reviewed. One of these quarrels became so serious that it resulted in bloodshed, and this doubtless tended to embitter the later years of our author. In 1853 he resigned the editorship of the Quarterly with his health seriously impaired, and he spent the following winter in Italy. But the maladies under which he suffered, although assuaged for a time, came back with redoubled violence on his return, and he died at Abbotsford — which had now become the seat of his son-in-law, Mr. Hope Scott^ — on the 25tli Xovember, 1854. It may be interesting to notice that it was to Mr. Lockhart's son, " Master Hugh Littlejohn '"' that the celebrated "Tales of a Grandfather" were addressed. The lad was then in the sixth year of his age. He died in 1831. Mrs. Lockhart herself died in 1837. His other and only remaining son Walter Scott Lockhart Scott died in 1853. We append one of the shorter of Mr. Lockhart's Spanish Ballads: — ALEX. WHITELAW AND GEO. OUTRAM. 107 MINGUILLO " Since for kissing thee, Minguillo, My mother scolds me all the day, Let me have it quickly, darling ! Give me back the Kiss, I pray. " If we have done aught amiss, Let 's undo it while we may. Quickly give me back the Kiss, That she may have naught to say. " Do ! She keeps so great a pother. Chides so shai-ply, looks so grave ; Do, my love, to please my mother. Give me back the Kiss I gave." o"- " Out upon you, false Minguillo ! One you give, but two you take ; " " Give me back the two, my darling I Give them, for my mother's sake." Another pleasing and able author of this period was Alexander Wiiitelaw, who was born in Glasgow about the year 1798, and died there in 1846. He was assistant to Dr. Robert Watt in the preparation of the Bibliotheca Britcmnica, and wrote a number of the lives in Chambers' Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. He edited the Casquet of Literary Gems and the Rejnihlic of Letters — two admirable works, containing selections from the works of the best authors. The Book of Scottish Soyig — the most complete collection of Scottish songs yet published ; and the Book of Scottish Ballads, which included the collections of Scott, Motherwell, Jamieson, and Peter Buchan. He was the author of St. Kentigern, a tale of the City of St. Mungo, and of many other poems and prose sketches. Good taste and a sincere devotion to literature are apparent in his work ; and he was among the first to recognize and to proclaim the genius of Wordsworth. His " Tale of the Old Gorbals " in the Casquet is one of the most charming stories relating to old Glasgow, of the sixteenth century, we have ever read, and we only regret that our space will not admit of transferring it to our pages. George Outram, was born in Glasgow on 25th March, 1805, and died there in 1856. He was a worthy successor of the famous Samuel Hunter, in the editorship of the 108 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. Glasgow Herald, of which also Outram was one of the pro- prietoi's. He was called to the bar in 1827, but devoted his time and talents to his editorial and literary work. He wrote a number of humorous and satirical verses, of which a collection was published by Blackwood, and more recently under the editorial supervision of the late Mr. Stoddart. One of the most racy and popular of these is entitled — The Annuity, an exquisite piece of caustic humour. One of the most popular and beloved of Glasgow literary men of modern times was the celebrated " Rambler," Hugh Macdoxald, who was born in Rumford Street, Bridgeton, on 4th April, 1817. His parents were in humble circumstances, and were unable to give their son a very liberal education. He was apprenticed to the block-printing trade in the works of Messrs. Henry Monteith ik Co., at Barrowfield, at an early age. But the education which he did not derive from books, he acquired in his young days from nature. He was familiar with every hill and dale from Mearns Moor to Campsie Glen, and had explored the whole course of the Clyde from Stone- byres Linn to Bowling Braes. The whole of Clydesdale was dear to "the Rambler." One of his favourite haunts was the " guid auld toon " of Rutherglen, with the Cathkin Braes in its vicinity. From this town he obtained both of his wives, and the fine scenery of the " Braes " would possess an enhanced charm to his poetic eyes, from the fact that in his raml)les there he would have the sweet society of first one and then another of these fair maidens in the happy court- ing days. Macdonald was frugal and industrious in his habits, and having saved a little money at his trade, he embarked it in a grocery and provision shop in Bridgeton. But this was a line for which he was entirely unsuited. His nature was too open and generous to conduct a huckstering business with protit to himself. Not only did he deal fairly and honestly with his customers, but he gave credit to all who asked it. The result may easily be guessed. He was compelled to relinquish the trade, after having lost all his earnings in bad debts. He returned to the block-printing, and found employ- ment at Colinslie, near Paisley. He continued to reside in HUGH MAC DONALD, ''RAMBLER." 