Reminiscences of a Scottish Gentleman Commencing in 1787
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Presented to the LIBRARY of the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO by JOSEPH BUIST % EEMIMSCENCES OF A SCOTTISH aENTLEMAN, Commencing in 1787. BY PHILO SCOTUS. " • I have considered the days of old, and the years that are pa- . LONDON: ARTHUR HALL, VIRTUE, AND CO., 25, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1861. LONDON : PlilNTKD IIV JAMl S S. VBTDE, CITY I.OiD. O6T5 1994 TO THE LORD GRAY, OF GRAY. My Dear Lord, The sincere friendship which has ever existed between us, and the additional tie of near relationship, impel me to crave your Lordship's permission to dedi- cate to life's you the folloA^'ing Reminiscences of my experiences during a period of seventy-three years. Within that time much happiness has been given me in the recollection of the unvaried aifection which my dear uncle and your lady mother ever bestowed upon me from my earliest boyhood, and now brings vividly to my mind the happy days of ^Hang syne." With sincere and affectionate wishes that your Lordship and my dear niece Lady Gray may enjoy every earthly blessing, I remain, my dear Lord, Yours most faithfully, PHILO SCOTUS. PREFACE. My reasons for offering these Reminiscences to the Avorlcl are selfish^ for they enable me^ whilst delineating the features of the it past^ to livC;, as were^ my life over again, with its many varying passages; and at the same time they recall, with much of heartfelt sorrow, the remembrance of those, so tridy loved and mourned, who have now passed aAvay to "the Land of the Leal." PHILO SCOTUS. EEMINISCENCES or A SCOTTISH GENTLEMAN, Commencing in 1787. " I have considered the days of old, and the years that are past." I WAS born in St. Anclrew^s Square, Edinburgli, at eleven o'clock a.m., on the 13tli of March, 1785. The bells of St. Andrew's Church were calling douce folk to worship, and charivaried my entrance on the great " stage of life. There is an old saying, that those born on Sunday pass through life with good fortune and I cannot it happiness." Thank God gainsay ; for, although the sunshine of my coiu'se has been sometimes obscured with clouds of afiliction and ingratitude, yet 1 am thankful to say that now, in the seventy-fifth year to skim o'er the of of my age, I am enabled days my heart to the Al- earthly pilgrimage with a grateful mighty Creator of all. My father was the descendant of his mother of an ancient race, and chief family ; my the daughter of a noble baron, the twelfth in direct descent inheriting the peerage and title of Gray : thus were their children nearly related to many families of ancient lineage and high station. I had several brothers and sisters, Avhicli death diminished to the number of six, of Avhom I was the Benjamin. My mother died in 1787; my father remained a widower B a MY GRANDAIOTUER. during the remainder of liis life. !My maternal gi'and- mother was Lady Gray, heiress of the estate of Kinfauus. She possessed great firmness of mind and insight into character, Avith unvarying fixedness of pm'pose, to accomplish whatever appeared conducive to the happi- ness of those in Avhose welfare she was interested. During the troubles in Scotland in 1745, my grand- father was lord -lieutenant of Angusshire, and a friend to the Hanoverian dynasty. On the advance of the Duke of Cumberland into Scotland, to assume the command of the royal army, he halted at Dundee, remaining there two days. ]My grandfather imme- diately proceeded to pay his devoirs to the prince, and attended ])y several of the deputy-lieutenants, by many of the most influential gentlemen of the county of jVngus. Their reception by the prince was haughty and most offensive, treating Lord Gray and the other gentlemen, both in language and manner, as if they were rebels and friends of Prince Charles. My grandfather, in consequence of this treatment, retiu'ned to his residence of Gray in a towering passion, and, in relating to Lady Gray the reception he had met ynth " from the prince, exclaimed, I will let that Hanoverian know I have as ancient blood in my veins as he can boast of, and that Scottish noblemen and gentlemen are not to be treated as if they were a pack of German land lowpcrs. I will to-morrow stick a white cockade in my bonnet and join Prince Charles, who, papist or no papist, is of the old legitimate Stuart line of Scottish kings.^' My grandmother remained quiescent, wisely " considering it was scant svisdom to blow the coal to burn one's self;" so she let her lord stamp up and down the room, uttering every amount of anathema against the didie, iutenuixing such with scraps of Jacobite MY GRANDFATHER. 