Bernard de Montfaucon

The Benedictine monk and antiquary Bernard de Montfaucon passed on December 21, 1741.  Montfaucon lived nearly 86 years, joining the Benedictines at about 20 years of age, after having served briefly in the French army.  His fame derives from various scholarly works he published, including an authoritative history of Greek writing, and by 1724, his 15 volume “L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures”.  This work was translated into English as “Antiquity Explained and Represented in Diagrams”. 

In 1824, Walter Scott received a copy of Montfaucon's Antiquities for his library.  As John Gibson Lockhart says, in his “Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott”,  ‘Such arrivals as that of “the Wallace Chair” were frequent throughout 1824. It was a happy, and therefore it need hardly be added an ineventful year—his last year of undisturbed prosperity. The little incidents that diversified his domestic interior, and the zeal which he always kept up for all the concerns of his friends, together with a few indications of his opinions on subjects of literary and political interest, will be found in his correspondence, which will hardly require any editorial explanations. Within, I think, the same week in January, arrived a copy of Montfauçon’s Antiquities, in fifteen volumes folio, richly bound in scarlet, the gift of King George IV…’

Creevey Papers on George IV's Edinburgh Visit

“. . . Mr. Creevey dined yesterday at Lord Cowper’s. It was a grand dinner after the christening of his son, to whom the Prince stood godfather. The ceremony was going on in one drawing-room when Mr. Creevey arrived. After it was over, the Prince, on coming into the room where the rest of the company were assembled, said: ‘Ho, Creevey! you there,’ and sprang across the room and shook hands with him. When he sat opposite to him at dinner he hardly spoke to anyone else, beginning directly with—‘Well, tell me now, Creevey, about Mrs. Creevey and the girls, and when they come to Brighton;’ and on hearing ‘probably in October,’ he said—‘Oh delightful! we shall be so comfortable,’ and then went over the old stories . . . till, as Mr. C. says, the company did not know very well what to make of it. They all adjourned to Melbourne House to supper. At 2 o’clock in the morning, that terrible Sheridan seduced Mr. Creevey into Brookes, where they stayed till 4, when Sherry affectionately came home with him, and upstairs to see me. They were both so very merry, and so much pleased with each other’s jokes, that, though they could not repeat them to me very distinctly, I was too much amused to scold them as they deserved”

The above is from a letter dated August 25, 1806, from Thomas Creevey’s wife Eleanor, to her daughter, Elizabeth Ord.  Thomas Creevey, Whig politician and diarist, maintained his journal for 36 years.

From the “Creevey Papers”, comes the following, related to King George IV’s visit to Edinburgh in August 1822

George IV. made a royal progress to Edinburgh in August of this year. Thanks, in great measure, to the influence of Sir Walter Scott, his Majesty was received in the northern capital with far more respect and enthusiasm than he had been accustomed of late to experience in the south.

From — Stuart to Mr. Ferguson of Raith.

"Edinburgh, 17th Aug., 1822.

"... I send you a Scotsman [newspaper], the Account in which as to the King is pretty correct. He has been received by the people in the most respectful and orderly manner. All have turn'd out in their holiday cloaths, and in numbers which are hardly credible. ... I have been much disappointed to-day with the levee. . . . There was nothing interesting or imposing about it. A vast crowd, with barely standing room for two hours: afterwards moved to the Presence Chamber, where no one was for a minute. . . . The King did not seem to move a muscle, and we all asked each other, when we came away, what had made us take so much trouble. He was dressed in tartan. Sir Walter Scott has ridiculously made us appear to be a nation of Highlanders, and the bagpipe and the tartan are the order of the day."

Henry Brougham, M.P., to Mr. Creevey.

Act of Proscription

‘And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and forty seven, no man or boy, within that part of Great Briton called Scotland, other than shall be employed as officers and soldiers in his Majesty's forces, shall on any pretence whatsoever, wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland Clothes (that is to say) the plaid, philibeg, or little kilt, trowse, shoulder belts, or any part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the highland garb; and that no tartan, or partly-coloured plaid or stuff shall be used for great coats, or for upper coats; and if any such person shall presume, after the said first day of August, to wear or put on the aforesaid garments or any part of them, every such person so offending, being convicted thereof by the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses before any court of justiciary, or any one or more justices of the peace for the shire or stewartry, or judge ordinary of the place where such offence shall be committed, shall suffer imprisonment, without bail, during the space of six months, and no longer; and being convicted for a second offence before a court of justiciary or at the circuits, shall be liable to be transported to any of his Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, there to remain for a space of seven years.’