109 Bridgeton, however, and walked to and from his work, a distance in all of sixteen miles every day. Not only in fair weather and bright sunshine, but amid pelting storms of wind and rain did our author trudge on foot from Bridgeton to Paisley and back, and regularly completed his ten or twelve hours of arduous physical exertion every day. It was about this time, too, that his literary life may be said to have begun. His first effusions were poetical, and appeared in the Chartist Circular, a periodical of Ultra-Radical views. A nobler field was soon opened for him in the columns of the Glasgow Citizen, edited by that true poet and friend of poets, James Hedderwick. In the Citizen, he, in a series of letters, defended the character of Robert Burns from an attack made upon it by that literary free-lance, George Gilfillan. of Dun- dee. Macdonald appears to have come out of the controversy with flying colours. He became a regular contributor to the Citizen, and some of his sweetest poems appeared in its "poets' corner." About this time he obtained an interview with the famous John Wilson — Christopher North — of which he has left an interesting account. In 1849, Macdonald obtained a permanent situation as sub-editor of the Citizen, and became a voluminous contributor both in prose and verse to its pages. Among others may be mentioned his famous " Rambles round Glasgow," under the nom-de-jylume of " Caleb," which have long been exceedingly popular with his fellow-citizens, and have run through several editions in volume form. In the Citizen also he commenced his equally interesting "Days at the Coast," but these were completed in the columns of the Glasgoio Times, as he had by that time severed his connection with the Citizen, and joined the staff of the Glasgow Sentinel, owned and edited by Mr. Buchanan, father of the celebrated poet of the present day, Robert Buchanan. These two works are full of tine poetical descrip- tions of scenery, along with interesting topographical and antiquarian information. They have Ijecome handbooks to successive generations of Glasgow pleasure seekers, and have also given rise to a Modern Glasgow Club of the better sort, "The Ramblers," who tread the footsteps of the "gentle Caleb" with devoted zeal and affectionate remembrance. Macdonald was an intense lover of the Clyde with all its beauties, and never wearied of singing its praises. In a poem to the Clyde, he says : — 110 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. " O'er all the streams that Scotia pours Deep murnnuiiig to the sea, "With warmest love ray heart still turns, Fair, winding Clyde to thee I Through scenes where brightest beauty smiles, Thy placid waters glide, Linked to a thousand mem'ries sweet, My own, my native Clyde I " Dear stream, long may thy hills be greeu, Thy woods in beauty wave. Thy daughters still be chaste and fair. Thy sons be true and brave ! And oh ! when from this weaiy heart, Has ebbed life's purple tide. May it be mine, 'mongst those I've loved, To rest on thy green side." In June, 1858, when the Morning Journal was started by Mr. Robert Somers, that gentleman succeeded in engag- ing Mr. Macdonald for the literary department of the paper, and in this connection he continued till it was brought to a melancholy and abrupt termination by death on 16th March, 1860. Before transferring his services to the new daily, the "Rambler" was entertained to a public dinner in the Royal Hotel, George Square, which was presided over by Mr. James Hedderwick, and attended by a number of mer- cantile, literally, and artistic friends. In January, 1860, Macdonald commenced in the Morning Journal a series of papers entitled " Footsteps of the Year," whicli were to be continued on through all the months of that year. But alas ! they came to a premature end with the second montli of the year. Early in March he had made a pilgrimage to Castle- milk to see the snowdrops, for, like summer at the " Castle o' INIontgomerie," there they are first unfolded, and there they " langest tarry," and he returned, took to his bed, and before his last illness was generally known, he expired in the 43rd year of his age, leaving a widow and family of one son and four daughters in comparative poverty. He left a policy of insurance on his life for £100, but that was insuf- ficient to support and educate liis family. In these circum- stances his numerous friends and admirers came to their aid, and generously raised a testimonial of £900 on their Ijehalf. HUGH MACDOXALD, " RA MBL ER." 1 1 1 " Hugh Macdonakl was possessed of all the characteristics of a true poet. His love of nature in all its moods, his intense love of flowers and birds, his tenderness of feeling and sympathy for humanity, his manly independence of spirit, his warm social qualities, and his tine literary instincts all combine in forming a character resembling in a remarkable degree that of his great countryman and fore- runner, Robert Burns, of whom he was an ardent admirei', and at whose torch his own lamp was to a large extent kindled, though he had a genius and talent peculiarly his own. Many of his poems will linger in the memories and hearts of his countrymen as long as true Scottish song preserves its deserved popularity." We have already alluded to his marriages. A pathetic interest attaches to both. His first wife was named Agnes and his second Alison. The former died within a year after theij:- marriage, and was buried in the Southern Necropolis with a new-Vjorn babe in lier bosom. The lady who became his second wife was bridesmaid at his first mai'riage, and it was the dying wish of his first spouse that if he married again he should wed her dearest friend. He entertained the warmest affection for this excellent woman, although he retained to the last a deep and lasting love for the wife of his youth. Whenever Burns's pathetic song of " My Nannie's awa' " was