6 songs, amongst which the one apparently most com- forting to his amour propre, and which he sang with great vehemence, was— " "Wha hae they gotten to be their king, But a puir bit German lainly, "WTia, when they gaed to bring him oicer, " Was delving in his kail yardie ? In the evening Lord Gray wished to bathe his feetj as he felt symptoms of a cold from having got very wet in riding to Dundee, he therefore gave orders to his valet to that effect. It was then my grandmother showed her strength of mind and far- sightedness. She informed the servant that she would herself attend to his lordship; accordingly, when he retired to his dressing-room she accompanied him, having previously desired the valet to place hot water at the door of the room. When all was prepared, and Lord Gray had placed his feet in the foot-tub, her ladyship brought in the almost boiling water, and poured the whole contents of the pitcher in one ava- lanche upon his legs and feet. A tremendous yell the limbs were proved that her end was gained ; severely scalded, assistance was obtained, the sufferer was placed in bed, and the surgeon sent for, who, after adminis- tering palliatives to soothe the pain, gave positive orders that his lordship was to remain in bed until all symptoms of inflammation were reduced. Of covu'se the intention to join Prince Charlie was abandoned for the time, and ere the incensed nobleman was again able "to boot and saddle,^' his ire against the duke had cooled down, and the white cockade remained pyerda. Thus, by a bold stroke (not for a husband, but for a husband's welfare), the estates and title of Gray were preserved from forfeitui'e, and Lord Gray himself from B 2 4 MY FATHER ENTERS THE HORSE GRENADIER GUARDS. ToM'er Hill. My uncle, liis son and successor, vrlio 1 have often heard relate the story, used to add, "that whether or not his father ever became cognizant of the rvarm proof of his lady's care for his woi'ldly inte- rests, such never diminished the Avarm affection sub- sisting between the noble pair." My paternal grandfather died in 1773, possessed of an estate in the county of Mid Lothian, which my father, as his eldest son, inherited. The mother of my father was the daughter of Sir Philip Anstruther, a baronet of ancient creation, in the county of Fife. Her eldest sister Avas married to the Earl of Traquair; her second sister to Mr. Loch, of Dry LaAV. My father was born in 1729, and at an early age was sent to Westminster School, and boarded with one of the Dames were a of of (as they termed) ; lady the name Douglas, who took a motherly charge of him. He always spoke of her Avith affection and gratitude. He had no inclination for LatinitA\ but A^earncd for a sword and red coat; so, after passing through the usual routine of Westminster scholastic studies, and having also acquired the accomplishments requisite in those days for a young gentleman of birth and station, he entered the army in 1751, as lieutenant in the second troop of Horse Grenadier Guards, commaiulcd by the lOarl of Harrington. Of this description of force there Avere only four troops, each commanded by a noljleman. The privates Avere principally the sons of yeomen of small landed estate, and paid each the Slim of .€100 for admission to this force. At the coronation of George III. my father carried the stan- dard of the troop in Avhich lie served. In 1702 he was appointed head of the staff of Prince Charles of McckkMibui'g (brother of Queen Charlotte), and aecom- MY FATHER KNIGHTED BY GEORGE III. 5 paniecl his royal highness to Portugal, on the prince assuming a command in the Portuguese army (then commanded by the Count de Lipe), during the admin- istration of that most able, biit tyrannical minister, the Marquis de Pombal. At the termination of two in years. Prince Charles resigned his command the Portuguese army, and returned to England. !My father accompanied his royal highness, and soon after rejoined the British army in Germany. In 17G8 he was promoted to the rank of major. The Horse Grenadier Guards were reduced in consequence of the heavy expense of their appointments and pay. When this took effect he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and was appointed to the command of the 4th regiment in of Irish Horse ; and as a mark of the estimation which his services and character as a soldier were held, his majesty George III., on my father retiring fron-j the army, conferred on him the honour of knight- hood, which at that period was held in high consider- ation, and equal to the K.C.B.