Part 2

This portrait of Aikman showing the figure nearly to the waist within a painted oval, is practically identical with that in the National Gallery of Scotland, formerly in the possession of Mrs. Forbes, the artist’s eldest daughter, and engraved in “The Bee,” vol. xviii. 1793. The only difference is that here the draperies consist of a coat and vest of a cool yellowish-brown velvet, passing into definite yellow in the high lights, while in the National Gallery version a golden-brown gown and a flowered vest of the same colour is substituted. The well-balanced, handsome, oval face, with its ripe mouth, rippling in its lines and dimpled at the corners, fine dark-blue eyes, and rounded, slightly cleft chin, is turned in three-quarters towards the right, and surmounted by a voluminous powdered wig. Another portrait of Aikman by himself is preserved at Florence in the Painters’ Gallery of the Uffizi. Here the pose of the figure is similar to that in the two other pictures; but the coat is of crimson, the lower part of the body is wrapped in a dark mantle, and no wig is worn, its place being taken by a white handkerchief which is wound round the head. Among the portraits of Aikman at The Ross is another from his own hand, showing him as he appeared on his travels, bearded, and wearing a turban and a ruddy Eastern gown.

We may now turn to the family portraits with which the walls of the Dining-room are covered. The earliest of them is a portrait of John Clerk, father of the first Baronet, and the founder of the family, known for centuries in the familiar traditions of the Penicuik nursery under the playful title of “Musso,” from his prolonged residence in France. He was born in 1610, the son of a merchant-burgess of Montrose, and baptized at Fettercairn by the Bishop of Caithness, on the 22d December of that year. Bred a merchant, he settled in Paris in 1634, where he acquired “a fortune of at least £10,000,” as his grandson informs us. In 1647 he returned to Scotland, married, acquired the lands of Penicuik and of Wrightshouses, near Edinburgh, and died in 1674, at the age of sixty-three.

His portrait, which hangs in the Dining-room, is not a contemporary work, but a copy executed by Aikman—to range with the other family pictures—from a miniature, done in Paris by an unknown painter, and still preserved in the Charter-room. This original, inscribed on its gold case “John Clerk of Pennicuik, 1644,” is a bust portrait painted in oils on a small oval slab of bloodstone, the polished green surface of which, with its red markings, serves for background. The face shows a delicate, prominently aquiline nose, a forehead broad rather than high, sharply pencilled black eyebrows above the dark blue eyes, a full, brightly red lower lip, a small moustache of darkest brown, turned up at the ends, and a tiny tuft on the chin. The bust is clad in that pseudo-Roman costume so much affected in the portraiture of the period, similar to that in which Charles II. appears in the equestrian statue in the Parliament Square, Edinburgh, and very closely resembling the dress worn by George Lauder, author of “The Scottish Souldier,” in the scarce portrait engraved by J. Hermanni after J. Reyners. The tunic is of a bright blue colour, cut square at the neck, and edged with gold lace, decorated on the breast and shoulders with gold ornaments worked into the shape of satyr and lion heads, and a bright red mantle falls in graceful folds on either side. The little picture is of excellent workmanship and is delicately finished, much of its precision of detail having been lost in Aikman’s not very refined life-sized copy.

Above the fireplace in the Drawing-room is another portrait of this same John Clerk, a large, dark, gallery full-length, stated to have been executed, like the miniature, in Paris. Here the founder of the family is depicted standing, in a black dress, his right hand resting on the stone ball which surmounts and decorates the parapet of garden walk, his left hand sustaining his sword. The countenance is manifestly the same as that in the miniature. This picture is stated by family tradition to have been painted by “De Wit,” a portrait-painter we have not as yet been able to identify. It bears no resemblance in style to the portraits executed by James de Witt at Holyrood in 1684-5, and at Glamis Castle in 1686-8; and it could hardly have been the same artist who was working at Paris before the year 1647. Nor, of course, is it by Jacob de Wit, the painter of a subject in the Library to be afterwards described, who was not born till 1695.

