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Say, shall my hand with pious
love restore
The faint fair picture Time beholds no more,
How the grave senior ....
Saw from on high, with half paternal joy,
Some spark of promise in the studious boy,
And bade him enter with paternal tone
The homely precincts which he called his own?
Oliver Wendell Holmes.
It is always interesting to
know the quantity and quality of the mental pabulum which has fed and
nourished the men who have left their mark on the age. In David Brewster’s
case the quantity was great, and the quality of unusual excellence. Besides
several intelligent gentlemen resident in the neighbourhood, there were
among the citizens of Jedburgh, during Brewster’s youth, various men of
original character, scientific tendencies, and especially of inventive
genius. There was Mr. John Ainslie, land-surveyor, well known in Edinburgh
for his large map of Scotland; Mr. Alexander Scott of Fala, afterwards
factor to the Earl of Hopetoun, a man of sterling integrity of action and
speculative mind, inquisitive about every new invention and discovery,
whether steam-engines or balloons, reaping-machines or orreries; Mr. George
Forrest, gunmaker, whose inventions were honourably mentioned in the
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal; Mr. William Hope, ironmonger, who invented
a printing-press, for which he held a patent for many years, and who also
introduced gas into his shop and foundry at a very early period; and Mr.
Gibson, watchmaker, who made barometers and reflecting telescopes. We are
told also “ that there then resided in the town several families, if not
wealthy, yet of good intelligence and respectability; amongst whom were the
Rutherfurds ; the Murrays, cousins of the Earl of Home ; the Halls, of the
Covenanting family of Haughhead; the Fairs and the Shortreeds. The Halls
were of the medical profession ; and Mrs. Hall, the relict of one of the
brothers, latterly living in London, was a contributor to the principal
periodicals, and was honourably mentioned in the obituary of the Athenceum
not many years ago; she wrote an interesting article on Jedburgh in the time
of Boston for one of the early numbers of Fraser. James Fair, one of
Brewster’s companions, though a military man, aspired to literature, both in
prose and poetry. Sheriff Shortreed is well known as the early friend of Sir
Walter Scott, and his son, Major-General Shortreed, has distinguished
himself by his mathematical and scientific attainments as an engineer in
India. Amongst the contemporaries of Brewster may also be mentioned Robert
Easton, known as ‘Lang Rob’—a land-measurer, fond of astronomical and
botanical pursuits, whose apology for blunders in his calculations was— "All
men err since Adam fell!’” Dr. Somerville, the minister of the parish, and
the successor of Dr. Macknight, whom Burns described as “a man and a
gentleman, but sadly addicted to punning,” was the author of several
respectable literary works; he was the historian of William and Mary, and
Queen Anne, and wrote a volume of Reminiscences of his own Times. He was a
man of great literary research and industry, and he was the kind friend and
patron of the young men who in the course of his unusually long life and
ministry crowded around him, before entering on their several busy lives. He
availed himself of their services as amanuenses in his literary labours,
explaining to them the art of composition, the nature of idioms, and the
reason for preferring one form of speech to another. Brewster had his turn
in the office of amanuensis, and often recurred with much interest to the
hours thus profitably spent. It was a great disappointment to him when he
found, long years afterwards, that the well-remembered room in which this
congenial work was carried on had perished with the old manse. He continued
occasional correspondence, in a tone of much respect and regard, with the
venerable Doctor, who wrote the article Jedburgh for the Edinburgh
Encyclopedia,. Dr. Somerville died at the age of ninety, in 1830. It is
interesting to trace the effects of these early lessons, not only in
Brewster’s peculiarly careful composition, but in the zest and interest with
which he would point out to those around him, during the correction of
proofs, the why and the wherefore of the minutest alteration, and in the
peculiar quickness of his long-practised ear for the formation and sound of
language, though utterly destitute of musical appreciation. Dr. Somerville
was the uncle and father-in-law of Miss Mary Fairfax (Mrs. Greig), who
married her cousin and second husband, Dr. William Somerville, in 1812.
Owing to the absence of her father, Sir William Fairfax, on public service,
she was born and nursed in the manse (one year later than David Brewster),
and was looked on by her uncle and aunt as if she were their own child. She
still lives to show to the world what woman can accomplish of intellectual
and scientific work, without sacrificing one iota of her feminine and
household gracefulness and dignity. The literary character of Dr.
