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Footsteps of Dr. Johnson
Footsteps of Dr. Johnson
(SCOTLAND) BY GEORGE BIRKBECK HILL, D.C.L. PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY LANCELOT SPEED LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON (LIMITED) St. Dunstan’s House, Fetter Lane 1890. CHISWICK PRESS:—C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. St. Dunstan’s House, Fetter Lane 1890. CHISWICK PRESS:—C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. TO The Prior and Members OF The Johnson Club, (MOST CLUBABLE OF MEN) IN MEMORY OF PLEASANT EVENING
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The tour in which I followed his course I was forced to divide into two parts. Beginning at Inverness I went first through the Western Highlands and the Hebrides, and so southwards through Glasgow to Auchinleck, Boswell’s home in Ayrshire. Later on I visited Edinburgh and its neighbourhood, and completed my task by going northwards to Inverness. I mention this to guard against any apparent inaccuracy in dates which might be discovered in my narrative. I cannot pretend to have seen every place wh
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TITLES OF MOST OF THE WORKS QUOTED IN THIS BOOK.
TITLES OF MOST OF THE WORKS QUOTED IN THIS BOOK.
Camden, William. Description of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1695. Carlyle, Rev. Dr. Alexander, Autobiography . Edinburgh, 1860. Carlyle, Thomas. Early Letters , ed. by C. E. Norton. 2 vols. London, 1886. Reminiscences , ed. by J. A. Froude. London, 1881. Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland , by David Macgibbon and Thomas Ross. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1887-9. Chalmers, George. Life of Thomas Ruddiman. London and Edinburgh, 1794. Chambers, Robert. Traditions of Edinburgh. London and Edinburgh, 2
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
DR. JOHNSON’S BEDROOM, DUNVEGAN. In many places I found traditions of him still remaining—some, no doubt, true; others false. But whether false or true, by their vitality they show the deep mark which the man made as he passed along. In Glenmorison there are countryfolk who profess to know by the report of their forefathers the “clear rivulet” in “the narrow valley, not very flowery but sufficiently verdant,” where Johnson reposed on “a bank such as a writer of romance might have delighted to fe
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Edinburgh (August 14-18). The White Horse Inn.
Edinburgh (August 14-18). The White Horse Inn.
Entering Edinburgh by the road which goes near Holyrood House, and driving along the Canongate, they alighted at the entrance to White Horse Close, at the end of which stood the White Horse Inn. The sign, the crest of the house of Hanover, had probably been adopted on the accession of George I., and was a proof of loyalty to the reigning family. In London in the year 1761 there were forty-nine alleys, lanes and yards which were so called. [393] It was, however, said that the name had been given
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James’s Court.
James’s Court.
“Boswell,” wrote Johnson to Mrs. Thrale, “has very handsome and spacious rooms; level with the ground on one side of the house, and on the other four stories high.” At this time he was living in James’s Court, on the northern side of the Lawnmarket, having lately removed from Chessel’s Buildings in the Canongate. It is not easy for the stranger who passes from the thronged street under the low archway into that quiet, but gloomy, and even shabby-looking court, to picture to himself the gay and l
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A Stroll through Edinburgh.
A Stroll through Edinburgh.
It was in good company that Johnson, on the morning of Monday, August 16, “walked out to see some of the things which they had to show in Edinburgh,” for he was under the guidance of the historian of Scotland. “I love Robertson,” Johnson had said a few years earlier, “and I won’t talk of his book.” If Boswell had reported any part of this saying we may hope that it was only the first half, for he who neglects the author makes but a poor recompense by loving the man. At all events, Robertson was
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Inch Keith (August 18).
Inch Keith (August 18).
On the morning of Wednesday, August 18th, the travellers, accompanied by Mr. Nairne, an advocate, set out on their northern tour. They were attended by Boswell’s servant, Joseph Ritter, a Bohemian, “a fine stately fellow above six feet high, who had been over a great part of Europe, and spoke many languages. He was,” adds Boswell, “the best servant I ever saw. Dr. Johnson gave him this character, ‘Sir, he is a civil man, and a wise man.’” At Leith they took boat for Kinghorn on the other side of
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The Drive to St. Andrews (August 18).
The Drive to St. Andrews (August 18).
At Kinghorn, “a mean town,” which was said to consist chiefly of “horse-hirers and boatmen noted all Scotland over for their impudence and impositions,” [441] our travellers took a post-chaise for St. Andrews. A few years earlier Johnson would not have found there his favourite mode of conveyance. By the year 1758 post-chaises had only penetrated as far north as Durham. [442] He found the roads good, “neither rough nor dirty.” The absence of toll-gates, “afforded a southern stranger a new kind o
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St. Andrews (August 18-20).