The portrait of the wife of John Clerk, Mary, daughter of Sir William Gray of Pittendrum, is also a copy, and of this a delicate and spirited contemporary miniature is preserved at Penicuik. It was executed about the end of the last century by Miss Ann Forbes, a grand-daughter of William Aikman’s, and consequently a connection of the Clerks, whose work, chiefly in crayons, though this is an oil picture, is to be found in many Scottish houses, as, for instance, at The Ross, Hamilton, the seat of the present head of Aikman’s family. A few other examples of her brush are preserved in the present collection; and her own portrait, painted by David Allan, a carefully handled cabinet picture, very clear and silvery in tone, showing her standing in three-quarters length, holding a portcrayon and a portfolio, is in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The portrait of Mrs. Mary Clerk, like that of her husband, shows the figure to the waist; the face is in three-quarters to the right. She has light hazel eyes, neutral brown eyebrows and hair, the latter elaborately curled, fastened with bows of black ribbon, and decorated in front with a small plume of white ostrich feathers, and she wears pearl ear-rings and a double string of large pearls round the neck. The costume is a black flowered dress, worn low at the breast, with a tall white lace collar standing up behind the neck.

V.

We come now to examine the portraits of Sir John Clerk, the first Baronet of Penicuik, who was born in 1649; served repeatedly in Parliament, after the Revolution of 1688, as member for the county of Edinburgh; was Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment commanded by the Earl of Lauderdale; was created a Baronet by Charles II. in 1679; acquired the lands of Lasswade in 1700; and died in 1722. He is described by his son as “one of the strongest men of his time, but not full in stature, being scarce 5 feet 6 inches,” “finely made, had proportionate breadth, and a Hercules shoulders,” “a man of knowledge and application,” “a pretty good scholar, and exceedingly knowing in Divinity.”

No fewer than five portraits—pictures and miniatures—at Penicuik are stated to represent this first Baronet. The earliest is that preserved in the glass case beside the entrance to the Library. It is a miniature, executed on paper with the brush and Indian ink, showing a small head, turned in three-quarters to the left, and garnished with a long wig. On the back is inscribed, in the handwriting of the Chief Baron, the first Baronet’s son, “Sir John Clerk then in those days in London a counselar at Law great wigs were in fashion 1689.” In the same case is a second miniature of similar general character, but drawn upon vellum, accompanied by a companion miniature of the first Baronet’s second wife, Christian, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Kilpatrick. Another portrait of this lady, an oil-portrait, showing the figure to the waist, is in the Dining-room. Here she wears a claret-coloured dress and an amber-brown mantle. The hair is yellowish brown, the eyes of a dark rich brown, and the face, which is a little out of drawing, though curiously individual and life-like, has peculiarly raised eyebrows. This work is inscribed in the handwriting of her son-in-law—“Dame Christian Kilpatrick, my father’s second wife, painted 1706 by Mr. Aikman, when he was learning to paint, but very like”—an early example of the artist, done when he was studying under Medina, the year before he left for Italy.

In the Dining-room are three other works, all life-sized oil-portraits, stated to be likenesses of the first Baronet. One of them, showing Sir John clad in a brown gown lined with red, is manifestly a companion portrait done at the same time as the last-named portrait of his wife. It also bears a similar note by the Baron—“My father Sir John Clerk, painted by Mr. Aikman about the year 1706, when he was beginning to paint.” In its style of handling, as well as in its combinations of colour, it recalls most strongly the works of Sir John Medina, its painter’s master.

A second portrait is also by Aikman, a later and more accomplished work. Here the figure is seen nearly to the waist, turned to the right, with the face slightly in the same direction. A curled wig is worn, and a single-breasted coat of pale blue velvet. The eyes are of a clear blue colour; and the face is of that firm, powerful, large-featured type which for generations was habitual in the house of Penicuik. This picture, again, is inscribed in the son’s handwriting—“Sir John Clerk of Pennicuik, my Father, painted by Mr. Aikman. He was born in April 1649, and died in March 1722, aged 73.”