Somerville, his family and connections, brought to Jedburgh many visitors of
intellectual tastes and superior habits, whom it was both pleasant and
advantageous for young men to meet.
But of all the helps and training, the greatest that Brewster met with was
from James Veitch of Inchbonny, ten years his senior, a man so remarkable
himself for genius and talent, that it is passing strange so little is known
of him in this generation.
Half a mile to the south of Jedburgh, on the Newcastle road, in a charming
little valley, environed by lofty banks of wood and red rocky scaurs, is
situated a substantial dwelling, most pleasant to sight and sound, with its
walls covered with pear-trees, its sunny little garden, its hive of bees,
its song-birds, and its murmuring brook. There resided James Veitch, one of
a respectable family who had possessed that beautiful little property since
1730, although obliged to combine some manual labour with their inheritance.
The sort they chose seems to have been known in the family for good three
hundred years, as in the neighbouring churchyard of Bedrule there is an
ancient burying-place of Veitches, who had for their monumental emblems an
axe and hand-saw. Dr. William Veitch of Edinburgh, the well-known “Grecian"
is descended from the family buried at Bedrule, so that in this case, as in
that of the Inchbonny branch, manual labour and mental gifts seem to have
gone hand in hand.
James Veitch, to the ordinary education of his class at that time, had added
an amount of self-education which would have qualified him for any situation
in life. Had he fully known his powers, been actuated by ambition, or
followed the advice of friends such as Sir Walter Scott, he might have risen
to distinction in other spheres of greater publicity. He wished for nothing
better, however, than to throw the subtle halo of genius even upon his
humble daily occupation, while his choicest relaxation was found in abstruse
study.
Originally taught the making of ploughs by Small, Veitch improved them by
lightening them, and relieving the draught, both as to the form of the
mould-board and the bearing of the beam. He contributed several articles on
these improvements, illustrating mechanical science, to the Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia. There was scarcely any work of mechanical skill, however,
which he was unequal to undertake, and he executed many delicate pieces of
work usually done only in Edinburgh and London. Whatever he did was done not
in mere imitation, but on scientific principle, calculation, and experiment.
The construction of telescopes was his most favourite occupation. The curves
of his specula, and also of the lenses for achromatic object-glasses, he
determined most carefully and laboriously. Much of his time was, however,
Wasted in the mere mechanical work, in which he delighted, of tubes, stands,
and other apparatus, which could have been better done by ordinary workmen.
The timepiece engaged his attention as well as the telescope, and, with the
late Earl of Minto, manifold were his measurements of heights and distances,
the use of the barometer being carefully tested by the circle or sextant. He
was extremely fond of calculation, and devoted much time to finding the
places of the planets, the eclipses of sun and moon, occultations of stars,
the transit of Mercury and Jupiter’s satellites, often unnecessarily, as he
might have found the same from the Nautical Almanac, accommodating the
projection to the latitude and longitude of the place. He was the first to
discover the great comet of 1811, as is mentioned in the fourth edition of
Mrs. Somerville’s Connexion of the Physical Sciences; and he was also among
the first to observe several other comets, and one especially, of great
brilliancy, which appeared only thrice, under cloudy weather, in the
morning, and seemed to have escaped the attention of astronomers. He
assisted Mr. Francis Baily in the observations made at Inchbonny of the
great annular eclipse of the sun in May 1836, of which an account is given
in the London Astronomical Transactions. He was extremely interested, not
only in the construction, but in the management of the microscope ; in fact,
there was scarcely any branch of learning and research to which this
remarkable man of industry and science did not turn his attention. In the
years 1827-8 he was engaged in ascertaining the relations of the old Scotch
local standards of weights and measures to the Imperial, as established by
Act 5 Geo. iv. cap. 74, and drew up the reports for the counties of Roxburgh
and Selkirk, acting in that capacity for Berwickshire along with Mr. James
Jardine, C.E. He drew up and published tables for each of the three counties
for the conversion of the old measures into the new. '
Veitch was not without honour even in his own country, and he was much
appreciated by many at a distance. He had a kind invitation from Sir William
Herschel, who had frequently heard of him from mutual friends, to visit him
at Slough, and see his instruments and operations. He made the acquaintance
of Dr. Wollaston, when that philosopher was on a visit to Jedburgh with Mrs.