St. Andrews (August 18-20).
Coming as they did through the darkness to St. Andrews, they saw nothing of that “august appearance” which the seat of the most ancient of the Scotch universities presented from afar. “It appears,” said an early traveller, “much like Bruges in Flanders at a distance; its colleges and fine steeples making a goodly appearance.” [449] They arrived late, after a dreary drive, but “found a good supper at Glass’s Inn, and Dr. Johnson revived agreeably.” Who was Glass and which was his inn I could not
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Leuchars and Aberbrothick. (August 20.)
Leuchars and Aberbrothick. (August 20.)
Johnson, closing his description of St. Andrews with his lament over its declining University, goes on to say like a wise man:—“As we knew sorrow and wishes to be vain, it was now our business to mind our way.” Perhaps, as he wrote these words he had in his memory two lines of Matthew Green, though they were originally used of quitting, not what was painful, but what was pleasant— VIEW ON THE TAY. He and Boswell started about noon for Montrose on the other side of the Firth of Tay, a distance of
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Montrose, Laurencekirk and Monboddo (August 20-21).
Montrose, Laurencekirk and Monboddo (August 20-21).
The road along which Johnson and Boswell drove as they journeyed from Dundee through Arbroath to Montrose, is described by Defoe as a “pleasant way through a country fruitful and bespangled, as the sky in a clear night with stars of the biggest magnitude, with gentlemen’s houses, thick as they can be supposed to stand with pleasure and conveniency.” [493] Our travellers in the latter part of the drive saw nothing of all this, for the sun had set before they left the great Abbey; it was not till
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Aberdeen (August 21-24).
Aberdeen (August 21-24).
Late in the afternoon our travellers drove on to Aberdeen. “We had tedious driving,” writes Boswell, “and were somewhat drowsy.” Though they “travelled with the gentle pace of a Scotch driver,” nevertheless Johnson, much as he delighted in the rapid motion of the English post-chaise, bore this journey of five-and-twenty miles with greater philosophy than his friend. “We did not,” he writes, “affect the impatience we did not feel, but were satisfied with the company of each other—as well riding i
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Slains Castle and the Bullers of Buchan. (August 24-25).
Slains Castle and the Bullers of Buchan. (August 24-25).
At Aberdeen Johnson had found awaiting him a letter from London which must have been six days on the road. [533] He did not receive another till he arrived at Glasgow, nearly ten weeks later. He was now going “to the world’s end extra anni solisque vias , where the post would be a long time in reaching him,” to apply to the Hebrides the words which four years later he used of Brighton. [534] It was only seven and twenty years before he drove out from Aberdeen that the Duke of Cumberland with six
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Banff and Elgin (August 25-26).
Banff and Elgin (August 25-26).
Starting from Slains Castle on the morning of August 25, Boswell and Johnson drove on to Banff, where they spent the night in an indifferent inn. In this little town a dreadful sight had been witnessed when the Duke of Cumberland’s army arrived on an early day in April, 1746. The savage way in which the narrative is written, testifies to the ferocity of many of the followers of “the butcher duke.” “At Banff” (writes Ray) “two rebel spies were taken; the one was knotching on a stick the number of
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Nairn and Cawdor (August 27-28).
Nairn and Cawdor (August 27-28).
Leaving Elgin that same afternoon, our travellers drove on to Fores, where they passed the night. Next morning, continuing their journey early, they breakfasted at Nairn. “Though a county town and a royal burgh, it is,” writes Boswell, “a miserable place.” Johnson also describes it as being “in a state of miserable decay.” Nevertheless, “the chief annual magistrate,” he says, “is styled Lord Provost.” If it sank as a royal burgh, it has raised its head again as a popular bathing-place. In this r
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Inverness (August 28-30).
Inverness (August 28-30).
From Cawdor Johnson and Boswell drove to Fort George, “the most regular fortification in the island,” according to Johnson; “where,” he continues, “they were entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, the Governor, with such elegance of conversation, as left us no attention to the delicacies of his table.” Wolfe, who saw it in 1751, when it was partly made, writes: “I believe there is still work for six or seven years to do. When it is finished one may venture to say (without saying much) that it will be th
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Inverness to Anoch (August 30-31).
Inverness to Anoch (August 30-31).
At Inverness Johnson bade farewell to post-chaises, which had brought him in comfort all the way from London. “This day,” writes Boswell, “we were to begin our equitation , as I said; for I would needs make a word too. We might have taken a chaise to Fort Augustus, but had we not hired horses at Inverness we should not have found them afterwards. We had three horses for Dr. Johnson, myself, and Joseph, and one which carried our portmanteaus, and two Highlanders who walked along with us.” They to
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Anoch to Glenelg (September 1).