sung in Hugh's presence he shed silent tears, as he had a green remembrance of his own beloved Agnes. Another illustration of his kindly heart will have a deep interest for our Glasgow readers. In the course of his ramblings thi'ough the country he had made the acquaintance of James Aitken, the Scottish tragedian and elocutionist, father of the highly esteemed Miss Maggie Aitken (now Mrs. Buntine), who has long been a favourite with Glasgow audiences as an actress and reader. Mr. Aitken was once a great actor in his way. In such characters as Wandering Steenie, in " The Rose of Ettrick Yale," he has never been surpassed. Latterly, however, he fell into poverty, and died at Paisley. The famous actor was kindly aided to the last by the generous interposition of the Bridgeton block printer, who buried his unfortunate friend at his own expense when but a working man. Miss Aitken cherished a warm regard for Mr. Macdonald ever afterwards, and repaid his kindness by speaking Mr, Hedderwick's beautiful 112 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. prologue and acting with the Press Amateurs for the benefit of his widow. Sir Archibald Alisox, Bart., though not native-born, may well be claimed as a citizen of Glasgow, for he occupied the onerous and responsible office of Sherift' of Lanarkshire for the long period of thirty years. He was born at Kenley, in Shropshire, on 29th December, 1792, his father being then curate there. But the father removed with his family to Edinburgh in 1800, where he had charge of the Episcopal Church in Cowgate. Mr. Alison was famed in literary circles for his " Essays on the nature and principles of taste." Young Archibald went to the University of Edinburgh in 1805, and was at first intended for civil engineermg and then for the banking business. But in 1808 he produced an " Essay on Popula- tion," and then he turned liis attention to law, and studied for the Scottish bar. He visited Paris in 1814 when it was occupied by the allied troops, and the imposing spectacles there witnessed by him, seem to have suggested to his mind the great idea of writing a History of Europe. But the first pages of that famous work were not written till 1st January, 1829. In the interval he had made good progress in his profession. He was called to the bar in December, 1814, and within three years he was earning an income of <£500 to £G00 a year. He was made an advocate-depute in 1823, with good hopes of becoming Solicitor-General and ultimately Lord Advocate. But through some wire-pulling or favouritism he was disappointed in these hopes, and in 1830 he was even obliged to resign his advocate-deputeship, and all prospects of promotion in that direction. He turned his attention to literature to eke out his income at the bar. He wrote a work on Criminal Law, for the first edition of which he received from Blackwood 200 guineas. He also contributed political articles to J'tlackicoocVa Magazine during 1831, and in April 1835 the first two volumes of his History was published Ity Blackwood, who gave him 2r)0 guineas for the first thousand copies. In Decembei-, 1834, Mr. Rose Robinson, Sherifl" of Lanarkshire died, and Mr. Alison applied for the vacant office, and was appointed by Sir Robert Peel in February, 1835, at a salary of £1,400 a year. SIB ARCHIBALD ALISON, BART. 113 Sheriff Alison took up his residence at Possil House, which he occupied during the whole of his after life. But his office at that time was on the second floor of a humble tenement in Stockwell ; a wholesale whisky store being on the ground floor, and a barber's shop on the first. Within six months of his appointment he was called upon to sup- press, at the head of a troop of horse, a formidable riot at Airdrie. In 1837, there was a great commercial panic in Glasgow and neighbourhood, complicated with an extensive strike among the cotton spinners and coal miners. About 80,000 destitute persons were let loose upon the community, and to cope with these, there was a police force of only 280 men. On 22nd July of that year, one of the " new hands " •employed by the masters was shot dead on the streets. The masters oflfered a reward of £500 for the apprehension of the murderers, and three days afterwards two informers met Sheriff Alison by appointment in a vault under the Old College, and disclosed to him a plot for the murder of all the " new hands," and the masters one by one. Having ascertained the meeting place of the conspirators, the Sheriff at nine o'clock on a Saturday night, armed only with a walking stick, and accompanied by Mr. Salmond, fiscal. Captain Miller, and a number of policemen, proceeded to the " Black Boy Close," a vile den in Gallowgate, near the Cross. The room where the meeting was being held enterf d by a trap-door in the floor, through which Captain Miller passed, followed by the sheriff, the fiscal, and one sheriff •officer. To prevent the light being extinguished Sheriff Alison took his post below the solitary gas jet. Then the Superintendent of Police called out each one of the panic- .stricken conspirators by name, and handed them one by one over to the police. Not a blow required to be struck, so firmly and deliberately did the officials go about their work. On the jMonday following the cotton spinners met on the Green and resolved to go in on their master's terms ; and on Tuesday the factories were in full swing and peace was completely restored. The would-be assassins got seven years' transportation. Sheriff Alison was also actively employed