Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country was first published in London in January1830. John Galt was a regular contributor. In February Galt wrote to another Scottish writer James Hogg, known as the Ettrick Shepherd, asking him if he would contribute to Fraser's.
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| James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd |
Explanations of the various terms used by Galt in the letter are given below. Click on the links for more information. The letter reads -
23 Downing Street, 6th February, 1830
My Dear Damon [1], or Patie or Roger, [2]
Or by whatever name thou answerest, as at this season you
have nothing to do but to blow your nails like Shakespeare's “Dick the
shepherd” [3], I am commissioned by the editor of Fraser’s new Town and County
Magazine to beg something in verse or prose, and to express a wish that you
would become a contributor. Their
intentions are to do the handsome thing by their contributors, and anything and
pathetical will be duly appreciated. I have
promised an occasional article, and others of Ebony’s [4] friends have done the
same. Do write me and that early anent
this.
I have come forth lately with another Scottish brat [5]. I wish I could have sent you a copy. On this occasion my publishers are Colburn and Co [6], whom not knowing very intimately, I do not like to trouble much for copies. Tis a terrible pity that you have never seen a Canadian forest. I foregathered with some of your kith and kin in Canada – decent folk. One remarkable thing in the American woods is their entire freedom from fairies and all sorts of hobgoblins. If you could create yourself, by your wonted necromancy, into a settler in the backwoods, and do Theocritus [7] for the new magazine, you might add a few millions of years to your fame. To be sure, there is some difficulty in the inhabitant of a treeless forest conceiving a forest of trees, but you can make woods as well as my friend Martin [8] makes mountains.
When he has occasion to delineate such a thing as a world
scattered to pieces by a deluge, he takes a ‘bakey’ [9] full of coals, as many
lumps as possible, and with a little fancy, magnifies them into fragments of
the great globe itself. I would
therefore advise you to collect all the mops, besoms, brushes, and kirn staffs [10],
and stick them in your midden, in an inverted position, and then sit down and
draw from the models, supplying from your poetical lumber-room bark branches
and leaves, taking care not to show on the trunks anything like a twig, till
you have made them each and all severally as high as the Melville monument [11].
The aggregates and colour of the midden will suggest cradle
heaps, alias the graves of ancient trees, and the weathered leaves which cover
them. Then think of a man with an axe on
his shoulder, followed by as many children as Jacob [12], and a wife with a bundle
on her back entering the leafy caverns; then make all manner of afflictions
befall them, - this you will, I am persuaded, do as truly as if your
experiences had been as manifold as mine.
I saw Lockhart [13] the other day. He is very well and in good spirits, but Mrs
Lockhart is, I am sorry to say, still a great invalid, but she bears the
afflictions with great equanimity.
My family are still in Canada, but I expect them in the
course of the summer. Can’t you put your
foot on the James Watt [14], and make your debut in London while I am a
bachelor? If you do, we shall get up a
public dinner for you; think of that! and give my compliments to Mrs Hogg, and
say that ladies are not admitted on such occasions.
Yours truly, John Galt
[1] "Damon" - Damon is a character in Robert Fergusson’s (1750-1774) poem “Pastoral 1, Morning.”
[2] Patie or Roger - Patie and Roger are two young shepherds in Allan Ramsay’s (1684-1858) pastoral work, The Gentle Shepherd. (Damon is also a character in Ramsay's “The Morning Interview”. ) Allan Ramsay was the father of artist also named Allan Ramsay.
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| Allan Ramsay, poet |
[3] Shakespeare's "Dick the shepherd" - a character in William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost Act 5, Scene 2, Winter –
"When icicles hang by the wall,And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,And Tom bears logs into the hall,And milk comes frozen home in pail;”
[4] "Ebony" - nickname for Blackwoods' Edinburgh Magazine. Both Galt and Hogg were regular contributors.
[5] "Scottish brat" - (perhaps) Galt's novel Southennan was published in 1830.
[6] "Colburn & Co" - publisher Henry Colburn (1784-1855) had known John Galt for some time. He was the publisher of the New Monthly Magazine. He had also published The Rejected Theatre (later the New British Theatre), suggested by Galt publishing plays which had been turned down by theatre managers. It was not a success. In 1829, because of his financial troubles, Galt had applied to Colburn for an advance of money in lieu of a novel to be published by Colburn. Colburn advanced £300. The promised novel Lawrie Todd or the Settlers in the Woods was published in 1830. Colburn and his partner Richard Bentley (1794-1871) encouraged Galt to publish his biography of Lord Byron in 1830.
[7] "Theocritus" - ancient Greek poet from Sicily known as the father of pastoral or bucolic poetry.
[8] "Martin"- John Martin (1789-1854) painter, engraver and illustrator who had worked with Galt, illustrating his work Ouranoulogos (read more in a previous blog post). Martin was known for his large, dramatic works.
[9] "bakey" - (also bakie) Scots word for a square wooden bucket used for coal.
[10] "kirn-staffs" - large wooden stick used to stir the milk when making butter.
[11] "Melville Monument"- situated in St Andrew's Square, Edinburgh, it is a large column commemorating Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. Completed in 1827.
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| Melville's Monument, Edinburgh |
[12] "Jacob" - Biblical character who had twelve sons whose descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel.
[13] "Lockhart"- John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) Scottish writer. Son in law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott. In 1820 he married Scott's eldest daughter Charlotte Sophia (1799-1837). Lockhart contributed articles to different publications including Blackwood's.
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| John Gibson Lockhart |
[14] "the James Watt" - steamboat plying between Edinburgh and London. Named after Greenockian engineer James Watt.
James Hogg did become a contributor to Fraser's Magazine along with Galt. William Maginn (1794-1842) was the first editor. The first edition, published in January 1830 was a success.
James Hogg did visit London in 1832 to arrange for the issue of a collected edition of his work. He and Galt attended the annual dinner celebrating poet Robert Burns on 25 January at the Freemasons Tavern in Great Queen Street. The first volume of Hogg’s collected work, the Altrive Tales, was a great success, unfortunately the publisher, James Cochrane, was declared bankrupt. Hogg continued to write for Blackwood's, Fraser's and other publications. He died just three years later in 1835 and was buried in Ettrick churchyard.
Galt and Hogg first met in Greenock in 1804 when he was invited to an evening event at the Tontine Hotel in Greenock. You can read more about that visit and how Hogg described the young John Galt in a previous blog post - How the Ettrick Shepherd described John Galt.