Anoch to Glenelg (September 1).
It was a long and heavy journey that this day lay before our travellers, so that they rose in good time and started about eight o’clock. Boswell, who had awakened very early, had been a little scared by the thought that “their landlord, being about to emigrate, might murder them to get their money, and lay it upon the soldiers in the barn.” “When I got up,” he adds, “I found Dr. Johnson asleep in his miserable stye, as I may call it, with a coloured handkerchief round his head. With difficulty c
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Corrichatachin (September 6-8; 25-28).
Corrichatachin (September 6-8; 25-28).
On the morning of Thursday, September 2, our travellers took boat at Glenelg, “and launched into one of the straits of the Atlantic Ocean.” Rowing along the Sound of Slate towards the south-west, they reached the shore of Armidale in Skye early in the afternoon. They had intended to visit in his castle the owner of half the island, Sir Alexander Macdonald. But, wrote Johnson, “he had come from his seat in the middle of the island to a small house on the shore, as we believe, that he might with l
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Raasay (September 8-12).
Raasay (September 8-12).
While Johnson in the voyage to Raasay “sat high on the stern of the boat like a magnificent Triton,” old Malcolm, no less magnificent through his attire, took his turn at tugging the oar, “singing an Erse song, the chorus of which was Hatyin foam foam eri , with words of his own.” The original was written in praise of Allan of Muidart, a chief of the Clanranald family. The following is a translation of the complete chorus: In the sound between Scalpa and Raasay, “the wind,” writes Boswell, “made
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Portree and Kingsburgh (September 12-13).
Portree and Kingsburgh (September 12-13).
Much as Johnson had delighted in the patriarchal life at Raasay, yet after four days’ stay he became impatient to move. “There was,” writes Boswell, “so numerous a company, mostly young people, there was such a flow of familiar talk, so much noise, and so much singing and dancing, that little opportunity was left for his energetic conversation. He seemed sensible of this; for when I told him how happy they were at having him there, he said, ‘Yet we have not been able to entertain them much.’” Th
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Dunvegan Castle (September 13-21).
Dunvegan Castle (September 13-21).
Had our travellers ridden the whole distance from Kingsburgh to Dunvegan they would have travelled a weary way in rounding Lochs Snizort and Grishinish. But they sent their horses by land to a point on the other shore of the further loch, and crossed over themselves in Macdonald of Kingsburgh’s boat. “When,” said Johnson, “we take into computation what we have saved and what we have gained by this agreeable sail, it is a great deal.” They had still some miles of dreary riding through the most me
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Ulinish and Talisker (September 21-25).
Ulinish and Talisker (September 21-25).
On the morning of Tuesday, September 21, our travellers took advantage of a break in the stormy weather to continue their journey to Ulinish, a farm-house on Loch Bracadale, occupied by “a plain honest gentleman,” the Sheriff-substitute of the island. Here they passed the night, and here, if we may trust report, Johnson’s powers as a drinker of tea were exerted to their utmost pitch. “Mrs. Macleod of Ulinish,” writes Knox, “has not forgotten the quantity of tea which she filled out to Dr. Johnso
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Corrichatachin to Tobermorie (September 25-October 16).
Corrichatachin to Tobermorie (September 25-October 16).
At Sconser our travellers took boat for Strolimus, on their way to the friendly farmhouse at Corrichatachin, where they had been so hospitably received nearly three weeks earlier. Their horses they sent round a point of land to meet them further down the coast. “It was seven o’clock,” writes Boswell, “when we got into our boat. We had many showers, and it soon grew pretty dark. Dr. Johnson sat silent and patient. Once he said, as he looked on the black coast of Skye—black, as being composed of r
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Ulva’s Isle (October 16-17).
Ulva’s Isle (October 16-17).
On Saturday, October 16, the weather changed for the better, owing to a new moon, as Boswell thought. A long day’s journey lay before them, for they hoped to reach Inchkenneth, a little island which lies at the mouth of Loch Na Keal, close to the western coast of Mull. Here they were to be the guest of Sir Allan Macleane. “We set out [writes Boswell] mounted on little Mull horses. Dr. Johnson was not in very good humour. He said, it was a dreary country, much worse than Skye. I differed from him
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Inchkenneth, Mackinnon’s Cave, and Iona (October 17-20).
Inchkenneth, Mackinnon’s Cave, and Iona (October 17-20).
Our travellers having stayed but one night at Ulva, on the morning of Sunday, October 17, took boat and rowed to Inchkenneth, “an island about a mile long, and perhaps half a mile broad, remarkable for pleasantness and fertility. It is verdant and grassy, and fit both for pasture and tillage; but it has no trees.” The only inhabitants were “the chief of the ancient and numerous clan of Macleane, his daughter and their servants.” SIR ALLAN MACLEANE. In a letter to Mrs. Thrale Johnson says: “Sir A
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The Southern Coast of Mull and Lochbuy (October 20-22).
