The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . tof view must be borne in mind. Whatever the visit or theramble, the description of it serves for the illustration ofScotts life or character. In Abbotsford readers have the rare opportunity of admis-sion as eavesdroppers while two men of letters indulge humors andfancies called forth by sympathetic intellectual picture of Scott at home with favorite hounds, or abroadon his estate, among dependants who worshipped him, lingers 197 198 THE S
The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . tof view must be borne in mind. Whatever the visit or theramble, the description of it serves for the illustration ofScotts life or character. In Abbotsford readers have the rare opportunity of admis-sion as eavesdroppers while two men of letters indulge humors andfancies called forth by sympathetic intellectual picture of Scott at home with favorite hounds, or abroadon his estate, among dependants who worshipped him, lingers 197 198 THE SKETCH-BOOK in the memory longer than any of his own making. Hispride in the countryside, or his interest in the building ofAbbotsford, or in the education of his son, reveals the Scots-man more truly than all his volumes. The reminiscent form of the narrative, which is frankly per-sonal and historical, gives an orderly arrangement of materialin the essay, and the author infuses, with the remembered en-thusiasm of youth, the deeper and more appreciative feelingof mature years, in which he himself had won full recognitionand fame. D.]. The Gate at Abbotsford 1. I sit down to perform my promise of giving you anaccount of a visit made many years since to Abbotsford. Ihope, however, that you do not expect much from me, forthe travelling notes taken at the time are so scanty andvague, and my memory so extremely fallacious, that I fearI shall disappoint you with the meagreness and crudeness ofmy details. 2. Late in the evening of the 29th of August, 1817, Iarrived at the ancient little border-town of Selkirk, whereI put up for the night. I had come down from Edinburgh,partly to visit Melrose Abbey and its vicinity, but chiefly toget a sight of the mighty minstrel of the north. I had aletter of introduction to him from Thomas Campbell thepoet, and had reason to think, from the interest he hadtaken in some of my earlier scribblings, that a visit from mewould not be deemed an intrusion.
Size: 2237px × 1117px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidsketchbookofgeof14irvi
