William Shenstone

CHAPTER XXX

  Yet though thou shouldst be dragg'd in scorn

  To yonder ignominious tree,

  Thou shall not want one faithful friend

  To share the cruel fates' decree.

                   Ballad of Jemmy Dawson.

Chapter XXX of Walter Scott’s “The Fortunes of Nigel” begins with the motto above.  The work quoted from is included in “Description of the Leasowes" by William Shenstone.  Shenstone's friend Robert Dodsley felt that the poet had had a strong influence on Walter Scott.   According to Arthur Raleigh Humphreys, in his biography of Shenstone:

 ‘..Robert Dodsley paid tribute to his friend’s memory by adding to his edition of Shenstone’s Works a “Description of the Leasowes” with a map – a description which powerfully affected the imagination of Sir Walter Scott as a boy….’

English poet William Shenstone died on February 11, 1763. 

Church of England

On February 11, 1531, Henry VIII of England became supreme head of the Church of England.   This institution was important to Edward Waverley's pro-Hanoverian family as shown in Walter Scott's "Waverley".  From the chapter titled The Adieus of Waverley:

'...My dear Edward, it is God's will, and also the will of your father, whom, under God, it is your duty to obey, that you should leave us to take up the profession of arms, in which so many of your ancestors have been distinguished. I have made such arrangements as will enable you to take the field as their descendant, and as the probable heir of the house of Waverley; and, sir, in the field of battle you will remember what name you bear. And, Edward, my dear boy, remember also that you are the last of that race, and the only hope of its revival depends upon you; therefore, as far as duty and honour will permit, avoid danger--I mean unnecessary danger--and keep no company with rakes, gamblers, and Whigs, of whom, it is to be feared, there are but too many in the service into which you are going. Your colonel, as I am informed, is an excellent man--for a Presbyterian; but you will remember your duty to God, the Church of England, and the--' (this breach ought to have been supplied, according to the rubric, with the word KING; but as, unfortunately, that word conveyed a double and embarrassing sense, one meaning de facto and the other de jure, the knight filled up the blank otherwise)--'the Church of England, and all constituted authorities.' Then, not trusting himself with any further oratory, he carried his nephew to his stables to see the horses destined for his campaign. Two were black (the regimental colour), superb chargers both; the other three were stout active hacks, designed for the road, or for his domestics, of whom two were to attend him from the Hall; an additional groom, if necessary, might be picked up in Scotland...'

Thoughtless

The man whose definition of life is famous to most - "I think therefore I am" - died on February 11, 1650.  His demise seems to have been accelerated by a change of climate, and the demands of a queen.  Rene Descartes was 53 when he passed.

Descartes claimed to be a devout Catholic, but his philosophy was attacked by other Catholics, including Blaise Pascal.  To escape from his enemies, he accepted an offer from Queen Christina of Sweden, to move to Stockholm.  Christina sought his instruction at an early hour each morning; 5AM.  Combined with a disagreeable climate, this may have been too much for his already frail state.  Descartes had an influence on Christina, it seems, as she abdicated her throne and converted to Catholicism after his death.

Walter Scott published "The Edinburgh Annual Register"; volume 14 containing a discussion of what was purported to be Descartes' head being displayed to the Royal Institute of France's Academy of Sciences.

"On the 30th of April, M. Cuvier presented to the Academy the head of Descartes, which M. Berzelius, Secretary of the Academy of Stockholm, had purchased, at a public sale, in Sweden, and which he had been eager to transmit to the native country of that truly great man..."