The Sun.
London, England, 1830-07-15 00:00:00

THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR.

The author, on a former occasion, declined
giving the real source from which he drew theA
tragic subject of this history, because, though
occurring at a distant period, it might poseibly 1w
unpleasing to the feelings of the descendants of
die parties, But as he finds an account of the
circumstances given in the Notes to Law's
Memorials, by his ingenious friend, Charles;
Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq. and also indicated in
his reprint of the Rev. Mr. Symon's poems, •
appended to the description of Galloway, as the
original of the Bride (Lammermoor, the author
feels himself now at liberty to tell the tale as he
had it from connections of his own, who lived very
near the period, and were closely related to the,
family of the bride.

It was well known that the family. of Dal. I
rymple, which has produced within the space ofi
two centuries as many men of talent, civil and
'military, and of literary, political, and proles-
Psienal eminence, as any honse in Scotland, first
rose into distinction in the person of James
Dalrymple, one of the most eminent lawyers,
that ever lived, though the labours of his power-1
ful mind were unhappily exercised on a subject,
so limited as Scottish jurisprudence, on which'
he has composed an admirable work.
He married Margaret, daughter of Ross of
Balneil, with whom he obtained a considerable'
estate. She was an able, politic, and high-
minded woman, so successful ill what she un-
dertook, that the vulgar, no way partial to her
'husband or her family, imputed her success to
necromancy. According to the popular belief,
this Dame Margaret purchased the temporal,
prosperity of her family from the master whom
she served, under a singular condition, which is
!thus narrated by the historian of her grandson,
!the great Earl of Stair She lived to a great
eae, and at her death desired that she might not'
be put under Found, but that her coffin should,
be placed upright on one end of it, promising

that while she remained in that situation the
Dalrymples should continue in prosperity. What
was the old lady's motive for such a request, or
whether she really made such a promise, I can-
not take upon me to determine ; but it is certain
her coffin stands upright in the aisle of the
church of Kirkliston, the burial place of the
family." The talents of this accomplished race
were sufficient to have accounted for the dig-
nities which many members of the family
attained, without any supernatural assistance.—
But their extraordinary prosperity was attended
by some equally singular family misfortunes, of
which that which befel their eldest daughter was
at once unaccountable and melancholy.
Miss Janet Dalrymple, daughter of the first
Lord Stair and Dame Margaret Ross, had en-
gaged herself without the knowledge of her
parents to the Lord Rutherford, who was not
acceptable to them, either on account of his poli-
tical principles, or his want of fortune. The
young couple broke a piece of gold together,
and pledged their troth in the most solemn man-
ner ; and it is said the young lady imprecated
dreadfUl evils on herself should she break her
plighted faith. Shortly after, a suitor who was
favoured by Lord Stair, and still more so by his'
lady, paid his addresses to Miss Dalrymple.—
The young lady refused the proposal, and being
pressed on the subject, confessed her secret en-
gagement. Lady Stair, a woman accustomed
to universal submission (for even her husband
did not dare to contradict her), treated this ob.
jection as a trifle, and insisted upon her daughter
yielding her consent to marry the new suitor,
David Dunbar, son and heir to David Dunbar of
Balloon, in Wigtonshire. The first lover, a
man of very high spirit, then interfered by letter,
and insisted on the right he had acquired by hiss,
troth plighted with the young lady. Lady Stair'
sent him for answer, that her daughter, sensible
of her undutiful behaviour in entering into a
contract unsanctioned by, her parents, had re•
treated her unlawful vow, and now refused to
fulfil her engagement with him.
The lover, in return, declined positively to
receive such an answer from any one but his
mistress in person ; and, as she had to deal with
a man who was both of a most determined cha-
racter and of too high condition to be trifled
with, Lady Stair was obliged to consent to an,
interview between Lord Rutherford and her
daughter. But she took care to be present in
person, and argued the point with the disap-
pointed and incensed lover with pertinacity equal
to his own. She particularly insisted on the
Levitical Law, which declares that a woman
shall be five of a vow which her parents dissent
from.

