XXXVIII. Harold the Dauntless published. -- Scott aspires to be a Baron of the Exchequer. -- Letter to the Duke of Buccleuch concerning Poachers, etc. -- First Attack of Cramp in the Stomach. -- Letters to Morritt, Terry, and Mrs. Maclean Clephane. -- Story of The Doom of Devorgoil. -- John Kemble's retirement from the Stage. -- William Laidlaw established at Kaeside. -- Novel of Rob Roy projected. -- Letter to Southey on the Relief of the Poor, etc. -- Letter to Lord Montagu on Hogg's Queen's Wake, and on the Death of Frances, Lady Douglas. 1817. 135 XXXIX. Excursion to the Lennox, Glasgow, and Drumlanrig. -- Purchase of Toftfield. -- Establishment of the Ferguson Family at Huntly Burn. -- Lines written in Illness. -- Visits of Washington Irving, Lady Byron, and Sir David Wilkie. -- Progress of the Building at Abbotsford. -- Letters to Morritt, Terry, etc. -- Conclusion of Rob Roy. 1817. 173 XL. Rob Boy published. -- Negotiation concerning the Second Series of Tales of my Landlord. -- Commission to search for the {p.vii} Scottish Regalia. -- Letters to the Duke of Buccleuch, Mr. Croker, Mr. Morritt, Mr. Murray, Mr. Maturin, etc. -- Correspondence on Rural Affairs with Mr. Laidlaw, and on the Buildings at Abbotsford with Mr. Terry. -- Death of Mrs. Murray Keith and Mr. George Bullock. 1818. 202 XLI. Dinner at Mr. Home Drummond's. -- Scott's Edinburgh Den. -- Details of his Domestic Life in Castle Street. -- His Sunday Dinners. -- His Evening Drives, etc. -- His Conduct in the General Society of Edinburgh. -- Dinners at John Ballantyne's Villa, and at James Ballantyne's in St. John Street, on the appearance of a new Novel. -- Anecdotes of the Ballantynes, and of Constable. 1818. 236 XLII. Publication of the Heart of Mid-Lothian. -- Its Reception in Edinburgh and in England. -- Abbotsford in October. -- Melrose Abbey, Dryburgh, etc. -- Lion-Hunters from America. -- Tragedy of the Cherokee Lovers. -- Scott's Dinner to the Selkirkshire Yeomen. 1818. 266 Appendix: The Durham Garland. 295 Narrative of the Life of James Annesley. 303 {p.viii} LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WALTER SCOTT IN 1822 _Frontispiece_ From the painting by Sir Henry Raeburn, R. A., in the possession of the Earl of Home. MAIDA, THE SCOTTISH DEERHOUND 96 After the painting by Landseer made in 1824. JOHN MURRAY 124 From the painting by Henry W. Pickersgill, R. A., in the possession of John Murray, Esq. WASHINGTON IRVING 180 After the painting by Charles Robert Leslie, R. A.