Bell and Wilson,
there was a fellow-feeling that made them "wondrous kind," they were
much in each other's society. Both were fond of piscatorial pursuits.
Wilson had early discovered an enthusiasm for angling, which he used to
cultivate on the banks of Lake Windermere. Bell, too, became a disciple
of Isaac Walton, and to indulge their love of sport, and to enjoy each
other's company where, removed from the busy haunts of men, they might
"hear the tumult and be still," they were accustomed to spend whole days
and nights on the banks of Loch Awe, and amid the gloomy and impressive
scenery of Glen Dochart. At other times they would plan walking
excursions. It was no unusual thing for them to walk upwards of thirty
miles at a stretch. They had not then the command of railway facilities,
nor did they want them. Muscular vigour, and a love of intellectual
pursuits were qualities characteristic of both men, and both possessed a
large amount of physical endurance. In physique, too, there was a
considerable _vraisemblance_. Christopher North has been described as a
"Goth of great personal prowess." Haydon says of him that he was like a
fine Sandwich Islander, who had been educated in the Highlands. His
light hair, deep sea blue eye, tall athletic figure, and hearty hand
grasp, his eagerness in debate, his violent passions, great genius, and
irregular habits, rendered him a formidable partisan, a furious enemy,
and an ardent friend. Of Bell, with one or two qualifications, the same
description would hold good. Wilson has immortalised their intimacy and
friendship in his "Noctes," where Bell is made to figure as "Tallboys,"
and where he is only mentioned with respect and affection. In the Six
Foot Club, an institution which had a local habitation and a name in
Edinburgh during the early part of the nineteenth century, and of which
both Wilson and Bell were members, they had further opportunities for
muscular exercise. It was an indispensable condition to membership in
this club that the candidate should be over six feet in height; and it
is surprising how many men who have made their mark in literature,
science, and art had attained that _sine qua non_. Physical and
intellectual greatness were so invariably combined in those days that
the two were thought by many vulgar minds to go hand in hand; but even
in the "Six Feet Club" there were few who presented in all respect a
more _distingue_ appearance than the subject of these remark