Rob Roy’s Gun, Dirk, Sword and Sporran at Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott’s House

Abbotsford Scotiana.com 2006

We can’t help returning to Abbotsford each time we go to Scotland to pay homage to the great writer. Sir Walter Scott’s presence can still be felt in each room of the vast house and along the quiet alleys  of the beautiful park surrounding it. In some corner of the garden you may happen to fall upon the statue of a character, as if it had just emerged from a page of a Waverley novel, like that of Edie Ochiltree from The Antiquary.

Abbotsford Garden Edie Ochiltree statue Scotiana.com 2007

And, if you are lucky enough to be gifted with the power of second view, may be you’ll happen to fall upon a ghost in Abbotsford. Sir Walter himself claimed that it was haunted by George Bullock, a man who had contributed to the design and building of Abbotsford. This man died in London, in 1818, and, on the two nights following his death, Walter Scott was awaken by big noises coming from inside the house, which made him rise up and take a sword to search it. He still didn’t know about the death of George Bullock but when he learnt it, he immediately associated the noises with him. The ghost is supposed to have come several times to Abbotsford.

Abbotsford Dining Room Scotiana.com 2001 JCh

Then, if ghosts are to be met in Abbotsford why not expect that of Sir Walter Scott himself who had been so deeply attached to the place. As a matter of fact, his ghost is reputed to haunt the Dining Room. There, he peacefully died on September 21st 1832, surrounded by his family and friends and his eyes turned towards his beloved view of the Tweed. Since Sir Walter had much contributed to the design of this room, no wonder it had been equipped with large bow-windows overlooking this view of the river.

Abbotsford library memorabilia show case Scotiana.com 2001

So, when we go to Abbotsford it’s to immerse in the very specific atmosphere of the place rather than to visit it as a museum, though it can also be visited as a museum! What museum, indeed! Not only did Sir Walter Scott spend a lot of money to build this superb gothic-style turreted mansion, on the banks of the river Tweed, but he also bought innumerable antiquarian objects and memorabilia to decorate it. The word “decorate” may appear to be somewhat inappropriate here. Walter Scott, who has often been said to have invented the historical novel, liked to surround him with inspiring objects coming from olden times and having belonged to famous people, like Bonnie Prince Charlie, Marie Stuart, Napoleon and of course Rob Roy! Added to Sir Walter’s deep sense of place, all these historical things surrounding him must have certainly contributed to trigger his imagination!  “Objets inanimés avez-vous donc une âme?” (*)

Abbotsford The Entrance Hall Scotiana.com 2001

How I’d like to be shut, after closing time, within the walls of Abbotsford in order to be free to roam, all alone,  from room to room, and to get familiarised with the place where the Waverley novels have been written, day after day, with this very place where, sadly enough, Sir Walter wrote himself to death in order to face the debts due to the bankcrupcy of his fellow editors. Yes, I would like very much to be given the opportunity to stay here long enough to get a deep sense of the place.

Abbotsford The Entrance Hall Armour Scotiana.com 2001 JCh

Mind you, I would not like to meet, in the dark, one of those fearful knights in armour which stand here and there in the house as if mounting guard… I’d certainly prefer to stay amidst the bookshelves of Sir Walter’s study and library.

Abbotsford Library Scotiana.com 2001

But now, and before going further about Walter Scott’s novel Rob Roy, let me open for you a book I have in my library. It’s entitled The Country of Sir Walter Scott and I’ve found in it a very interesting passage describing the objects you can see at Abbotsford and which have belonged to Rob Roy… very interesting indeed, even if, like me,  you are not very enthusiastic about arms.

The Country of Sir Walter Scott Charles Olcott London Cassell & CO, Limited 1913

Charles S. Olcott’s book is a very interesting and touching literary travel book. “On the first day of May 1911,” he wrote in his introduction, “we began our exploration of the ‘Scott Country.’ … This was the beginning of a tour which eventually led into nearly every county of Scotland, as far north as the Shetland Islands, and through a large part of England and Wales. We went wherever we thought we might find a beautiful or an interesting picture, connected in some way with the life of Sir Walter, or mentioned by him in some novel or poem. Knowing that he had derived his inspiration for an intimate knowledge of the country, we sought to follow his footsteps so far as possible. ”

And now, here is Charles S. Olcott’s list of Rob Roy memorabilia to be found at Abbotsford :

An old flintlock gun of extreme length, with silver plate containing the initials R.M.C. ; a fine Highland broadsword, with the highly prized Andrea Ferrara mark on the blade ; a dirk two feet long, with carved handle and silver-mounted sheath ; a skene dhu, or black knife, a short thick weapon of the kind used in the Highlands for dispatching game or orther servile purposes for which it would be a profanation to use the dirk ; a well-worn brown leather purse ; and a sporran, with semicircular clasp and secret lock, which for a century has defied the ingenuity of all who have attempted to open it, are among the treasures of Abbotsford. They were all once the property of Robert MacGregor Campbell, or Rob Roy, the famous ‘Robin Hood of the Highlands.’
When I was permitted to take the long old-fashioned gun into my own hands and to test its weight by carrying the butt to my shoulder and casting my eye over the long octagonal barrel, I could not help feeling that Rob Roy was a far less mythical person than his prototype of the Forest of Sherwood.

Is not that a good preamble to our discovery of Walter Scott’s famous novel Rob Roy? I let you think things over until our next post unless, in the meantime, you’ve decided like Janice and I to read or re-read the book…

A bientôt.

Mairiuna.

(*) Harmonies poétiques et religieuses “Milly ou la terre natale” Lamartine.