On August 1, 1747, the Act of Proscription, which banned the wearing of ‘the highland dress’ in Scotland, went into effect.  The text above is from that act, which George II of England introduced.  This act was repealed in 1782 under George III of England, which made it possible for Walter Scott to orchestrate the tartan pageantry involved in the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822.

The Invisible

‘July 5 [1829] …The post brought two letters of unequal importance. One from a person calling himself Haval, announcing to me the terrific circumstance that he had written against the Waverley Novels in a publication called La Belle Assemblée, at which doubtless, he supposes, I must be much annoyed. He be d——, and that's plain speaking. The other from Lord Aberdeen, announcing that Lockhart, Dr. Gooch, and myself, are invested with the power of examining the papers of the Cardinal Duke of York, and reporting what is fit for publication. This makes it plain that the Invisible neither slumbers nor sleeps…’

The Invisible, or the Great Unseen, which Sir Walter Scott writes about in his journal entry of July 5, 1829, refers to Sir William Knighton.  Knighton is best known as the Keeper of the Privy Purse - King George IV of England’s finances.  George apparently was unable to rein in his own debt, and turned his finances entirely over to Knighton, with favorable results being obtained within three years. 

Sir Walter Scott and Knighton were not unknown to each other, and as presented in “Memoirs of Sir William Knighton”, Scott sent the following letter to Knighton:

 Edinburgh, 18th May, 1829. 

MY DEAR SIR WILLIAM,

 I Have the honour of enclosing to your care the first copy of the new edition of the Waverley Novels, inscribed to the King by his Majesty's most gracious permission.  As it is a work intended for wide diffusion and a small price, its exterior could not have that splendour which ought to have attended the dedication ; but I trust the decorations, which I believe are good,- at least they are executed by the best artists we have,— may be esteemed as an apology for the humility of the volumes. We start with a sale of ten thousand, which, in a work which runs to forty volumes, is a very considerable matter.

The newspapers, which dispose of King and subject at their pleasure, are sending his Majesty to the Royal Cottage. It must now be looking beautiful, with all the oaks getting into leaf. I trust his Majesty will enjoy the repose there which becomes so indispensable after the toils of his royal duty; and happy would I be should he find in the illustrations of the Tales, which his Majesty formerly honoured with his notice, anything which could make a quarter of an hour pass more pleasantly away.

May I request you to present my most humble devoted duty to his Majesty, and say how sorry I am I have no more worthy mode of testifying my deep sense of his royal favour ?

I am always,

   Dear Sir William,
   Your truly faithful and obliged

 Walter Scott

George IV of England Visits Scotland

On August 17, 1822, King George IV of England visited Edinburgh.  George's festivities were managed by Sir Walter Scott, who, according to Writing Scotland,  encouraged George's choice of outfit; highland dress with pink leggings.  All part of the tartan pageant that Scott organized.

George's visit was the first by a reiging monarch since 1650, and was viewed as a success by most.

George Canning

August 10 (1827)...The death of the Premier is announced. Late George Canning, the witty, the accomplished, the ambitious; he who had toiled thirty years, and involved himself in the most harassing discussions to attain this dizzy height; he who had held it for three months of intrigue and obloquy—and now a heap of dust, and that is all. He was an early and familiar friend of mine, through my intimacy with George Ellis. No man possessed a gayer and more playful wit in society; no one, since Pitt's time, had more commanding sarcasm in debate; in the House of Commons he was the terror of that species of orators called the Yelpers. His lash fetched away both skin and flesh, and would have penetrated the hide of a rhinoceros. In his conduct as a statesman he had a great fault: he lent himself too willingly to intrigue. Thus he got into his quarrel with Lord Castlereagh,[20] and lost credit with the country for want of openness. Thus too, he got involved with the Queen's party to such an extent that it fettered him upon that memorable quarrel, and obliged him to butter Sir Robert Wilson with dear friend, and gallant general, and so forth. The last composition with the Whigs was a sacrifice of principle on both sides. I have some reason to think they counted on getting rid of him in two or three years. To me Canning was always personally most kind. I saw, with pain, a great change in his health when I met him at Colonel Bolton's at Stors in 1825. In London I thought him looking better.

George Canning actually died on August 8th, but apparently news reached Walter Scott on the 10th - as recorded in his Journal.  Canning came from relatively humble origins to eventually lead Great Britain as Prime Minister.  Ministership came by appointment from George IV, after Lord Liverpool was disabled by a stroke.  Canning's appointment caused dissension, as seven members of Liverpool's Cabinet refused to serve under him.  Canning died a mere 119 days after becoming Premier.