The Southern Coast of Mull and Lochbuy (October 20-22).
Sailing from Iona about midday on Wednesday, October 20, our travellers landed in the evening on the southern coast of Mull, near the house of the Rev. Neal Macleod, who gave them lodgings for the night. Johnson oddly described him as “the cleanest-headed man that he had met with in the Western Islands.” The talk ran on English statesmen. Here it was that Johnson called Mr. Pitt a meteor, and Sir Robert Walpole a fixed star, and maintained that Pulteney was as paltry a fellow as could be. Contin
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Oban and Inverary (October 22-26).
Oban and Inverary (October 22-26).
On the morning of Friday, October 22, our travellers set out for the ferry by which they were to cross to Oban—a distance of about twelve miles. According to Dr. Garnett, travellers were conveyed first to Kerrera, an island lying off the mainland. Crossing this on foot or horseback they found awaiting them another boat to take them to Oban. At Auchnacraig in Mull there was an inn about half a mile from the ferry. Here he and his companion could procure, he says, neither oats for their horses nor
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Glencroe, Loch Lomond, and Glasgow (October 26-30).
Glencroe, Loch Lomond, and Glasgow (October 26-30).
The Duke of Argyle, who had heard Dr. Johnson complain that the shelties were too small for his weight, “was obliging enough to mount him on a stately steed from his Grace’s stable.” Joseph (Boswell’s servant), said:—“He now looks like a bishop.” Leaving Inverary on the morning of Tuesday, October 26, they rode round the head of Loch Fyne through Glencroe to Tarbet on Loch Lomond. Boswell, who was becoming somewhat indolent in keeping his journal, passes over this part of their tour in silence.
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Dundonald Castle, Auchans (October 30—November 2).
Dundonald Castle, Auchans (October 30—November 2).
On Saturday, October 30, our travellers set out on their way to Boswell’s home at Auchinleck, in Ayrshire. Part of the way must have been over a wild country, for a few years earlier, in his “Instructions” for his friend Temple on his tour to Auchinleck, he writes: “Set out [from Glasgow] for Kingswell, to which you have a good road; arrived there, get a guide to put you through the muir to Loudoun.” [760] He and Johnson did not go the whole distance in one day, though they had but thirty-four m
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Auchinleck (November 2-8).
Auchinleck (November 2-8).
On Tuesday, November 2, our travellers having ordered a chaise from Kilmarnock, drove to Auchinleck, where they arrived in time for dinner. “We purpose,” wrote Johnson that same evening, “to stay here some days, more or fewer, as we are used.” He said “we” advisedly, for he knew that not only between Lord Auchinleck and himself there was little in common, but that also between the father and son there was no freedom of intercourse. “My father,” Boswell once complained, “cannot bear that his son
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Hamilton, Edinburgh, New Hailes, Ballencrieff, and Cranston, November 8-22.
Hamilton, Edinburgh, New Hailes, Ballencrieff, and Cranston, November 8-22.
Leaving Auchinleck on the morning of November 8, our travellers arrived that night at Hamilton on the road to Edinburgh. They had crossed Drumclog Moor, the scene of the skirmish nearly one hundred years earlier where Claverhouse was beaten by the Covenanters. Scott in Old Mortality has told how in the fight John Balfour of Burley struck down Sergeant Bothwell. Fifty years or so after our travellers crossed the Moor, Thomas Carlyle and Edward Irving passed over it on foot. “It was here,” says Ca
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APPENDIX A.
APPENDIX A.
berdoniæ vigesimo tertio Die mensis Augusti 1773 pnt [in præsentia] magistratuum. Quo Die vir generosus ac Doctrina Clarus Samuel Johnson LL.D. receptus et admissus fuit in municipes et fratres Guildæ præfati Burgi de Aberdeen in deditissimi affectus et amoris ac eximiæ observantiæ tesseram quibus dicti magistratus illum amplectuntur.” ( Page 305. ) Dr. Johnson’s Letter to Dr. Taylor. “ Dear Sir , hen I was at Edinburgh I had a letter from you, telling me that in answer to some enquiry you were
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APPENDIX B.
APPENDIX B.
hen I was at Edinburgh I had a letter from you, telling me that in answer to some enquiry you were informed that I was in the Sky. I was then I suppose in the western islands of Scotland; I set out on the northern expedition August 6, and came back to Fleet-street, November 26. I have seen a new region. “I have been upon seven of the islands, and probably should have visited many more, had we not begun our journey so late in the year, that the stormy weather came upon us, and the storms have I b
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