in quelling the "Bread Riots" of 1848. He also performed the dangerous and difficult task of conveying the two malefactors, Denis Doolan and his companion — who had been condemned for murdering their 114 TRADITIONS OF GLASOOW. "ganger," or foreman, at Bishopbriggs, where they had been engaurgh on 5th October, 1874. His son. Sir Archibald, has distinguished himself as a soldier in the Crimea, India, and Egypt. On his return from the last-named field of action a few years ago, he was presented with a valuable sword by his fellow-citizens in tlie City Hall. Although the name of HENRY GLASSFORD BELL. 115- Henry Glassford Bell is not so famous even in the realm of literature as that of his predecessor in the Sheriffdom, yet it is generally admitted that he was the finer genius of the two, and possessed mental and social qualities that more endeared him to his fellow-citizens. He was born in Glasgow on 5th November, 1803, and was the son of a Scottish advocate, Avho held for some time the post of town clerk of Greenock. Henry followed his father's profession, and was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1832. His literary taste appeared early in life. He was still in his teens when he started a penny paper in Edinburgh with the pedantic title of Lapsus Lingiicey He subsequently made a more ambitious literary venture in 1828 — viz., the Ediiiburc/h Literary Journal, a Weekly Regis- ter of Criticism and Belles Lettres, in which he had the support of such eminent men as John Wilson, James Hogg, and Thomas Aird. But this venture did not succeed, and ultimately, his Register was merged in Tait's Edinhurgh Weekly Chronicle. He afterwards wrote a lAfe of Mary, Queen of Scots, in two volumes, in which he valiantly defended the beautiful queen from the aspersions that had been cast upon her character. In 1831, he published his first volume of poems, entitled Summer and Winter Hours,. which contained many excellent pieces, amongst which was his ever popular poem of " Mary, Queen of Scots," which is even yet a familiar subject of reading or recitation at social gatherings. In 1866, he published a second volume of poetry entitled Rotnances and Minor Poems : while, in 1865, he wrote a biography of Shakespeare which was pi-efixed to an edition of that great writer's works, issued under Sheriff Bell's care. In his younger Edinburgh days, Mr. Bell enjoyed the friendship of many of our best literary characters, and could relate many racy stories of his intercourse with them. He could tell how he had handed the kettle to Joanna Baillie to make her tea, had danced with Letitia Landon, and had walked round the Calton Hill in the moonlight with Mrs. Hemans. He was on intimate terms with Professor Wilson, who immortalized him in the Nodes by the name of " Tall- boys." Like Wilson, he was a member of the "Six Foot Club," a great chess player, and an enthusiastic angler.. 116 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. Another of his literary reminiscences was that while a young man, he was present at that ever memorable banquet in con- nection with the Bannatyne Club, held on the 23rd February, 1826, when Sir Walter Scott publicly pled guilty to the authorship of the Waverley Novels. In 1838, Mr. Bell was appointed Sheriff-Substitute for Lanarkshire in Glasgow, and on the death of Sheriff Alison in 1867, he was promoted to the office of Sheriff-Principal. He w^as greatly esteemed in this city. Though not regarded as an erudite, technical lawyer, yet he was richly endowed with a sound judgment and a strong sense of justice and rectitude. He was also an eloquent speaker, and no one was more sought after at public dinners and other gather- ings than the genial sheriff. He was courteous, dignified, and gentlemanly in the old fashioned sense of the term, but in the social circle he was full of honhommie and humour. Towards the end of his life, he suffered severely from cancer in the right hand, latterly necessitating its amputation. An attempt was made to obtain for him a temporary release from business while still holding his legal office, but to the lasting discredit of the Right Honourable Robert Lowe (now Lord Sherbrooke), who was then Home Secretary, the reasonable request was I'efused, and he Avas asked to send in his resignation. But death stepped in and kindly saved the tender-hearted noble sheriff from hearing of this brutal mes- sage. He died on the 7th January, 1874, and was buried in the nave of our grand old cathedral. Had space permitted we had purposed giving sketches and reminiscences of several of our best known poets and literary men of the present day, and who are happily still among us ; but this is now out of the question, and we must content ourselves with the briefest possiVjle references to only a few of these. Foremost among them is the esteemed proprietor and editor of the Citizen, James Hedder- AvicK, LL.D., who is not only a poet of superior talent, but has also been for a long series of years the patron and friend •of struggling genius in our city. Dr. Hedderwick was born in Glasgow in 1814. His father was latterly queen's printer in the city, and put his son to work in his establishment at an early age. He, however, was afterwards educated in London at the University, where he liighly distinguished JAMES HEDDERWICK AXD WM. BLACK. 