Gently as a Languid Flower

‘On the 19th of April, 1819, Lord Webb Seymour, after a long decline, sank as gently as a languid flower. The long voluntary residence of this stranger among us excited a deeper sympathy with his fate, and seemed to impart more virtues to his character. Hallam's account of him is perfect. None of his peculiarities amused his friends more, or was a more frequent subject of joking to himself, than the slowness and vastness of his preparations. He was perfectly aware of this conscientious and modest infirmity. "I in retirement am endeavoring to work out the distant good of mankind. Leave me exempt from the casualties of human life, and I am almost secure of my object.  No — you would not.” An exemption from the casualties of life is a considerable postulate for a philosopher.  But its having been granted would not have brought the cautious Seymour to a practical result. Immortality would only have lengthened his preparation.

Playfair, though ill, and the day bad, followed poor Seymour to his grave at Holyrood. But those who saw him there shook their heads; and in about three months he joined his friend.’

This account of Lord Seymour’s death comes from Lord Henry Cockburn’s “Memorials of his Time”.  Lord Seymour was responsible for telling Walter Scott of the legend of Littlecote Hall, which then made its way into Scott’s poem “Rokeby”.  Seymour is described in Florence MacGunn’s “Sir Walter Scott’s Friends” as ‘gentle and wise’, a quote which came from Scott’s friend Lady Anna Maria Elliot. 

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.