Somerville, and of Professor Sedgwick in later years, while his
correspondence with Professor Schumacher, Professor Playfair, Sir Thomas
Brisbane, Lord Minto, and others, shows how fully able he was to hold
scientific intercourse. Sir Walter Scott was a firm and valued friend; he
used to say, “Well, James, when are you coming amongst us in Edinburgh, to
take your place with our philosophers?” and the reply generally was, “I will
think of that, Sir Walter, when you become a Lord of Session.” To Mr. Ellis
of Otterburn Sir Walter writes in April 1818:—“I heard these particulars
from James Veitch, a very remarkable man, a self-taught philosopher,
astronomer, and mathematician, residing at Inchbonny, and certainly one of
the most extraordinary persons I ever knew. He is a connection of Kingan
Oliver, and is in possession of his sword, a very fine weapon. James Veitch
is one of the very best makers of telescopes, and all optical and
philosophical instruments, now living, but prefers working at his own
business as a plough-wright, excepting at vacant hours. If you cross the
Border, you must see him as one of our curiosities; and the quiet, simple,
unpretending manners of a man who has, by dint of private and unaided study,
made himself intimate with the abstruse sciences of astronomy and
mathematics, are as edifying as the observation of his genius is
interesting."
Sir Walter sent an artist to take a portrait of his old uncle, who resided
near Jedburgh, and also one of James Veitch, with the latter of which he
wrote to his friend Mr. Shortreed that he was much pleased. He had also a
clock made by Veitch, for which he prepared a place, and wrote:—“As I am
about to build at Abbotsford, I will not trouble you to fetch over the clock
till that job is finished; I will then have a better and more distinguished
situation for the work of your hands. We will talk over this when I come to
the Circuit.3’ At the pass between Jedburgh and Inchbonny, on Veitch’s
property, is the celebrated precipice where the red sandstone in horizontal
beds covers the vertical grauwacke, separated by layers of conglomerate, in
a striking formation, which attracted Hutton’s attention, and which he has
rendered classical by giving a drawing and interesting description of it in
his Theory of the Earth. It became, in consequence, a place of great
attraction to the geologists of that time. The Circuit Court brought
regularly, in spring and autumn, a visit of the judges and advocates, under
the guidance of Sir Walter Scott, to see this geological lion, as well as
the observatory and philosopher of Inchbonny. On one occasion Lord Jeffrey,
on coming down the dark stair from seeing the planets, was heard repeating
the verse of the Scotch metrical psalm—
“Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
Yet will I fear none ill.”
Sir Walter Scott never omitted at these visits to hold in his hand the sword
of Ringan Oliver, or properly Oliphant, “a certain bold yeoman, the
strongest man in our country,” who dwelt in old times at the Tower of
Smailcleugh, three miles from Jedburgh, and was a hero after Sir Walter’s
own heart, although he fought on the side of the Whigs at the battle of
Bothwell Bridge, with the said good sword, which is still carefully
preserved.
A little to the north of the present house of Inchbonny there stood, towards
the end of the last century, a workshop, of which, unfortunately, not a
stone or beam remains; from it went forth good and useful ploughs to the
agricultural world, always constructed, however, as we have seen, on
scientific principles, showing forth the inventive genius of their maker.
It is not to be wondered at that this scientific workshop on the Jedburgh
turnpike became a gathering-place for all the young men of intelligence in
the neighbourhood, most of them being in training for the ministry, for
medicine, and other liberal pursuits. They had lessons in mathematics and
mechanics, and in natural science generally, but especially in the favourite
science of astronomy. The telescopes were tested in the day-time, by the
eyes of the birds perching on the topmost branches of the “King of the
Wood,” a noble relic of the past forest days, about half a mile from
Inchbonny. When the bright sparkle of the bird’s eye was distinctly visible
by day, James Veitch’s specula and lenses were considered fit to show the
glories of the sky by night. Nor were discussions in theology wanting. Mr.
Veitch was a truly God-fearing man of the old Scotish school, and was well
fitted to guide such conversation. One of a later generation, receiving good
advices from the then aged man, recalls vividly the energy and pith of
Veitch’s concluding words, “Ye hae a cunning adversary, mind that; Satan’s
no’ a prentice hand!”