117 himself. When he was in his 23rcl year lie l)ecame sub- editor of the Scotsman. He returned to Glasgow in 1842, and started the Citizen, and this journal — which in its early days was the literary newspaper of Glasgow, and is still represented in that character by the Weekly Citizen — he has conducted with marked ability ever since, though of late years he has partially retired to his " Villa by the Sea" at Helensburghj where he has devoted his leisure time to the cultivation of the muse. He has published several volumes of excellent verse, one of them so far back as 1844. In 1859 he published his "Lays of Middle Age and other poems," which established his name as a poet of fine taste and melodious beauty. A few years ago he published his " Villa by the Sea, and other poems," containing the mellowed fruits of his riper years, and amply sustaining his reputation. A good many years ago he started a literary magazine, entitled Hedderivick's Miscellany, and was assisted by some of the finest young spirits in the West of Scotland. But somehow or other, Glasgow has never been able to sustain for any length of time a purely literary magazine of its own, and the Miscellany had only a brief existence. Our city, however, owes much to Dr. Hedderwick for the healthy, manly, impartial tone of the Citizen, and the labour expended on that journal by our author can never be computed. As already stated, too, he has done much good in the way of gathering round him, and bringing into notice a goodly number of our most talented young men, and giving them their first start in their bright career of literary achievement and fame. Perhaps one of his most brilliant pupils is the popular novelist, William Black, whom we are proud to own as one of our native-born men of genius. He began his literary career in the ofiice of the Citizen, and many of his earliest productions appeared in its pages. We remember hearing that Mr. Black at one time resided in humble lodgings in the classic village of Sti-athl)ungo. He had a taste for art as well as literature in his young days, and studied at the Glasgow School of Arts. At the age of 23, he removed to London, and shortly afterwards joined the staft' of the Morning Star, when he was sent as special correspondent to the seat of the Franco-German War. On his return he wrote his first novel, " In Silk Attire," and soon after 118 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. became editor of the London Hevieiv. Having subsequently occupied the position of assistant editoi' of the Daily Neivs for about four years, he in 1875 relinquished journalism and devoted himself to fiction. Since then he has written con- siderably over twenty novels. They are all brilliant pro- ductions, abounding in beautiful and artistic sketches of scenery — chiefly Highland — and in most graphic and thrilling plot and narrative, intensely interesting, but far removed from the vulgar sensationalism of some modern novelists. No present day author is more widely read than William Black, and his readers belong to the finer and higher class of mind. There is a freshness, a vigour, and a refinement about his stories that are exquisitely pleasing ; they are almost equal to a personal tour to the romantic Highland districts, which he so graphically depicts. Among his best known works are " A Daughter of Heth," " Mac- leod of Dare," "A Princess of Thule," "Sunrise," and *' White Heather." But a remarkable quaint, curious, and most interesting story is that of " Judith Shakespeare," the scene of which is laid at Stratford-on-Avon, and the princi- pal character in which is the wayward capricious daughter of the "Immortal Will." Mr. Black has also cultivated the poetic Muse, and has published a volume entitled " Rhymes by a Deerstalker," in which his ardent love of his native land, and especially of the Highlands, is abund- antly maiaifested. Among Dr. Hedderwick's talented young 'proteges may be mentioned William Freeland, who, though not a native of ' Glasgow, may yet be counted as one of our own poetic sons, inasmuch as he came amongst us at an early age, and has been with us almost ever since. He was born in Kirkin- tilloch in 1828, and was engaged in his young days in one of the finer branches of calico printing. Removing to Glasgow he made up the deficiencies of his early education by attending classes in the Athenaeum, being an assiduous student there and at the public libraries of tlie city. He joined the staff' of the Citizen in 1858 as sub-editor of the old Weekly Citizen : and while in that office he formed the acquaintance of that fine poet spirit, David Gray, of " The Luggie," a townsman of his own and also one of Dr. Hedderwick's young men. Their friendship was singularly deep and tender, and only ended when the grave closed over irj/. FREELAND AXD J. H. STODDART. 119 tlie precious dust of the sweet young singer in the " Aukl Aisle." In 18G6 Mr. Freeland joined the staff of the Glasgow Herald, on which paper, with the exception of a brief interval, he has ever since been engaged. He is at present editor of the Glasgow Evening Times. In 1872 he published a novel in three volumes on the sulyect of the Glasgow "Radical Rising" of 1820, which became very popular. But in the meantime he had been a constant and valued contributor of poetry to the magazines, and some years ago the Princess Beatrice paid liim the high compli- ment of placing upon the title page of her beautiful Birthday Book the last stanza of his poem, " Reaping," which she had culled from a collection of poems by various authors. In May, 1882, Messrs. James Maclehose &. Sons published a selection of his poems which, containing the matured productions of his genius, has met with a most