II. NOTES REGARDING A BOX WHICH WAS PRESENTED BY ALEXANDER , THE POET, TO HIS SUPPOSED RELATIVE, THE REV. ALEXANDER POPE, MINISTE REAYF RO , CAITHNESS-SHIRE ROBERy B . T CHAMBERS, ESQ., F.S.A. SCOT. e RevTh . ALEXANDER POPE dieo dwh , ministe f Reayo r , Caithness-shiren i , 1776, was not unknown in the literary world in his own day. In the appendix to Pennant's Tour in Scotland, in 1769, is printed an intelligent survey of the counties of Caithness and Sutherland, by this gentleman. He also communi- r PennancateM o dt translatioa t e learne wore th th f ko f d o n Torfteus, con- taining the early history of the Orkney Islands. When Cordiner subsequently made his tour of the northern counties (1776), he visited Mr Pope at Reay, from whose conversatio e acknowledgeh n s himsel havo t f e received muc- hin struction and entertainment. In his well-known volume, Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland, Mr Cordiner printed copious extracts from Pope'r M s translatio Torfseusf no . Mr Pope left behind him at his death a reputation for ability and energy of character t forgotte, ye whict no Caithness n ns hi i leare W .n fro mlata e writer, as a trait of his eccentric but resolute character, that " he used to drive his graceless parishioner churco st h wit hsticka , whe foune nh d them engagen do Sunday at games out of doors. Another of his reforming experiments was mak- ing all the rough characters in his elders of the church, so that, invested with ecclesiastical dignity and responsibility, they might be ashamed of vicious practices." ' 1 Lifo of Alexander Pope, by R. Corruthera, 1853. 0 2 PROCEEDING SSOCIETE OFTH F YO

The same writer assures us, as a well-ascertained fact, that this simple, en- thusiastic clergyman, in the summer of 1732, rode on his pony all the way from Caithness to Twickenham, in order to visit his namesake the poet. " The latter, stateds i t "i , "fel dignits hi t littlya e touche wane th f pom o ty d db pan circumstance with which the minister first presumed to approach his domicile; f outwaro e ic t afte de bu th rceremon n somi d e yha degre e melted theid an , r intellects had come into contact, the poet became interested, and a friendly feeling was established between them. Several interviews took place, and the poet presente goos dhi d frien namesaked dan ministee th , Eeayf ro , wit hcopa y subscriptioe th f o n editioOdyssee th f no n fivyi e volumes quarto,—a present whic highls hwa y valued stils i d l preserved.an , " r CarrutherM bees sha n good enoug communicato ht e privately some extracts fro e mpoetlettea th f ,ro addresse s Caithneshi o dt s namesake, from Twicken- ham, Apri , 1738 apparentll28 d an , y referrin somo gt e favour whic beed hha n obtaine e latteth y rdb (fro e Sutherlanmth d family?) throug e esteehth mn i which the poet's name was held. He says, " I think you pay me more than is due to me for the accidental advantage which it seems my name has brought you." And again, " It is certain I think myself obliged to those persons who do you any service in my name, and I am always willing to correspond with you when it can be in any way beneficial to you, as you see by my speedy answer to your last I shoul. d thinimpertinencn a t ki writo Ladt ey m ey SutherlandI r o , would do so to thank her for the great distinction you tell me she shows me." The writer shows the friendly terms on which he was with his namesake, by signing himself " sincerely your well-wishe affectionatd an r e servant." Mr Carruthers does not seem to have been aware that the poet also presented namesaks hi e wit handsomha e snuff-box, whic coms hha e int possessioe oth f no his daughter's son, James Campbell, Esq., Assistant Commissary-Generalw no , residin Edinburghn gi . This box, whic exhibites h wa e Societyn th a f o dt o s i , elegant forgiltd man , wit hWatteau-lika e allegorical scene ornamentin lide gth , and the proprietor has caused the following inscription to be carved upon it:— " This Box, with a copy of lus published works, was sent by Alexander Pope, Esq., the poet, accompanied by a written note, in which he claimed a distant re- lationshi grandfathey m mother'y o pt m n (o rs side Reve )th . Alexander Pope, ministe f Reayro , Thurso, Caithness himsels wa o f wh ,somethin literara f go y character. The books, so received, were, on the death of Mrs Pope, who survived r husbandhe , take nrelativee awa th famile y usuallth o yb f syo wh y attenn do such occasions —an NOTe dth E also, whic eldey hm r brother distinctly recollected havo t e often seeread nan d durin grandfather'y gm losse thif lifeso Th s. lat- ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 21 onle th y w malr mementno te s ea representa, "vera f me oo y o t eminen s i -n tma tiv botf eo h fathe mother'd an r s families sourca , deef eo p regret. Edinburgh, April 1854. (Signed) " JAS. CAMPBELL, Asst. Commissary-Gen1."

