182 MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN 



gate ; and after money came, in the Edinburgh 

 days, that private theatre which took up so much 

 of Fleeming's energy and thought. The com- 

 pany — Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Carter of Colwall, 

 W. B. Hole, Captain Charles Douglas, Mr. Kunz, 

 Mr. Burnett, Professor Lewis Campbell, Mr. Charles 

 Baxter, and many more — ^made a charming society 

 for themselves and gave pleasure to their audience. 

 Mr. Carter in Sir Toby Belch it would be hard 

 to beat. Mr. Hole in broad farce, or as the herald 

 in the Trachinice, showed true stage talent. As 

 for Mrs. Jenkin, it was for her the rest of us existed 

 and were forgiven ; her powers were an endless 

 spring of pride and pleasure to her husband ; he 

 spent hours hearing and schooling her in private ; 

 and when it came to the performance, though there 

 was perhaps no one in the audience more critical, 

 none was more moved than Fleeming. The rest 

 of us did not aspire so high. There were always 

 five performances and weeks of busy rehearsal ; and 

 whether we came to sit and stifle as the prompter, 

 to be the dumb (or rather the inarticulate) recipients 

 of Carter's dog whip in the Taming of the Shrew, or 

 having earned our spurs, to lose one more illusion 

 in a leading part, we were always sure at least of a 

 long and an exciting holiday in mirthful company. 



In this laborious annual diversion, Fleeming's 

 part was large. I never thought him an actor, 

 but he was something of a mimic, which stood 



