New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-15
SCOTTS TREASURES.
PICTURES OF THE ABBoTsFoRD RELICS.


Macmillan & Co.. 1888.
Abbotsford was not built. 1t grew. my pres
ent intention" wrote Scott to Joanna Baiie. soon
after acquiring his land. sis to have only two
spare bedrooms. with dressing-rooms He called
lhe residence he was then planning to erect my
cottage" BY slow stages and in obedience TO his
Unsuitable demand for more and still more com
modities." he used to call his various cham
bers. the dwelling was expanded into one OF the
stateliest mansions on the Tweed. Scott was
fond Of it before any of its walls were started.
The property itself delight to him. i
assure you" he wrote to his brother-in-law' 1--WE
are not a little proud of being greeted as laird
md lady Of Abbotsfcrd" This pride never left
him. The conn .ction between his home and his
career is well known, and Mrs. Scott, in the
handsome folio which figures and describes the
treasures OF the house. revives memories OF
some Of his most intimate affections.
Scott's nfe like SCOTS work, was crowded
with historical interests. He loved the present
for itself but also for its foundations in the past
He built his home in region around when the
battle Of Merose. in 1926, had thrown the great
est of many romantic traditions, and all through
I.ockharts Life" well as through the nov
elist's own writings. there reminders Of the
deep interest he took in the legends of his neigh
borhood and in those of other Scottish localities
"A love for Scotland meant with him, Of course,
a love for Scots The great value of the relics
Mrs. Scott describes is that they are not relics
of Scott alone. though even as such they would
have the respect Of his devoted readers. They
are the relics Of his heroes. Take. for example,
the weapon which Mrs. Scott considers as per
haps the most precious at Abbotsford, the
sword OF Montrose. ut was given TO the
great Marquis of Montrose,' says Scott by
Charles l. and appears to have belonged to his
hnC han
served for a long time at Gartmore. but the pres
ent proprietor was selling his library, or great
part of it, and John Ballantine, the purchaser
wishing to oblige me. would not conclude the
bargain which the gentleman's necessity made
him anxious about till he flung the sword
into the scale I think a dialogue between
the same sword and Rob Roys gun might be
composed with good effect" That last line ex-
presses in few words the vitality and the in
spiration which existed for Scott In every one
OF his antiquities He had more than one of
Rob Roy's personal effects. The gun to which
he refers is at Abbotsford; so is his "old High
land broadsword. with Andrea Ferrara blade
and basket hilt" a stout dangerous weapon;
and so also Is the chieftain's still deader dirk.
Readers will recall the following passage in
SCOTS preface to his famous novel: There Is
tradition that while on his deathbed he (Rob
Row learned that member of a family with
whom he at enmity proposed to visit MN.
sRaise me from the bed. said the invalid. throw
my plaid around me. and bring me my claymore'
dirk and pistols-it shall never be said that
foeman saw Rob Macgregor defenceless and
rnarmed'" 1t was doubtless the very dirk Scott
possessed that made part of the Macgregor's out
lit upon this occasion. Besides these warlike me-
MORALS there are preserved at AbbOtsford Rob
Rows purse and sporran. The latter was given
to Scott by Mr.. Constable. and the author makes
a remark concerning it which is the more strk-
Ing, as it bears so appropriately upon ROD Roys
observation in the novel. on the impossibihty or
ppening 1t without knowledge Of his secret
method Scott writes: II fancy, by the very
curious purse you have so oblgingly given me.
You had a mind to give me hint how to Keep
Inv cash. for If could put II into Rob Roy's
leathern convenience defy any one to find the
means Of getting 1t out again. Hitherto our
limited ingenuity has not been able TO find the
mode of opening it," Rob Roy would have made
Short work of any one who attempted TO try his
Ingenuity upon the lock of his sporran He
Has wont to say that his pistol was the keeper
bf his privy purse.
} There are other money wallets OF historical
kgnifcance at Abbotsford. One is pocket
book worked by Flora Macdonald. which once
contained a lock of Prince Charles hair The
heroine of that young gallant's celebrated
flight had embroidered the book for clergy |
the Isle or Skye. lie ded before II
could be presented to him. and 1t remained in |
the hands of Flora's sister for years. She gave !
It to a Macdonald. who was the mother OF |
Mr. Campbell, and the latter forwarded 1t to |
Scott Gifts of this sort frequently |
brought him. His tastes were widely known, !
and friends and strangers were continually |
passing their windfals to him. Lady Hamp- |
den gave him a pen case OF Napoleon lelt by |
the Emperor in the Elysee Bourbon on the |
day Of his hurried departure from Paris in |
1916; another admirer sent Scott a packet Of
Napoleon's hair. and Mrs. Stewart o: stem |
ton gave him slver-bound quaigh or drink |
ing cup. which belonged to Prince Charlie |
The bottom Of the quaigh, by-the-way, is |
transparent and in the Life there is an in |
teresting comment upon ii: This relic has
been presented TO the wandering Ascanus' by |
some very careful followers for the bottom is |
OF glass. that he VINO quaffed might keep his
eye upon the dirk hand of his companion
Among his Napoeonic trophies Scott had a
few that were of unique character, for they |
we're associated with crucial moments In Bona
parties Butcher referring TO Waterloo
in a letter to his wife, tells how Napoleon got
off In the night without hat or sword" The
Prussian found his carriage and In 1t: the
abandoned hat and sword with Napoeons
state mantle and other objects. There is
tradition that he also found a green silk blot
ting book, the same that is now at Abbotsford
1t is a handsome piece Of desk furniture bear
ing tn, imperial crest and bees in richly worked
gold = is last souvenir Of the Emperors
magnf cence, and il comes with special irony
in coming from the scene of his most crushing
defeat. There other articles pictured In
this book. but we can do no more than enumer-
ate tHeiIi n par vi ->dpOIcOH PStOi' 'tf'Nii
from his carriage with the blotter are grouped
with a weapon of a similar nature that was
once worn by Claverhouse. Some pistols OF
Scotts are in the armory where there are also
two curasseS and sword, which he gathered
up himself on the field soon after Waterloo
piece Of oatcake found in the pocket of a dead
Highlander the field Of Culloden Is sad
memorial Of the battle fought as history re-
cords on the scantiest of supplies. on the
same page with Prince Charles quaigh there
is snuffbox used by Balfour of Bureigh. one
Of the figures in "Old Mortality; there Is an
old brooch illustrated that once Helen
MacGregors; a hunting bottle, said to have
been carried by James VI, is described; and
the book ends with picture Of the door from
the old Tolbooth in Edinburgh. which Scott
mentions in 1.-The Heart of Midlothian" This
door offered to Scott in 1917. when the old
prison was pulled down. He built IL into the
west end of Abbotsford. All these relics have
boo draxx carafIilly aud In an ARTISTIC