r Campbell'M s reporbrother's hi f to s recollectio relationshie th o t s a n- pal losthe t lude letter in interestin an d to is , g circumstanc futurto e e biographers of the bard of Twickenham. It is unfortunate that the evidence is so slight; but ther t leasa s ei t nothin assertioe th n gi n contrar probabilityo yt . Thers ei remarkably little known with certainty regarding the paternal ancestry of the poet, beyon face dth t tha linen-drapefathes a ts hi wa r Lombarf ro d Streeto wh , had become a convert to the Catholic religion, and realized a small competency. It is but doubtfully established, that the paternal grandfather was a clergyman in Hampshire. Pope himself state Loro dt d Hervey,a tha f fathes o hi ts wa r " tolerabl eEpistls notfamily;a hi n o ei t Arbuthnot o ed t an " wene ,h t farther, and said—" of a gentleman's family in Oxfordshire, the head of which was the Earl of Downe;" but this, we are well assured, was no more but a fond ima- gination. Beyond his father, indeed, or at the utmost his grandfather, he seem havo t s e proceeded upon mere conjectur r someo e faint family tradition. Thus we can readily understand that, if the Rev. Mr Pope showed him any feasible ground for the presumption of a Scottish descent, the poet had no- thing to present in the way of objection. That such a presumption, connected with thacommoa f o t n ancestry arisd di , e between thes Alexandeo etw r , othee th n r o han s i d rendered likel whay y knob e tw theif wo r friendship. When we reflect on what a journey from Caithness to London was in 1732, we can scarcely suppose that the minister of Reay was without some grounds for believ- tha g poee in th t t represented some branc familygoins s hi thawa f d hgo e an h ,t to hold intercourse with a cousin not entirely beyond Scottish reckoning. When we reflect, moreover, on the tenacious feelings of Scotchmen, and particularly of northern Scotchmen f thao , t age muse tha e w countin,e se tth t witn ki h f go mose th precisels t brillianwa e ag y ts suc poehi objecn ha f o t wouls a t d avail with the minister of Reay, in inducing him to undertake such a journey. View- ing, further presene snuff-boxe th , th evidenc e f bookf th o t o d d an ssomef ,an eo - thing beyond a common friendly civility in the letter possessed by Mr Car- ruthers, it must be admitted that the statement from the recollection of Mr James Campbell's brothe t withouno s ri t some support. r additionaFo l ligh thin o t s obscure reasonabl y subjecma e w t ye th loo o kt domestic annalnorthere th f so nislandr parou f o t. What trace Popef so s have we in the north, prior to the time of the Lombard Street linen-draper ? It 22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF

clearly appears from Sir Robert Gordon's History of the House of Suther- land, that there was a race of this rare name in Ross and Sutherland shires so earl 1585 s yr Robera Si . t give curiousa s anecdot tria brotherf f oo eo s Pape (for such was the old Scotch form of the name, and pronounced Pawp), whom he must have known personally. A Mr William Pape, he tells us, "a reason- able good quica scholar readf d o kan d y an ,wit, " Ross f camo t e,ou about 1585, and settle t Dornocda Sutherlandn hi , wher firse eh t acte schoolmasters da , then as minister, becoming finally "chanter" of the cathedral. This man acquired considerable property, and by-and-bye introduced his two brothers into the same whomf towno e on ,, Thomas, became chancello f Caithnesro ministed san r of Rogart, whil othere eth , Charles notara s messenger-at-armsd ,wa y an e Th . prosperous career of the brothers was interrupted, in 1607, by a squabble with some violent men of the town, which terminated in the slaughter of Charles ; after which William retired to the parochial charge of Nigg in Ross-shire, and Thomas also cease livo d t t Dornochea r RobertSi . speak havs a thes f n so - eme beeg muco in nto h puffe witp u d h worldly prosperity seemd an , s rather to have relished the decline of their fortunes. He tells, however, nothing of them which denotes their being mor f unusuao e than nme l energ succesd yan n i s worldly matters. One cannot help thinking that it was precisely from such a family that some stray oifshoot might most likely have gone fortd founan h d his way southward even to the mighty Babylon itself. The grandfather of e Lombarth d Street linen-draper shortn i ,havy ma e, bee Popna e from Ross- shire, and some faint echo of the fact might be brought into shape between the two Alexander Popes when they met at Twickenham in 1732. A genealogical treeshownw no , , exhibit whole sth e descendante arrath f yo s e e Revfatheoth th f f . o rAlexande r Pope, namely e Revth , . Hector, minis- Lotf o r Sutherlann hi te d shire whof ,o mit si recorde Carruthersr M y db , thae th continued till his death, in 1719, to wear the prelatical , having been, we may presume, a minister under the Episcopal establishment before the Revolution, —a point of character which accords well with the supposition of his descent from eithe chantoe chancelloe rth th r Caithnese o r th f o r s cathedral. Respectine gth intermediate generations we may hope to hear something by-and-bye from the local antiquaries of the north.