I.] PARENTAGE AXD BOYHOOD. 9 



affections; it \vashis acknowledged right, and was secured 

 to him by the gentle sweetness of disposition that re- 

 mained unspoiled by it all. 



After this sad year Colinton, charming residence as it 

 was, was rather endured than enjoyed by its owner ; 

 endured for the sake of his children, who found health 

 and freedom in its airy situation, and endless amusement 

 among the beautiful wooded banks of the water of Leith. 

 Never were these days forgotten. 



Sir William's health suffered at this time so severely 



from the painful associations connected with his home, 



that his friends anxiously pressed the necessity of a 



nge of scene, and his sister Mrs. Skene at length 



succeeded in persuading him to spend a few weeks of the 



summer with his children at Invercanny, a quiet spot 



in a lovely country near Inverye on Deeside, where his 



i' and her husband then resided with their family. 



This led to a visit to his own paternal property, Pitsligo, 



in Aberdeenshire, where the natural tone of feeling was 



in some degree restored, by the interest awakened in the 



wants of his tenants, and the improvements on the estate. 



This summer (1811) was rendered memorable by the 



appearance of the far-famed comet, which no one who 



r saw can forget. Its sojourn was long, and night 



after night was the infant philosopher danced at the 



window, in full view of the glorious phenomenon, its 



splendid tail seeming to sweep across a quarter of the 



vens. His brothers and sisters pleased themselves in 



after years with the fanciful imagination, that some 



secret inspiration was thus communicated which never 



its iniliK-nrr, but continued ever after to lend an 



le attraction to the study of the heavens. 

 Tli.-se visits to Pitsligo were repeated for many suc- 

 cessive summers with the best effects on the whole 

 ly, anl among its moors and mosses and simple 

 1 jM|ulati<n the younger brandies enjoyed a liberty 

 lirubly calculated to pnmuMr health and imh-jM-n- 



1.-IKM-. \nr lil Y..UM'_r .l;, m ,. S fall behind llJS ('1<1<T 



brot. as of those happy holidays; creating 



