SCOTT, SIR MICHAEL. 



SCOTT, WALTER. 



363 



sent to Norway in 1290, went on a second embassy to that country to 

 demand the cession of the Oread ea in the fifth year of Robert I., that 

 is to say, in the year 1310. If this statement be correct, it is in the 

 highest degree improbable that Michael Scott the ambassador could 

 have been the person of the same name who figured as a distinguished 

 literary character at the court of Frederic II. more than sixty years 

 before. It is more likely that the one was the son of the other. 



The real or supposed literary works of Sir Michael Scott are the 

 following: 1, 'A History of Animals,' in Latin; according to sotne 

 authorities, a translation from the Arabic of Avicenna. But of this 

 we know nothing. Dr. George Mackenzie, Scott's most elaborate 

 biographer, says that the work exists " in fol. editionia neque tempore 

 neque loco expressis." Dempster mentions ' Abbreviationes Avicennao ' 

 in one book, and also ' De Animalibus ad Csesarem ' (i. e. Frederic) in 

 one book. 2, ' Aristotelis Opera, Latino versa, partim e Graeco, par- 

 tim Arabico, per viros lectos et in utriusque linguae prolatione peritos, 

 jussu Imperatoris Fredirici II.,' fol., Venefc., 1496. The common 

 accounts make Scott to have been the sole author of this translation ; 

 but it proclaims itself, as we see, to be the work of several hands. 

 Possibly Scott may have contributed the translation of the Natural 

 History, and may have done it from the Arabic, which may be all 

 the foundation for the assignment to him of the version of Avicenna. 

 Warton, speaking of the new translations of Aristotle from the original 

 Greek into Latin, made about the 12th century, says, "I believe the 

 translators understood very little Greek. Our countryman Michael 

 Scotus, was one of the first of them, who was assisted by Andrew, a 

 Jew. Michael was astrologer to Frederic, emperor of Germany, and 

 appears to have executed his translations at Toledo in Spain, about the 

 year 1 220. These new versions were perhaps little more than corrections 

 from those of the early Arabians, made under the inspection of the 

 learned Spanish Saracens." (' Note to Dissert, on Introd. of Learning 

 into England,' in ' Hist, of English Poetry.') 3, ' De Procreatione, et 

 Hominis Phisionomia, Opus.' There is a copy of the first edition of 

 this tract in the King's Library at the British Museum, printed with- 

 out the name of the place, in 1477 ; and in the general library of the 

 museum are other editions, with the title slightly varied, printed in 

 1480 and 1487 ; and some, both in 4to and 12mo, without date, and 

 possibly still older. It is also the same work which was printed, with the 

 title of ' De Secretis Naturae,' at Strasbourg in 1 607, and at Frankfurt in 

 16 15, in 16mo, and with the works of Albertus Magnus, at Amsterdam, 

 in 1655, 1660, &c., in 12mo. Bayle had an Italian translation of it, 

 an octavo pamphlet of seven leaves, printed at Venice in 1533, with 

 the title ' Physionomia, laqual compilo Maestro Michael Scotto, h, 

 prieghi di Federico Romano Imperatore, huomo di gran scienza ; e e 

 cosa molte notabile, e da tener secreta, pero che 1'e di grande efficacia, 

 e comprende cose secrete della natura, bastanti ad ogni astrologo; e e 

 diviso in tre parti.' 4, ' Mensa Philosophica, seu Enchiridion, in quo 

 de quaestionibus mensalibus, et variis ac jucundis hominum congres- 

 sibus, agitur,' 12ino, Franc., 1602; 8vo, 1608; 24mo, Lips., 1603. 

 There is an English translation of this treatise (which Tiedemann, in 

 his 'Esprit de la Philosophic Speculative,' says contains some curious 

 things), entitled ' The Philosopher's Banquet,' done into English by 

 W. B., 3rd edit., enlarged, 12mo, London, 1633. The ' Mensa Philo- 

 sophica' is one of the works attributed to Theobald Anguilbert. 5, 

 'Qusestio Curiosa de Natura Solis et Lunao.' This is a chemical 

 treatise upon the transmutation of gold and silver, and is printed in 

 the 5th vol. of the ' Theatrum Chimicum,' 8vo, Strasbourg, 1622. 6, 

 ' Eximii atque excellentissimi physicorum motuum cursusque syderii 

 inveatigatoris, Mich. Scotti, super autor. Sphserar., cum quaestionibus 

 diligenter emendatis, incipit expositio perfecta, illustrissimi Impera- 

 toiis D. D. Frederic! precibus.' This ia a commentary upon the 

 celebrated treatise of Sacrobosco 'De Sphsera,' but is a mere compila- 

 tion, and is believed to be falsely attributed to Scott. Dempster, 

 after his fashion, enumerates a long list of additional titles, which it 

 ia quite unnecessary to transcribe. 



But Michael Scott's chief reputation after his death, if not in his 

 lifetime, was aa a great magician. "De quo," says Dempster, writing 

 in the beginning of the 1 7th century, " innumerabiles etiam nunc hodie 

 aniles fabulae circumferuntur, nee ullum apud nostratea clarius nomen." 

 Even to this day he is traditionally remembered in that character in 

 his own country ; and various legends of hia wondrous performances 

 are still told, and half believed, among the peasantry, some of which 

 may be found collected in the notes to Sir Walter Scott's ' Lay of the 

 Last Minstrel,' in which poem the opening of the wizard's grave in the 

 abbey of Melrose^and the taking from the dead man's cold hand of his 

 " book of might," makes so striking an incident. Dempster says : 

 " Ut puto, iu Scotia libri ipsiua dicebantur me puero extare, sed sine 

 horrore quodam non posse attingi, ob malorum dscmonum prsestigias, 

 qutc illis apertis fiebant." But in earlier times the fame of his magic 

 skill was spread over Europe. Dante has introduced him in his 

 ' Inferno : ' 



" Quell' nltro, che nfi' flanchi e cosl poco, 

 Michelc Scotto fu, che vcramente 

 Dclle magiche frode seppc il giuoco." 



