John Clerk of Eldin

‘John Clerk of Eldin, the author of the work on naval

tactics, died in May, 1812. An interesting and delightful

old man; full of the peculiarities that distinguished the

whole family — talent, caprice, obstinacy, worth, kindness,

and oddity. His claim to the merit of having first sug-

gested the idea of breaking the enemy's line in naval war,

is now disputed on grounds which are at least plausible

and formidable. It is possible that the same thought may

have occurred to different men at the same time; and my

conviction of the honesty of Clerk is so complete, that I

am certain he would have disdained to claim a discovery

which he had not made. That conception however forms

just a small part of his scientific merit; for though it

the matter with which his name happens to be chiefly con-

nected in public talk, he was looked up to with defer-

ence by all the philosophers of his day, who were in

the habit of constantly receiving hints and views from

him, which they deemed of great value. He was a

striking looking old gentleman with his grizzly hair, vig-

orous features, and Scotch speech. It would be difficult

to say whether jokes or disputation pleased him most. I

know no better account of the progress of a father and a

son than what I once heard him give of himself and of

his son John, in nearly these very words — "I remember

the time when people, seeing John limping on the street,

need to ask, what lame lad that was? and the answer

would be, that's the son of Clerk of Eldin. But now,

when I myself am passing, I hear them saying what,

auld gray-headed man is that? And the answer is, that's

the father of John Clerk." He was much prouder of the

last mark than of the first. ‘

The description of John Clerk of Eldin above was written by Henry Cockburn, and is found in his “Memorials of his Time”.  John Clerk was the brother of Walter Scott’s friend Will Clerk.  Today marks the 200^th anniversary of John Clerk of Eldin’s death; May 10, 1812. 

Battle of the Saintes

April 12^th, 1782 saw English Admiral George Rodney defeat a French fleet under the command of Comte de Grasse in the West Indies.  As published in Chambers’ “Book of Days”, fighting began about seven AM.  The French had fewer ships, but larger and more powerful.  The battle took nearly half a day, ending with an English victory that was a blow to French naval power in the region.  It also saved Jamaica from French invasion.

Admiral Rodney figures in the development of Walter Scott’s “The Pirate”, if the quote from Scott’s friend Will Clerk is accurate.  The quote is found in John Gibson Lockhart’s “Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott”.

‘When, many years afterwards, Clerk read The Pirate, he was startled by the resurrection of a hundred traits of the tabletalk of this lugger; but the author has since traced some of the most striking passages in that novel to his recollection of the almost childish period when he hung on his own brother Robert’s stories about Rodney’s battles and the haunted keys of the West Indies.’

Scott and Clerk Pass the Bar

July 11, 1792 was an important day for Walter Scott.  On that day, Scott and his friend Will Clark passed the bar.  As John Buchan relates in his "Sir Walter Scott",'He [Scott] and William Clerk worked together, examining themselves daily in points of law, and every morning in summer, Scott would walk the two miles to the west end of Princes Street to beat up his friend.  The two passed their final trials on July 11th, 1792, and assumed the gown of the advocate.'

Dinner with the Clerks

June 12 [1827].—At Court, a long hearing. Got home only about three. Corrected proofs, etc. Dined with Baron Clerk, and met several old friends; Will Clerk in particular.

Scott's Journal entry of June 12, 1827 mentions the Clerks; Baron John Scott Clerk, and his son William who was Walter Scott's close friend.  According to Scott biographer John Buchan, Baron Clerk 'forecast the tactics to which Rodney owed his victory.'  Clerk, a barrister, rose to become Lord Chancellor in 1801.

Scott and Will Clerk studied together in their legal schooling.  Quoting Buchan again, 'He (Scott) and William Clerk worked together, examining themselves daily in points of law, and every morning in summer, Scott would walk the two miles to the west end of Princes Street to beat up his friend.'

Geoffrey Chaucer

The father of English literature, as some consider him, died on October 25, 1400.  Chaucer's most famous work was his Canterbury Tales.  Sir Walter Scott certainly read his works, as he made several allusions (and references) to Chaucer in his correspondence with others.

One individual with whom Scott exchanged several letters was dramatist Joanna Baillie.  On December 12, 1811 Scott writes to Ms. Baillie of her work as a playwright: '...While I was watching my infant or rather embryo oaks you have been wandering under the shade of those celebrated by Pope and Denham or in a still earlier age by Surrey and Chaucer. How often have you visited the site of Hearnes oak and calld up the imaginary train of personages who fill the stage around it in representation?...'

Earlier, in a letter to William Clerk (September 30, 1792), Scott invokes Chaucer in a more analytical reference on the inhabitants of Hexham: '...Hard by the town is the field of battle where the forces of Queen Margaret were defeated by those of the House of York- a blow which the Red Rose never recovered during the civil wars. The spot where the Duke of Somerset and the northern nobility of the Lancastrian faction were executed after the battle, is still called Dukesfield. The inhabitants of this country speak an odd dialect of the Saxon, approaching nearly that of Chaucer, and have retained some customs peculiar to themselves. They are the descendants of the ancient Danes, chased into the fastnesses of Northumberland by the severity of William the Conqueror...'