favourable reception. This work is entitled " A Birthday Song and other Poems." It is a work of rare and sterling merit. Mr. Freeland is a member of the " Glasgow Ballad Club," and has contributed a number of i^acy and clever pieces to a volume recently published by that fraternity of song and poesy. All his work is characterized by vigour and deep moral earnestness, while his imagery is exquisite, and the lai^guage musical and refined. Since the days of the redoubtable Samuel Hunter the editorial chair of the Glasgoiu Herald has almost invariably been filled by men who have made their mark in the world ■of literature. As a man of a rich, poetic, and withal humorous vein, George Outi'am, as we have seen, was possessed of genuine merit as a writer. In the gentle and genial James Pagan we had a historian and antiquarian of a high order. In Professor Jack we had a first class scholar and man of science and erudition. And in these later days James H. Stoddart, LL.D., has proved himself a worthy successor of these able and talented men of letters. Dr. Stoddart was born in the old fashioned Dumfriesshire village of Sanquhar in the year 1832, and commenced his literary career on the staff of the Scotsman in his 18th year. He came to Glasgow nearly thirty years ago, and connected himself with the Herald, of which he ultimately became -editor in 1875, only resigning that office last year (1887). In addition to his onerous and multifarious duties as editor. 120 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. he has found time to make many contributions to general literature. Many things, poetic and otherwise, from his pei"i have appeared in magazines, and in 1879 he pu))lished anonymously Tlie Village Life, a rare and interesting volume of poetical sketches of quaint and original characters to be found in old Scottish villages of a past generation. It is believed that some of the subjects were found by the author in his own native village. The book received wide popu- larity, and its authorship becoming known, it gave him an undoubted place among our modern Scottish poets. It contains many passages remarkable for power of thought and depth of feeling. It reminds the reader of Crabbe's Borough, and his sketches of "The Beadle," "The Doctor," "The Old Boatman," "The Schoolmaster," "The Black- smith," are excellent portraits of a class of worthies that are now almost extinct. Dr. Stoddart is a thorough Scotsman of the sturdy, rugged, old fashioned type. His very appearance recalls the men of a former generation. Though in the prime of life, he might from his shaggy grey hair be taken for a compeer of the Ettrick Shepherd ; while his rosy cheeks and keen, sharp eyes betoken a health and vigour that must have come with him from the moorlands of Dumfriesshire. He is somewhat retiring in his habits, but before resigning his editorial duties — hastened we believe by a sad domestic bereavement and failing health — he was frequently called upon .to speak on behalf of literature at our civic feasts and other social gather- ings. At the great centenary banquet of the Herald a few years ago, he presided over the large and brilliant assemblage of guests in an able and graceful manner. Shortly before his retiral from active life, he published another volume of poetry entitled The Seven Sagas of Prehistoric Man, but although it fully sustains his reputation as a poet of no mean order, it has not, we fear — from the abstruse and ancient character of its subject — been received with the like popularity with which his previous volume w^as greeted. (It was lioped that from his seclusion and retirement. Dr. Stoddart might yet be heard of in the sphere of poetic liter- ature, but alas! since the above lines were penned, his cai'eer has been cut short by death — to the grief and surprise of his many friends and admirers. Dr. Stoddart died at his resi- MINOR POETS AND LITERARY MEN. 121 dence, near Campsie, on 11th April, 1888, in the 5Gth year of his age). Like the editor of the Citizen, Dr. Stoddart has trained a few rising young men who may yet be heard of in the world of literature, among whom we may mention Mr. George Deans, a fine poetic spirit, who has contributed many sweet and musical verses to various magazines, but who has not yet, so far as we know, ventured upon publication on his own account. There is also at present on the staff of the Herald, although he only recently transferred his services from the Citizen, a gentleman who has given a good deal of attention to historical research. We refer to Mr. George Maccfregor, who, in 1882, published a goodly sized History of Glasgow, in which he has condensed into a compendious and handy form all the leading facts relating to our good city from its earliest to its latest times. He has also edited the works of Dougal Graham, the quaint author of the History of the Rebellion of 1745, and numerous " Chap Books," which were hawked about the country during the latter half of last century, and were exceedingly popular. Mr. Macgregor has also compiled an edition of the gruesome history of Burke and Hare, the notorious Edinburgh murderers ; which may be interesting from a historical point of view, but cannot be very pleasant reading to the refined intelligence. And what shall we more say regarding the innumerable minor poets and literary men of our smoky city 1 Time would fail us to tell of the late Sheriff Barclay, of Perth, who was a Glasgow born man, and who, besides being a hard working lawyer, was also the author of several