se and property on the opposite bank of the river, to which he came
every spring for salmon fishing. He was a handsome, agreeable man, had
been educated in England, and as he thought he should never live in
Scotland, he sold the family estate of Drum, within five miles of
Edinburgh, which he afterwards regretted, and bought the property on the
Tweed he then inhabited.

There was great intimacy between the three families, and the society was
often enlivened by Adam Ferguson and Willie Clerk, whom we had met with
at Raith. I shall never forget the charm of this little society,
especially the supper-parties at Abbotsford, when Scott was in the
highest glee, telling amusing tales, ancient legends, ghost and witch
stories. Then Adam Ferguson would sing the "Laird of Cockpen," and other
comic songs, and Willie Clerk amused us with his dry wit. When it was
time to go away all rose, and, standing hand-in-hand round the table,
Scott taking the lead, we sang in full chorus,

Weel may we a' be,
Ill may we never see;
Health to the king
And the gude companie.

At that time no one knew who was the author of the Waverley Novels.
There was much speculation and curiosity on the subject. While talking
about one which had just been published, my son Woronzow said, "I knew
all these stories long ago, for Mr. Scott writes on the dinner-table.
When he has finished, he puts the green-cloth with the papers in a
corner of the dining-room; and when he goes out, Charlie Scott and I
read the stories." My son's tutor was the original of Dominie Sampson in
"Guy Mannering." The "Memorie of the Somervilles" was edited by Walter
Scott, from an ancient and very quaint manuscript found in the archives
of the family, and from this he takes passages which he could not have
found elsewhere. Although the work was printed it was never published,
but copies were distributed to the different members of the family. One
was of course given to my husband.

The Burning of the Water, so well described by Walter Scott in
"Redgauntlet," we often witnessed. The illumination of the banks of the
river, the activity of the men striking the salmon with the "leisters,"
and the shouting of the people when a fish was struck, was an animated,
and picturesque, but cruel scene.

Sophia Scott, afterwards married to Mr. Lockhart, editor of the
"Quarterly Review," was the only one of Sir Walter's family who had
talent. She was not pretty, but remarkably engag