The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1841-01-05
SEpTEsIBER 5, 1923.

| TINS lrdglcal taie. Liz ughI thrown upon lIle
point as to the author of the homocide is curious
and striking. L E..
SEPTEMBER 3, 1928. F.
| M Dear Sir j.: Various circumstances
have occurred which have unavoidably prevent
| ed my returning an earlier to your que
mes regarding unfortunate relative-FF1'he
| Bride of Lammermoor." l shall now have much
pleasure in complying with your wishes, in as
far as an Indifferent memory will enable me to
| do
F'The Bride of Balloon" 1or such has always
been her designation i'll our family was the Hon.
Janet Dalrymple, eldest daughter of our great
great-grandfather James discount OF STAR, Lord
| President of the Court of Session in the reign
| of William and Mary, sister TO the first Earl of
| that name, and to our great grandfather the
Lord President Sir Hugh Dalrynple, of North
Berwick, and consequently cur great grand
| aunt.
! She was secretly attached and had phghted
| her faith to the Lord Rutherford, when, under
| the auspices of her mother, Il less amiable but
much more opulent sutton, appeared in the per-
! son of David Dunbar, eldest of SIR David
Dunbar, of Balloon, Gan ancestor of the Sell1irk
| family, whose addresses were, may be sup
posed, submitted to with the greatest aversion,
from their being ungenerously persisted in after
his being informed of her early attachment and
solemn engagement. To this man, however, she
was ultimately forced to give her hand.
The result of this cruel and unnatural sacri-
fee was nearly, if not exactly, related by
Sir Walter Scott. On the marriage night, soon
after the young couple were left alone, violent
and continued screams were heard to proceed
from the bridal chamber, and on the door (Which
was found locked being forced open, the bride
groom was found extended ON the floor, sta bbed
and weltering in his blood, while the bride sat
in the corner of the large fireplace in state of
the most deplorable frenzy, which continued
without any lucid interval until the period of
her death. She survived but short time, dur
ing which with the exception of the few words
mentioned by Sir Walter Scott--ssYe haze taen
up your bonny bridegroom") she never spoke,
and refused all sustenance.
The conclusion drawn from these extraordina-
nv circumstances, and which seems to have been
assumed by Sir Walter the fact, was, that
the forlorn and distracted victim, seeing no
other means ef escaping from fate which she
beheld with disgust and adherence, had in fit
of desperation inflicted the fatal wound upon her
selfish and unfeeling husband. But in justice
to the memory of our unhappy relative, we may
be permitted to regret Sir Walters not having |
been acquainted with tradition long current |
in the part of the country where the tragical
event took place, namely, that, from the win |
dow having been found open, it was conjectured |
that the lover had, during the hustle and confu- |
sion occasioned by the preparations for the mar |
riage feast, and perhaps by the connivance of
some servants of the family, contrived to gain
admission and to secrete himself IN the bridal
chamber from whence he had made his escape
into the garden after having fought with and
severely wounded his successful rlval--a con-
cluslon strengthened by other cencurring cir
cumstances, and rendered more probable by the
fact of Young Baldosn having to his last breath
obstinately refused to give any explanation on
the subject. and which might well justify be-
lief that he was actuated by a desire of con-
cealing the particulars of a rencontre, the cause
and consequence of which he might Justly con-
slider as equally discreditable to himself. The
unfortunate lover was said ts have disappeared
Immediately after the catastrophe, in manner
somewhat mysterious, but this part of the story
has escaped my recollection.
While ou the subject Of this calamitous event,
I cannot help offering some observations the
principal personages introduced in SIR Walter
SCOTS narrative, all of whom are more less
interesting, both to you and me.
The character of Sir William Ashton certainly
cannot be considered as fair representation OF
onr eminent and respectable ancestor Lord Stair,
to whom he bears little resemblance either as
politician or a gentienadn-and Sir Walter
would seem wishful to avoid the application,
when he says that, on acquiring the ancient seat
Of the Lord Ravenswood; Sir William had re-
moved certain old family portraits, and replaced
them by F'those of King William and queen Ma
nv and of Sir Thomas Hope and Lord Starr, two
distinguished Scots lawyers" but on tins point
some less ambiguous intimation would have been
very desirable, and having, in the character OF
Lucy ASHTON, stuck SO closely to the character
of the daughter, the author should, in fairness,
have beer more at pains tie prevent that OF the
Lord Keeper from being considered as an equal
ly fair representation of the father; an omission
Of which the descendants of Lord Stair, have,
think, some reason to complain.
In Lady Ashton, the character of our great
Observation-Disclosures seems in many respect more
aithfully delineated, at least less misrcpre-
sented She was an ambitious and interested
woman, of masculine character and under
standing, and the transaction regarding her
daughters marriage was believed to have been [