learned legal works, and of a pleasing gossipy book, entitled Rambling Revmiiscences of Old Glasgow, in which he recounts with much zest the scenes and incidents of his boyish days. Of John Stuart Blackie, the Edinburgh professor of Greek, and the author of many exquisite poems and sketches, and of far more racy, humorous, and interesting speeches, containing a great deal of wisdom and common sense, with a fair sprinkling of arrant nonsense, but all breathing a brave, patriotic spirit. Of Mr. Sheriff Spens, the author of Darroll, and other Poems — a really fine book ; with several law works of much interest and practical value. Of Henry Johnstone, the active secretary of that useful institution — the Western Infirmary — who, amidst I 122 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. his multifarious duties, has found time to write one or two excellent novels, and to contribute many tine poems to some of our leading magazines. Of Alexander Lamont, the " Rector of Deepdale," who has also written a number of poems and moral sketches to the Quiver, Good Words, and other journals, all of high literary merit, and breathing a deeply poetic and religious spirit. Of honest James Nicholson, the worthy author of Father Fernie, a popular work on botany ; Kilwuddie, and several other volumes of truly excellent verse, mostly in the Scotch vernacular. Of David Wingate, the well known miner-poet, whose literary merits have been handsomely recognized and rewarded by the grant of a pension from the Civil Pension List, and who has published several volumes of verse, as well as interest- ing Scotch stories and sketches. Of Tom MacEwan, who, besides being a superior and popular artist, is also the author of a goodly number of poems and ballads, written in a tender, touching, and beautiful style. Of Dr. William T. MacAuslane, a fertile writer of fine religious poems and hymns, which have been much appreciated. Of A. G. Murdoch, one of our working men who are a credit to their order, and who has produced some able, vigorous works in prose and verse, which are greatly sought after by the general reader. Of Robert Bird, the author of Law Lyrics, and many other poems, brimful of humour, and characterized by much ability. Of George Donald, author of a chaste, well written volume of poems, mostly of a serious and pathetic nature, and of numerous poetical con- tributions to the periodical and newspaper press of the day. His father was an able contributor of nursery rhymes to the " Whistlebinkie " collection of a former generation. Of the genial architect and magistrate, the late James Salmon, who published a fine pastoral under the name of " Gowo- dean," and also composed innumerable impromptu verses, whicli he delivered at social gatherings, where he was a popular and welcome guest. Of Alexander Macdonald, town clerk of Govan, author of a racy story entitled " Love, Law, and Theology," and of several other able productions. Of H. Buchanan M'Piiail, now an aged veteran ; but who, in his early years, fought stoutly by means of pamphlets and lectures in behalf of the moral and social improvement of woman ; and who was besides a poet COACHING AND THE POST OFFICE. 123 of merit, and the friend of such other talented but unfor- tunate sons of the muse in Glasgow, as William Millar, author of " Wee Willie Winkie," and other nursery rhymes, and James M'Farlan, a man of real poetic genius, who, but for his dissipation, might have taken a high position among our local men of letters. Of the late Robert Gemmell, who, though not a native of Glasgow, may be claimed as an adopted son, inasmuch as he lived amongst us for fully thirty years, working manfully at the desk from morn till eve, yet by diligent use of his spare hours, was able to produce several volumes of real merit in prose and verse, among which may be mentioned Montague : a Drama, The Deserter, and The Village Beauty. Of the late James P. Crawford, the author of the " Drunkard's Raggit Wean," and many other valuable temperance songs. But we must draw this chapter on our literary men to a close, not for want of material, but for want of space. We could have told of as many more men belonging to this dull prosaic trading city, who have to no mean purpose, contri- buted to the literature of our country and generation, and who have redeemed our city from the reproach of vulgarity which has been unjustly cast upon it. CHAPTER VII. COACHING AND THE POST OFFICE IN OLDEN TIMES. " What news ? what news? yom- tidings tell, Tell me, you must, and shall — Say why bareheaded you are come, Or why you come at all ? " — Cowper. The speed, accuracy, and care with which the business of the Post Office is now conducted, present a strong and remarkable contrast to the careless and haphazard manner in which it was carried on in the "good old days" of a hundred years ago ; and a few incidents relating to postal matters in those former days, may be interesting to our readers. Our gossipy historian " Senex " relates that on one 124 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. occasion about the close of last century, lie found the Fort William mail bag lying on the public road, a little way beyond Dumbarton, and he had to perform the office of post boy for several miles ; and when he delivered the bag at the next post village, the postmaster never even said, "Thank you, sir," but with a humph, carelessly tossed the bag into a corner. This may be taken as a fair sample of the indif- ference with which postal matters were treated in