HISTORY OF THE LINLITHGOW 



Francis Grant and afterwards for Mr Frain. Nimrod, 

 however, sketches him as he was in the autumn of 

 1834, when about fifty-two years of age. 



"The stature of WilHamson is below the average 

 height of man, but his person is well turned and 

 very well proportioned ; and the exact fit of his 

 clothes sets it off to advantage. The sit of his cap, 

 the fall of his shoulders, and the junction of the 

 breeches with the boots — a great point in a horse- 

 man, as far as the eye is concerned — are all equally 

 good ; and the general cleanliness of his person, 

 renders the tout ensemble complete. He has a keen, 

 penetrating eye ; carries his country in his face, 

 as well as its full dialect on his tongue ; is, as Lord 

 Kintore says of him, ' an astonishing bit of wire — 

 a sort of genus per se — and the king of Scotch 

 servants.' " ^ 



The portrait by Sir Francis Grant was painted 

 for the Duke of Buccleuch, and some of the letters ^ 

 which Sir Francis wrote to the Duke, at the time, 

 are both interesting and amusing. The first of 

 these mentions Will in the studio, getting rather 

 weary of ' sitting,' but instantly enlivened by the 

 arrival of a letter from the Duke. 



27 Sussex Place, Regent's Park, N.W., 

 25tli Oct. [1862]. 



My dear Duke, — . . . Your letter was brought into the 

 painting room whilst Will was in the act of sitting, and 

 was getting rather tired. But the arrival of a letter from 

 you, put him all alive. I showed him a portion of it where 



1 ' Northern Tour,' 1838, p. 138. 



2 Among papers at Dalkeith House. 



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