The Monastery | Page 3

note
to the publisher, (June I1, 1813.) says that Colmslie belonged to Mr.
Innes of Stow, while Hillslap forms part of the estate of Crookston. He
adds--"In proof that the tower of Hillslap, which I have taken measures
to preserve from injury, was chiefly in his head, as the tower of
_Glendearg,_ when writing the Monastery, I may mention that, on one
of the occasions when I had the honour of being a visiter at Abbotsford,
the stables then being full, I sent a pony to be put up at our tenant's at
Hillslap:--'Well.' said Sir Walter, 'if you do that, you must trust for its
not being lifted before to-morrow, to the protection of Halbert
Glendinning: against Christie of the Clintshill.' At page 58, vol. iii., the
first edition, the 'winding stair' which the monk ascended is described.
The winding stone stair is still to be seen in Hillslap, but not in either of
the other two towers" It is. however, probable, from the Goat's-Head

crest on Colmslie, that that tower also had been of old a possession of
the Borthwicks.] a third, the house of Langshaw, also ruinous, but near
which the proprietor, Mr. Baillie of Jerviswood and Mellerstain, has
built a small shooting box.
All these ruins, so strangely huddled together in a very solitary spot,
have recollections and traditions of their own, but none of them bear
the most distant resemblance to the descriptions in the Romance of the
Monastery; and as the author could hardly have erred so grossly
regarding a spot within a morning's ride of his own house, the inference
is, that no resemblance was intended. Hillslap is remembered by the
humours of the last inhabitants, two or three elderly ladies, of the class
of Miss Raynalds, in the Old Manor House, though less important by
birth and fortune. Colmslie is commemorated in song:--
Colmslie stands on Colmslie hill. The water it flows round Colmslie
mill; The mill and the kiln gang bonnily. And it's up with the whippers
of Colmslie.
Langshaw, although larger than the other mansions assembled at the
head of the supposed Glendearg, has nothing about it more remarkable
than the inscription of the present proprietor over his shooting
lodge--_Utinam hane eliam viris impleam amicis_--a modest wish,
which I know no one more capable of attaining upon an extended scale,
than the gentleman who has expressed it upon a limited one.
Having thus shown that I could say something of these desolated
towers, which the desire of social intercourse, or the facility of mutual
defence, had drawn together at the head of this Glen, I need not add any
farther reason to show, that there is no resemblance between them and
the solitary habitation of Dame Elspeth Glendinning. Beyond these
dwellings are some remains of natural wood, and a considerable portion
of morass and bog; but I would not advise any who may be curious in
localities, to spend time in looking for the fountain and holly-tree of the
White Lady.
While I am on the subject I may add, that Captain Clutterbuck, the
imaginary editor of the Monastery, has no real prototype in the village
of Melrose or neighbourhood, that ever I saw or heard of. To give some
individuality to this personage, he is described as a character which
sometimes occurs in actual society--a person who, having spent his life
within the necessary duties of a technical profession, from which he has

been at length emancipated, finds himself without any occupation
whatever, and is apt to become the prey of ennui, until he discerns
some petty subject of investigation commensurate to his talents, the
study of which gives him employment in solitude; while the conscious
possession of information peculiar to himself, adds to his consequence
in society. I have often observed, that the lighter and trivial branches of
antiquarian study are singularly useful in relieving vacuity of such a
kind, and have known them serve many a Captain Clutterbuck to retreat
upon; I was therefore a good deal surprised, when I found the
antiquarian Captain identified with a neighbour and friend of my own,
who could never have been confounded with him by any one who had
read the book, and seen the party alluded to. This erroneous
identification occurs in a work entitled, "Illustrations of the Author of
Waverley, being Notices and Anecdotes of real Characters, Scenes, and
Incidents, supposed to be described in his works, by Robert Chambers."
This work was, of course, liable to many errors, as any one of the kind
must be, whatever may be the ingenuity of the author, which takes the
task of explaining what can be only known to another person. Mistakes
of place or inanimate things referred to, are of very little moment; but
the ingenious author ought to have been