[4] The Count was a native of Russian Poland, and was in early life
patronised by a Polish lady, with whom he visited various countries of
Europe. He resided for some time in Paris, but quitting it shortly before
the Revolution came over to this country. He exhibited himself at fairs,
and was a favourite with the public, to whom he recommended himself
not only by his diminutive stature, but by his intelligence and genial
disposition. He eventually realised enough to enable him to spend the
last thirty years of his life in comfort. The Count’s height was exactly
35½ inches, and his person was a model of symmetry. His remains were
interred in Durham Cathedral, near those of his intimate friend, Stephen
Kemble.
[5] This and the view of Kelso market-place in 1797, at page 3, are also
given through the courtesy of the present proprietor of the _Mail_.
[6] Endorsed by Professor Saintsbury (“Sir Walter Scott,” Famous Scots
Series): “The earliest form of the ‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border’ is
a very pretty book: it deservedly established the fame of Ballantyne as a
printer.”
[7] “A History of Accounting and Accountants” (T. C. and E. C. Jack,
1904).
[8] The following note gives the residents in the little street in James
Ballantyne’s time:—
No. 1, the old street guardian.
No. 2, Mr. Ewart and two sons, officials in the Chancery Office.
No. 3, Dr. Brunton, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages, Edinburgh
University, and Mrs. Brunton, authoress of some religious novels, which
had considerable popularity in their day.
No. 4, Mr. Phillips, Commissioner of Customs.
No. 5, Mr. Alexander Cowan, the well-known papermaker.
No. 6, Mr. Andrew Bogle, Secretary Royal Bank of Scotland.
No. 7, Mrs. McLeod, widow of McLeod of St. Kilda, with a large family of
daughters and one son, who rose to the rank of General in the Indian Army.
No. 8, The Countess of Hyndford.
No. 9, Miss Suttie, an old lady from East Lothian.
No. 10, Mr. James Ballantyne.
No. 13, Mr. Speid, W.S., laird of Ardovie, Forfarshire.
No. 14, Mr. Andrew Ramsay, Advocate; and, later on, Mr. Alexander
Ballantyne.
No. 15, Mr. Trotter, the laird of Morton Hall.
—_Derived from_ Mr. Charles Cowan’s “Reminiscences” (1878).
[9] “The Book-Fancier” (1886), p. 80.
[10] Lockhart’s “Life of Scott,” iii. 120, 121.
[11] Lockhart’s “Life of Scott,” v. 218.
[12] “James Ballantyne has taken his brother Sandy into the house, I mean
the firm.”—“Scott’s Journal,” Feb. 21, 1829.
[13] See also James Ballantyne’s suggestions as to the “Field of
Waterloo,” given on p. 67; and a fuller treatment of this topic in
Chapter IX.
[14] Lockhart’s “Life of Scott,” ii. 201, 202.
[15] “My father never could forgive Scott his concealment of the
Ballantyne partnership.”—Ruskin, “Fors Clavigera,” Letter liv.
[16] “Constable and his Literary Correspondents,” i. 376.
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