1838-39. BOTTLE IMP AND MYNHEER VAN SCRATCH. 185 



papers. There I found them the other day, when turning over 

 my portfolio. Instead of burning them, I thought I would 

 keep them, and send them to you. They accordingly accom- 

 pany this letter. It is not every day that a lady gets not only 

 a poem, but the very thing on which the poem was written. 

 So far as I learned, poet D. E. did not send to Miss Mven the 

 'spirit of the old man' that came to him, wrapped up in 

 brown paper, or tightly corked in a bottle ! so that there I have 

 the advantage of him ; and I ask credit for it." 



Daniel notes in evidence of the versatility of taste which kept 

 the balance straight between work and recreation : " Leisure was 

 found, in spite of much occupation, for an occasional evening 

 with the poets; and others of his favourite home relaxations 

 were singing to the accompaniment of the guitar, in which he 

 then took lessons ; and writing verses, grave and gay. One or 

 two of his earlier efforts have already been given ; and a 

 memorial of the poetical pastimes of this season lies by 

 me now, in the form of a well-filled MS. volume of our joint 

 rhymes, to which he more than once refers in subsequent 

 letters. 



" His favourite nom de plume, Bottle Imp, was adopted as his 

 poetical designation ; and on the title-page of the MS. volume, 

 among the whims of a miscellaneous emblematic pen-and-ink 

 sketch, is a large glass flask, out of which an imp struggles to 

 escape, while thrusting forth one hand with a ' sonnet,' or other 

 rhyming product in its grasp. An easel behind supports a pic- 

 ture partially veiled, on the cover of which is this title of the 

 volume and its contents : ' Quips, Quirks, Quodlibets, and Quid- 

 dities, by Bottle Imp and Mynheer van Scratch.' A rhyming 

 preface, introduction, and errata of quips and quirks follow ; 

 and it will be seen that after his return to Edinburgh, George 

 continued to contribute to the joint volume. At a later date, 

 our cousin James claimed a share in its space, and some beau- 

 tiful poems of one we had learned to love as a brother preserve 

 there the few and slight memorials of intellectual gifts of rare 

 promise, which were quenched in death just as he reached his 

 twenty-first year : 