Many original characters swelled the group. Mr. James Scott, son of the
Relief minister, was an object of great interest and amusement, from his
cleverness and eccentricity ; of peculiar appearance too, being afterwards
described as “a little man, of long corpulent body, short legs, and large
head, with a brown wig and wide hat.” Although at first not appreciated in
Edinburgh, he became a very popular preacher, attracting crowds to the large
chapel in the Cowgate, now occupied by Roman Catholics, though hints were
rife in Jedburgh that certain volumes of sermons borrowed from the Inchbonny
bookshelves were returned in a suspiciously well-thumbed state at the very
texts of the most popular of his discourses. David afterwards expressed much
regret that he had never heard him preach, so vivid were his recollections
of the picturesque little man and his odd ways. As might have been expected,
practical scientific jokes went merrily on among the young Inchbonny
philosophers. An electrifying machine was an unfailing source of interest,
and we are told that “a favourite experiment of the youngsters was that of
artfully placing the conducting-wires on the seat usually occupied by a
frequent visitant of dignified presence, Laird Gray, with his broad blue
bonnet and white locks, and worsted overalls reaching above the knee.
Delighted to get him seated, they sedulously engaged him in conversation
until one or two in a separate apartment worked the machine to its full
discharge, when the Laird’s sudden jump and tone of amazement was the
catastrophe which called forth their warm sympathy and anxious philosophic
investigation into the cause, the Laird being satisfied that the mischief
lay in a sparkling piece of quartz, which no persuasion would induce him to
approach. The fun was at sundry intervals repeated, and they always took
care to have the stone in suspicious juxtaposition.”
The charm of foreign visitors was not lacking. The workshop was visited
daily by the French prisoners who resided in Jedburgh on parole during the
French war. Several naval officers were peculiarly noted for their zeal in
science. “M. Charles Jehenne—captured at Trafalgar, who from the mast-head
observed Nelson’s fleet bearing down on the French,—‘They saw us,’ he said,
3 before we saw them,’ —successfully constructed a telescope. Another old
naval lieutenant, M. Scot, with a long- grey coat, was to be seen with every
gleam of sunshine at the meridian line, with compasses in hand, resolved to
determine the problem of finding the longitude.”
Such was the man to whom Brewster was attached from his earliest youth, and
such were the companions and the scene of his truest and best education. I
have driven slowly past the site of that little workshop, some seventy years
after those happy days, while, with the peculiar tearful light which always
came into his eyes when warmly touched, he pointed out the localities with
the freshest, liveliest interest. He was the very youngest of the quaint and
varied group. When he began his visits I do not know, but we find that at
the age of ten he finished the construction of a telescope at Inchbonny,
which had engaged his attention at a very early period, and at which he
worked indefatigably, visiting the workshop daily, and often remaining till
the dark hours of midnight, to see the starry wonders and test the powers of
the telescopes they had been making. His brothers were often with him, but
they had other outlets of amusement, while David’s ardent love of science
made him prefer the hours of study and observation at Inchbonny to all
ordinary youthful sports. The young philosopher, however, was not at all
above accepting his friend’s escort past the “eeriest” part of the dark road
at the “Scaur,” till the outlines of the old Abbey towers could be seen
clear against the sky, when the trees and their shadows became scantier, and
the hooting of the owls less dreary. Philosophical as were his pursuits at
this period, he does not seem to have had entirely an old head upon young
shoulders, and many amusements of his age were participated in. It is told
of him, indeed, that in the playground as well as in the schoolroom he took
the position of leader,—that he was ready to face any foe, and that he
rarely confessed himself to be vanquished. For one favourite sport the means
were borrowed from his beloved Inchbonny. “The ‘auld wood,' as it was
called, was a grand scene of boyish exploits in spring. It was a magnificent
wood of Scotch firs, about three hundred years old, on the estate of
Stewartfield (now Hartrigge, the property of Lord Campbell). Many of the
stems rose forty or fifty feet without a branch. These the boys ascended,
with ‘speilers’ or iron cramps on their ankles, to reach the crow-nests.
Those who could command a gun availed themselves of that weapon. Armed with
one belonging to his friend, Brewster was one day very valiant in his
onslaught of the young French; when, in the heat and confusion of the fray,
the shot in passing struck a young Hilson, whose scream ended David’s sport.
He returned to Inchbonny with the gun, crestfallen, staying till night was
setting in, when it transpired that he was afraid to go home without some
intercession. The request was complied with, and the tragic affair became a
good joke, no great harm having been done.
