Cassell's Old and new Edinburgh: its history, its people, and its places . she wasthe daughter of Stirling of Pittendreich, Forfar- 2o8 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Greal Stuart Street, shire, and of Amelia, daughter of Alexander Gra-ham, of Duntrune, who died in 1804, and was thusthe hist lineal representative of Claverhouse. In addition to her accomplishments, she pos-sessed wit and invention in a high degree, and wasahva3S lively, kind, and hospitable. She had akeen perception of the humorous, and was wellknown in Edinburgh society in the palmy days ofJeffrex. Gifted with great powers of mimicry
Cassell's Old and new Edinburgh: its history, its people, and its places . she wasthe daughter of Stirling of Pittendreich, Forfar- 2o8 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Greal Stuart Street, shire, and of Amelia, daughter of Alexander Gra-ham, of Duntrune, who died in 1804, and was thusthe hist lineal representative of Claverhouse. In addition to her accomplishments, she pos-sessed wit and invention in a high degree, and wasahva3S lively, kind, and hospitable. She had akeen perception of the humorous, and was wellknown in Edinburgh society in the palmy days ofJeffrex. Gifted with great powers of mimicry, herpersonifications at good humour. Her conversation, so far as I havehad the advantage of hearing it, is shrewd andsensible, but noways brilliant. She dined with us,went off as to the play, and returned in the charac-ter of an old Scottish lady. Her dress and be-haviour were admirable, and her conversationunique. I was in the secret of course, and didmy best to keep up the ball, but she cut me out ofall feather. The prosing account she gave of her son, the private parties wereso unique, thateven those whoknew her best weredeceived. One ofthe most amusingof these took placein 1S21, at thehouse of Jetiirey. He asked her togive a personationof an old lady, towhich she con-sented, but, inorder to have alittle amusement athis expense, shecalled upon himin the character ofa Lady Pitlyal,to ask his pro-fessional opinionupon an imaginarylaw plea, which shealleged her agentwas misconducting. On this occasionshe drove up tohis house in thecarriage of LordGillies, accompa-nied by a young liuly as her daughter, and so 1 person I ever was the personification, that the acuteJeffrey did not discover till next day that he hadbeen duped ! This episode created so much amuse-ment in Edinburgh that it found its way into Ithe pages of Blackwood. Sir Walter Scott, who vas a spectator of Miss Grahams power of per-sonation, wrote thus regarding it:— March 7. Went to my Lo
Size: 1394px × 1791px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidcassellsoldn, bookyear1881
