Middletown transcript., 1871-06-17
THE BRIDE OF LAMmEnn no0R.

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Earl Of Sclkirk. st. Mary's Isle is n Pc
ninsula formed by the River Dec, in the
Stcwartry Of Kirkcudtright, on the south
west coast of Scotland. That such doc
ument was in existence, was fact un-
known 20 Sir Walter Scott when he wrote
his beautiful romance. The Earl Of Sell
kirk is the present representative Of the
family Of Dunbar, Of Balloon, which was
the real name Of the husband Of the bride,
and he has the family papers in his pos
session. 1t was while arranging these
that he accidcntly came upon this con-
tract Of marriage. 1t bears four sigma
lures. namely, those Of David Dunbar
(callcd in the novel Frank Hayston Of
Bucklaw), the bridegroom; Janet Dal-
rymple Uucy Ashton), the bride james
Dalrymplc (Sir William Ashton). the
brides father, and Balloon, tho faith
er Of the bridegroom (rot introduced in
the novel) One Of the witnesses, James
Dalrymplc (Henry Ashton in the novel),
may have been the brides brother, who
rode behind her to the church where the
marriage took place. and whose dagger,
it is said, was used in the murder. A
fac smile has been taken Of tho document.
and the Athcnnum adds that. judging
from it there was little tremor in the
brides signature This fac-simile will be
published by Messrs. Black. Of Edin-
burgh, in their forthcoming centenary edi-
ton Of tho Wavcrly Novels.
When Scot, gaze to the world "The
Bride of Lammcrmoor Gin 1879 he
coutcntcl himself with saying that the in
cdents on which it was founded had ac-
tually happened in noble Scottish fam
| ", but he declined mentioning the real
source whence he drew the story. Blu,
thsrc were those living to whom the his.
! tory was known, and very soon after the
alrca-rncc OF The Bride Mr.. Charles
kirkpatrick Sharpe, of Edinburgh, pub
| lishcd his notes to " Laws Memorials, J"
Gin ls2o,) in which he gave an accoun.
Of the whole affair. Scott subsequently,
| Tin ls29) wrote an introduction 10 his
novel, and alluding to Mr. Sharpcs
,tafcncn, of the facts, he then gave his
own version Of the story 1t seems that
the real facts have never been positively
known, and Sir Robert Elphinstonc in
I
! ls1, accuses Scott If inaccuracy. and OF
+ having wilfnlly and unfairly msrcprescnt-
I'd Que Of the principal characters in the
story. 1rl Stair tSir William Ashton
/ Beth Of these baronets were connected in
4 bl1ol with the unfortunate heroine Of the
! tale The following is an outline Of the
/ facts. 81 Ear as they can be gathered from
i history. Scott has laid the scene Of them
/ in East Lothian. in the east Of Scotland,
and located the seat of the Master OF Ra.
ycn>w aal at 'Wolrs Crag." fictitious
stronghold 9r fortress. in pass through
the mountains Of Ecr.iek-hire into l.o-
,hain. near the sea But IN rculiiy they
occurred al kifkli,t9n in Wigtonshirc. in
the trcd Of Scotland. where was the cs-
tate If the Earl If Stair and rlso that of
dunbar Of Baldoon I.ammcrmnor is n
range of hills running through the shires
of Iladdiugton and Darwick to Golding-
ham The Bride was always called by
her family The Bride of Baldoon" Her
name was the Hon. Janet palrymplc. cl-
j dcst daughter Of james, Niseount Stair,
/ Lord President Of the Court OF Session. in
the reign Of William aud Mary. Her
mother, Margaret Ross, of Balnie, was
naughty, overtearing, unscr1Yalous aud
ambitious womag, who seems to have
iloinnas;ei over her husband aud family.
aud especially ogcr Janet. This young
lady had secretly plighied her faith to
Lord Rutherford, a maa of good family.
. but who had been impoverished by the
par, he had taken in the religious aud
political troubles Of the times She was
cour,cl by David. clacs, son Of Sir David
Dunbar. Of Balloon, and taccording to
! Sir iliam Hamilton ofWhitelaw) nerh-
ew Of Rutherford and as his father was
more wealthy than the latter. Lady Stair
+ favored his advances and insisted on Ja-
nets accepting him The unhappy girl
then threw herself upon his generosii,
aud informed him of lcs early attachment
and solemn engagement to Rutherford -
but he cruelty aud ungencrously persisted
in his suit in spite of her aversion to him,
and she was forced 10 marry him Ruth
crfard protested agans. it and insisted on
having n private interview with her
This. however. Lady Stair prevented. and
Janet. bsssiyc in her hands. returned him
the ,ro,h plight at her command, aud he
left the room utterng malcdietions on the
mother. The marriage took place on
The 10th Of August. 1868. Great festiv-
tiles we're held in honor OF it, In the
midst of them the bride aud bridegroom
retired to their nuptia chamber, aud short
" afterwards piercing shricks were heard
issuing from it, The brides brothers
rushed to the door Of the chamber, forced
il open and found the bridegroom lying
across tho threshold dreadfully wounded
and streaming with blood The bride was
discovered in the corner of the large chin
ncy. in her night dress, dabbled u gore.
a rnving lunatic. She survived this hor.
rible scene little more than fortnight
and died on the 18th ofSepiember. Bal
doom recovered from his wounds, but
stcrnly prohibited all inquiries respecting
the manner in which he received them
He was killed by fall from his horse on
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