There were other influences besides these scientific ones, although we know
so little of their precise nature that they can only be indicated. The
glimmering of a very early first love can be traced even at this period.
Margaret Somerville, a child of the manse, was its object. David often stole
from his games in the Abbey aisle to clamber up to an ancient window from
whence he could watch her in the manse garden. It seems to have been a
tender and reverential feeling on his side, lasting into his early manhood,
although “he made no sign,” and it is believed that the young lady was
unconscious of the impression she had made. She died unmarried in 1843, and
was buried near the very window whence she was gazed upon by her youthful
adorer.
A soldier was billeted upon one occasion on the Brewster family, and to this
man the future President of the Peace Congress formed the strongest
attachment. The depth of the feeling may be conjectured from the fact that,
in 1860, when pointing out to his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Macpherson, the
grave of Margaret Somerville, he could not visit the soldier’s grave with
any one—he went to it alone.
On the other side of the river there lived a weaver named Robert Waugh, a
man of intelligence and humour, and also an excellent singer. The boy,
athirst for knowledge, spent many an hour amongst the looms listening to
songs, old stories, recitations from favourite authors, and literary
dissertations. On one occasion James Scott and David Brewster had each
written a poetical effusion, and each believed his own undoubtedly the
superior. They agreed to make Waugh the umpire; having accepted the office,
David impressed on him the necessity of reading both compositions aloud with
due care and emphasis. The weaver, being fond of a joke, proceeded to recite
mournfully an absurd rhyme, to the horror and indignation of Brewster, who
had set himself to listen with his usual intent earnestness. Scott enjoyed
the joke, and laughed heartily, which made matters worse, but Waugh went up
to the angry boy, clapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Never mind, Daavid,
ma man, your heid’ll be a frontispiece to a buke when that lad’s forgotten!”
Other elements of adventure also there were in his circle of acquaintance.
Colonel Rutherfurd, the laird of Edgerston, and his cousin, “the Major,”
were men of great intelligence. The life of the latter had been one of most
varied adventure, having been for many years in the wilds of America, where
he was detained as a prisoner for some time by a tribe of Indians. He lived
at Lintalee Cottage, a farm a little above Inchbonny, and it is said that
David greatly delighted in his conversation; he kept up his intercourse with
the Edgerston family for many years, visiting them whenever he returned to
his native town.
Just opposite the Brewsters’ house lived a family of the name of
Robertson—the father being the Antiburgher minister of Jedburgh. The
intimacy between the families was great, and there was a system of
telegraphs carried on between the youngsters of the two houses. A son of Mr.
Robertson was afterwards an eminent London solicitor, of the firm of
Spottiswood and Robertson. Miss Robertson, the last of the family, and a
contemporary of David’s, died shortly after her old friend’s death, but had
survived her faculties for some time, so that no early information could be
gleaned from her.
At the back of the rector’s house there was a large open space, half garden
and half orchard, containing many old gnarled pear-trees, and a few stones
of a ruin, which probably; indicated the remains of a monastic building. At
the opposite end was Queen Mary’s house, which was occupied in Brewster’s
youth by Dr. Lindsay and his family, the “sweet Isabella Lindsay” of Burns
being one of his daughters. Dr. Lindsay and Mr. Brewster were intimate
friends, as well as their families. This house was till her recent death, in
the ninety-third year of her age, occupied by a charming old lady, Miss
Armstrong, who was in the perfect possession of every faculty except that of
hearing. She was a descendant of Riccaltoun, minister of Hobkirk, whose
works are well known, and who befriended Thomson the poet in his youth. This
lady did not reside in Jedburgh when David was a boy, but her friend Miss
Robertson had often told her old stories of him and his family, and some of
those early incidents which I have related are upon her authority. Her
descriptions of Miss Lindsay (her brother’s wife) and Margaret Somerville
were very graphic, and given with much animation. Burns’s beauty, she said,
possessed “auburn hair and violet eyes,” was very fair, not very tall, but
“verra sweet” Margaret Somerville had the same auburn hair, a small long
face, and extreme fairness.
It is interesting to trace in these various intimacies and acquaintanceships
the source of much of the social character and vivid variety of interests
and sympathies, as well as the fostering of the inventive and scientific
genius, which alike distinguished in after life the subject of these Notes. |
