SIB WALTER SCOTT AXD HIS DOGS. 



235 



the saddest expression of face she had ever seen 

 in him. He had been engaged to dine abroad 

 that day, but apologized on account of ' the 

 death of a dear old friend.' " A few months 

 later, Scott says in one of his letters : " I have 

 supplied the vacancy occasioned by the death of 

 dear old Camp with a terrier- puppy of the old 

 shaggy Celtic breed," and which he named Wal- 

 lace. This new companion was taken on an ex- 

 cursion to the Hebrides in 1810, and in time 

 partly compensated for the loss of Camp. There 

 came, however, a fresh bereavement, in IS 12, in 

 the death of the greyhound Percy. Scott al- 

 ludes to the fact in one of his letters. " We are 

 going on in the old way, only poor Percy is dead. 

 I intend to have an old stone set up by his grave, 

 with Cy gist li preux Pcrcie " (Here lies the brave 

 Percy) ; " and I hope future antiquaries will de- 

 bate which hero of the house of Northumber- 

 land has left his bones in Teviotdale." The two 

 favorite greyhounds are alluded to in the Intro- 

 duction to the second canto of " Marmion : " 



" Remember'st thou my greyhounds true ? 

 O'er holt or hill there never flew, 

 From slip or leash there never sprang, 

 More fleet of foot or sure of fang." 



In a letter dated Abbotsford, 1816, written to 

 Terry, with whom he communicated on literary 

 and dramatic subjects, he says : " I have got 

 from my friend Glengarry the noblest dog ever 

 seen on the Border since Johnnie Armstrong's 

 time. He is between the wolf and deer hound, 

 about six feet long from the tip of the nose to 

 the tail, and high and strong in proportion : he 

 is quite gentle and a great favorite. Tell Will. 

 Erskine he will eat off his plate without being at 

 the trouble to put a paw on the table or chair. 

 I shewed him to Matthews, who dined one day in 

 Castle Street before I came here." 



The staghound so introduced was the famous 

 Maida, which came upon the scene when the Wa- 

 verley novels were beginning to set the world on 

 fire. Maida was the crack dog of, Scott's life, 

 and figures at his feet in the weli-lcnown sculpt- 

 ure by Steell. He did not quite supersede Wal- 

 lace and the other dogs, but assumed among 

 them the most distinguished place, and might be 

 called the canine major-domo of the establish- 

 ment. On visiting Abbotsford in 1817, Washing- 

 ton Irving enjoyed the pleasure of a ramble with 

 Scott and his dogs. His description of the scene 

 is so amusing that we can scarcely abate a jot : 



" As we sallied forth, every dog in the estab- 

 lishment turned out to attend us. There was 



the old staghound, Maida, that I have already 

 mentioned, a noble animal ; and Hamlet, the 

 black greyhound, a wild, thoughtless youngster, 

 not yet arrived at the years of discretion ; and 

 Finette, a beautiful setter, with soft, silken hair, 

 long, pendent ears, and a mild eye, the parlor 

 favorite. When in front of the house, we were 

 joined by a superannuated greyhound, who came 

 from the kitchen wagging his tail ; and was 

 cheered by Scott as an old friend and comrade. 

 In our walks he would frequently pause in con- 

 versation to notice his dogs, and speak to them 

 as if rational companions ; and, indeed, there 

 appears to be a vast deal of rationality in these 

 faithful attendants on man, derived from their 

 close intimacy with him. Maida deported him- 

 self with a gravity becoming his age and size, and 

 seemed to consider himself called upon to preserve 

 a great degree of dignity and decorum in our so- 

 ciety. As he jogged along a little distance ahead 

 of us, the young dogs would gambol about him, 

 leap on his neck, worry at his ears, and endeavor 

 to tease him into a gambol. The old dog would 

 keep on for a long time with imperturbable solem- 

 nity, now and then seeming to rebuke the wanton- 

 ness of his young Companions. At length he 

 would make a sudden turn, seize one of them, and 

 tumble him in the dust, then giving a glance at 

 us, as much as to say, ' You see, gentlemen, I 

 can't help giving way to this nonsense,' would 

 resume his gravity, and jog on as before. Scott 

 amused himself with these peculiarities. ' I 

 make no doubt,' said he, ' when Maida is alone 

 with these young dogs, he throws gravity aside, 

 and plays the boy as much as any of them ; but 

 he is ashamed to do so in our company, and seems 

 to say : " Ha' done with your nonsense, young- 

 sters ; what will the laird and that other gentle- 

 man think of me if I give way to such foolery ? " ' 



" Scott amused himself with the peculiarities 

 of another of his dogs, a little shamefaced terrier, 

 with large, glassy eyes, one of the most sensitive 

 little bodies to insult and indignity in the world. 

 ' If ever he whipped him,' he said, ' the little 

 fellow would sneak off and hide himself from the 

 light of day in a lumber-garret, whence there 

 was no drawing him forth but by the sound 

 of the chopping-knife, as if chopping up his 

 victuals, when he would steal forth with humili- 

 ated and downcast look, but would skulk away 

 again if any one regarded him.' 



" While we were discussing the humors and 

 peculiarities of our canine companions, some ob- 

 ject provoke! their spleen, and produced a sharp 

 and petulant barking from the smaller fry ; but 



