s a warm friend of mine and I have often
regretted that I had not improved the opportunity I had when he was
here on many things he was master off. What ever others had known or
expected I knew nothing about, But I know this, that on the 27th of
August 1811 I first saw it in the NNW. part of the Heavens nigh the
star marked 26 on the shoulder of the little Lion and continued
tracing its path among the fixed stars untill it disappeared and it
was generally admitted that I had discovered it four days before any
other person in Britain. However Mr. Thomas Dick on the Diffusion of
Knowledge page 101 and 102 has made the following observation 'The
splendid comet which appeared in our hemisphere in 1811 was first
discovered in this country by a sawer. The name of this Gentleman is
Mr. Veitch and I believe he resides in the neighbourhood of Kelso
who with a Reflecting telescope of his own construction and from his
sawpit as an observatory, descried that celestial visitant before it
had been noticed by any other astronomer in North Britain.' A
strange story--a sawer and a gentleman; and what is stranger still
Mr. Baily would not have any place but the sawpit for his
observatory on the 15th May last. I am sorry to say with all the
improvement and learning that we can boast of in the present day
Halley's comet the predictions have not been fulfilled, either with
respect to time or place. Thus on the 10 October, at 50 minutes past
5 in the evening the Right ascension of the comet was 163 deg. 37', with
63 deg. 38' of north declination but by the nautical almanac for the 10
October its right ascension ought to have been 225 deg. 2' 6, and its
declination 29 deg. 33'. Hence the difference is no less than 61 deg. in
Right ascension and 34 deg. in declination. When you have time, write
me.

Dear Madam, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
JAMES VEITCH.

Sir David Brewster was many years younger than James Veitch; in his
early years he assisted his father in teaching the parish-school at
Jedburgh, and in the evenings he went to Inchbonny to study astronomy
with James Veitch, who always called him Davie. They were as much
puzzled about the meaning of the word parallax as I had been with regard
to the word algebra, and only lea