ith a fishingrod in
his hand.

The Editor cannot resist the temptation to add that the patriotic
lady mentioned in Scott's note, who "would rather have seen her son
dead on that hearth than hear that he had been a horse's length
behind his companions," was his paternal great-grandmother, Mrs.
John Lang. Her husband, who died shortly afterwards, so that she was
a widow when Scott conversed with her, chanced to be chief
magistrate of Selkirk. His family was aroused late one night by the
sound of a carriage hurrying down the steep and narrow street. Lord
Napier was bringing, probably from Hawick, the tidings that the
beacons were ablaze. The town-bell was instantly rung, the
inhabitants met in the marketplace, where Scott's statue now stands,
and the whole force, with one solitary exception, armed and marched
to Dalkeith. According to the gentleman whose horse and arms were
sent on to meet him, it was intended, if the French proved
victorious, that the population of the Border towns should abandon
their homes and retire to the hills.

No characters in the "Antiquary," except Monkbarns and Edie Ochiltree,
seem to have been borrowed from notable originals. The frauds of
Dousterswivel, Scott says, are rendered plausible by "very late
instances of the force of superstitious credulity to a much greater
extent." He can hardly be referring to the career of Cagliostro, but
he may have had in his memory some unsuccessful mining speculations by
Charles Earl of Traquair, who sought for lead and found little or none
in Traquair hills. The old "Statistical Account of Scotland" (vol. xii.
p. 370) says nothing about imposture, and merely remarks that "the noble
family of Traquair have made several attempts to discover lead mines,
and have found quantities of the ore of that metal, though not adequate
to indemnify the expenses of working, and have therefore given up the
attempt." This was published in 1794, so twenty years had passed
when "The Antiquary" was written. If there was here an "instance
of superstitious credulity," it was not "a very late instance." The
divining, or "dowsing," rod of Dousterswivel still keeps its place in
mining superstition and in the search for wells.

With "The Antiquary" most contemporary reviews of the novels lose their
interest. Their author had firmly established his position, at least
till "The Monastery" caused some murm