(Canto xx., v. 117.) 



and he is also mentioned by Boccaccio and other early Italian writers. 

 He is severely arraigned by John Picus (Mirandula), in his work 



against astrology ; and is defended from such charges, as well as Picus 

 himself, in NaucUfa ' Apologie pour les grands personnages faussement 

 accuses de Magic.' 



The Scottish tradition, as we have seen, ia, that Michael Scott was 

 buried in his own country at Melrose. Another account however 

 makes him to have died, and hia remains to have been interred, in the 

 abbey of Ulme, or Holme Cultram, in Cumberland ; and here also, it 

 is pretended, his magic books were preserved. Satchells, in his 

 rhyming ' History of the Right Honourable name of Scott,' affirms 

 that he got his account of the origin of that name out of an extract 

 from one of Michael Scott's works, which a person showed him at 

 Burgh-under-Bowness, in Cumberland, in the year 1629. His informant 

 told him, he says, that the book from which the passage was taken was 

 never yet read through, and never would be ; young scholars had only 

 picked out something from the contents, but none dared to read the 

 body of the work. And he adda : 



" ITc carried me along the castle then, 

 And showed me his written book haging on an iron pin ; 

 His writing pen did seem to me to be 

 Of hardened metal, like steel, or accumie ; 

 The volume Of it did seem so largo to me 

 As the Book of Martyrs and Turk's Historic. 

 Then in the church he let me see 

 A stone where Mr. Michael Scott did lie ; " &c. &c. 



This has been taken for a piece of poetic invention in Satchells ; but 

 we may observe that Camden, in his ' Britannia,' tells us that the 

 magic books of Michael Scott were in his time still said to be preserved 

 at Ulme, though they were then mouldering to dust. It is probable 

 from this that they had been in the habit of showing at that place 

 some ancient volumes which they called Scott's magic writings. 

 Camden adds : " He was a monk of this place about the year 1290, 

 and applied himself so closely to the mathematics and other abstruse 

 parts of learning, that he was generally looked on as a conjuror; and 

 a vain credulous humour has handed down I know not what miracles 

 done by him." 



SCOTT, WALTER, was born in Edinburgh on the 15th of August, 

 1771. The sixty-one years of his life were filled by the incessant 

 labours of a strong and restless mind, which in the latter half of its 

 career fixed upon its own efforts no small share of public attention, 

 during one of the most exciting periods of European history. The 

 history of his early boyhood ia the tale of a naturally strong constitution 

 atruggliug with disease. He had attained his twenty-second month, 

 and could already walk tolerably well for a child of his age, when the 

 girl who took care of him was awakened one morning by his screams, 

 and on examination found his right leg powerless and cold as marble. 

 Medical aid was vain ; he was lame for life ; and during upwards of 

 two years the previously healthy boy continued a pining child. In 

 his fifth year his parents thought him sufficiently recovered to trust 

 him, first to the charge of his grandfather at Sandy Kuowe on the 

 Tweed, and afterwards to that of a maiden aunt, who carried him to 

 Bath. The boy had attained his eighth year before he was deemed 

 strong enough to be sent to the high school of Edinburgh. While 

 attending this seminary, and during the first winter of his attendance 

 at college (1784), he enjoyed tolerably good health, and was able, 

 notwithstanding his lameness, to join in most of the sports of his class- 

 fellows. Towards the close of the jear 1784 he had a violent attack 

 of sickness, for the only distinct account of which we are indebted to 

 himself: " My indisposition arose in part at least from my having 

 broken a blood-vessel, and motion and speech were for a long time 

 prouounced positively dangerous. For several weeks I was confined 

 strictly to my bed, during which time I was not allowed to speak 

 above a whisper, to eat more than a spoonful or two of boiled rice, or 

 to have more covering than a counterpane." In May 1786 he was 

 sufficiently recovered to commence his apprenticeship as writer to the 

 signet, at that time the usual commencement of the education of 

 Scotch barristers; and his subsequent life was little troubled with 

 indisposition. 



These juvenile sicknesses had a powerful influence upon the develop- 

 ment of his mental powers. The aunt to whose care he was intrusted 

 when a mere boy possessed an immense store of legendary tales, which 

 were frequently put in requisition for the amusement of the invalid. 

 During the confinement of his second attack he was allowed to devour 

 the contents of a circulating library, founded, it is believed, by Allan 

 Ramsay, rich in "the romances of chivalry and the ponderous folios 

 of Cyrus and Cassandra, down to the most approved works of modern 

 times." Scott has declared, " I believe I read almost all the romances, 

 old plays, and epic poetry iu that formidable collection." The child's 

 love of stories was thus ripened into an ill-regulated fondness for 

 books ; the practice of reading, to which he was drawn by inability to 

 do anything else, created a craving for that pleasure, and the constant 

 succession of new books rendered unnecessary the exercise of attention 

 required to -extract a new pleasure on reperusal. His mind was accus- 

 tomed to find pleasure iu yielding passively to a succession of new 

 images. Those ideas remained impressed on hia memory which most 

 roused his emotions; and he contracted unconsciously the habit of 

 grouping them in conformity to that law of association which links 

 events following or seeming to arise out of each other in the progress 

 of an adventure. His mind even at that early age was developing the 



