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SIR WALTER SCOTT, FIRST BARONET (1771-1832)
An early 19th-century varnished hazel, spurred walking-stick with silver mounts, upper mount reeded and engraved 'Cut from the Wood of Hougoumont. 1817. J.B.', and further engraved on the upper face 'Walter Scott of Abbotsford', [?]horn ferrule. (Bark flaking and chipped, silver ferrule on spur possibly later.) Provenance: John Ballantyne (1774-1821, initials on mount, gift to:) -- Sir Walter Scott, first Baronet (1771-1832), engraved ownership inscription on mount.
A WALKING STICK CUT FROM THE WOOD AT THE KEY POSITION OF HOUGOUMONT, WATERLOO, GIVEN TO SIR WALTER SCOTT BY HIS FRIEND AND PUBLISHER JOHN BALLANTYNE. The Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815 exercised as great fascination over Scott as it did his contemporaries, but, combined with his historical sensibilities, it became imbued for him with a resonance and significance that transcended the immediate political circumstance; following his poem 'The Battle of Waterloo' (first published in October 1815 for the benefit of dependents of soldiers who fell in the battle), it recurred as a theme in his writings. Indeed, he visited the battlefield in early August 1815 (less than two months after the battle), examining the ground thoroughly, interviewing local witnesses, and collecting memorabilia, a visit he described in a detailed account which he wrote to the Duke of Buccleuch: 'On Wednesday last, I rode over the field of Waterloo, now for ever consecrated to immortality. The more ghastly tokens of the carnage are now removed, the bodies both of men and horses being either burned or buried; but all the ground is still torn with shot and shells, and covered with cartridges, old hats, and shoes, and various relics of the fray which the peasants have not thought worth removing [...] there is a mart established for cuirasses [...] I have bought two handsome cuirasses, and intend them, one for Bowhill, and one for Abbotsford', and characterised Hougoumont as 'a sort of château, with a garden and wood attached to it, which was powerfully and effectually maintained by the Guards during the action. This place was particularly interesting' (quoted in: J.G. Lockhart The Life (Edinburgh: 1902), pp. 61-63). Hougoumont and the wood attached to the château was a key position in the battle, being the scene of the first attack by the French at 11.30 in the morning and a position held throughout the day despite the repeated assaults of forces far larger than its garrison. Scott, who had contracted poliomyelitis as an 18-month old child, which caused him to become permanently lame in his right leg, continued to acquire memorabilia of the battle which was housed at Abbotsford, and this walking-stick was a gift from Scott's childhood friend and publisher, John Ballantyne (nicknamed 'Jocund Johnnie' and 'Rigdumfunnidos' by Scott for his quick wit and talent for mimicry); Ballantyne seems to have presented the stick to Scott in late 1817, for in a letter to Ballantyne of 10 September 1817 Scott thanks his friend with the words 'The Waterloo stick will be most acceptable' (The Letters (London: 1932), I, p.519).
An early 19th-century varnished hazel, spurred walking-stick with silver mounts, upper mount reeded and engraved 'Cut from the Wood of Hougoumont. 1817. J.B.', and further engraved on the upper face 'Walter Scott of Abbotsford', [?]horn ferrule. (Bark flaking and chipped, silver ferrule on spur possibly later.) Provenance: John Ballantyne (1774-1821, initials on mount, gift to:) -- Sir Walter Scott, first Baronet (1771-1832), engraved ownership inscription on mount.
A WALKING STICK CUT FROM THE WOOD AT THE KEY POSITION OF HOUGOUMONT, WATERLOO, GIVEN TO SIR WALTER SCOTT BY HIS FRIEND AND PUBLISHER JOHN BALLANTYNE. The Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815 exercised as great fascination over Scott as it did his contemporaries, but, combined with his historical sensibilities, it became imbued for him with a resonance and significance that transcended the immediate political circumstance; following his poem 'The Battle of Waterloo' (first published in October 1815 for the benefit of dependents of soldiers who fell in the battle), it recurred as a theme in his writings. Indeed, he visited the battlefield in early August 1815 (less than two months after the battle), examining the ground thoroughly, interviewing local witnesses, and collecting memorabilia, a visit he described in a detailed account which he wrote to the Duke of Buccleuch: 'On Wednesday last, I rode over the field of Waterloo, now for ever consecrated to immortality. The more ghastly tokens of the carnage are now removed, the bodies both of men and horses being either burned or buried; but all the ground is still torn with shot and shells, and covered with cartridges, old hats, and shoes, and various relics of the fray which the peasants have not thought worth removing [...] there is a mart established for cuirasses [...] I have bought two handsome cuirasses, and intend them, one for Bowhill, and one for Abbotsford', and characterised Hougoumont as 'a sort of château, with a garden and wood attached to it, which was powerfully and effectually maintained by the Guards during the action. This place was particularly interesting' (quoted in: J.G. Lockhart The Life (Edinburgh: 1902), pp. 61-63). Hougoumont and the wood attached to the château was a key position in the battle, being the scene of the first attack by the French at 11.30 in the morning and a position held throughout the day despite the repeated assaults of forces far larger than its garrison. Scott, who had contracted poliomyelitis as an 18-month old child, which caused him to become permanently lame in his right leg, continued to acquire memorabilia of the battle which was housed at Abbotsford, and this walking-stick was a gift from Scott's childhood friend and publisher, John Ballantyne (nicknamed 'Jocund Johnnie' and 'Rigdumfunnidos' by Scott for his quick wit and talent for mimicry); Ballantyne seems to have presented the stick to Scott in late 1817, for in a letter to Ballantyne of 10 September 1817 Scott thanks his friend with the words 'The Waterloo stick will be most acceptable' (The Letters (London: 1932), I, p.519).
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