314 RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. 



tioned, when he would see of what further assistance he could be to 

 the laborious compiler of the ballads of his native district in the way 

 of forwarding his views of publication. 



Having inspected the interior of Abbotsford, with its costly furni- 

 ture and valuable curiosities, we proceeded to the outside to view 

 the exterior of the building. It is altogether a unique superstruc- 

 ture. No description can give the reader any distinct conception of 

 it. Of the pleasure grounds, which next claimed our attention, I do 

 not well know how to speak. Any thing of the kind more admirably 

 laid out, I have never seen. What consummate taste did Sir Walter 

 here display ! I saw them under particularly favourable circum- 

 stances, it being then the month of June. 



The dinner hour insensibly stole upon us. Mr. James Ballantine 

 and another gentleman from Edinburgh, of some literary distinction, 

 were engaged to dine at Abbotsford that day. Mr. Ballantine kept 

 his appointment ; the other gentleman, owing to indisposition, did not. 

 I never spent a happier evening in my life. Sir Walter, as I after- 

 wards learnt from Mr. Ballantine, outdid himself in the brilliancy of 

 his conversation. What a store of rich anecdote did he that evening 

 prove himself to be possessed of 1 And with what infinite ease and zest 

 were they, one after another, poured from his lips ! One* I shall 

 never forget. When Duke Charles of Buccleugh was alive, he on one 

 occasion, invited a number of his personal friends and most respectable 

 tenants to what is called a general feast. The company being 

 unusually numerous, two tables were necessary for their accommoda- 

 tion. The Duke himself presided at one table, and Sir Walter at 

 the other. A splendid entertainment, in the shape of a dinner, was 

 set before the guests, and done ample justice to. Wines of every 

 variety followed in abundance, the qualities of which were sufficiently 

 tested by all present. Toast followed toast, and song succeeded 

 song without interruption. The company, in a word, had exceeded 

 the happy medium of Burns' Tarn O'Shanter, 



" Who was notfou', but just had plenty." 



They were fou' or were at least bordering on it. Morning came, 

 but, instead of parting, the Duke volunteered a song which he was to 

 give standing in a peculiar position. He insisted, before presenting 

 the company with the vocal treat, that they should all stand in 

 precisely the same position as himself and duly join in the chorus. 

 His will of course was a law. His Grace then setting one foot on the 

 table and the other on the chair — which singular position was 

 instantly assumed oy all present — commenced singing the well- 

 known song of " Hey Johnny Cope, are ye waking yet?'' The Duke 

 got through his song, and kept his station till the end of it. Not so 

 all his guests. Sundry of their persons were rolling on the floor 

 before his Grace had reached the end of the first verse, and conse- 

 quently were unable to join even for once in the chorus — unless indeed 

 the wild sounds they growled out as their bodies came in contact 

 with the floor deserved that name. The bursts of laughter from 



* In a small work which the Ettrick Shepherd has published since these "Recollections" 

 were in manuscript, Mr. Hoj;;;; has piven a version of this anecdote, but it omits several 

 of the most amusing circumstances. 