Very considerable difficulty attaches to the remaining portrait, which is believed to represent the first Sir John Clerk, and to the manifestly companion portrait beside it, which has been held to portray his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Henderson of Elvington, and grand-daughter of William Drummond of Hawthornden, a poet “of an excellent Fancy for the times he lived in,” as the Baron remarks, rather patronisingly, in the family history with which he begins his account of his own life.

It has been stated (Catalogue of National Gallery of Scotland, 1887) that these portraits “are dated 1674.” This, however, is inaccurate, as no inscription appears upon either work. It has also been asserted (Catalogue of Royal Scottish Academy Loan Exhibition of 1863) that “the original Scougal accounts for the price paid for them” are preserved at Penicuik; but a search which we have made through the old receipts of the period has failed to disclose such a document. Probably this second reference is not to the painter’s receipt, but simply to an entry of the payment which is to be found in an interesting old account-book preserved in the Charter-room at Penicuik, one of that “great many journals and writings” which the Chief Baron records that his father left “under his hand, which will, I hope, bear testimony to the regard he always had for virtue and Honesty.” This volume the Chief Baron—partly in filial piety, more perhaps with the instinct of the accurate and omnivorous antiquary—has docketed as follows: “Book of Accompts by my Grandfather Mr. Jo. Clerk, and Father Sir John Clerk, Whereon are several things remarkable. 1º, their methodes of accompting. 2º, their methodes of management. 3º, the different prices of things. John Clerk, 1733.” Here on a page _headed June 1674_, but under date of “Nov^r 1675,” the following entry appears—“To John Scougall for 2 pictures £36”; and it is curious, as illustrating “the different prices of things,” and also as showing how a love of all the various fine arts prevailed then among the Clerks, as it has prevailed among them ever since, to note another entry, which appears a few lines beneath: “To Mr. Chambers for Teaching G. and me to play y^e violl £150,” both sums being in Scots currency.

There can be no doubt that the portraits above referred to are the “2 pictures” by Scougall mentioned in the account-book, for a comparison with other works by that painter proves them to be excellent and most typical examples of his brush, and there are no other pictures in the house painted in a style recalling that artist, except the portrait of Lord Justice-Clerk Sir Archibald Primrose, which will be afterwards referred to. It has been assumed, but on less sufficient evidence, that they represent the first Sir John Clerk (by whom they were certainly commissioned) and his first wife, and that they were painted to celebrate the wedding of the pair, which occurred in 1674. It is to be noted, however, that the account-book gives no information as to who the personages are that appear in the pictures; that there is no contemporary inscriptions on the works themselves to prove that it is the first Baronet and his wife that are portrayed and not merely two of their friends; that in the male portrait the face is delicate in its curves and contours, with a long thin nose, drooping at the point, quite unlike the countenance which appears in the pictures certified in the handwriting of the son as representing the first Baronet; and that the present picture seems to portray a man of more than twenty-five or twenty-six, the age of the first Sir John when the work was executed.

But, whomever they portray, the pictures are excellent and interesting examples of a little-known Scottish artist, by far the finest works by John Scougall with which we are acquainted; and they afford most interesting representations of the costume of the end of the seventeenth century.

Each of them shows its subject to the waist. The male figure is turned to the right, clad in a black doublet, with richly wrought silver buttons, partly open in front and disclosing the shirt, which also appears at the arms, beneath the short sleeves of the coat; and the short embroidered cravat is drawn through a loop and spread out, in fan-like folds, on either side. The thin, nervous-looking face wears a very peculiar expression; the eyes dark blue, the long yellowish hair curling down to the shoulders: it is a face eminently individual, utterly unforgetable.