those primitive days. Before the Union of Scotland and England in 1707, tlie mail between Edinburgh and Glasgow was conveyed by a foot runner; but on 7th November, 1709, application was made to the United Parliament for a riding post between the cities, which application was successful ; but the mail, in reality, had no proper protection, for, down to " Senex's " time, the rider with the mail was a mere boy, and his horse a sorry hack. About the year 1730, and for many years after, the Glasgow Post Office was located at No. 51 Princes Street, City, (then called Gibson's Wynd), and consisted of three small apartments. The delivery " bole " or wicket window was a hole broken through the wall of the close, which close was a common thoroughfare entry to King Street. The rent of the premises was some X6 or £8 a year. The salaries of the postmaster and clerks wei'e of a similarly humble order ; but these were supplemented by perquisites for extra services rendered to the wealthier merchants of the city in the special despatch of letters. About this period (latter half of last century) Glasgow was becoming a city of considerable importance ; her merchants carrying on not only an extensive country trade, but also a foreign com- merce of pretty large extent. The usual mode of despatch- ing letters by the Post Office to the small provincial towns through running boys, whose regular delivery of letters could not be depended on, was felt by the Glasgow mer- chants as a great drawback to their business ; it therefore came to be a practice with our wealthier merchants to send their letters express by special messengers of their own ; but as this was a rather expensive method of transmitting their correspondence, they contrived the means of obtaining the assistance of the postmaster in sending olf their express despatches under the cloak of the Post Office seal. A private party, who had occasion to despatch an express to ''EXPRESS" POSTAL DESPATCHES. 125 any part of the country, applied to the Post Office for what was called a despatch express. The postmaster or some of his clerks were always so obliging as to accommodate gentle- men in this respect, and enclosed the letters in a cover, sealed with the Post Office seal ; upon which the express boy proceeded on his way, and at all the stages he came to, he obtained horses by the authority of the Post Office. This practice became very common, and was found to be very con- venient to our great tobacco merchants, many of whom had country houses at some considerable distance from the city. It was encouraged by the postmaster, who no doubt received " a consideration " for his services. But in course of time the system was put a stop to in a rather authoritative manner. In the year 1774 the collector of pontage on the New Bridge (now Glasgow Bridge) stopped and detained a horse carrying the mail or packet from Paisley to Glasgow until he paid one penny of pontage for crossing the said bridge. Upon this being made known to Mr. Jackson, the Post- master, he was grievously offended, and complained to the Hon. Arthur Connel, then Lord Provost of Glasgow, for redress, who, upon hearing parties, severely reprimanded the collector for his misbehaviour, and ordered the money to be returned. But in the following year — viz., on 1st December, 1775 — David Cross, keeper of the Paisley Loan turnpike (situated at the junction of Bridge Street with Norfolk Street and Nelson Street), and William Ure, collector of pontage on the New Bridge, having laid their heads together, did stop and detain a horse carrying a packet or despatch, alleged to be an express from the Post Office of Glasgow, till the rider paid the turnpike and pontage duties imposed by law. In like manner, on the 14th of said month, Andrew Brown, keeper of the toll-bar at the south end of the village of Gorbals, did stop and detain a horse carrying the mail, or packet, or despatch, with an express said to be upon the public service from the Post Office of Glasgow. Mr. Jackson was in a mighty passion that these paltry toll gatherers should presume to stop the expresses of His Majesty George III, and therefore, in January, 1776, he brought an action before the Sheriff of Lanarkshire, concluding not only for repayment of the sums alleged to have been illegally abstracted from the post rider, 126 TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. but also to make payment to the pursuer of the sum of £20 in name of damages and expenses. The tollmen, in their answers, maintained that the said expresses were not sent bona fide upon Government business, but were despatches forwarded by Mr. Jackson to particular country gentlemen whom he wished to accommodate, and upon their private affairs only. The Sheriff, upon advising the condescendence, &c., ordained Mr. Jackson " specially to set forth whether the persons who were stopped were carrying the public mail or packet, which is regularly sent off at stated times, in the common course of the Post OfHce employment, or a packet despatched by special express from the Post Office ; and whether such packet was a Government or public packet upon His Majesty's service, or a private packet sent off at the instance of a private person in regard to private affairs." This interlocutor seemed to have given Mr. Jackson great offence, for he gave in a reply saying — " That his duty as His Majesty's postmaster made it impossible for him to condescend in terms of the interlocutor, upon account of the impropriety of laying open and discovering