While the mother insisted on these topics,
the lover in vain conjured the daughter to de-
clare her own opinion and feelings. She re-
mained totally overwhelmed, as it seemed—
mute, pale, and motionless as a statue. Only
at her mother's command, sternly uttered, she
summoned strength enough to restore to her
plighted suitor the piece of broken gold which
was the emblem of her troth. On this he burst
forth into a tremendous passion, took leave of
the mother with maledictions, and as he left thel
apartment, turned back to say to his weak if not
fickle mistress, " For you, Madam, you will be'
a world's wonder ;" a phrase by which some re-
markable degree of calamity is usually implied.
He went abroad, and returned not again. If the
last Lord Rutherford was the unfortunate party,
he must have been the third who bore that title,
and who died in 1685.

The marriage betwixt Janet Dalrymple and
David Dunbar of Baldoon now went forward,
the bride showing no repugnance, but being ab-
solutely passive in every thing her mother com-
manded or advised. Cn the day of the mar-
riage, which, as was then usual, was celebrated
by a great assemblage of friends and relations,
' she was the same—sad, silent, and resigned, as
it seemed, to her destiny. A lady, very nearly
connected with the family, told the author that
she had conversed on the subject with one of
!the brothers of the bride, a mere lad at the time,
who had ridden before his sister to church. He
said her hand, which lay on his as she held her
arm round his waist, was as cold and damp as
marble. But, full of his new dress, and the part
he acted in the procession, the circumstance,
which he long afterwards remembered with bitter
sorrow and compunction, made no impression
on him at the time.
The bridal feast was followed by dancing; the
bride and bridegroom retired as usual, when o.
a sudden the most wild and piercing cries were
heard from the nuptial chamber. It was then
the custom, to prevent any coarse pleasantry
which old times perhaps admitted, that the key
of the nuptial chamber should be entrusted to
the brideman. He was called upon, but at first
refused to give it up, till the shrieks became so
hideous that he was compelled to hasten with
others to learn the cause. On opening the door,
they found the bridegroom lying across the
threshold, dreadfully wounded, and streaming
with blood. The bride was then sought for ;
she was found in the corner of the large chimney,
having no covering save her shift, and that dab-
in gore. There she sat grinning at them,
moping and mowing, as I beard the expression
used ; to a word, absolutely insane. The only
words she spoke were, " Tak up your bonny
bridegroom." She survived this horrible scene
little more than a fortnight, having been married
on the 24th of August, and dying on the 12th
of Sept., 1669.
The unfortunate Baldoon recovered from his
wounds, but sternly prohibited all inquiries re-
specting the manner in which be had received
them. If a lady, he said, asked him any ques-
tion upon the subject, he would neither answer
her nor speak to her again while he lived ; if a
gentleman, he would consider has a mortal affront,
and demand satisfaction as having received such.
He did not very long survive the dreadful ca-
tastrophe, having met with a fatal injury by a LI;
from his horse, as he rode between Leith and
Holyrood House, of which he died the next day
28th March, 1682. Thus a few years removed
all
vt haer
ou s principal
reports
wentactors
abroad i nt
on
isfrightftuhs m
litrage;isyte.-
rious affair, many of them very inaccurate, thought
they could hardly be said to exaggerate. It pas'?
difficult at that time to become acquainted
with
ithe history of the Scottish family above the loge;
yank ; and strange things sometimes took place 4
there, into which even the law did not serupu-'
ilously inquire.
The credulous Mr. Law says;l:generally,
the Lord President Stair had a daughter, wl or' 1 g
" being married, the night she was bride in (tbaz
is, bedded bride), was taken from her bridegroom,
and harled (dragged) through the house (bv
spirits, we are given to understand), and sokin,i
afterwards died. Another daughter," be say6l
" was possessed by an evil spirit."
My friend Mr. Sharpe, gives another edition
of the tale. According to his information, it
was the bridegroom who wounded the bride.
The marriage, according to this account, hen
11111,