The lady’s portrait is even a more beautiful and fascinating old picture. Here the figure is turned to the left; the face, seen in three-quarters, is rather pallid in its flesh-tints, as was usual with the painter, a characteristic which appears also in the male portrait. The eyes are of a neutral grey-blue; the yellow-brown hair is worn flat on the top, and bound with a string of pearls, from beneath which it flows in carefully arranged ringlets. The dress, of plain white satin, with voluminous sleeves, is cleverly handled and excellently expressive of the texture and sheen of the material; and a brooch of pearls and dark stones is set at the breast, clasping a scarf of faint blending blue and yellow tints, which floats over the lady’s right shoulder, and flows freely behind.

Of James Clerk of Wrightshouses, the second son of the first John Clerk of Penicuik, and brother of the first Baronet, we have an imposing three-quarters length painted by Sir Peter Lely. He appears standing, robed in a rich crimson gown, which shows its orange-tinted lining, with an elaborate lace cravat, and ruffles appearing at the hands, one of which is laid gracefully against his side, while his right arm rests on a stone parapet to the left. The face is of a man of between thirty and forty, with handsome regular features and the rounded, oval cheeks and small, ripe, red-lipped mouth which the painter loved to depict, and with much individuality and character in the firm clear-cut line of the nose. A dark curtain appears behind the figure, and a low-toned, wintry-looking distance of landscape.

The companion picture of Mary Ricard, “a French lady,” wife of James Clerk of Wrightshouses, also shows the figure standing and in three-quarters length. She is clad in a low-breasted, short-sleeved dress, richly brocaded with crimson, yellow, and green flowers, and with a simple string of large pearls round the neck. She has brown eyes, light brown eyebrows, moderately arched, and dark brown curling hair, one curl lying isolated on her white shoulder. She is arranging flowers in a yellow brown pot decorated with Cupids’ heads, which stands on a table to the left, and behind the figure is a wall with a pilaster, a red curtain, and a glimpse of landscape with blue mountain peaks, which may very well be the southern slope of the familiar Pentlands as seen from Penicuik House.

VI.

Of the first Baronet’s eldest son, Sir John Clerk, second Baronet, and one of the Barons of Exchequer, several portraits are preserved at Penicuik; but even a more complete picture of this stout old gentleman, perhaps the most potent and memorable figure that appears in this family history, may be gathered from the voluminous diaries in his hand that are preserved in the Charter-room, and from that “History of my Life,” which he himself compiled from these, and which the present Baronet has placed at the disposal of the Scottish History Society for publication; a manuscript affording a clear narrative of the events of the Baron’s life, and throwing curious and valuable side-lights upon the manners and public occurrences of the time, while, in almost every line of its pages, it gives a vivid, if unconscious, picture of the quaint, masterful personality of its writer.

He was born, as he tells us, on the 8th of February 1676—not in 1684, as stated by his biographers; studied at Penicuik School and Glasgow University; and, at the age of nineteen, went to Leyden to be instructed in law by “a very learned man, Philippus Bernardus Vitrianus.” Here he boarded with a German who taught mathematics, philosophy, and music, and he applied himself to all of these studies as well as to law, having previously, as he remarks with proper pride, “played tolerably on the harpsicord, and since I was 7 I touched the violin a little.” Nor do these exhaust the list of his pursuits, for “among other things I learned to draw from Francis Miers, a very great painter; this proceeded partly from inclination, and partly from the advice I had from some of my Dutch friends, for all their young Folks learn to draw from their being 7 years of Age, and find it vastly useful in most Stations of Life.” His great friend at Leyden was Herman Boerhaave, then a man of twenty-six, afterwards world-famous as a physician, and he gives a curious account of his being treated by the young doctor with a “chymecal medicine he had discovered which would carry off the smallpox before they came any length,” and which was successful at the time, though the malady returned in full force three months afterwards, when Clerk had gone to Rome. “We not only lived like brothers while I studied in Leyden, but continued a correspondence together while he lived”; and forty-four years afterwards Boerhaave bequeathed to the Baron a collection of his books, which still forms part of the Library at Penicuik House.

