I Return No More

March 15.[1826]—This morning I leave No. 39 Castle Street, for the last time. "The cabin was convenient," and habit had made it agreeable to me. I never reckoned upon a change in this particular so long as I held an office in the Court of Session. In all my former changes of residence it was from good to better; this is retrograding. I leave this house for sale, and I cease to be an Edinburgh citizen, in the sense of being a proprietor, which my father and I have been for sixty years at least. So farewell, poor 39, and may you never harbour worse people than those who now leave you! Not to desert the Lares all at once, Lady S. and Anne remain till Sunday. As for me, I go, as aforesaid, this morning.



"Ha til mi tulidh'!
[I return no more]
 
The panic of 1825/26 caught Sir Walter Scott in a bad position; over-extended.  His journal entry of March 15, 1826 captures some of the sadness he must have felt, facing bankruptcy, and embarking on an ambitious streak of literary output in an attempt to honor his debts.  There is a nice portrayal of this house, which Scott built soon after his marriage, by Joseph Mallord William Turner at Edinburgh University's Walter Scott archive: http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/biography/homes.html.  Also, photographs of Scott homes, including 39 North Castle Street here: http://www.astoft2.co.uk/edinburgh/scotthomes.htm.

An Empty Easel

JMW Turner's passing was posted last year.  Turner worked with Sir Walter Scott on Scott's "Provincial Antiquities of Scotland", and "Poetical Works".  From American philosopher Elbert Hubbard comes the following on the collaboration between the two: 'One spot in Turner's life over which I like to linger is his friendship with Sir Walter Scott. They collaborated in the production of "Provincial Antiquities," and spent many happy hours together tramping over Scottish moors and mountains. Sir Walter lived out his days in happy ignorance concerning the art of painting, and although he liked the society of Turner, he confessed that it was quite beyond his ken why people bought his pictures.


"And as for your books," said Turner, "the covers of some are certainly very pretty."


Yet these men took a satisfaction in each other's society, such as brothers might enjoy, but without either man appreciating the greatness of the other. '

John Thomson

"...Visited the Exhibition on my way home from the Court. The new rooms are most splendid, and several good pictures. The Institution has subsisted but five years, and it is astonishing how much superior the worst of the present collection are to the teaboard-looking things which first appeared. John Thomson, of Duddingston, has far the finest picture in the Exhibition, of a large size—subject Dunluce, a ruinous castle of the Antrim family, near the Giant's Causeway, with one of those terrible seas and skies which only Thomson can paint..."
From Scott's Journal for February 9, 1826

John Thomson was born about seven years after Walter Scott.  He was born to a minister, and followed in his father's footsteps, becoming minister of Duddingston Kirk, near Edinburgh.  From an early age, he showed a proclivity for painting landscapes, such as Walter Scott appreciated.  Many of these were the Ayrshire landscapes he grew up with.

Scott and Thomson probably met around 1793 when Thomson enrolled at Edinburgh University.  Many years later (around 1826), Thomson collaborated with Joseph Turner producing engravings for Scott's "Provincial Antiquities and Picturesque Scenery of Scotland".

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Turner passed this day, December 19, in 1775. Always a private individual, Turner had a residence in Chelsea which he holed up in, preparing to die. Friends found him the day before his death.

Turner was the son of a barber, and was born in his father's shop. The elder Turner supported the son's interest in art, and the two remained close throughout life. In 1789, Turner entered the Royal Academy (RA) as a student. In 1802 he was elected an academician. In 1807, he became professor of perspective at the RA. That year, his "Liber Studiorum" was issued, full of engravings by himself and others. The "Liber Studiorum" was issued in several volumes over several years, and included several Walter Scott related subjects. In 1831, Scott's publisher Robert Cadell wrote to Turner, asking him to illustrate a new edition of "Scott's Poetical Works". Turner replied favorably, offering 24 designs at 25 guineas each; well under the rate Cadell anticipated.

The Legend of Littlecote Hall

There is a legend that dates to the 6th of November, 1575, involving Littlecote Hall in Wiltshire England. The legend involves the Darrell family. Jane Seymour was the granddaughter of Elizabeth Darrell, and Jane was courted at Littlecote Hall by Henry VIII.

But the legend has little to do with Jane Seymour. It involves William Darrell, who married grandmother Elizabeth. William allegedly had an affair, with his neighbor Sir Walter Hungerford's wife. The legend comes in that a midwife named Mother Barnes was brought blindfolded to Littlecote one night, to deliver a baby. Immediately after the child was born, it was thrown on the fire to burn to death. Mother Barnes went to the authorities after that night, and was able to provide sufficient detail that it was determined that Littlecote was the scene of the murder. Darrell was brought to trial, and so the story goes, bought his freedom by transferring Littlecote Hall to the Judge, John Popham.

This story was told to Sir Walter Scott by Lord Webb Seymour. Scott included the legend as a romance in his poem "Rokeby", and also included the story in his published notes to the poem.

The Littlecote story has made its way into other artist's works. It is included in Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities". JMW Turner painted his watercolor "Rokeby", depicting a gorge between Rokeby and Martham (County Durham, England). Turner painted in eight lines from Scott's poem on boulders in the foreground. The image of Turner's Rokeby above is courtesy of the Trustees, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, England.