Caroline of Brunswick

Poor Queen Caroline, who died on August 7, 1821.  If ever there was an argument against arranged marriage, this was it.  Caroline was married to her cousin, the future George IV of England, in 1795.  George is said to have required a glass of brandy upon first meeting Caroline,  who was not considered attractive, and is said to have been coarse and ill-kempt.  George married her, but locked her out of his coronation ceremony.  That occasion is described by Sir Walter Scott as recorded in William John Loftie's "Westminster Abbey":

'Sir Walter Scott, whose poems and romances did so much in the same direction, himself wrote a description of the scene.


The King's bed was removed from Carlton House to the Speaker's official residence, and he slept on the night of the 18th, we are told, ' in the Tapestry-room, looking out over the Thames,' the last time the old Palace was inhabited by a king. The King arrived at half-past eight and supped with his host. The next morning was as fine as the day which saw the Queen's Jubilee in 1887. The King entered Westminster Hall at ten, and already ' appeared to be somewhat fatigued.' He, however, himself superintended the arrangements, and gave each of the grand functionaries the piece of the regalia which he was to carry. The Dean and Chapter had brought them all over from the Abbey. When he handed the crown to Lord Anglesey he graciously dispensed with his walking backwards in retiring, as the Marquis had lost a leg at Waterloo six years before.


The heat in the Abbey is described as intense. The King in his heavy robes appeared, even at the commencement of the ceremony, to be ' distressed almost to fainting.' He was by no means young, very fat and in bad health. It is strange that he should have been willing to take part in so long a service. But he went through with it to the end, with a personal pluck and courage which showed that even George IV. could sometimes rise to the occasion. At the recognition he stood by his chair ; and he listened to the sermon with his head uncovered. After the coronation he retired for ten minutes into St. Edward's Chapel, and when he came out the church was already half empty, everybody either tired out or anxious to see the procession back. He is described as much encumbered with his splendid attire, but he moved forward and shook hands with his sister the Duchess of Gloucester, before he left the Abbey. The banquet in the Hall took place at five, the procession having only left the Abbey at four. When all was over the King returned to Carlton House in the twilight of the summer evening.







The effect of this pageant on the art and literature of the succeeding period was immense. The revival of a mediaeval ceremonial necessitated the revival of mediaeval art. Heraldry and architecture received the strongest stimulus. Historical novels became the rage ; and, no doubt, a great deal of the hold which the Gothic style took on the building genius of the day must be ascribed to the coronation of George IV. It was as nearly as possible one hundred years since the last Gothic touches were put, under Wren's supervision, to the north transept of the Abbey. During that time the Palladian tradition of Inigo Jones and Wren had died out, and was succeeded by the supposed Greek taste which put the portico to Apsley House and supplied us with the National Gallery, Euston Station, and St. Paneras Church. But the Grecian architecture did not flourish. The best things—the British Museum and St. George's Hall—are conspicuous for their rarity ; and it may be conceded that, only for the wretched ' restoration ' craze which so closely attended it, the Gothic revival was a benefit to architecture...'

George IV of England

On June 26, 1830, George IV of England passed away, at age 67.  George reigned as king for only ten years, but ruled as prince regent from 1811 to 1820, when his father George III died.  George III suffered bouts of insanity during this time. 

George IV was known for his jovial living, and Walter Scott enjoyed organizing his visit to Edinburgh in 1822, and entertaining the king.  George became the first English monarch to visit Scotland since 1650.  It was due to Scott's orchestration of the pageantry that the tartan became inextricably associated with Scotch life.

Scott mentions George's passing the next day in his journal:

June 27 (1830)...The whole day of pleasure was damped by the news of the King's death; it was fully expected, however, as the termination of his long illness. But he was very good to me personally, and a kind sovereign. The common people and gentry join in their sorrow. Much is owing to a kindly recollection of his visit to this country, which gave all men an interest in him.

Sir David Wilkie

The Scottish painter David Wilkie was born this day in 1785. The son of a minister in Fife, Wilkie took to art early in life, and began formal training under John Graham. Wilkie traveled extensively through Europe, which greatly influenced his style. In 1823, Wilkie was named Royal Limner for Scotland, and he undertook sittings with King George IV, to commemorate his visit to Scotland. In 1830, Wilkie was appointed painter in ordinary to the king, and he was knighted in 1836.

Wilkie and Scott were familiar to each other. Wilkie visited Abbotsford in 1818, and painted Scott's family. All were depicted in Scottish peasant dress for the painting. which is titled "The Abbotsford Family".