After leaving Leyden Clerk visited Germany, Italy, France, and Flanders, and the two large MS. volumes of his “Travels” during this period—not only descriptive of the various places that he saw, and very particularly of the antiquities of Rome, but also giving an account of the laws manners, and customs of the several countries that he visited—prove how diligent and observant the youth had been during the whole time. At the end of these volumes he sums up the results of his residence abroad, as follows:—

“_N.B._—My improvements abroad were these:

“I had studied the civil Law for three Winters at Leyden, and did not neglect it at home, by which means I passed Advocate, by a privat and publick examination some months after my return, with great ease and some credite.

“I spoke French and Italian very well, but particularly Dutch, having come very young into Holland, and kept more in the Company of Hollanders than those of my own country.

“I had applied much to classical learning, and had more than ordinary inclination for Greek and Roman Antiquities.

“I understood pictures better than became my Purse, and as to Musick I ... performed better, especially on the Herpsicord, than became a gentleman.

“This, to the best of my knowledge, is a faithful account of myself.”

The volumes are illustrated with over fifty drawings of the landscapes, buildings, statues, etc., which he had seen during his travels, “a few of many hundreds executed while I was abroad.”

In 1702 he was elected member for Whithorn in Galloway, which he represented till 1707; and his “History” contains curious particulars of the last sittings of the Scottish Parliament, and personal references to the prominent political figures of the period,—to the Duke of Queensberry, the Duke of Argyll, the Marquis of Tweeddale, the Earl of Stair, Robert Dundas, second Lord Arniston, and Fletcher of Salton—“a man of republican principles,” “a little untoward in temper, and much inclined to Eloquence.” In 1706-7, through the influence of the Duke of Queensberry, his first wife’s cousin, and the Duke of Argyll, he was appointed a Commissioner for the Union; and in the following year he became one of the Barons of the newly constituted Court of Exchequer in Scotland.

From this period till his death on the 4th of October 1755, his life was occupied with his official duties; with planting and improving his various estates; with the classical studies to which he continued faithful all his days; with the composition of various learned pamphlets, several of which have been published—his “Historical View of the Forms and Powers of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland,” written in conjunction with Baron Scrope, having been edited by Sir Henry Jardine in 1820; in the enjoyment of the society of his friend Allan Ramsay, the poet; and in correspondence with Roger Gale, and with Alexander Gordon, in the subscription list of whose “Itinerarium Septentrionale” he is entered for “five books,” in company with such well-known names as “Mr. Adams, Architect”; “The Right Hon. Duncan Forbes, Lord Advocate of Scotland”; “James Gibbs, Esq., Architect”; “The Right Hon. The Lord Lovat”; “Richard Mead, M.D.”; “The Hon. Sir Hans Sloane, Bart.”; and “Mr. John Smibert,” the portrait-painter. Gordon styles him “not only a treasure of learning and good taste, but now one of its chief supports in that country,” and pronounces that “among all the collections of Roman antiquities in Scotland, that of Baron Clerk claims the preference, both as to number and curiosity.” It was one of the Baron’s antiquarian experiences at a supposed Roman camp on his property of Dumcrieff, in Dumfriesshire, which, narrated to Scott by his son, John Clerk of Eldin, suggested the episode of the “Prætorium” in “The Antiquary.”

Occasionally across the quiet and characteristic pages that narrate his daily doings there falls the shadow of larger national events: of the Rebellion of 1715,—“The Earl of Mar was not only my acquaintance but my particular friend”; of the South Sea Scheme, in connection with which Clerk held stock, and was a consequent sufferer; and of the Rebellion of 1745, when the Highlanders in occupation of Edinburgh visited Penicuik House, demanding food and drink.

As a poet—or, at least, a rhymester—the Baron is known by the really vigorous verses which he added to the single surviving stanza of the old Scotch song

“O merry may the maid be That marries the miller,”

which will be found in Johnston’s “Musical Museum,” but were first published anonymously, in 1751, in “The Charmer”; and by the lines beginning

“Harmonious pipe, how I envye thy bliss When pressed to Sylphia’s lips with gentle kiss,”