MKS. SOMERVILLE 39 



' Weel may we a' be, 

 111 may we never see ; 

 Health to the King 

 And the gude companie." 



A very amusing circumstance in connection with 

 Mrs. Somerville's acquaintance with Sir Walter arose 

 out of the childish inquisitiveness of Woronzow Greig, 

 Mrs. Somcrville's little boy. 



During the time Mrs. Somerville was visiting 

 Abbotsford, the " Waverley Novels" were appearing, 

 and were creating a great sensation ; yet even Scott's 

 intimate friends did not know that he was the 

 author ; he enjoyed keeping the affair a mystery. 

 But little Woronzow discovered what he was about. 

 One day when Mrs. Somerville was talking about 

 a novel that had just been published, Woronzow said, 

 " I knew all these stories long ago, for Mr. Scott 

 writes on the dinner-table ; when he has finished 

 he puts the green cloth with the papers in a comer 

 of the dining-room, and when he goes out Charlie 

 Scott and I read the stories." 



This incident shows what has been shown many a 

 time before and since : that persons who want to keep 

 a secret ought to be very careful when children are 

 about. 



Not only Sir Walter, however, but Sir David 

 Brcwstcr, Sir William and Lady Herschel, Dr. Mar- 

 cet and his wife, the authoress of the " Conversations 

 on Chemistry," the Rev. Sydney Smith, Rogers, 



