482 



NOTES AND QUERIEa 



[2nd s. No 77., JoNE 20. '57. 



by hie at least, possessed, as I happen to be, of 

 proofs personal as well as documentary, arising 

 from my long, familiar, and confidential inter- 

 course with Sir "Walter, during the whole period 

 of his literary life. He kindly presented me with 

 copies of all his works, poetical as well as prose, 

 as they issued from the press ; and I may add, 

 that during their composition I often sat beside 

 him while he wrote, and chiefly during the pro- 

 duction of the Waverley Novels, which succeeded 

 each other with a rapidity surprising even to me, 

 who so often witnessed the unremitting industry 

 and apparent facility with which the work pro- 

 gressed. 



" That his brother, Mr. Thos. Scott, or his Lady, 

 with both of whom I was very well acquainted, 

 had any share in these compositions, I have suffi- 

 cient grounds to consider altogether absurd. The 

 pursuits of the two brothers were totally of a dif- 

 ferent cast, as well as the society they frequented, 

 though they were on habits of perfectly sincere 

 and brotherly attachment ; yet, residing at a dis- 

 tance from each other, they seldom met ; and 

 much as I was with Sir Walter during a forty 

 years' intimacy, I do not recollect ever to have 

 met Mr. Thos. Scott at his brother's house. His 

 daughter, however. Miss Anne Scott, was nearly 

 a permanent inmate there — a great and deserved 

 favourite with her uncle. 



"Family anecdotes of early days, as well as local 

 histories and transactions. Sir Walter was ever 

 eager to gather from any available source, which 

 in his Tales he knew well how to turn to account ; 

 and it is not at all improbable that Mrs. Thos. 

 Scott, whose family was of the county of Gallo- 

 way, may have narrated to Sir Walter incidents 

 of that remote region of Scotland. But I had it 

 from Sir Walter himself, that his acquaintance 

 with the local anecdotes of the south-western dis- 

 tricts was derived from his antiquarian friend Mr. 

 Joseph Train ; whom I also knew, and learnt 

 from Mr. Train himself, that he had done so, — an 

 aid, if so it deserves to be considered, which many 

 of Sir Walter's friends, knowing his relish for 

 such information, were ever anxious to afford ; 

 but beyond that, I have reason to be morally cer- 

 tain, that no one had any hand whatever in Sir 

 Walter's compositions. A fact, in truth, which at 

 the close of the Waverley Series, Sir Walter him- 

 self took the opportunity, at a large meeting of 

 the principal inhabitants of Edinburgh, to silence 

 (it might have been expected for ever) any un- 

 certainty as to the authorship of the Waverley 

 Novels. His words were these, and I think my 

 memory is correct : — ' Permit me, gentlemen, to 

 take this opportunity to declare that every word of 

 the Waverley Novels was written hy myself, without 

 the assistance of any one whatever^ And that de- 

 claration remains on record in most of the prin- 

 cipal newspapers of the day, chiefly of course in 



those of Edinburgh, whose reporters were present. 

 The most correct of these reports is still in my 

 possession, bound up in a volume of Sir Walter's 

 correspondence with myself; unluckily not at 

 hand, being in Scotland. As to Mr. Thos. Scott, 

 I may add, that he and his family went to Canada, 

 if I am not mistaken, before the publication of the 

 first five of the Waverley Series, to which you 

 mention that the 2nd Edit, of the pamphlet now 

 confines the charge as to authorship ; but the 

 brothers had at that time little, if any, intercourse, 

 circumstanced as they respectively were : and 

 from Canada, Mr. T. Scott never returned. And 

 if it is now only of the first five of the Series that 

 the authorship is questioned, the charge becomes 

 equally superfluous ; in support of which there Is 

 much I have it in my power to add, but I think I 

 have said enough for your purpose, and remain, 

 My dear Sir, very truly yours, 



" James Skene.* 

 " G. H. GoKDON, Esq." 



THE ACCIDENTAL ORIGIN OF CELEBRATED 

 PICTURES. 



All authentic accounts relative to the produc- 

 tion of famous pictures cannot fail to interest. 

 T. S.'s interesting note on Wilkle's "Rent Day" 

 (2""^ S. iii. 423.), suggests my making a Note con- 

 cerning another famous picture, Sir E. Landseer's 

 "Laying down the Law." When Mr. Thomas 

 Landseer's large mezzotint engraving from this 

 picture was first issued, its publisher (M'Lean) 

 distributed the usual circulars for subscribers, 

 appended to which was the following little his- 

 tory : — 



" It may be interesting to those Philosophers who like 

 to trace effects to their causes, to know the origin of this 

 composition. A French poodle, the ])ropcrty of Count 

 D'Orsay, was resting on a table in the attitude repre- 

 sented by the Artist, when it was remarked by a certain 

 noble and learned Lord who was present, and who, from 

 having held the Seals, was certainly a competent Judge, 

 that ' the animal would make a capital Lord Chancellor.' 

 On this hint, which seemed palatable to the artist, he set 

 to work ; and the result was the celebrated Picture, now 

 in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire. The portrait 

 of one of his Grace's canine favourites has been added to 

 the original group, and appears in the Print, — the little 

 Spaniel immediately over the highbred greyhound, who 

 looks askance, with such a significant expression, at his 

 plebeian neighbour, the Bulldog." 



Then follow some capital verses, " suggested by 

 this picture," from the pen of Thomas Hood. 



The same painter's picture of "A Distinguished 

 Member of the Humane Society" — so popular 



[* The long friendship which existed between Mr. Skene 

 and Sir Walter Scott gives a value and interest to this 

 Letter which may well justify us in breaking our resolve 

 not to open the columns of " N. & Q." to any farther dis- 

 cussion upon the subject to which it relates — a question 

 which we feel to be completely settled. — Ed. "N. & Q."] 



